Sisters don t need inquisition
4/24/2009In regard to Bishop Leonard Blair s appointment to head the inquiry into the Leadership Conference of Women Religious: I am stunned that the Pope has decided someone needs to conduct what looks like a thinly disguised witch hunt with this religious leadership organization.
One would think the church would direct its energies to something positive for those who have consecrated their adult lives to the church. Of all the issues that are out there, and I won t belabor the one that continues to make headlines and cost the church an awful lot of money, surely there is something more worthy of time and energy than this. I took a little time to read the Web site and history of this group, and I didn t see anything remotely close to the issues cited in the article.
Did you ever wonder what would happen if Jesus could return to the world and stay just 24 hours? I wonder what He would think of this inquiry. If the New Testament is any indication of what would happen, heaven help the College of Cardinals.
In the meantime, I d encourage those of you who read this letter and believe the sisters deserve support and not some kind of inquisition to do what I m doing: speak out.
Karen S. Wikoff
Cheltenham Road
After all, Obamas gave to pet group
I am totally sick of people bashing President Obama for getting a Portuguese water dog for his girls. What part of allergic do they not understand? Do they actually expect him to make his daughter sick just to satisfy their belief that he should have gotten a shelter dog? They are obviously unaware of the difficulties of being allergic to a pet, as well as how very few animals there are that are hypoallergenic. They have also forgotten, or ignored, the large contribution the Obama family made to the Humane Society.
These must be the same people who were bashing the President over his choice of pizza restaurants.
Janice E. Taylor
Temperance
Double dipping is legal, but immoral
I agree with a recent letter from the writer in Archbold who said double dipping may not be illegal but it is immoral.
Mayor Finkbeiner has said he wants to be fair about layoffs and the economy in Toledo, but he allows double dipping in his administration and so does Lucas County, both at the taxpayers expense. Carty s chief of staff, the county sheriff, judges, teachers, and probably many more are putting themselves first in this recession.
While double dippers are getting paid twice (wages and pension), many are losing their jobs. Carty s idea of fairness and mine certainly differ. What say you?
Sharon Patterson
Maumee
Mayor is right on indictment issue
It s not often that I find myself in agreement with Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. However, in reading the mayor s comments about the integrity of Sheriff James Telb, I couldn t agree more.
An indictment is rather easy to obtain; after all, the grand jury only hears one side of a story. Who was it that said a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich ?
Dave Dillon
Swanton
Wake up, lest U.S. become USSA
Columnist Mike Sigov had a terrible life under the communist rule in the Soviet Union. He doesn t, however, seem to understand the difference between communism and socialism.
Under communism, the rulers killed people to get their way. Under socialism they use subterfuge, chicanery, deceit, fraud, dependency, and taking over industries. Does any of this sound familiar? This current bunch in Washington are taking us in that direction.
Unless Americans wake up and take their country back, this will become the USSA United Socialist States of America.
Gene Reebel
Temperance
Carty, Telb are two peas in a pod
If it s true that misery enjoys company, then recently indicted Sheriff James Telb must be very happy to be receiving the unconditional support of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.
It seems only natural that the most incompetent sheriff in the history of Lucas County should be supported by the most incompetent mayor in the history of Toledo.
A list in The Blade of the many missteps, foul ups, and outright criminal activity that have taken place at the county jail while under Sheriff Telb s watch makes Carty s dismal track record almost sound acceptable (almost).
Our double-dipping sheriff could be the poster boy for everything that is wrong with our county government. It should be illegal for elected county officials to retire one day, then be rehired the next in order to collect a second pension.
Maybe Carty is hoping to run for sheriff once Mr. Telb finally succumbs to public pressure to resign. That way, he can start working on building his own county pension once he is forced to resign as mayor of Toledo later this year.
If misery enjoys company, then these two good old boys deserve each other.
Mike McMahon
Robinwood Avenue
Yes, we suffer under such taxes
I looked at the federal and state taxes ($855,000 and $78,000) paid by President Obama and considered the average American income at $45,000.
It is no wonder our nation is suffering an economic crisis. Taking into consideration that President Obama is only one of the many millionaires out there and just using his tax calculations alone, it would take the average middle class family about 20 years to gross what they might pay in taxes in just this one year alone.
With such a financial unbalance in our system, as with in any part of the world, I have to wonder if we are really worried about saving our nation and the people who live in it, or have we lost the value and integrity of the United States of America to corporate America for good.
Janet Mohamed
North Haven Avenue
The food industry is not to blame
In regard to the letter, Put animals back out to pasture, the author blames agriculture and our food industries for creating an obesity epidemic in America.
I dispute this claim because supermarkets carry a wide array of fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat yet it s left to the consumers personal choice what they purchase for their children. We also have a lot of children living sedentary lifestyles.
Society s ills cannot be blamed on the agriculture sector. The United States is the chief exporter of foods to countries; we ve developed the most economical way to feed the world while the cost to farm has risen sharply over the years.
There are 26,000 grain farmers in Ohio alone. We are not a factory farm nation, a term that is widely overused and is not correct. Farmers feed the same food that they grow to their children. It s time for parents to make the better choices in the grocery aisle.
Paul Herringshaw
Bowling Green
Talk of secession is no gray matter
It wasn t very long ago we all heard the rightwingers saying, If you re not with us, you re with the terrorists. No gray area there.
Now we have the Republican governor of Texas talking about secession from the United States. No gray matter there.
Bill Pieper
Oregon