Your Letters

Strawberry Days should not have China theme

It used to be a fun weekend trip to initiate the summer, Strawberry Days in Glenwood Springs.

This year I was baffled with the theme — what does China have to do with a historical city’s annual fair? Usually these events are geared to improve local businesses and bring the spotlight to the city.

I looked into the Chamber’s website and found it is because of a promotion for business leaders to tour businesses in China, this I gathered also from the citslinc.com site, which is the tour group. This still doesn’t explain the correlation to celebrating a U.S town’s history and community.

With the current economic problems and failing U.S. industries I don’t understand the request to celebrate China.

I figure this year I will definitely miss Strawberry Days, I can find “made in China” pretty much anywhere and I try to shop locally, find independently made goodies and enjoy local gatherings that celebrate the community.

Isn’t a Chamber of Commerce supposed to help promote its own city and its businesses?

Pam Link

Louisville

Evidence supports intelligent design

Rick Barth’s letter of April 28 observed the lack of scientific evidence supporting Darwinian evolution. And though the Bible was not written to teach science, as inspired scripture it contains revelations about the cosmos that took science centuries or millenia to discover empirically.

Mr. Barth highlighted one of them — our expanding universe, revealed in ancient passages such as Isaiah 42:5 and Psalm 104:2 (the verb for “stretches out” in Hebrew is usually in the present).

There are others. Scripture declared the earth is round more than 1,000 years before enlightened man “discovered” this (Isa. 40:22). It also revealed, in possibly the oldest book of the Bible, “He hangeth the earth upon nothing.” (Job 26:7) By contrast, Hindu scriptures state the earth is supported by four giant elephants.

These are just three examples of many implying divine inspiration of the Bible. It does not teach macroevolution (one species evolving into another). And the “book of nature” doesn’t teach it, either. What does it teach?

• The lowest levels of the fossil record show a profusion of complex life forms not preceded by simpler ones (known as the “Cambrian explosion”).

• “The Anthropic Principle”: Life on earth is possible only within an extremely narrow window of constraints (i.e., a precise mixture of gases producing breathable oxygen; the exact distance between earth and sun providing for life, not destroying it; a rich abundance of food and nutrients for our health — and even taste buds to relish them; etc.).

• Precisely encoded information for life, such as DNA, requires an intelligent source, not haphazard, random chance.

• Design points to a designer, just as a building points to a builder and a painting to an artist. Human eyes and brains, for example, are far more complex and multi-functional than our most sophisticated cameras and computers.

All I can summarize with is, how much more evidence for intelligent design does one need? There is indeed more, for those honestly seeking truth. And here’s one more quote to brood on for Darwinists:

“The theory of evolution by gradual mutation is effectively dead, despite its persistence as textbook orthodoxy.”

— Steven J. Gould, evolutionist

John Herbst

Battlement Mesa

Observe Memorial Day at courthouse in Aspen

All veterans and community members are cordially invited to attend Aspen’s annual Memorial Day Observance on Monday, May 25, at noon at the Roaring Fork Valley Veterans Memorial on the east side of the Pitkin County Court House, 506 E. Main St. in Aspen. Following the ceremony, a community picnic, hosted by Aspen Elks Lodge #224, will be held at Conner Park next to City Hall. Congress is asking all Americans worldwide to pause for 60 seconds at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day to honor America’s fallen and to recognize veterans and today’s servicemen and women, particularly those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Grassroots Community Television, Channel 12 will be playing throughout the day interviews of local veterans in coordination with the Roaring Fork Veterans History Project, associated with the Library of Congress and the Aspen Historical Society. Viewers can also watch the interviews anywhere in the world on grassrootstv. org.

For further information contact Dan Glidden at 927-4183 or Dick Merritt at 927-5178.

Lt. Col. Dick Merritt

U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)

President is not supposed to change the U.S. as he pleases

In response to the letter Mariane Maynard wrote in the Post Independent on Monday, May 11.

Well, Mariane, Stan’s article was accurate and right, and it was a nice piece. Thanks, Stan.

The Democrats have had control of the house since 2006, do your research first.

I didn’t agree with everything President Bush said or did but you have to give credit were credit is due, and after 9/11 this was a safer country, and we didn’t have another attack under his watch.

