The Week’s not weak
The expanded writing of The Week section is a welcome change for the C-VILLE Weekly [February 7]. In my issue, the numbering of the pages was omitted starting with page 8 and not resuming until page 16. Was this intentional?
I hope this change meets a favorable response with readers and advertisers, and you have my best wishes.
Gary Westmoreland
Schuyler
Mass appeal
Once again, you’ve proven that the last politically correct bias in Left America is anti-Catholicism. I refer to Andy Singer’s “No Exit” cartoon in your January 31 issue, titled “Our diverse Supreme Court.” The drawing depicted the nine justices, with five of them wearing the headgear of Catholic bishops, and the last (presumably Sam Alito) saying, “Ave Maria!”
I guess you thought this was funny, or fair commentary, since you printed it. Would you have printed a cartoon objecting to the seating of six Protestants, or five Jews, or four Muslims on the Supreme Court? I doubt it. Would you have ridiculed a lack of diversity in the NBA, where about 75 percent of the players are black? Is there a quota on the number of Catholics allowed on the Supreme Court, or in the U.S. Senate? If so, what is the quota for gays, women, atheists, or vegetarians?
In Left America, it’s safe to pick on Catholics. Tell your cartoonist, though, that considering what is happening over a cartoon printed in Denmark, that he should forget any ideas about poking fun at Muslims and their religion.
J.P. Gannon
Charlottesville
The new power generation
Elena Day’s letter [“No nukes is good nukes,” Mailbag, February 14] focuses on distractions and misses the point. She voices concern about increasing numbers of dry casks on the shores of Central Virginia’s “premier” recreational lake. The facts are: The dry casks are not visible from the lake, are more than a quarter mile from the shore within a highly secured facility, and are of no consequence to the recreational user.
She speaks of ionizing radiation, “the harmful effects of which, even at very low levels, cannot be disputed.” The fact is the benefits of nuclear technology contribute to everyone’s quality of life. Smoke detectors save lives every year, using small amounts of radioactive material in their detection chambers. Routine dental X-rays are a vital part of maintaining dental health. Don’t forget the lives saved from breast cancer thanks to annual mammograms. The enormous benefits of nuclear technology in the United States outweigh the minuscule risks. We can make informed choices about this country’s energy supply based on real facts instead of emotional reactions to nuclear power in this country.
Distractions aside, two very real benefits of baseload nuclear power generation—which wind, solar, and conservation are not likely to fully replace—are the economic stability and security that nuclear power provides. But after 30 years of anti-nuclear hysteria and environmentalist obstructionism, we still have only two viable baseload generation alternatives to nuclear power, both of which are carbon-based. We can build more natural gas power plants in the United States, where natural gas demand has already outpaced supply. This approach requires imports of liquefied natural gas, thereby outsourcing the economic stability and security of our energy infrastructure to the whims of countries like Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Or, we can build coal power plants and bring more coal in from West Virginia, while attempting to deal with the impacts of coal mining and thousands of tons of pollutants emitted into the air daily.
Instead, I see an even better “premier” ahead for Lake Anna: the Virginia debut of the next generation of nuclear power, right next to two of the safest, cleanest and most economic nuclear power units in the country.
Delbert Horn
Goochland