• Home
  • :
  • :
  • Member Center
  • :
  • Make This Your Home Page
Advertising




Letters to the editor

Search Legal Notices
05/17/2008

Bill Corcoran: Clueless leaders in an energy crisis
I just finished reading John Mulligan’s May 2 story “No quick fix to soaring fuel costs, lawmakers say.”

Roger Bertrand: Good governor, bad pol?
In a March 30 Journal column entitled “Carcieri: Amazing shrinking governor,” M. Charles Bakst describes Governor Carcieri’s personality as charming but pathetic. The governor is a retired successful business executive and is using those skills to try to balance a deficit. Not a word of praise in this regard. In fact, there is not a positive sentiment in the following seven columns. The governor’s performance as a politician may be questioned, but then who wants to be called “a good politician”? Holding the line on taxes does sound a little foreign: This is Rhode Island, so taxing away the deficit will certainly prevail. I don’t need seven columns to observe that what could have been constructive criticism turned out to be a cheap shot. I expect better from Mr. Bakst.

Elynore Hartzell: Eleanor was right
The late Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of our late great President Franklin D. Roosevelt, made a profound statement in one of her famous speeches, “Tomorrow is today.”

John A. Riolo: Beware mental-health parity
Dr. Jeffery A. Lieberman makes a forceful argument for mental-health parity, “Go for parity now in mental health” (Commentary, May 9). At one time I strongly supported such sentiments but now am no longer so sure. Dr. Lieberman concludes, “The time is now; there’s no rational reason to wait.” Well perhaps there is, or at least not to rush so quickly.

Robert Ziegler: Teacher contracts harm R.I. kids
The results of the New England Common Assessment Program proficiency tests (NECAP) administered to Rhode Island’s 11th graders last year were truly disturbing. Only 61 percent were found to be totally proficient in reading, 36 percent in writing and 22 percent in math.

05/16/2008

Myles R. Molitor: Silent on sainthood
During his recent visit to our country, Pope Benedict XVI put the sex-abuse issue at the top of his agenda, addressing it even before his plane landed. He expressed his shame, admonished his bishops for not being more vigilant, met with some victims, and promised that he would put procedures in place, to ensure that pedophiles never again enter the priesthood.

Brian David Condon: Tackle the thugs?
I don’t know all of the details of the shooting at Zambarano Hospital described in the May 7 article “Security contractor fired after shooting at Zambarano,” but please allow me to express my most heartfelt relief that wielders of knives, firearms, blunt instruments and any other imaginable weapon will be free to wreak havoc at Zambarano Hospital until — what, exactly? Are we hoping for “open field tackles”? The fine art of persuasion as taught by high-pressure salesmen?

Maggie Deslaurier: Drunken disgrace at PPAC
Recently, some friends and I attended a comedy show at the Providence Performing Arts Center. Although many people were drinking and enjoying themselves, the couple behind us was intoxicated to an absurd degree. They spent the duration of the performance complaining about the bar being closed, fighting with each other, using their phones, and talking so loudly that we had difficulty even hearing the miked performer onstage.

Matthew H. Leonard: Merge ’em!
Why does a state the size of Rhode Island need two economic-development corporations: Quonset Development Corporation (QDC) and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC)?

05/15/2008

Jason Burns: My taxes pay for gold-plated union goodies
Regarding the May 1 letter “My job working in danger for peanuts”: The problem with unions is that we taxpayers pay members’ salaries, then the members pay union dues to have someone negotiate on their behalf to take more money from the taxpayers.

Catherine E. Graziano: Walk with benefits
Robert Davis, in his May 6 letter, blames Governor Carcieri for forcing a large number of state workers into retirement, perhaps before they had planned to.

Susan P. Morrison: Opposing aliens serves no public purpose
Governor Carcieri’s “Crackdown on illegal immigrants” (news, March 28) is based on misconceptions, knee-jerk social conservatism, and “last one in” hostility toward new immigrant groups.

R. Lang: Re-registration now
www.sec.state.ri.us/elections/voting/register/documentstoregister.html, indicates that “documents” are required for first-time voters to register. None of the documents or other “identification” listed provides proof of U.S. citizenship.

Richard Welch: Import LNG to Bay
Governor Carcieri has taken a positive step in trying to determine the best place for wind-power generators in Rhode Island that would hopefully lower our electric cost to both residential and commercial customers.

David Hasslinger: History of disaster
I find it somewhat incredible that Theodore Gatchel can call himself a “historian” considering the lack of key historical elements in his argument for accepting Bush’s failed Iraq policy (“Perils of substituting words for action,” Commentary, May 4).

