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PrintIt's not the economy, stupid! While the economy is and always will be a very important issue in any election, no one thought about his portfolio or the value of her home on Sept. 11, 2001.
We will correct the problems that face our economy as we have in the past, but none of it means a thing if we do not remain vigilant and if we let our guard down with the people who want to annihilate us. Anyone who does not think that we need a presence in the Middle East is an idiot. Today, more than ever, we need strong intelligence-gathering and people who know what they are looking for.
A good leader does not have to know everything, but he or she has to have the right people in place to support them. John McCain has demonstrated that he has the ability to keep command of situations.
George W. Bush was in office only about eight months when we were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, and that attack was not the result of his negligence. That kind of planning and diabolical cunning took years, and the previous administration of Bill Clinton had too many distractions of a personal nature to attend to this nation's business.
Think of President Bush what you will, but I remember how he remained calm and did not upset the children in the classroom when he was told the horrific news that we had been attacked. We need that kind of strength.
A man like John McCain who has stood the test of war and imprisonment knows all too well how priceless our freedom is.
PEGGIE P. RICHARDSON
Upper St. Clair
Where has he been?
John McCain has said that he does not understand economic issues. That is nowhere more apparent than in a recent TV ad aired by the McCain campaign. That ad attempts to scare voters about what will happen if Barack Obama is elected, saying he will "destroy your family budget," cause "higher prices at the pump" and create an "economic disaster."
That is an interesting approach for the McCain campaign: Recite the Bush administration's record on the economy and blame it on Mr. Obama.
Obviously, Sen. McCain has not been paying attention to the economy during the last seven years. Many middle-class families have had their family budgets destroyed by loss of employment and a rising cost of living, fueled by higher prices at the pump. The economy is already a disaster.
Barack Obama will turn things around by bringing the war in Iraq to a responsible end and devoting resources to restoring our economy. He will focus on alternative energy, rebuild the country's infrastructure, provide universal health insurance and provide tax relief for those who have been ignored by the Bush administration. This is an approach that will create new jobs and broaden the base of the economy.
JOHN A. MATTA
Point Breeze
Her dangerous ideas
Instead of digging into Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's family, we need more digging into her environmental record besides a simple cursory journalistic statement here and there.
Ms. Palin has been touted as standing up to big oil by increasing profit taxes paid by oil producers; however, at the same time, she now supports more drilling. This is simply an act redirecting the profits, not addressing the environmental impact of our excessive addiction to fossil fuels or standing up to big oil.
Some points to be considered include: her opposition to increased anti-pollution protection from mine discharges for salmon streams and to polar bears being listed under the Endangered Species Act (using "science" from the oil companies as the basis for that opposition); her adamant support of aerial wolf and bear hunting, including the placement of a bounty on killed wolves (a state judge put a stop to the bounties); and her questioning of science that shows beluga whales are in critical danger.
She believes global warming is occurring but despite science to the contrary believes it is not manmade and fully supports drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Her philosophy runs toward adapting to environmental changes not stopping or curtailing them.
God help the environment if John McCain is elected and dies in office leaving Sarah Palin to succeed him as our next president. The environment may suffer more than it already has under the Bush administration.
PAMELA LYNNE ROUDEBUSH
Jefferson Hills
Our offers stand
I am writing in response to Jennifer Russell's Sept. 1 letter ("Put People First") regarding the fate of the Malta Temple. We supported the historic designation of this building. First, the building meets the standards required by city ordinance for designation. Second, the building itself is surrounded by local and national historic districts. Third, the Urban Redevelopment Authority has finally moved beyond a long and costly battle to revitalize that section of West North Avenue and is committed to respecting the architectural integrity of the area.
While a Christian organization, the Salvation Army, by its own claim, is not a church. As I have stated publicly and privately, it does important work and the Central North Side is better off with it than without. But it is always most sustainable to "fix it first," to work with what you have whenever possible, than to spend money demolishing, filling landfills and expending scarce and often nonrenewable resources on new construction, which in this case, would be a poor facsimile of the building that's already there.
I strongly believe that the Salvation Army's plans for expansion are entirely feasible using the existing building. I offered to assist the Salvation Army with any funding gaps that may arise from adaptively reusing this building in its plans to provide better services to this neighborhood and to help it choose an architect with preservation experience as well. My offers were respectfully declined, but they still stand.
Buildings are snapshots of who we are in a certain place and time. Respecting our places is critical to our revitalization, ne, salvation, as a community.
STEVEN PAUL
Executive Director
Preservation Pittsburgh
Downtown
Hookah experience
I believe Dr. Brian Primack and Dr. Steven Shapiro are missing the point with regard to the popularity of hookahs among university students ("Hooked on Hookah: UPMC Study Shows Smoking Water Pipes Is Popular With College Crowd," Sept. 5). The allure of the hookah is similar to that of cigars: It's not the addiction to tobacco, it's the experience.
There are scores of cigar connoisseurs who do not like or smoke cigarettes. The findings of the study citing about a third of hookah participants having never smoked a cigarette should not be of great surprise. The primary draw of a hookah or cigar bar is the relaxation and camaraderie that are a natural extension of the event itself.
MANNY ROMANIAS
Owner
Kangaroo Alley Cigars
Upper St. Clair
This switch was made for the benefit of citizens
Thank you for the Sept. 2 article "After Outcry Over Touch-Screen, Some Counties Switch to Optical Scan Machines."
I would add more to the story as chair of Concerned Voters of Centre County, the group of citizens Tim Boyde refers to in saying that officials switched to an optical scan system after a well-organized group of voting rights activists campaigned against touch-screen machines.
While our group did help educate the public on the issue, I believe that if you talk to the Centre County commissioners who made the decision, Jon Eich and Rich Rogers, they would explain that the decision to replace our machines was made to protect citizens' votes and ensure a secure and reliable election this November, not to appease any single group.
Many other counties and states have switched from touch screens to paper ballots as they realize there is no way to conduct a recount or an audit or verify the voters' true intentions with touch-screen voting machines.
Thousands of votes have been lost and added in past elections on touch-screen voting systems; as many as 18,000 were lost in Sarasota, Fla., in 2006.
Studies conducted by Princeton and the EVEREST report from Ohio found major security flaws with computerized voting.
The Association of Computing Machinery also recommends a paper ballot.
County commissioners in Allegheny County and across this state would be wise to follow the lead of Centre County commissioners and protect their elections by replacing touch-screen voting systems with optical scan machines.
MARY VOLLERO
Bellefonte
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