Why is it that so many people despise Bush? I think all you Kool-Aid drinkers out there need to read between the lines and not believe everything you hear from the media; as we saw from the election they are not investigative reporters anymore just a bunch of liberal juggernauts out for their personal agenda.

Obama is working on ruining America as we know it, he has spent more money in his short term than all 43 presidents combined. The only change I see Obama making is change for bigger government and more programs to keep people depending on government.

I don’t understand why the liberals out there dislike conservatism. It’s what this country was founded on and what makes it so great.

Do you liberals know what a true conservative believes in? It is love for the Constitution, love for the country, limited government, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I don’t understand how so many people feel they should be entitled to so many things, whatever happened to working hard towards a goal? Why should a person bust their hump if Joe Blow next door just has to sit around to get the same privileges? It’s time for people to come to their senses and realize bigger government means less privacy and a bigger burden on your life. The president is a steward of the Constitution, not in charge to make the U.S. how he feels.

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

— Ben Franklin

Curt Hanson

Parachute

A thank-you to soldiers

We would just like to say thank you to all soldiers and their families who have served and are serving in the Armed Forces for protecting our rights and freedom. We would also like to express a special thank-you to Rusty Gredig, who will soon leave for training in the Special Forces Pararescue in the Air Force.

The West Family

New Castle

Ritter keeps raising taxes

This is in reply to Ed Rosenberg’s letter regarding our governor.

Ed, don’t be alarmed. I have been e-mailing this governor for months, and I have been getting the same runaround e-mail reply. Yada, yada, yada.

Our former governor replied to your e-mails. This governor does what he wants when he wants.

He raises taxes and fees. He proposed getting rid of the Homestead Act, so vets and seniors and anyone else that has lived in their homes for years will get to pay full price on their tax bills. He could care less what people think or their ideas. Its like, he now lives in the Colorado Castle and has a you-can’t-touch-me attitude.

I don’t know if contacting them would have any impact on what we can do as far as protesting the way things are done on property taxes. I am just as frustrated. If anyone has any ideas as to who we can talk to regarding this, other than the local assessor, I would appreciate hearing from them.

As far as our governor goes, it’s “I am doing what I am doing and you can’t stop me” that irks all of us here on the Western Slope. Everyone protested this fee he put on the license plates, and his reply was, “Well, you are not getting any of the stimulus package monies, it’s staying on the Eastern Slope, so we have to do something to fix your roads, so you have to pay for it one way or the other.” Even if we get money from the government, it will have to be saved to pay our property taxes next year. Social Security will not receive any money as of January for the cost of living raise. I think that will be for 2010 and 2011. So if you were planning on getting any more money, such as your $5 or $10 that most of us get, they are keeping that, too. Not sure how much they are going to raise Medicare, but you can be sure they will and you will get less money than this year in your Social Security check.

Jane Spaulding

Carbondale

Thieves stole kayak gear

On Saturday, someone was at Two Rivers Park around 6 p.m. and stole three PFDs and a brand new NRS Hydroskin shirt from my brothers and me. Two of the PFDs were brand new, my brothers got them for Christmas and they were psyched to use them on the river for the first time.

The Hydroskin shirt was brand new, it was a present I got on Saturday from my dad. I am so sad, my dad works really hard to buy things for us, and kayak gear is not cheap. Thou shalt not steal is one of the Ten Commandments.

This was all kids gear except mine. If some kid brought it home, don’t your parents wonder where you got it from? If it was an adult, why steal from kids? You must not care about anyone.

If you see this letter and you wish you hadn’t stolen our stuff, please return it, we won’t be mad. If anyone sees our gear on anyone else please call the police.

I am going to start a website for people in Glenwood to post pictures of stuff that was stolen and then all of us can look out for it, www.glenwoodwatchdog.com. Maybe if thieves are caught or they know everyone is looking for stolen stuff, no one will steal anymore.

Funny thing, if you asked my dad to buy you gear for the river, he would have. Our gear that was stolen: two Patagonia red youth PFDs, 1 Med Blue Hydroskin shirt, and 1 yellow NRS PFD, adult XS, it has our last name on the bottom, it was the only thing that was used before!

We will give you a $100 reward, all my brothers and sisters are pitching in. You can call us: 384-0268. Thank you.

Grady Kellogg, Brody Kellogg and Kenny Kellogg

Glenwood Springs