MAIL DON’T GO ON I agree with Mr. Paul Thomas who wrote the letter in the March 2-8 edition of Boise Weekly— our schools have become a hotbed of left wing, atheistic, communist indoctrination and Tom Luna’s reform methods will go a long way in stopping that. However, Mr. Thomas’ recommendations to keep our kids out of those centers of left-wing indoctrination—colleges—don’t go far enough. I would like to add that we could save more money and our heritage by limiting education in Idaho to the eighth grade. After all, we don’t need this “humanitarian, scientific” indoctrination of our children. Knowing how to write their names should be enough. And look at the money it would save. No high school. If the left wing commies in this state want a high school education for their kids, let them pay for it separately. Don’t use our tax money. Our children don’t need it. —Pete Simmons, Boise
IN SUPPORT OF LUNA I can’t believe the paper I read every week is so one sided on the Tom Luna issues that have been happening. For one, him being a part of the Bush administration has nothing to do with anything he is doing right now. For people to judge him based on that is pathetic. Second, I am for his bill and everything he has done for education. I would have been so grateful for a laptop when I was in high school, and half the teachers that I had told me they weren’t there for me, they were there for a paycheck. Why not welcome change? Half the people I know from high school have either dropped out or
were completely unprepared to start college. Luna wants to prepare kids in advance to be independent and to know what to do when they get to the college level. The high school “walk out” was also a load of crap. Most of those kids weren’t there because they know about the bill or about Tom Luna, they did it to get out of school for the day. Lastly, saying that he could have vandalized his own property because he was involved in the Bush administration is a load of shit. It was not planned or done by someone he knows, it was done by someone who clearly can’t handle things maturely. —Jocelyn Goldsberry, Boise
GORE PATROL Deanna Darr’s article on wild boars in Idaho was terribly surprising to me (BW, Feature, “Unwelcome Invaders,” Feb. 23, 2011). I’ve worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Southwest Idaho for the last seven summers—often in the field and typically in the Bruneau area—and I’ve never heard a mention of feral pigs. In addition to booby-trapped marijuana gardens, the idea of a sharp tusk in the back of the leg will keep me on guard this summer when I’m out monitoring vegetation. —Micaela Delagarde, Boise
REPS NEED A PAYCUT When I read Ted Rall’s “No Hope or Change” (BW, Opinion, March 2, 2011) it hit a nerve in me. His article on the lack of effort of the president to take a pay cut caused a flash back to when I called Mike Simpson’s office in Twin Falls last week to give my support on financing public radio and television
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and to give my opinion that the state’s senators and representatives should take pay cuts to reflect the real world that we all are living in. Everywhere people are losing their jobs, or if able to keep their jobs, are having to take reduced hours, benefits or pay. In some cases more than one reduction is on the table in order to keep one’s job. So why are we still forking out our hard-earn money on taxes for our “representatives” to keep living the fat life in Washington, D.C.? What made Ted Rall’s article more disturbing is the argument I received from Simpson’s Twin Falls staff who took my phone call, claiming that Simpson “works too hard to take a pay cut” and asked me did I “have any idea how expensive it was to maintain two households required by his office,” and did I “have any idea how expensive living in Washington, D.C., was?” It showed me just how out of touch and arrogant our “representatives” are. My wife and I work damn hard for our income and have taken pay cuts and hour cuts to keep our jobs. Even though we are not upside down on our house it becomes harder for us to make the monthly payments. We can barely afford health insurance and we are two healthy, fit individuals. Yet our fat cat arrogant “representatives” find themselves too important to sink to the people’s level and take a pay decrease. Let’s take away their subsidized health insurance, insist on pay cuts and eliminate benefits, such as flying first class, expensive living accommodations and extended paid vacations just for starters. When did it change from a privilege to a right for our “representatives” to live the level they live off of our hard earned tax paying incomes? —Eric Allen, Bellevue Visit boiseweekly.com for more letters to the editor. WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M