The PG should give credit where it's due

The Post-Gazette editors never cease to amaze me by how they can ignore facts just so long as your position is upheld. In your lead editorial ("The Right Steps," July 24), you state the United States "was right" and "was correct" in sitting in on nuclear talks with Iran and developing a "general time line" for withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

Of course, what you would never do is admit that the world community is now firmly committed to making sure Iran does not get nuclear arms and that the surge has been incredibly successful. Why is that? Because the United States has been demanding accountability of the tyrannical leaders of Iran and the decision by President Bush to go ahead with the surge has been extremely successful.

You could never acknowledge either of these facts because it would disown your own drumbeat of the past years.

I realize that the old adage that there are times when one should "give credit where credit is due" is beyond your capabilities when it involves this administration, but hopefully this time next year your editorials will be able to be in line with the coming -- I use this word seriously and deliberately -- of the Obama administration.

I don't know what the editors are going to have to write about. Maybe you'll have to stake out the ranch in Crawford?

DAVE BORLAND
Mt. Lebanon

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Pedestrians beware

I half expected to be hit by a car, truck or bus while walking around Pittsburgh during my month-long visit this July. Drivers seem angry and have even shouted obscenities when I cross intersections with the green light and within the crosswalk white lines. How else is a pedestrian supposed to cross the street? God help the person who is physically challenged or just slow in crossing.

Pittsburgh needs thousands of "Pedestrians have the right-of-way" signs posted at crosswalks around the city. TV and newspaper campaigns to raise awareness might help.

Fine citizens of Pittsburgh, please give thought to the idea that the car is not king in these times of pollution and excessive energy usage. Pittsburgh, your pedestrians and bicyclists deserve to be treated with respect.

POLLY WHITESIDE
Lakewood, Colo.

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Good move

Relocating the Zone 3 Police Station to the corner of Arlington and Warrington avenues ("South Side Police Station Moving to Hilltop," July 19) will be a good move for both the police and the communities it serves. For police operations, the new site is more centrally located in the zone, and the new facility will better accommodate their needs. I trust that the concern for adequate parking will be addressed before Jan. 1.

A strong police presence on the hilltop will impact the increasing rate of serious crimes here. Knowing the problems we are facing, I am glad that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is responding to the needs of the people and of the police. Immediately increasing saturation patrols to seven nights a week in the hilltop communities is another welcome change, and renewing the curfew citywide will benefit every Pittsburgh neighborhood.

I hope that the police station's move can occur without delay or rancor, and that the questions of police staffing levels and frequent commander changes can be settled quickly so that all of Zone 3's communities will see that we are moving forward together.

PHYLLIS B. BIANCULLI
Carrick

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Kelly, part 1

In reference to the Jack Kelly column "Placing Blame for Gas Prices" (July 20), I might agree with everything he said were it not for one thing. Has Jack looked at the profits of oil companies the last two years?

Just doing the math, profits can be calculated conservatively at $500 million a day. That does not sound like a Democratic Party goal.

For these profits, oil companies have not given the consumer a better product or more oil. They raised the price of what they already had. That sounds like price gouging to me. The Republican elite can buy oil companies and congressmen, while we working people can barely buy food. If we are a country of whiners, it is because we should be.

The lesson learned here is simple. Oil is too important to our national welfare to be trusted to businessmen. The whole oil industry should be run by the Department of Energy as a government-owned, contractor-operated business. And oil importing countries should form an Organization of Oil Importing Countries, sort of an opposite of OPEC. That would control oil prices.

NICK MALATO
Monroeville

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Kelly, part 2

I agree with columnist Jack Kelly and letter writer Tom Lininger of Penn Hills ("Al Gore's Hypocrisy" and "Issue One," respectively, July 27) about Al Gore on global warming. If Mr. Gore really believed Earth was facing a tipping point, he could reduce his carbon footprint a lot. The late actor Dennis Weaver built a "green" house in Colorado in 1995. Unlike Mr. Gore, Mr. Weaver could talk the talk and walk the walk.

It's apropos that Mr. Gore received a political Nobel prize, because any scientific category would have provoked numerous debates, which he avoids.

I think everybody in the global warming crowd realizes that within five years the general public will realize it's a big scam, and they are trying to milk it for everything it's worth. Or, you could say, they are trying to make hay while the sun shines.

FRED BREWER
Hermitage

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Misleading talk

I just read in the paper that WPGB-FM radio moved up to third place in the ratings due to all the political talk ("Political Talk a Boon for Radio Ratings," July 30).

Is this where the listeners get their information? It's no wonder that President Bush won a second term. People eat up all this garbage. Jim Quinn, Rush Limbaugh and the like deal in fear, rumor and innuendo. It's like listening to National Enquirer on the radio. If I want to find out real facts, I listen to National Public Radio or watch WQED.

Ever since 1996 when Newt Gingrich and his cronies passed the Telecommunications Act, radio has been manipulated by Clear Channel and Viacom or CBS. It's time to break up this monopoly and get more diverse views on the air.

GEORGE A. BOLKOVAC
Export

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Break the bottle

By discontinuing their sale of bottled water, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is countering the deceptive marketing of the bottled water industry ("Phipps Ends Sale of Bottled Water," July 14). Phipps Conservatory is taking action to reduce the environmental strain that bottled water causes, and I encourage Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to follow its lead by making the city Think Outside the Bottle-certified by opting for tap water over bottled water in city buildings.

Canceling city contracts with bottled water corporations is the first step in protecting and strengthening our municipal water systems. Doing so will not only save the city thousands of dollars a year, but it also will send an important message of confidence in our municipal water systems.

By dropping bottled water contracts and reinvesting in public water systems, Mayor Ravenstahl could help to ensure safe, clean drinking water for future generations in the city. It is my hope that he will follow the example that Phipps Conservatory has set and stop spending taxpayer dollars on bottled water.

MOLLY BURKE
Fox Chapel

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CAPA students will stay in good hands

It may be true that some parents and students are leery about the potential merger of the CAPA high school and Rogers/CAPA middle school. I found it surprising, however, that your article ("Merging CAPA, Middle School Stirs Debate," July 21) did not include the voices of the teachers at either of these successful schools. I had the opportunity to work at both this past school year as an artist-in-residence, and I found the faculties at both schools to be talented (both as teachers and artists), capable and fiercely dedicated to their students.

To those who worry that two separate good programs might suffer in a merger, I offer this: The teachers and school administrators will ultimately determine the success of a new 6-12 arts academy. Based on my experience, they are entirely up to the challenge.

SAM TURICH
Lawrenceville

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