Letters to the editor, 12/09/2006 - DOE plan doesn’t include disarmament

Thank you for covering the hearing on the Department of Energy’s “Complex 2030” plan (Dec. 7, “Many question need for new trigger factory”). I am 26 years old, and my generation is the one most affected by the Department of Energy’s plan to build up our nuclear arsenal by the year 2030.

Nowhere in the Complex 2030 proposal does the word “disarmament” appear. One can only assume that the DOE is not taking our disarmament obligations seriously.

As a Christian, this troubles me on multiple levels. Not only are we continuing our deadly strategy of relying on nuclear weapons for our security, but we are not keeping our promises to other nations.

As citizens of New Mexico, we have more power than most when it comes to the future of the nuclear-weapons complex. I encourage all those who oppose the development of new nuclear weapons to make their views known to their legislators.

They are listening.

Jessica Wilbanks
Taos

‘Left-behind’ plan

Reluctantly giving up my time with my 6-month-old granddaughter, I attended the Department of Energy hearing regarding pit production (nuclear-weapon triggers) at the planned Complex 2030 site at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

We were invited to comment on three options — all three projecting heavy pit production into the year 2030. Most people in attendance passionately argued for a fourth option: “No new PITS at all.”

But wait — has the DOE communicated its plan to “W,” our “War” president, “The Decider”? He along with the “Christian Right” is reputed to believe the Rapture is coming before 2012. (Would God welcome nukes in Heaven, or even in Hell?)
Perhaps the plan just reflects “normal” corporate thinking. Now that we’ve privatized the production of weapons of mass destruction, Bechtel is responsible to its investors to generate maximum profits. Should The Second Coming fail to materialize, or leave the corporations behind, they must have a contingency plan.

Monika Steinhoff
Santa Fe

City service poor

Since the city of Santa Fe has taken over the scheduling of taxi rides for people with disabilities, there have been monumental problems. Despite numerous complaints to the powers that be, nothing seems to have changed.

The operators that take our calls can be very difficult. I had one hang up on me when I called to find out how much longer I would need to wait for my cab. I have heard from other passengers and drivers that city operators are unpleasant and not compassionate.

I would like to call for a meeting with Transit Authority, riders who’ve had problems and the mayor. Hopefully, the cabs would get us there on time for the meeting!

Flo Vinnick
Santa Fe

Pearl Harbor?

Sixty five years ago, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese perpetrated the original terrorist attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing more than 2,000 people. That attack helped suck the U.S. into World War II, and although most of the wounds have healed, I feel it is a great disservice to the community to ignore this Day of Infamy, and a slight to all veterans, living and deceased, to not remember the sacrifices wrought by that occasion. I searched your pages for at least some commemoration of this historic date and found only one reference, in the syndicated cartoon Mallard Fillmore. The occasion did not even rate notation in your “The Past 100 Years” section.

How can we expect our children to appreciate our history if even our hometown paper can’t or won’t remember it?

I salute all military, active and veterans, and especially remember those who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. And I thank them for their service.

Tom Martin
Santa Fe

Warning symbol

Forget breath-testing devices in cars; forget taking away drivers licenses. Do something that will actually work and will not inconvenience those obeying the law. Require DWI offenders to surrender their driver’s licenses and apply for a new license that has a special symbol restricting their purchase of alcohol.

Lane L. Mann
Cochití Lake

The ‘W’ word

If there were ever any doubt, “W” stands for “wastrel.”
David Torney
Santa Fe