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Published: August 5, 2008
Updated: 08/05/2008 12:10 am
We have vast reserves of oil and natural gas offshore, in the Midwest and Alaska. I believe that we can bring these to market in five years or less. This will give us time to develop new sources of energy production.
Wind and solar are not yet viable. At best, wind can only produce 30 percent of the time and solar only works while the sun is shining. The rest of the time power will have to be supplied by coal or natural gas-fired power plants. These plants must run all the time because you can't ramp these up quickly. Gasoline is all we have for now.
If a workable plug-in electric car were invented tomorrow, we would be hard pressed to use it because we don't have the excess power capacity to charge it. The fuel-cell-powered car is too expensive to be affordable to the masses. I hope we can find a viable alternative to fossil fuels, but that is all we have at this time. Without it we would revert to an 1800s lifestyle. Back then, lamps were fueled by whale oil, and homes were heated by wood or coal stoves.
ROBERT W. RYAN
Winston-Salem
Bad Things?
I have been a bit confused about some issues recently, but sometimes people my age, 70, and older might get more confused than we did when were younger. However, there just seems to be no logical explanation for these questions, concerning criticism of Sen. Barack Obama, that have been confusing me.
Why is it a bad thing to appear presidential if you are trying to be president?
Why is it a bad thing to meet with foreign leaders and to be popular with people in other countries if there is a chance you will be president? Why is it a bad thing that large crowds want to hear what you have to say?
Why is it a bad thing to be able to make excellent speeches, make complete sentences and pronounce simple but important words like "nuclear"?
I doubt that a coach would tell his team before a game to go out and play like losers.
It is very possible that we have forgotten, because of the past eight years, that looking, acting and speaking like a president are important for our president and for America.
CYNTHIA GOUGH NANCE
Clemmons
Hanesbrands
Reading the letter "Outsourced" (July 22) reminded me of the lyric "you don't know what you've got, 'til it's gone." The letter writer was sickened by the fact that Hanesbrands Inc. does not employ the same type of local worker as did the original Hanes Corp.
Does the letter writer prefer the path of Piedmont Airlines, McLean Trucking, or Integon, which have no corporate presence left in Winston-Salem?
Imagine if Hanesbrands were located elsewhere and we did not have the 3,400 jobs, the substantial tax basis, the support for the arts, and the new flagship store at Thruway. Many localities would pay huge (tax-financed) incentives to entice Hanesbrands to relocate.
Let's be thankful that it is here already, paying taxes, employing people and supporting the community.
ROBERT L. WATSON
Advance
New Jim Crow
The U.S. House of Representatives apologized for past "Jim Crow" segregation laws recently ("House apologizes for wrongs of slavery and Jim Crow," July 30). Unfortunately, such laws to keep people of color from voting are not dead, they have only changed form.
Now drug prohibition is being used as the new Jim Crow tactic. "Illicit" drugs are used by about 10 percent of U.S. adults, independent of race, yet blacks and Hispanics are jailed far more frequently than whites for drug offenses. When large numbers of blacks and Hispanics are made into felons, elections are affected because in many states, ex-felons cannot vote. The next time you hear that Jim Crow is dead, just say no.
JAMES STEWART CAMPBELL
Pfafftown
Obama Criticism
Sen. John McCain challenged Sen. Barack Obama to go to Iraq and see for himself, first-hand, what was going on there. So he did. So McCain's supporters were upset that he received media attention for accepting McCain's challenge? Poor babies!
In the meantime, McCain visited Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Yeah, that's newsworthy. Let's get Walter Cronkite out of retirement for this one.
Obama is also being criticized for not visiting hospitalized soldiers in Germany. Honestly, if he had, does anyone doubt that he would then have been accused of "politicizing" his concern for our troops?
The people who are claiming media bias are biased themselves, and they're picking every nit against Obama that they can. For all their claims of "no substance," their criticism has even less. What a bunch of whiners!
What's the real problem here? Is it simply that somebody dared run for election against their precious Republican candidate? Or is something deeper, darker at work?
Actually, Obama could not hope for a more gracious opponent than McCain. It's a shame that his supporters can't follow his example.
MEL H. HENDERSON
Winston-Salem
Concerned
I am a 17-year-old senior at Reagan High School who is concerned with the people who represent us in Congress. Everyone knows the economy is in a slump; everyone except for Rep. Virginia Foxx. According to the North Carolina News Network, she claims that there is no financial crisis and is proud that North Carolina banks have stayed with a "conservative way of doing business."
Recently Wachovia Corp., founded in Winston-Salem, recorded quarterly losses of $8.9 billion, and up to 10,750 jobs may be cut. Do we really want a person to represent us who isn't in touch with her state's economic downturn? If I were 18, I would be voting for Roy Carter on Nov. 4 to represent the 5th District of North Carolina. Roy Carter, who believes people come before politics, is in touch with the people and their problems. Roy Carter is willing to do whatever it takes to help us.
LAUREN HOVIS
Pfafftown
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