Letters to the editor, April 1

Double check before forming political opinions

I just received yet another in what seems to be an interminable line of anti-Obama emails - this one regarding something supposedly hidden in the health care bill. This was only one among so many others, many of which are either over-the-top wrong or simply contain various bits of misinformation.

I seem to be surrounded by rabid Obama-haters who apparently have nothing better to do with their time than to forward these ridiculous bits of rubbish on without bothering to take the time to see if they are indeed true.

Do they know the information is false and simply do not care as long as it furthers their political agenda? Or are they actually being sucked into this hype and mistakenly think they are helpfully trying to enlighten me, poor misdirected soul that I am?

You are entitled to your own political opinion, but for cryin' out loud, please double check the truth of these things when you receive them and/or before forwarding them on. There are various websites which will, for those actually seeking truth, shed light on the veracity of all the flotsam and jetsam floating out there in cyberspace.

Regardless on which side you position yourself, scaring people with half-truths or complete fiction does little to advance responsible public discourse.

Linda Hoxsie

Carson City

Teach the hunters a lesson: Put them in a trap

Regarding the article on the Nevada mustang killers: How about someone put these two hunters in leg traps, leave them to suffer and see what they'd say. And, if they're lucky, maybe that someone might bother to come back to check the trap. It would be a hard lesson for these hunters to learn - to actually feel the excruciating pain these traps cause.

Not long ago, wild-horse trappers used another method to trap: On one end of a rope they'd tie a car tire; on the other end of the rope they'd make a sliding loop.

Horses, like most wild animals, follow existing trails, feeling they're safe to use as other animals use them as well. The loop end was placed on the actual trail, covered with dirt and left, the tire being out of sight. A horse coming down the trail would unsuspectingly place his foot in the loop and the loop tightened around the leg as he continued to walk on.

The horse would panic and run off, dragging the tire behind him; the trappers knew the tire would eventually get caught up in a bush or tree, literally tying the horse to it.

Many horses died a horrible death from starvation or lack of water because these mighty hunters often would not even bother to go back to check if a horse was caught. Why? They wanted them dead anyway so what did they care?

Bonnie Matton, President

Wild Horse Preservation League

Georgia native has way to lower unemployment

Nevada, you can lower your unemployment rate down to 5 percent within one or two years following the implementation of an E-verify system that requires all present and future employees and renters of any dwelling be cleared through it along with laws that call for a mandatory sentence of 30 days in jail for a first-time offense for anyone found guilty of knowingly hiring or renting a home to an undocumented immigrant.

This bill would help to free up about 200,000 service industry jobs for legal Nevada residents, and it does not punish undocumented immigrants, but rather the people who use them and that force a huge tax bill of about $600 million to $800 million a year upon the legal citizens of Nevada.

Nevada can also vastly improve upon its tourist trade by legalizing marijuana for speakeasies only, where a designated driver must be present for groups or money set aside for a cab to take the tourists or patrons where they would like to go.

Speakeasies should be allowed to serve food and drink, but no alcohol or marijuana should be allowed to leave the establishment. This was done with great success in the past - 1920s - and there was no threat to society posed by the patrons of speakeasies, but to the contrary.

Marijuana does not bring out violence in people, just giddiness and the desire to eat.

James R. Parker

Euharlee, Ga.

Paul supporters hijacking convention, again

Who people vote for in this presidential race is their own choice. However, when a certain candidate tries to deceive, lie and stack the deck of delegates in their favor, that has crossed the line and really says what kind of people they are.

Recently the GOP caucus voted on and approved proportional voting to select delegates to the state convention.

At the recent GOP county convention, the Ron Paul people wanted to change the already-approved rules of proportional voting, representative cross-section of each precinct, and only allow one person per precinct to represent that precinct at the state convention. There was a heated discussion, and the convention voted overwhelmingly not to change the rules that were approved at the caucus.

What happened next was alarming: Paul's group received the fewest votes, and only has 11 delegates to the convention. However, after checking who was to represent a voting delegate for each candidate, it was discovered that Paul people signed up to support other candidates, so they could become a voting delegate at the state convention.

Who do you think they will vote for? The candidate they were supposed to support or Paul?

We have verified that the Clark, Washoe and Douglas county conventions were hijacked by Paul supporters who will send a majority of Paul supporters to the state convention.

This is 2008 all over again, a hijacking of a convention by Ron Paul supporters.

Bob Widmar

Carson City