'Stop snitching' is about retaliation, not honor

Regarding "Barely Alive, Wounded Man Still Wouldn't Talk" (Aug. 26): It is not a sense of honor that motivates a barely alive, wounded man to refuse to cooperate with police, but rather a desire to personally seek revenge and retaliation. Retaliation is what perpetrates the all-too-frequent cycle of gun violence plaguing our communities.

The "Stop the Snitching" campaign is marketed by career criminals to minimize the probability of some future witness testifying against them. Yet ironically, throughout my entire career with the Pittsburgh police, I have observed career criminals, facing lengthy prison terms, come forward to testify against others. To associate honor with these violent criminals is outrageous.

WILLIAM MULLEN
Allegheny County Sheriff
Former Deputy Chief of the Pittsburgh Police
Downtown

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Pay as you go

All the recent coverage and debate on leasing the turnpike, charging tolls on Interstate 80, assessing and taxing carbon footprints and lessening our dependence on foreign oil (such as several columns by Thomas L. Friedman) have made me think about the system that was in place in France almost 20 years ago when I lived there.

At that time, anyone who wanted to drive on the limited-access roads had to have an electronic device similar to E-ZPass on the windshield of his or her car. If you entered a limited access road without one, a picture was taken of your license plate and the owner of the vehicle was ticketed, again similar to E-ZPass.

I believe that 20 years ago this was a yearly fee, without an added cost for mileage. But in this day and age, a yearly user fee plus even a minuscule per mile cost could be a sensible solution to a number of problems -- paying for the upkeep of our highways and bridges, assessing cars and trucks a truer cost for the impact they have on the environment and, perhaps, even paying for the infrastructure of the future: clean, efficient, inexpensive public transportation.

And I would suggest that this apply not only to the turnpike and I-80 but also to all the interstates, and even the parkways. How many cars are registered in Pennsylvania? How many miles do we collectively drive? We would have enough money to do all of these things in no time at all.

LYNNE WEBER
North Side

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Out-of-whack profits

The recent news of UPMC's record profits of $600 million-plus and a $3 billion cash reserve was very good news for UPMC ("UPMC Posts Record $618 Million Profit," Aug. 24).

It does not make sense to me that a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization can post such huge numbers when there are 44 million uninsured people in the United States, and 7 million uninsured children, and my health-care premiums keep skyrocketing every year with huge increases.

Something needs to be done to repair our health-care system in the United States, whether it is universal health care or single-payer health care. Health care in the United States should be fixed now.

JIM DePOE
North Side

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Iraq blame game

Recent comments made by Sens. Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin suggesting that Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki of Iraq should be removed ("Iraqi Prime Minister Rejects U.S. Criticism," Aug. 23) are misguided and illustrate everything that is wrong with American foreign policy in the Middle East.

As long as American public officials treat Iraq as a colony that can be manipulated at our pleasure, regular Iraqis will repel our occupation. Sen. Clinton's comments are particularly disturbing since she voted to authorize the war in Iraq. How can any politician who has any dignity actually try and blame the problems in Iraq on the Iraqi government? You can't with a straight face break something, give it to someone else and then blame that person for not fixing that which is broken.

I am afraid Sen. Clinton's comments are disingenuous and meant only as a distraction from the war, which she herself helped to create. Iraq, and the entire Middle East for that matter, will never be at peace as long as Western politicians make decisions that benefit themselves and their lobbyist friends rather than the people on the ground living out the nightmare that has been handed to them.

KIRK B. BURKLEY
North Side

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Expand the outrage

I am in complete agreement with your Aug. 25 editorial "Vick's Plea: His Blood Sport Will Cost More Than Jail Time" regarding the sadistic, perverted blood sport of dogfighting. I fear I am destined to wait a long time, however, for your editorial condemning the equally sadistic, perverted blood sport of deer hunting.

Perhaps this double standard, which you are certainly not alone in perpetuating, has something to do with the fact that, as your editorial correctly notes, dogfighting "exists in America's underclass" (read: "black and Hispanic"). Deer hunters, by contrast, are overwhelmingly white and middle-class and/or rural. The organization representing this mass of gun cultists, so inordinately numerous and powerful in this area, is, of course, the National Rifle Association, a similarly lily-white organization.

