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Recognized and complimented

As an ex-town board member, I remember how I criticized people who complained about a problem but never returned a compliment when the problem was corrected.

So, I am writing to thank our public officials who corrected the problem of traffic control at the intersections of Highway 160 and Winery Road.

It is such a pleasure to approach this intersection now with the traffic light in operation and the added turn lanes.

Thank you.

Also, the blinking red lights at important intersection will certainly reduce the accidents at those places.

We are fortunate to have public officials who listen to the people and make corrections.

CHARLES SUMPTER

Taxpayer slavery

I have watched the recent activities of our federal government with shock and dismay.

How are we to enjoy any liberty if we are forced to be slaves to the largest corporations in the USA? Slavery in America ended many years ago, only to be brought back in 2008, in a more deceitful way.

You, your children, and maybe even your grandchildren, will go to work, not for their own families, but to pay the trillion-dollar debt our own government has placed on our necks. These corporations reaped the rewards for many years, but taxpayers have to pay their bills.

Who will pay our bills when gas prices soar and our own power company asks for rate increases. Shall we tell our children, "Sorry, but you've been born into slavery to the mighty corporations"?

Give me liberty or give me death indeed.

The government scares us into allowing things like the inappropriately named Patriot Act. We let them suspend habeas corpus, and now we endure a national debt of over $10 trillion. Is this the country that millions have died for in order to protect the freedom we now only remember?

The United States of America is being destroyed from within by greed of unimaginable proportions and we are all too busy working hard to try and pay our bills to notice or, for that matter, do anything about it.

Some of the corporations we have become indentured to gave out billions of dollars of bonuses to their employees as recent as 2007. I say we force these folks to pay the government all of that bonus money and make sure any bonuses in the future be paid towards their massive debt to you and me.

If we are going to nationalize failing corporations at a cost of a trillion dollars to the taxpayers, why not nationalize a couple of corporations that are making a killing so we can make some profit for a change. Exxon Mobil comes to mind.

Don't get me wrong, I am not for the nationalization of any company, but as long as we are at it, we might as well grab a couple that will make us the largest profit in the history of mankind.

This crisis will require actions that neither presidential candidate will be willing to take.

Our government has become so corrupt that it should be completely replaced. Every congressman and, yes, every government employee down to our local mail persons should be fired and replaced. Laws should be passed that include the harshest of penalties for people whose greed puts our nation on the brink of a depression.

A person that robs a store and kills the clerk does less damage than the corporate heads of AIG, but he gets the death penalty. I say hang them and the regulators that did not do their job.

Did anyone even lose their job over this debacle?

I know you don't have much extra time, but please send e-mails, write letters or make phone calls to our sorry, pathetic, inept, so-called leaders and shout your anger till they listen.

SCOTT BABB

The true bull market

I finally understand the bull market -- taxes paid by America's poor to middle-class people so rich CEOs, scam companies and Wall Street can continue to make foolish gambles at their expense.

And by middle class, I certainly don't mean people who make $150,000-plus a year. I mean me and most Americans, living on under $40,000 a year. I feel I have now forcibly invested in the bull market at gunpoint.

I watch the news and my stomach turns. The presidential candidates, financial advisors, Wall Street big wigs, politicians, CEOs and all these millionaires and billionaires with huge amounts of money in their own pockets talk about nothing else than the corruption and scams perpetrated on the American people in the mortgage crisis and the companies and banks that let it happen.

The truth is they are the scam. It's fraud at the greatest level and they let it go on legally.

The ones doing the talking are the same people who profited at our expense, still received the payoffs to their huge personal bank accounts and who continue to scam us with bailouts.

These people cannot begin to fathom the day-to-day lives of people like you and me who live paycheck to paycheck and hope we don't get struck down to bankruptcy by a simple medical ailment -- nor do they care.

We budget, scrimp and pray that we'll be able to pay for our mortgage, fuel costs, food, electric and basic necessities while they plan their next worldwide vacation or buy another vacation home in the Bahamas. We worry about having one home to live in and they worry about which of their homes they will vacation in next.

There is no comparison here at all, and they have absolutely no understanding of how we live nor do they care.

I have the perfect solution to the mortgage crisis. The news speaks of the trillion-dollar bailout for these companies all paid for by taxpayer money.

