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October 2-8, 2008 editorial@boulderweekly.com
• See Jim Hightower
• See Devil's Dispatch
Do more digging
(Re: “The booms and bust of globalization,” News, Sept. 25.) Not a bad story about Leadville, but your writers should have done a bit more digging.
Leadville was a gold mining town. I am sure of this as my grandmother was born in the gold mining area known as California Gulch in 1882. My great grandfather ran a dairy in Leadville in the late 1800s.
And my brother-in-law did some placer mining for gold in the same area with hydraulic hoses in the late 1950s.
Aspen was the silver mining town — not Leadville.
Colorado Mountain College Timberline Campus is currently located in the California gulch area.
Edward M. Smith/Longmont
Corbett lacks credibility
(Re: “And in the red corner… Rosie the Riveter!” Devil’s Dispatch, Sept. 18.) What is coincidental about John McCain, a war hero and national leader, announcing that he has chosen an equal-minded running mate, and your lazy, insignificant ass sitting in front of your computer watching clips with your equal-minded friends? Your opinions are colorfully empty of credibility, so your attempts at discounting the Republican ticket only reflect your ego on the foil balloon of which it inflates.
Instead, you may want to wish both parties luck on putting together a team that can inspire Americans like you and me to work hard, take good care of ourselves and stop blaming the people we put into office for our own unhappiness.
Pete Larson/Longmont
The other side of Mary Kay
(Re: “Pink think,” cover story, March 9, 2006.) I was reading your Mary Kay article, and a lot of it was really sad to see — that people would take advantage of others, or judge a company based on unsavory representatives. As someone who has had many “regular” jobs, a “regular” business, and been through the network-marketing windmill, Mary Kay has been the most refreshing company that I have tried.
Believe me, I am not here to change your mind, recruit you or pass on any kind of hypnotic Mary Kay training jargon. What I do think is irresponsible is the fact that the article only lists a one-sided view that tries to make it look like the Mary Kay opportunity is some kind of a business created to rip people off.
First off, the $100 kit is full of things that any woman can use, and has enough extra to share with friends. I am so grateful that my friend shared it with me, never once asking if I wanted to be a rep — I came to that decision on my own.
Second, the scenario about getting into debt — are you still paying student loans? How many people are? Countless thousands are promised that they will make an ever-increasing amount of money if they will just get a college education. Tell that to the people losing their homes, cars, etc., right now.
As for feeling guilty for buying inventory, from day one of my business I let my SD know that I did not want to have a lot of inventory. It’s my choice. I can choose whether to do it or not. Women who make bad choices don’t suddenly start making good choices because they have a business.
Finally I need to address the whole “undercover” business. If you wanted all of this information, you did not need to go undercover. You could have interviewed current and past reps. You could have found out the pros and cons of this or any other business.
Here is a scenario of a business. Pay $120,000 or more to start. Sell substandard quality products that aren’t good for your health. Pay people who work for you minimum wage, or barely over it. Offer minimal benefits, and require them to work days, nights and weekends, 60 or more hours plus work at home (for free). Encourage employees to be gung ho! Smile at the customer! Suggest more unhealthy food than they need, recommend products so high in fat that they could have a heart attack if they frequently purchased the product on a day-to-day basis. Upper management gets paid in millions, but this is never passed down in any kind of bonus. Sound familiar yet? Ever eat at McDonalds? Taco Bell? Hardees? Carls Jr? Wendy’s?
I would continue, but hopefully I have made my point. Let’s just call it the fairness doctrine.
I hope I did not offend you in any way, as this was not written to offend, but to provide an alternate view on a one-sided story that seemed to insult what I, personally, think is a good company. And, yes, I really like being in a company that does not care if I put God first in my life.
Monika Woods/via Intenet
Yes on 1B
Throughout this time of economic uncertainty, Boulder County human services organizations have witnessed a dramatic increase in the need for services that support the health and wellbeing of residents who have limited financial resources. The service needs translate into increased capacity needs, as many human services organizations have infrastructures that have been strained to the breaking point while trying to meet high demand.
