Let's see less talk and more action on smoking

There once was a joke about the astronauts in the orbiting space station who could easily view Ireland by the glow of the millions of lighted cigarettes. Ireland, a country that takes its smoking as seriously as its consumption of Guinness, banned smoking in restaurants, workplaces and many public gathering spots on March 29, 2004.

Scotland followed in March 2006, then Wales on April 2, 2007, and Northern Ireland just last week.

And England will join this group this coming July.

What all of these countries have in common is that there were no exceptions to this law. They all went cold turkey.

And should you visit one of these countries and read the inscriptions on the cigarette packs, you will find the reason why so many European nations are adopting smoking bans. Unlike the warnings on American cigarettes, the warnings on smokes purchased by our neighbors across the Atlantic simply read "Smoking kills."

Do we need further discussion and injunctions here?

ROBERT J. PEGRITZ
Ross

---

Smoking hypocrites

As a premium cigar smoker, I enjoy, on average, roughly five cigars per month. Count me in as loving the ban on cigarette smoking in Allegheny County ("County's Smoking Ban Halted by Court," May 2). Why? I haven't lit up a cigar in a bar for close to four years and the biggest reason has been because of the most hypocritical people on Earth -- the cigarette smokers!

I have never had a nonsmoker complain about my cigar smoke because I have never lit up a stogie around a person who is eating or around children.

I have, however, attempted to light up a cigar in bars and have always asked prior to lighting one up, "Does anybody mind if I have a cigar?" Of course, the protests always came from the man or woman who forced me to sit through their cigarette chain-smoking habit! I never understood why it was OK for me to have to take in everybody's cigarette smoke, but I couldn't enjoy one cigar in the same bar.

I say hurray! It is about time those hypocritical cigarette smokers experience what they, themselves, have forced me to experience these past four years. Next time you see cigarette smokers whining about not being able to enjoy their vice, ask them why it was OK for them to infringe on the same so-called rights of the cigar smokers.

What goes around comes around, and I absolutely couldn't wait for these days! I hope that after all your appeals are exhausted, I'll hear ya crying even louder.

RICK D'ALESSANDRIS
Aliquippa

---

Degrees and ability

The stunningly overlooked fact regarding the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dean of admissions' fabrication of her academic credentials ("MIT Dean Quits Over Bogus Credentials," April 27) is that one can be immensely successful as a high university official -- as was the case of MIT's Marilee Jones -- even if one had not earned the claimed covetous degrees.

This is the truly significant element of the story about Ms. Jones' forced resignation -- not that she lied about her having had these degrees conferred, but rather that the absence of these degrees did not hinder her subsequent stellar performance as an eminent functionary at a premier institution of higher learning.

ROBERT PERLOFF
Shadyside

The writer is distinguished service professor emeritus of business administration and of psychology, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh.

---

Consider cloth

We applaud Sally Kalson's article "Clean and Green: New Flushable Diaper Is Promoted as Eco-Friendly" (April 18). G-diapers are a positive step, but we also encourage parents to try the new generation of cloth diapers.

Today's cloth diapers are not pinned cotton and nylon pants. Most are one-piece diapers made of space-age materials and snaps/Velcro and are easily washed at home. Others are made of eco-friendly organic cotton and wool.

The amount of waste from disposable diapers is astounding. Each child uses about 7,000 diapers, which remain in landfills for decades. Cloth can be used repeatedly, and the wash-water used is a renewable resource.

Disposable diaper packages state that fecal matter should be disposed of in the toilet (not the trash). Landfills are not designed for human waste. Cloth diapers are also better and more comfortable for baby. They do not contain as many chemicals as disposables.

There can be a huge economical benefit to choosing cloth diapers. The average cost of disposables for one baby is around $2,500, compared to cloth diapers for as little as $300. Of course, today's cloth diapers are so cute, that many of us have decided to spend quite a bit more on them!

The few cloth diapers sold in local chain stores are not the same quality as those available online. Some helpful resources are www.diaperpin.com and www.diaperswappers.com.

Parents, please consider cloth diapers, even if it's only part-time. You will be preserving the Earth for your children, while teaching others by example.

MAGGIE BRODERICK
Squirrel Hill
JANET GREENLEY
Penn Hills

The writers own online baby products businesses, and Ms. Greenley is Pennsylvania chapter manager for Miracle Diapers, a nonprofit organization that provides cloth diapers for low-income families.

---

U.S. generosity

The United States is the world's true Santa Claus. We are the most hated country in this troubled world, even though we are the most generous in giving help to all.

All the other countries that masquerade as our friends and demand our help have no trouble receiving what they demand without any red tape! The billions of dollars given to other countries should first be allotted to take care of our own, period.

As for Iraq, we should leave the country and let those undeserving fanatics build their own troubled country. They would finally realize that they can't do so without the help of the United States.

Why is it that when you are kind, generous and helpful to someone, they turn against you? Sad but true.

EDDIE STANKO
North Versailles

---

No breath of fresh air

Putting together a couple of recent polls and surveys I see that Pittsburgh is the most livable city in the country as long as you don't need to breathe very much.

I have read that in addition to the recently awarded "most livable" tag, the American Lung Association has now declared Pittsburgh to have the second-worst air pollution in the country, behind only Los Angeles ("Soot Soars in City," May 1).

Perhaps with the upcoming cuts in public transportation, Pittsburgh will soon move into the No. 1 position for worst air. Most livable? As long as you don't plan on living that long.

NICHOLAS J. IZZO
Squirrel Hill

---

The real outcry should be about patronage woes right here

While I wouldn't necessarily disagree that Paul Wolfowitz should resign as leader of the World Bank, your April 14 editorial "Wolfowitz Must Go" demonstrates faulty reasoning, reveals the political bias of the Post-Gazette's editorial board and is frankly quite comical in light of what's been going on around here for decades.

I find it amusing that Mr. Wolfowitz's inappropriate influence in obtaining his girlfriend a high-paying State Department job would raise your ire, when just recently, as you reported, the state turnpike executive director revealed a family tree's worth of political patronage and nepotism, yet did not warrant a similar cry for resignation.

There is a forest of similar family trees in this region. Do the names Flaherty, DeFazio, Wagner and Costa ring a bell? They should since political cronyism has been a profit-making family business in Pittsburgh for decades.

This scourge has critically infected local (Democratic) government and has resulted in overpaid, underqualified, lifetime bureaucrats who have destroyed this region while increasing their own personal wealth.

Mr. Wolfowitz's infractions pale in comparison. Wake up and take a firm stand against the corruption in our own back yard.

JOHN DOWLING
Cecil

---

We welcome your letters. Please include your name, address and phone number, and send to Letters to the Editor, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222. E-mail letters to letters@post-gazette.com or fax to 412-263-2014. Letters should be 250 words or less, original and exclusive to the Post-Gazette. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and accuracy and will be verified before being published.

---