LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Shades Of H.G. Wells

Methinks Patrick Miketinac has to set the dial in his time machine to 2008 and come to visit us here in the real world. No matter how much you wring your hands or pull at your silver locks, we aren't anytime soon going back on the gold standard. Let's be realistic. I never said we could drill our way out of this, though I'm pretty sure we "not-drilled" our way into it. What would the Middle East look like today had we not been pouring our national wealth in their pockets for more than 30 years? Did you ever see "Lawrence of Arabia?" Now that's nostalgia!

I'm all for conservation. My car gets an average 35 mpg. I rarely, if ever, drive much over 55 mph and my house was built to withstand 140 mph winds. But let's talk about conservation. What's an achievable goal in the short term - 3 maybe 4 percent in the first year (without factoring in inflation)? Let's be ambitious - say it's 10 percent. We're still exporting $630 billion (that's billion with a B) a year in today's dollars directly into the pockets of who would sooner see you converted to Islam or better yet dead! We might as well relocate the U.S. Mint to Saudi Arabia and save the shipping and handling fees. Europe has been conservative in energy consumption for many years, mainly due to taxes affecting price; but is the economy there much better than here? Are they on the gold standard?

You can spend the next 10 years "if-onlying" about what we should have done in 1973. Fact is we didn't. You're right, we didn't because oil prices plummeted right after the embargo, and it was cheaper to import it than to drill. But that was then and this is now. My greatest fear is that it might happen again. Besides, the question of national security wasn't rearing its ugly head. And you know, that's what corporations do in our free enterprise system, strive to maximize profits. You'll probably file that under "corporate greed" and I'm not so sure I'd disagree with you.

Which brings us to how do we pay for exploration? Well, how about tapping into that corporate greed? Revoke all oil leases and revoke all subsidies. Mandate that all new leases come with a stipulated alternative energy investment from profits. "Big Oil" is currently buying back stock, paying dividends and awarding executive bonuses at a dizzying pace, with a pitifully small investment in alternatives. If "Big Oil" won't do it, then I guarantee small companies will jump at the chance. But, as I've said before, don't wait for the proverbial "Act of Congress."

But, truth be told, I'm not fooled by blathering definitions of the causes of inflation. You are one of those enviro-Democrats who would rather see my beloved U.S. go to hell in a hand basket than see a drill-bit touch our soil, and continue to blame Bush for all the world's ills. It's time to face facts. Ron Paul has about the same chance to being elected king as he does president. There's nothing wrong with our government that term limitations and a line item veto wouldn't go a long way towards curing. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Tom Cannariato

Weeki Wachee

Road Needs Inspection

Editor's note: This letter was sent to Hernando County Administrator David Hamilton and is reprinted here at the author's request.

For several years, the pavement at Spring Hill Drive and Deltona Boulevard has needed repairs. Deltona Boulevard was recently repaved but ended before the intersection. Not only is this area a hazard but could also cause repairs to vehicles.

This detracts from the beauty of our county. Can you have someone inspect and refinish the road bed?

Burton Weinhold

Spring Hill

Mistakes Or Incompetence?

Election officials like Annie Williams are what give Florida elections a bad name. First, she blames the printer, then doesn't understand the one sentence statute that applies to alphabetizing of ballots, and then she tries to get Michael Burman to waive his rights to contest the election. Finally, Ms. Williams comes forward and says she made a mistake.

Mistakes - taxpayers might understand a mistake - but incompetence and a complacent attitude this taxpayer does not understand. Sounds like it is time for a change in the Supervisor of Elections office.

Ron Townsley

Brooksville

We Need To Know

It's always wonderful when we find someone actually reads our blogs. Unfortunately the satire on mine got lost somewhere. No, I was not comparing Obama or McCain with Hitler, but I was questioning the slovenly method in which we choose a president and someday we could easily put a man or woman in that important seat and find we have made a large mistake.

Of course, Congress could boot him out if they wanted, but who are they?

Especially, I would like to know all about the persons applying for these great responsible jobs. Not this bull we get in politics, but how about a simple intelligent test for brains? (80 or 140?) And tests such as we give every military pilot. These really go deep for flaws in character, and we need to know those!

I also want to know exactly where they will stand on all our important issues before the primary and why. Where are their investments? Are they big oil, bio fuels, power companies or what?

Let's search deep down in character of where the prospect stands, is this a patriot or a future skunk? We must protect our Constitution.

Forget the privacy concerns. We need to know now.

Earle Perkins

Brooksville