Letters, 8/13: Bullish bias

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Despite the many letters to the editor from residents outraged at the Journal Star’s recent coverage of the young woman who allegedly left her newborn at the hospital, it is obvious that your paper continues to show a double standard, and dare I say, an obvious bias against women. 

This was most recently evident in your front-page article on Aug. 2, “Group’s $8 million lawsuit is no bull,” about Legacy Plus, a champion bull whose high-quality semen was so valuable that the defendants allegedly faked his death so they wouldn’t have to share the pearls that his Rocky Mountain Oysters provided.

Why did we not see a grainy high school yearbook photograph of Legacy Plus?  What about mentioning all the child support payments that Legacy Plus has allegedly avoided by changing his name? (Even movie star Eddie Murphy has been upbraided for his alleged refusal to pay child support for baby Spice-Murphy!) 

What sort of investigative reporting is just listing a host of “no comments” from involved parties?  Surely there has been DNA testing on the many calves that have been born — out of wedlock — from all the model-actress-bovines that this bull has partied with? Or is it just your double standard — it’s not news until a frightened young ruminant leaves one of Legacy Plus’ calves at an animal hospital and sneaks out?! Is that the cow-tipping point?

I do not know if this is city-wide sexism that permeates the capital given the recent delirium exhibited by the district judge in removing words like “rape” from a rape trial, or the outrage voiced by the good old boys of engineering who don’t want to compete for the lucrative consulting fees on city jobs with women and minority-owned businesses, but if it is not, please consider your paper’s bias against females of all species and steer it to a place of equality.

Andrew Borakove, Lincoln

Agency on Aging needed

This comment will be too little, too late. But, you see, I am aging, and that has slowed me down considerably.

No one who has not experienced the process called “aging” can imagine what it can be like. America loves youth, beauty, riches.

America denies that “aging” is a concern to anyone. But it is. It shows up in the tiny details of the day: 10 minutes to tie a shoe; dropped dishes and un-openable jars (even with grips!); misread words and time lost trying to make sense of what is half-seen and half-heard.

And of course, try as we may have, everyone is not rich. We carefully pay for medical visits, eyeglasses, hearing aids, canes, pills and such needs, then budget the rest for “living.”

Living can become a depressant, or due to meeting all bills and still having food and shelter, living can be a challenge met.

Then comes social life. No one wants to hear the stories we have told for years, few have patience with our slowed gait, seldom does the technology generation slow down for us.

But there is one oasis in this older desert: the Lincoln Area Agency on Aging!

A place where they explain (patiently!) the ins and outs of Medicare Part D; where a dietician can elaborate on the prescribed diet; where new needs can be referred to the proper helper; and where volunteers help people with various and sundry occasional needs. (That last one has the example of a ride to a store to purchase a microwave that I simply could not bring home by bus on a walker).

We need LAAA. Prevention of declines in health by use of Lifetime Health and related services is not a frill but a necessity.

Creative ways to finance the program should be found. Small membership fees could be introduced, but must be kept within range of fixed-income seniors.

Buddy support programs could be tried: If someone can easily pay a small membership fee, perhaps they would adopt a buddy who cannot afford it. Fundraisers could be tried; perhaps it is time for a Walk for Seniors.

Cutting is not the answer, creative financing is.

Nancy Chandler, Lincoln

Toe comment an insult

Every once in a while, a politician will say something that truly reveals his/her character (or lack thereof).

In response to testimony opposing cuts in programs for seniors, Councilwoman Robin Eschliman asked: “Does the government owe it to the citizens to raise property taxes to cut toenails?” (LJS, Aug. 7).  Cute.

By trivializing the legitimate concerns of seniors, Eschliman tells us all we need to know about her character. But perhaps she’s just ignorant (the kindest explanation for her offensive question) and doesn’t know that those of us who have been on the planet a few decades longer than Eschliman are also citizens.

We also pay taxes, and we began paying long before she was only a gleam in her father’s eye. We are not stupid, or greedy, or selfish, or, worst of all, liberal. We understand that true conservatives are wise investors, not only in things, but in people. And we know that smart politicians do not insult large voting segments of the population.

Of course, we geezers sometimes have trouble remembering things (preoccupied as we are with our toes and other extremities). To compensate, we might use little tricks to jog our failing memories.

To ensure that we remember Eschliman’s insult come election time, I suggest we simply dub her “Ms. Toenail.”  And then let’s make sure she gets clipped.

Charles Thiessen, Lincoln

Where’s the efficiency?

They want to raise gasoline taxes again. I wish the city, county and state governments would listen to people and what they have to say.

Why doesn’t the government take a look at all the spending they are doing for all of the pork projects?

In my opinion, if they stop spending money on all the projects to make people feel good, we could save a lot of money.

If it is not a necessity, then we don’t need it.

Let’s cut spending. All government vehicles: Mandate them to 55 mph. I can’t afford to hardly buy gas for my vehicle, so why should I let them drive fast on my tax dollar?

We can all work together on this, but government needs to make the first move.

Stop spending my money. Increase your efficiency, eliminate duplicate jobs, hold yourself to a fixed budget.

I have had to hold myself to a budget just to afford gas to drive to work (by the way, the Lincoln transit system is not an option).

Ron Glinsmann, Lincoln

Quilt Center welcomed

On July 30 the Lincoln Journal Star featured a timely article about the International Quilt Study Center building under construction in Lincoln and a comment by University of Nebraska Regent Randy Ferlic that the funds could have been spent in better ways.

The Nebraska State Quilt Guild, one of the prime movers in the idea of the building, had just finished its annual quilting weekend in Omaha. This guild has members not only from Nebraska and the neighboring states, but others from New Hampshire to California, 20 states in all. The meeting features local (statewide) teachers and lecturers as well as nationally known ones from all over the United States, and they almost always want to come back. Researchers from all over the world come to the center to study the quilts there, too.

Since the building is privately funded, I wonder just how much of the $12 million or so for it would go to some other item. It may not bring in the monies spent in just one weekend for football in Lincoln — and as an OU graduate I have some idea of the bonanza that can be — but it adds to the reputation of the state. I know several states that would just love to have it in their area. 

Frances Murray, Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Speed limit not the issue

Eleven days, three accidents involving large trucks on I-80. Now the state is going into a reactive mode. Lower the speed limit. Why would this work? The speed limit was not adhered to before.

Just put a trooper on the site of the construction and issue some tickets. Guarantee this will slow them down.

George Clasey, Lincoln