Letters

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 13, 2005

Mays' follies

So Doug Mays thinks we won't need to raise taxes because the economy will improve so much in 2005 that the school funding crisis will just fade away.

He made that statement after the Kansas Supreme Court ruling and before the opening of the legislative session. Sounds to me like he is going to make an unheroic attempt to pass the buck on school finance, just like the Legislature did last year.

Crossing your fingers and wishing really hard isn't a plan.

CALE HERREMAN, Topeka

Faceless heroes

On the front page of the Jan. 5 Capital-Journal was a picture showing a barely visible Topeka city worker waiting for his truck to be filled with sand after the horrendous storm that brought most of the city to a standstill.

Had it not been for the caption below the picture, we wouldn't have known that the driver's name was Richard Malloy. Malloy is just one of the faceless workers whose job it is to brave the cold and hazards of Mother Nature to make the streets safe for the rest of us.

I would like to issue a special thank you to Malloy and the many "faceless" workers in our city, county and utility companies who take such good care of us during times of such bad conditions.

DALE E. VAUGHN, Topeka

Facts about Ringling

Please allow me to address John Thiele's false accusation that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) twists the facts about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' treatment of animals. The circus has a horrible record of animal abuse and neglect.

In July, a 2-year-old lion named Clyde apparently died from heatstroke and dehydration while traveling with the circus through the Mojave Desert where temperatures reached at least 109 degrees.

In August, the circus destroyed an 8-month-old elephant that fell off a 19-inch-high circus pedestal and fractured its two hind legs during what PETA suspects was a training exercise.

At least 18 other elephants have died in the last decade. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned the circus for causing "unnecessary trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm and discomfort" to two baby elephants that suffered painful injuries when they were dragged, crying and struggling, from their mothers.

Ringling Bros. was slapped with a "strong letter of warning" by the USDA for killing a tiger that, while locked in its cage, was blasted with a shotgun five times by an angry trainer. Government inspectors have also cited Ringling for endangering tigers that were nearly baked alive in a boxcar, for failure to provide animals with sufficient space and for failure to provide animals with adequate exercise.

More about Ringling's animal deaths and USDA citations, investigations, penalties and warnings are at Circuses.com.

HEATHER MOORE, PETA

Issue is fairness

The success of the Phelps/Westboro Baptist Church petition is disturbing to my very core. The people of Topeka have linked themselves to a known hate group, and homosexuals have suffered an enormous loss at the hands of dangerous ideologues.

Maybe Topekans do harbor discriminatory feelings for homosexuals. We will find out if the city council requires a vote rather than rescinding its ordinance.

Opponents of the ordinance say government shouldn't protect homosexuality or even recognize it for purposes of minority status because it is a choice. What is religion? Is it not a choice? Who decides whether one follows the teachings of God, Buddha, Allah or even Satan? Yet, all religious choice is protected from discrimination by the government.

Are homosexuals actively discriminated against in employment practices and procedures? If they are, then they should qualify as a minority group in need of governmental protection.

The disputed ordinance doesn't grant homosexuals special rights, it ensures that a homosexual will be treated the same as any other person who applies for a city job. This is not a moral issue, but one of fairness and equality. I hope the citizens of Topeka can set their righteous indignation aside and break leagues with an organization based on hate.

JOHNNY MERCER, Topeka

Retirement trick

I read all these stories about investing my own money instead of putting it in Social Security. What a joke. I have done that in the past, and along came people like David Wittig and Kenneth Lay to steal that hard-earned money.

Did you know that your employer matches your $40 to $60 a week contribution into your Social Security account under the retirement plan Social Security has set up for you? This is nothing but another big tax break for the rich. Every working person will lose half of the money that goes into Social Security accounts in this country. Twenty years from now you will be building old folks homes again, and your county taxes will be paying for them.

When you get old and can't afford to live on your own because you got taxed out of your home, guess where you get to live.

ARNOLD RUECKER, Silver Lake