Bailout is another word for bull. If the government wants to help the American people, then take that trillion dollars and bail out the American people -- pay off our mortgages. Pay off the mortgages for American workers who make under $60,000. It's a perfect solution for the problem.

The economy would jump up immediately. We would all be mortgage free and be able to afford gas to go back and forth to work and pay our electric bills without scrimping. We would eat out, shop a little and go to an occasional movie. We would feed that extra money from our mortgage payment right back into the economy.

I hear all this talk about helping Americans through the mortgage crisis with foreclosure specialists and counselors. That, too, is a farce.

I am not in crisis, but I found that due to the new changes in mortgage laws, I can no longer count my type of income or base refinancing just on my 850 credit rating. If someone like me, with excellent credit, can no longer refinance their home, then the majority of poor to middle-class Americans are in worse shape than you ever thought.

And why are we bailing these banks and companies out?

If a small business makes bad decisions, then tough luck; but if you are lucky enough to be connected with Washington or Wall Street, then no problem. Just hold out your hand and the American people will dig into their empty pockets and pay, pay, pay until they lose their homes, vehicles and everything while America's rich CEOs laugh all the way to the bank.

The punishment for scam and fraud, or just very poor decision-making and gambles, is you lose. Let them lose. Let the companies go broke and the CEOs lose their homes and cars.

That's not going to happen though. We are all going to dig into our already empty tax pockets and pay, pay, pay until we lose our homes and cars, so those rich CEOs can continue to live in luxury.

VALERIE SWEET TOUCHSTONE

Regarding Mr. Crooks

I actually agree with your first two paragraphs, however, as far as the rest of your rant is concerned, I really have to wonder what planet you've been living on for the last eight years.

President Bush has been a complete and total disaster for our country.

When you talk about fallen heroes, try to remember, this war in Iraq is not about 9/11 and we are not safe. Bin Laden is still very much a threat, and the last I heard, is still somewhere in the Afghanistan region.

The Bush administration has created the dire problems we are having in this country and around the world.

How can anyone call himself a Christian and order innocent women to fight and die in a war based on lies?

Who benefits from this war -- big oil companies, George Bush and Dick Cheney?

I can tell you right now it's not you or me, our kids or our grand kids. The proof of that is in the news every day where we watch the economy plunge, gas prices soar and still view the shame of our government's response to Katrina victims and their ongoing misery.

Mr. Crooks, if you have lived nearly 80 years, you have seen enough to know that the most radical changes run right to left, not left to right.

This is America, not some Third World country. Our greatest achievement is that we are all equal.

That being the case, I really have to wonder at why you would think that in our great country only the privileged deserve medical care, education and equal taxation.

If yours is the only answer; I say thanks, but no thanks.

ERNIE BEARSS

Invasion of privacy

I have a gripe to share.

Last night at approximately 8:10 p.m. my phone rang. I was concentrating on a task in the kitchen when this happened. When I answered, a man asked me whether I was the head of the household.

I recognized the beginning of either a sales pitch, a request for money or someone wishing to debate on some political issue or candidate.

I stated that I did not have time for this type of call and the man said, "go to hell" and hung up. I was highly offended.

My phone is registered on the 'do not call list' so I am not supposed to receive this type of call. What gives such a person the right to invade my privacy without permission and then verbally abuse me when I object?

His cell number, 775-293-4515 came up on my caller ID but of course, his name was concealed with a designation of "unknown caller."

Why do you suppose he can protect his identity by hiding his name but I cannot choose not to talk to him without his abuse?

I do not believe that government is doing enough to protect its citizens from these types of incidents. These calls are of no benefit to me and my having purchased phone service should not entitle such people to interrupt me at their convenience and my inconvenience.

Thank you for allowing me to ventilate.

SHIRLEY L. FANNIN

Laws to protect the innocent

Hello? Is Sandra Darby not understanding the world around her?

"Parents should be more responsible," she says.

Wow, I'm sure that will really have folks slow down. I am responsible. My wife or I go every day to the bus stop with our child. Our child stays back from the road. We've even educated them to look both ways before crossing the street.

But vehicles still don't slow down. I've called the sheriff's department, not once, twice -- more than enough. I've even called my home owner's association.