This election, Boulder County voters have the opportunity to assure continued comprehensive human services by voting “yes” on 1B — continuation of the Worthy Cause tax. Support of 1B will not result in a tax increase, but will continue a tax that has provided capital improvement funding for the past eight years. The Worthy Cause tax — just a penny on a $20 purchase — has allowed new and upgraded facilities providing general health care, mental-health care, dental care, housing, transportation and emergency assistance. I believe that we must assure that human services organizations will maintain the capacity to help those who trust us to provide much-needed help and care.
Please join in the effort to keep Boulder County at the forefront in caring for our most at-risk populations — vote yes on 1B.
Karen Cody Carlson/via Internet
McCain drags us Bushward
In the Sept. 26 debate, John McCain again pointed to his leadership. But what kind of leadership? He admits he has followed Bush’s policies 90 percent of the time. Do we want four years of McCain rearranging the deck chairs on Bush’s Titanic?
Barack Obama’s rise to success is an example of what is right with America. And he is respected by the world’s leaders, whose support we need to help protect us against terrorism. Obama’s good judgment and Joe Biden’s experience are a powerful combination. McCain hopes that smearing Obama’s leadership will appeal to us. Yet he is vague about the details of his own leadership, since those details would point back to Bush’s policies. McCain’s many lobbyist advisers would eagerly favor continuing in that direction. That would make Mr. Bush, one of McCain’s biggest supporters, happy.
Now yet another Wall Street economic upheaval is demonstrating the danger of poor judgment. We’ve suffered from the Bush/McCain policies.
The GOP has weakened us with economic and foreign-policy failures. Do we want to keep going in that direction?
Obama can lead us forward; McCain would drag us Bushward.
Doug Long/Rio Rancho, N.M.
Serving the wealthy
It’s becoming painful to see just how polarized we are in this country. If half of us are blind and cannot see, what’s to be said for the other half, who will not see? John McCain could have picked a tree as a running mate and many would have been defending its “honor” before either side knew a single fact about it. Does that suggest where some people who actually vote have their heads?
Too many of us have never met a conservative politician they did not like. But how do we get them to understand that a conservative is out to conserve but one thing: the wealth of a narrow minority.
Bring back the silent majority, only this time let it be informed, rational and thoughtful.
Gregory Iwan/Longmont
Gandhi and vegetarianism
Mohandas Gandhi was the most effective proponent of nonviolence ever to live. His birthday, Oct. 2, is commemorated both as International Day of Nonviolence and as World Farm Animals Day.
Gandhi campaigned to end poverty, expand women’s rights, encourage self-reliance, and promote peace and respect for all living beings. He believed that “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” He wrote The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and advocated a meatless diet for spiritual, health and economic reasons.
In celebration of Gandhi’s life and his merciful views, please consider adopting a vegetarian diet — at least for one day. For more ideas on how you can help animals and humans, visit www.PETA.org or read Ingrid E. Newkirk’s inspirational new book, One Can Make a Difference.
Heather Moore, PETA/Norfolk, Va.
The bailout is a bad idea
My investment advisor sent me a letter decrying the lack of a bailout and the admonishment that the four most lethal words in investing are, “It’s different this time.” Well, as much as I admire this man and value his advice, on this occasion I must emphatically disagree. The bailout is a very bad idea, and it is different this time.
It is different because the fundamental essence of this country is under attack as never before. That fundamental essence is freedom, and never before have both political parties and virtually all significant elements of our country from media to business to academia been so thoroughly and completely arrayed against the individual.
Be it a government bailout of businesses feeding at the government trough, or the thousands of programs taking your money and mine to be doled out to lord knows who, or the tens of thousands of restrictions on how you live your life, your natural right to life, liberty and your pursuit of happiness is at risk as it never has been before.
What my investment advisor friend doesn’t understand is that freedom must come first if we are to have any of the other benefits of life. Because it is the guarantee of freedom and the right to the fruits of each person’s labor that provides the fundamental foundation underlying the prosperity we enjoy. Without it, it is only a matter of time before there won’t be anything left with which to bail anybody out.
Russell W. Shurts/Centennial
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
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