Letters to the editor - June 10

• Published June 10, 2008

Zealots have overtakenthe corrections system

I am aware that most of the soccer moms and religious wingnuts think anyone arrested is a criminal, so this tale will fall on many deaf ears. However, it alarms me enough to recount it.

I know a charming, intelligent (master's degree) young lady, who made a stupid mistake and got a DUI.

This is the only blemish on her record. For this heinous crime, she has to pay her dues exorbitantly.

The final payment is to spend two days in jail. She is stoically marching through the steps laid out. The day before she checked in to the corrections facility, she showed me a paper with instructions that had been given to her. One of the mandates is that she cannot bring any book with her unless it is a paperback Bible. (Separation of church and state anybody?)

As a 35+ year resident and senior citizen, I am appalled that we have turned our corrections system over to religious zealots who think everyone is a criminal and the cure is to read the Bible! I gave her a copy of my paperback Koran just to see what happens.

I'll let you know if they doubled her time.

Fascism, get out of my country!

Karen Millikan, Olympia

PUD should takeover Puget Sound Energy

HOLD IT! Taking a quick, abbreviated review of what our forefathers created for us, I see among the many courageous, enlightened concepts, the idea of public utility districts. These visionaries, operating in a much less corporate-propagandized society, where their minds were free and not controlled by the big screen TV's, were able to discern the notion of natural monopolies.

As the true capitalists and entrepreneurs, these small business owners, farmers, builders, etc., realized that sometimes a small dose of socialism would help them all.

They figured it wasn't possible to have more than one electric company serving the same area, so instead of allowing a corporate monopoly with utility commission oversight (fox watching the henhouse potential), they decided to band together and all own the power company and to charge themselves just the cost of operation (no millions for CEO, etc.).