Does she think that just because she's doing the right thing, everyone is? I haven't killed anybody, so why do we need laws against murder? I don't speed, so why are speed limit signs posted?

I've spent 22 years in law enforcement; I know when someone is exceeding the posted 35 mph speed limit.

But maybe she's right. Maybe I can take more responsibility. I'll buy one of those spike strips, so when I see a speeding vehicle, I'll pull it across the road to disable the vehicle -- or have a bat with me and hit the speeding vehicles as they fly by.

Laws aren't designed to "punish law-abiding people." They are designed to protect the innocent and punish the wrong. Is not lowering the speed limit during certain times in school zones and bus pick up/drop off areas a good thing to protect children?

It's very obvious that not all "law-abiding people" are all that law abiding.

Darby says, "Accidents at bus stops and elsewhere will continue to happen despite more laws and more police ..."

It's that kind of pacifist attitude why we continue to have problems. Maybe it's just easier if some "irresponsible" parent has their child killed by a speeding driver so you can say, "See, I told you so." Well, not me lady. I will take a proactive attitude and action to do something about it.

Ms. Darby, why don't you meet me on Hafen Ranch Road around 6:15 a.m. one day and together we'll count the number of speeding and reckless drivers we see, then we'll call the NCSO together and see what their solution is.

After that, you and I will develop training for parents to make them "more responsible for the behavior of their children." Together, we'll train these irresponsible parents free as part of community service.

Personally, I don't care if people want to drive like nuts or fast or whatever, heck, don't even wear your seat belt while you're at it. Just don't do it where children are.

Last question, Ms. Darby: Besides telling my children to "tuck, drop and roll," how do I educate them when a reckless, speeding driver who's talking on their cell phone or not paying attention, loses control of their vehicle and swerves into a group of children?

KENTON J. PALERIOS

We thank you and need your help

We write this letter with a fourfold mission:

1. We want to publicly thank the men and women of the Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Nevada Highway Patrol, all other agencies who contacted and assisted us, and of course our brothers and sisters of the Nye County Sheriff's Office. We appreciate the assistance and support during this time of need.

2. We want to publicly thank the Sheriff and administration of the Nye County Sheriff's Office. We are grateful for the training we have received prior to this incident and for the outpouring of much needed support after this incident.

3. We want to publicly thank the residents of Terrible's Lakeside RV Park, who were so vigilant in reporting to 911 as the events took place that frightful night. There was an enormous quantity of phone calls providing vital information to dispatch at the beginning of, during, and after the incident which allowed us, the responding team, to handle the situation in the best manner possible.

4. We want to publicly beg for the help of the residents of Nye County. We need more deputies. We need you to get involved, to contact your county commissioners and let them know you support us.

As we leave our homes day after day and night after night and say goodbye to our families, we know that we may never return. We do this willingly, without question and without hesitation. On Sept.19, in the early morning hours when Nye County residents called 911 to report they needed help, we immediately responded. We did so without thought of ourselves or our families who would miss us dearly.

Upon arriving we immediately were engaged by an active shooter who had every intention of killing us and tried his best to do so. Our brother who was shot, taking three rounds, later stated that all he could think of was that he had to somehow get back to the others to provide assistance in this gun battle. As another deputy came into the middle of the gun battle to drag our fallen brother out of harms way to receive assistance, she did so without thought of her life or family. As the remaining three of us had a gun battle with this active shooter we looked past the bullets whizzing by our heads and did what we could, concerned for the safety of the numerous residents in harm's way, not ourselves.

We will continue to serve you the public and continue to come to your aid. We hope and pray continually that we will be able to do so in a way that provides the level of safety that we provided Sept. 19. However, with the continuing increase in incidents requiring more manpower and the lack of that needed manpower, we fear this will not be the case.

We are here to help you day in and day out and now we ask you to help us. The time has come for you, the public whom we serve, to work for us to provide appropriate staffing levels for the Nye County Sheriff's Office. Please get behind us and notify your county commissioners that you support us and urge them to do the same.

Respectfully submitted: The five deputies who handled the incident on Sept. 19, at Terrible's Lakeside Casino.

DEP. ERIC MURPHY, DEP. IAN DEUTCH, DET. DAVID BORUCHOWITZ, SGT. DANIEL THOMASSIAN AND DEP. KAYCEE OTTESON

Nye County Sheriff's Office