Of course, to take the discussion of double standards to a human level, I doubt if there would even be an NRA by now if white youngsters were gunning each other down on a daily basis around here like black youngsters are!

So, bravo, for your editorial on a disgusting blood sport. Too bad it was so limited.

PAUL E. VONDRA
Bellevue

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A museum user fee

The editorial "Dino-Fright" (Aug. 27) objected to an increase in fees from $6 to $11 for children who visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Most readers probably agreed.

The museum is funded partly by Allegheny County. In my opinion, the alternatives to the fee increase are more objectionable: reduction of services or an increase in the county tax rate. A fee for users is generally preferable to a tax that burdens more people and impairs the economy. The museum fee is modest and usually paid by an adult who accompanies the child. The fee could be reduced if Allegheny County obtained increased revenues to support the museum and other public services.

The county could increase its revenues by using the most recent property assessments. This policy would obtain more revenues from the recently more valuable properties while providing tax relief for the generally cheaper and fewer properties whose value has recently declined.

HERBERT BARRY III
Oakland

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Children should come before seniors, and both should come before this war

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy's Perspectives piece on Medicare ("Why CHAMP Is a Chump," Aug. 22) is misleading. The cuts are hardly severe; in fact they are trivial compared to what is necessary to put Medicare on solid footing as identified by the trustees. Congress has been seriously remiss in ignoring this -- and the Social Security issue -- for far too long.

As a senior, I am glad that Congress has finally realized that children are more important than seniors; they are the caretakers of our future, while we represent the past. Without healthy generations following us, the future of our country does not look bright.

When looking at the quoted premium increase of $660 per year, we should keep in mind that, on the whole, seniors are probably the least financially stressed age group of the population. I would have no problem with this increase since Medicare would still be an incredible deal. In fact, I would be willing to pay a bit more to help those seniors who are truly on a "fixed income."

Of course, if Rep. Murphy wanted to restore the Medicare funding cuts, he could always end his blind support for the irrational fiasco that has been unfolding in Iraq for almost five years now. It is truly sad that we have to choose between health care for children or seniors at home and intervention in a civil war among people who do not want us and whose government regularly insults us.

Rep. Murphy's commentary is all about pre-election positioning among seniors who are reliable voters; I do not live in his district but would like to suggest to all seniors there to consider his support of this war when they vote next year.

THEO van de VENNE
Murrysville

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We receive more letters than we can fit into the limited space on the editorial page, so we'd like to share some additional letters with our Post-Gazette Web site readers.

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It's time to call off further Mon-Fayette plans

Your Aug. 22 editorial "Highway Turn" felt like deja vu when I read, "It's time to find the funding or lay these concrete dreams to rest."

In a May 25, 2006, editorial called "Mon-Fay Decision: Decide How to Fund Completion, or Pull the Plug," the Post-Gazette said, "If the Legislature, turnpike commission and other officials can't [fund this road] in 2006, then it will be time to pull the plug on all future work."

Your deadline has come and gone. The Pittsburgh leg of the Mon-Fayette would cost $3.6 billion to build. It will never happen without a new tax, something the Legislature is loath to do.

So, yes, let's lay those overblown concrete dreams to rest. Tell the Legislature to take the Mon-Fayette Pittsburgh leg off the books and use the money for practical, achievable transportation improvements in the Mon Valley.

KATE ST. JOHN
Greenfield

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Dems holding up Katrina progress

Regarding Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans: Maybe the damage from Hurricane Katrina would be a memory now if Democrats allowed construction to continue without all of the restrictions, such as a requirement of using local contractors (most left the area after the floods), or if the hundreds of billions of our tax money was used wisely and not just in a hurry to "solve" social problems in a strong Democratic city. Don't people wonder why the poorest cities are Democratic, get the most federal money, have the highest crime rate and have the lowest tax collection rate? Does it take a rocket scientist to figure this out?

