Web site has ways to help injured vets

1/1/2008

As a Marine mom, I truly appreciated The Blade's Dec. 21 editorial directing readers on ways to help and encourage soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The editorial was in response to repeated articles telling us about the nondeliverable status of letters sent to "Any Soldier."

If you do not personally know someone currently serving, it is difficult to find a way to help. The Blade was kind enough to direct us to known sources such as the Red Cross and the USO.

May I humbly offer a third option? There is an nonprofit organization called the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org). Its mission is to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured servicemen and women. Its Web site explains a multitude of ways it helps wounded vets, with the public's help.

One project is to send the vet a backpack of essentials that help in their transition to a stateside hospital. When they come from a field hospital to a stateside hospital, they usually have very little in the way of personal-care items. The backpacks are a way to show we care.

Please visit the Web site to see if it is what you are looking for in the form of helping our wounded warriors!

Anna Gartner

Sylvania

No evidence Triplett did anything wrong

I have known Keith Triplett since his days at Bowsher High School. He has always been a stand-out person on the court and off. The disturbing thing about these point-shaving stories is that there is not one shred of evidence against Keith other than that he knew [Ghazi] Manni. Because he knew him, you paste his face on the front page, and that type of publicity will stay with him a long time. You might as well charge me because I know Keith and Keith knows Mr. Manni.

Just remember: Keith is innocent until proven guilty, and I hope once this thing is cleared up, you put his picture on the front page again reporting his innocence instead of printing that information on Page 10 near the bottom.

Steve Harrison

Perrysburg

Supreme Court case important for liberty

Nobody wants a repeat of the terrorist acts that occurred on 9/11. We may all also agree that the government needs the tools necessary to combat terrorism. However, when the Bush Administration seeks to sacrifice fundamental rights that are the foundation of our liberty in the name of the war on terror, then the government has overreached and we all lose.

The U.S. Supreme Court considered arguments recently on whether the Bush Administration may abolish the rights of habeas corpus for the people it decides to lock up at Guantanamo. Enshrined by the Founders in our Constitution, habeas corpus is one of our most basic rights. It is the ability to ask an impartial court to decide whether there is valid reason for one's imprisonment.

America has always stood for liberty and the rule of law. Lately, our citizens act as if these rights have little value. When our government cries "terror" or "drugs," we seem willing to waive our hard-earned freedom. Let's hope the Supreme Court affirms that our nation still stands for these principles. For in the words of New Hampshire's great patriot, the Revolutionary War General John Stark: "Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils."

Paul Duggan

Bryan

False accusation is met by odd silence

Why is there no WASP spokesman spewing hate into a microphone over the fact that an African-American attorney found it convenient to accuse white men of kidnapping her and taking her to Six Flags? Where is the community outrage over this obviously racially motivated falsehood? Why is no one pointing out the separation of the races and how this has to stop for the good of the community?

It's funny how the Rev. Al Sharpton and company shove their way to the microphone when an African-American is falsely accused, yet when the table is turned, everyone is oddly silent on the issue and we quietly pretend we had it coming. Perhaps they should point out that miscarriages of justice extend beyond racial lines.

Besides, everyone knows, if you're going to kidnap somebody, you take them to Disney World.

R.S. Schieb

Sylvania

UT colleges working to prepare leaders

I want to commend the University of Toledo's colleges of business administration and arts and sciences for the steps they are taking to engage the business community in better shaping and preparing our future leaders and work force. I have the great honor and pleasure of serving on the advisory boards for both colleges. I have seen firsthand the steps they are taking to improve the academic and business experience students receive in their respective colleges.

Many agree that Toledo and northwest Ohio must improve competitively in the national and international markets. The leadership and commitment being provided by UT and its colleges with respect to better engaging the business community is a step in the right direction. The University of Toledo "rocket" is moving us to a higher level of performance and excellence, and I am proud to be a member of these advisory committees and support our community.

Steve Weathers

President and CEO

Regional Growth Partnership

Domestic registry is a plus, not a threat

I feel compelled to write after seeing the many negative responses regarding the creation of a domestic partner registry. What is all this talk about needing to protect the institution of marriage between and man and a woman, as if homosexual couples are going to in some way destroy the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman? I wonder just how sacred and protected the institution of marriage is when the divorce rate of heterosexual couples is as high as it is.

As a 30-something professional women in a traditional marriage, I am not worried about my marriage becoming less sacred now that the domestic-partner registry has been created. I see this registry as a plus for the city, and am just fine raising my two young children is a society where diversity is welcomed.

Amy Kleinfelter

Maumee

We can learn much from theologian

I found The Blade's article on the Rev. John Shelby Spong to be an incredible trove of ideas. In an age when President Bush claims he speaks daily with God and many candidates for the office seem to be arguing that they are the most prominent on God's speed dial, it was refreshing to read the opinions of a theologian on what he believes religion is, and what it is not.

I wish that all those running for office, and all those who will elect them, could read what Bishop Spong has to offer.

Christopher T. Werkman

Bowling Green

Simple solution is not to get pregnant

I just had to respond to the letter writer ("Pregnancy choice is uniquely woman's") who argued for pro-choice because pregnancy causes "hormonal and physical changes in the body, dietary restrictions, pain of childbirth," etc., etc.

There are other solutions for you that are very simple and work every time: Don't have sex or take the birth control option.

Bob White

Cincinnati

There is another way we can bring people to downtown Toledo, or any town for that matter. All businesses, individuals, churches, and whoever could each decorate one window downtown for the holidays. The more festive the better. The more themes the better.

This could bring people from far and wide to downtown Toledo annually.

How about it Toledo? We can be like other big cities.

Nancy Snyder

Maumee