05/14/2008

Cristiana Quinn: Big-name college no sure meal ticket
The April 18 article titled “For high school seniors, too many college applicants chasing too few spots” profiled several students who were not accepted by their top-choice colleges this year and showed the let-down that many students feel after a two-year rush of standardized tests, college visits, applications, essays and interviews.

Michael Panasuik: Reed would make Tony Soprano blush
I remember the good old days when extortion was secretive and not printed in the newspaper for all to read. I refer to the April 29 story “Oil trade group rejects heating assistance proposal.”

Michael L. Martel: Free speech linchpin of all freedom
Your April 29 editorial “Fear of ideas” is on the money. You rightly emphasize the importance of the First Amendment. No other constitutionally guaranteed freedom in this country is under stronger attack right now.

Herb Stark: Still hearing The Voice
It’s hard to believe that today a decade has passed since the death of a true American idol — singer and actor Frank Sinatra. His passing left a void that to this day is yet to be filled, save for a few Big Band-era “survivors” who include Harry Prime, Peggy King, Jill Corey and, of course, Tony Bennett. Remarkably, they are still performing! So lift your glasses of Jack Daniels (Frank’s favorite) and toast the Chairman of the Board, who set high standards for concept albums and interpretation of pop standards.

James P. Hagan: Carcieri policies define hypocrisy
Class, today’s topic will be “Hypocrisy in the Light of Fact.”

Elynore Hartzell: Await water woes
The world is facing a water shortage? Keep building jacuzzis, swimming pools, hot tubs, etc.

05/13/2008

Craig N. Berke: 2 chances in court
In his May 4 letter (“Chief justice’s courthouse/free-speech deal”), William Palazzo of Coventry complains that he and his brother did not get their day in court in their much-publicized dispute with state Sen. Stephen D. Alves of West Warwick.

Walter Amoroso: Illegals should be afraid
In the May 2 story “Rally has fewer voices,” the Rev. Robert Beirne, a Catholic priest, is quoted as saying, “I think people are afraid.”

Jeff Gardner: A Woman President
We live in troubled times, at home and in Iraq./ Perhaps a woman in her prime could bring this country back./ If we choose Obama and climb aboard his train, /we’re losing Chelsea’s mama, and she could beat John McCain./Both McCain and Barack Obama are decent people. But one’s too old, and one’s too young./ Let’s go with Chelsea’s mama./ Let’s give the girl a fighting chance to end the national slide./To take the democratic stance to take the steps untried./ To reach the hand of comfort to the hungry far and wide/disavowing torture, restoring national pride.

Kenneth Berwick: Save energy by closing schools in winter
Because the global demand for scarce energy supplies will continue for a long period, the cost of energy to local school systems will be very high.

05/12/2008

Carl Buschner: Gasoline prices and drinking
The problem of teenage drinking is most severe when combined with teenage driving.

Eve Lapolla: Appalling wining and dining
I was in your fine state recently for a dog show at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick. You have a beautiful state, with very lovely people and great restaurants. I enjoyed my 10-day stay very much.

Susan Berge: Economic data are cooked
I have worked in the Wall Street arena for over 30 years. As reported government data have become more manipulated and therefore unreliable, I have canceled most of my subscriptions to government publications, as the government data increasingly bear little or no resemblance to economic reality. I agree 100 percent with the conclusion of the May 3 editorial “Cooking the nation’s books”: “It’s not healthy for Americans to live in a fantasyland of statistics produced to keep incumbent parties in power.”

05/11/2008

Barbara A. Gianola: Real criminals wear expensive suits

James H. Marshall: An energetic idea
Perhaps Governor Carcieri, in seeking proposals for offshore wind farms, might also propose a combination wind/solar farm at the former Charlestown Navy airstrip. Lots of open coastal space where wildlife and towers can co-exist.

Mary Baker: Mockery of monkeys
I read with shock and dismay the April 26 article “Monkey business,” by Denise-Marie Balona. I sincerely hope people didn’t see the cute picture and think, “What a great pet!” I hope that they noticed the section of the article describing how very difficult and dangerous monkeys can be and that sanctuaries are unable to accommodate all of the ex-pets in need of homes.

Saul Ricklin: Consequences
If you are tired of letters about taxes, immigration, politics, etc., I offer this strictly for amusement:

Kenneth Booth: Protect drinking water
On behalf of water-works professionals throughout Rhode Island, I would like to remind the public that National Drinking Water Week (May 4-10) hailed the many vital but often overlooked benefits that only tap water delivers. Each year, more than 3 million people worldwide die from preventable waterborne disease. But consumers in this country can safely drink from virtually any public water tap because all public water supplies are regularly monitored and tested for more than 100 potential contaminants, and are subject to rigorous federal and state public health standards.