Letters to the Editor: June 25, 2006

The Naples Daily News welcomes letters of up to 250 words. We reserve the right to reject letters or edit for clarity, brevity, good taste and accuracy, and to prevent libel. No poetry, attacks on private individuals, or letter-writing campaigns, please. Writers should limit submissions to one letter every two weeks. Include a phone number and make certain you have signed your letter. Letters can also be submitted via e-mail at letters@naplesnews.com.

Letter of the Day: An unfiltered tip

Editor, Daily News:

I have to vent — pardon the pun — about cigarettes.

I could care less who smokes and where. However, I am tired of seeing people throwing their butts on the ground, on the beach or, even worse, in the water.

People do not visit Naples for the traffic, the reasonable housing prices or the short waits for seasonal dining.

They come here for the elegant and pure beauty of this special place.

So smokers, please don't be a "butthead." You already get chastised enough, right?

— Amy Becker / Naples

Unmuzzle the masses

Editor, Daily News:

The conservative radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish got it exactly right when he said in his best-selling book "Muzzled": "There was a time when telling an inappropriate joke might get you slapped. Today it gets you fired and sued. We want everybody happy. Everybody equal. Everybody looking, acting and talking the same, and those who dare to be different will be damned."

This "political correctness" craziness that seeks to reduce us all to a bunch of mindless cattle is compensated for to some extent by sexual excess, drug abuse, drunkenness and violence against others.

Americans are not a happy bunch in general , regardless of what the media, the government and the rich interests would have us all believe. From TV commercials to the advertising inserts in newspapers, we are all portrayed as giddily happy and contented beyond measure.

Everybody's smiling. Always smiling — with teeth as white as snow. We lack for nothing. We live in Utopia. It's all a lie. And I think we are a nation that lies to itself more and lies more often than any other nation in history.

And in the end, unless we can start telling the truth for a change — even if it's some very unpleasant and inconvenient truths, such as the fact that we are decidedly not "created equal" or that global warming is a grim reality — unless we can unmuzzle ourselves once and for all, then I think we are doomed as a nation and as a society.

— Kenneth Carson / Naples

Al-Qaida is winning

Editor, Daily News:

The new book by Ron Suskind has raised the question as to why al-Qaida hasn't attack the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.

To understand the answer it may help to view the U.S. from al-Qaida's perspective.

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq:

• al-Qaida has grown tremendously throughout the world, finding it easy to recruit young people to their concept of jihad.

• The U.S. has brought more troops to the Middle East, providing them the opportunity to kill and maim thousands.

• Billions of U.S. dollars have been squandered in Iraq.

• The U.S. reputation as a moral nation worthy of supper power leadership has been dramatically damaged.

• U.S. troops have been removed from Saudi Arabia.

Things have gone so well that Osama bin Laden himself spoke out to successfully support the re-election of his favorite president, George W. Bush.

I guess the answer to the question of why al-Qaida hasn't attacked the U.S. is straightforward: They haven't attacked since the U.S. is providing everything they want and need.

— Bob Erbstein / Naples

Winners and losers

Editor, Daily News:

Daniel H. Lee, in his letter of June 20, offers us Pascal's Wager.

If he believes in the Christian God and is wrong, he claims he loses nothing. If he is right, he gains eternal life in paradise. If the atheist is right, he loses nothing, but if he is wrong, he suffers for all eternity.

Lee seems to think he wins no matter what, but there are a couple of problems with Pascal's reasoning.

First, what if Lee has chosen the wrong god? There have been many gods throughout human history competing for followers.

It is the height of arrogance (a sin?) to be so sure one has the right one. If Lee wants to be on the winning side, he best worship all possible gods. But unfortunately a couple of them won't allow that. So, he's forced to take his chances. He could be wrong.

Second, the atheist will not have lost anything really if he's wrong because the atheist simply does not believe the stories of gods. If there is a god who will punish gruesomely for all eternity a person who cannot believe that any of the various god stories is true, the atheist can at least say he lived honestly and with respect for reason.

Any god who hides from his children only to torture them for not being able to find him without sacrificing the reason he gave them is not worthy of worship. So the atheist will always be right. If you have to "believe" it's true, it probably isn't.

— Dianna Narciso / Palm Bay

Maximum punishment

Editor, Daily News:

Once again, I was both shocked and dismayed to learn of another case of animal abuse. This one was allegedly perpetrated by Emaus Lansequot when he threw a defenseless orange-and-white kitten against a wall, causing death.

If we are serious about curbing animal abuse, we must make Lansequot's case an example and prosecute him (and all future offenders of this type) to the fullest extent of the law.

Let's hope that the imposition of maximum jail time will strongly encourage others to control their temper rather than harming innocent children or animals.

Finally, it is my firm belief that anyone who could live with himself after witnessing/participating in this type of violence has earned and deserves a similar fate.

— Yale Kellman / Marco Island