Maybe Millvale would have more money for flood control if New Orleans didn't take billions to fix a system that maybe can't be fixed. Democrats, including the mayor of New Orleans, are quick to blame others for their own socially created problems. One should only have to look inward to see where the problem lies.

FRANK CAPUTO
Franklin Park

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Idling in Pittsburgh

When I talk to family and friends in Erie, they often ask me what are some of the favorite pastimes here in Pittsburgh. I tell them that the No. 1 pastime is sitting in traffic.

Construction has been going on in the I-376 corridor all spring and summer. PennDOT has been great about keeping the public informed, and the media have done a great job helping with the issue. The pleas have gone out to avoid the detour areas. Even so, as predicted, this past Saturday and Sunday found Pittsburghers doing what they do best, sitting in traffic when there is no need to do so. The Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill and Regent Square neighborhoods were clogged with traffic.

I thought the idea was to keep traffic moving in a larger city, but it seems as though Pittsburghers are content seeing it come to a standstill.

SCOTT PRIESTER
Regent Square

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Bag it in plastic, then bring the bag back

Your Aug. 15 editorial "Paper or Plastic: Reusable Should Be the Consumer's New Bag" makes the important point that plastic grocery bags are 100 percent recyclable, but incorrectly states that paper bags are better for the environment.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, production of plastic bags uses 40 percent less energy and generates 80 percent less solid waste than paper bags. Paper bags also generate 70 percent more emissions during production and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.

Yes, plastic bags require fossil fuel to produce, but even paper bags made from 100 percent recycled fiber consume more fossil fuels than plastic bags to produce, according to a study by Price Waterhouse Coopers.

No, plastic bags don't break down quickly in landfills, but virtually nothing -- not paper, food, plastic or even compostable or biodegradable products -- decompose in today's landfills, because they are actually designed to be as stable and dry as possible.

Plastic bag recycling works. One Southern grocery chain reports a greater than 20 percent rate of return through at-store recycling, while many other bags are reused for household tasks, as your editorial notes. The trick is to make sure that recycling is easy.

That's why our organization, the Progressive Bag Alliance, is partnering with cities in a national campaign, "Bring it Back," to make it easy to recycle plastic bags through at-store recycling. We recognize that plastic bag litter is a problem, and we believe this is an important part of the solution.

ISAAC BAZBAZ
Chairman
Progressive Bag Alliance
Houston, Texas

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NAACP exposes its own racism in Vick case

Groups like the NAACP are supposed to fight against injustices not perpetuate racism, but by supporting NFL quarterback Michael Vick, they are doing just that.

The Atlanta chapter of the NAACP recently came out in support of NFL quarterback Michael Vick and stated that he should be allowed to return to the NFL after serving his sentence for his role in a dogfighting organization and asked the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons and sponsors "not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country."

Are you kidding me? What kind of hypocritical, racist organization is the NAACP? About four months ago, this very organization called for the firing of radio broadcaster Don Imus and organized a boycott of his show's sponsors after he made a racist remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Michael Vick brutally murdered dogs and organized an arena where dogs attacked each other until one of them died.

R.L. White, president of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter, said the Falcons quarterback made a mistake and should be allowed to prove he has learned from that mistake. This was not a mistake; this was a lifestyle for Michael Vick. He did this for the last six years and would probably still be doing this if he wasn't caught. He is a reprehensible animal for committing these crimes and every human being should be disgusted by his actions.

The fact that the NAACP supports Michael Vick after vilifying Don Imus for his stupid remark illustrates the brazen racism that permeates that organization. The divide between black and white America just got a little greater thanks to the NAACP.

C.J. KERNA
Mt. Lebanon

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Don't mess with success

I love the Post-Gazette, having being forced to Texas by the economy. That said, about your new Web site ... What am I missing here? Green? Use the black and gold that most of us associate with Pittsburgh.

You still have a friend in Pennsylvania. Yes, thought that was a strong marketing campaign as well, but the state abandoned it.

Change is great, but if the wheel works, don't fix it.

CHRIS VAN WAGENEN
Lubbock, Texas

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