Dog was punished for owners' negligence

How easy it is for the negligent owner to just have the pit bull put down, killing the dog for being what he is ("Girl hospitalized after dog bite," Star-Bulletin, June 26). Exactly why did this family have a need to keep a pit bull in its home?

My sympathy lies with the dog, not the family, which, evidently, had not been concerned with the reputation of the pit bull prior to this incident.

Keep family safer by neutering your pets

I can see quite clearly from the Star-Bulletin photo that this dog was an unneutered male. There are many good reasons to spay/neuter your pet: it's healthier for the animal, and it makes for a much more gentle family companion, especially when it's a male.

Unneutered male dogs are known to be territorial, possessive and aggressive. The lesson here is to spay/neuter your pets -- for their health and for your family's health!

Unfortunately, I think the only lesson learned by the family in your story is to have someone else kill your pet when it has become unsafe or inconvenient, and then go get another animal to repeat the cycle. Sad and unnecessary. I'm sorry for the child who was bitten, but much sorrier for the dog who is paying the ultimate price for irresponsible owners.

Aliens weren't involved in last U.S. election

The constant bashing of President Bush by many of your columnists and some letter writers is really tiresome, but I must say Joseph Gedan took it to a bizarre level in his June 27 letter. I guess maybe he was trying to be funny, but I'm not sure, probably because I lack his "common sense" and support many of our president's policies. He equates that to supporting Michael Jackson, which I don't, and also don't understand.

If the "extraterrestrials" that he cites did induce those of us who voted for the president to do so, perhaps they did our country a favor, given the alternative. Seriously, is this what passes for political discourse today?

Iraq election reflects anti-U.S. attitude

There can be little doubt that Mahmood Ahmadinejad, the newly elected president of Iran, won because of the growing anti-American feeling among Middle-East Muslims.

And why that feeling? The answer is all too obvious. Muslims throughout the world are becoming more and more appalled by our treatment of Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo. They can only look with horror at the sectarian fighting and terrorism that is now growing in Lebanon, a half-Christian, half-Muslim country living in comparative peace before the Bush-endorsed rise of "democracy" there.

Iraq needs no mention.

Afghanistan is no better, now that it is well on the way to producing 90 percent of the world's opium while bombings and assassinations continue there unabated.

This bitter legacy of America's crusade against the Muslim world will remain behind long after we've declared victory (as we did in Vietnam) and gone home.

Conservatives are trying to ruin PBS

I've watched as the conservative charge of "liberal bias" in the media has grown from a low roar to one that is nearly deafening. Today, in the hands of Ken Tomlinson, the new PBS conservative Republican boss, the charge "liberal bias" threatens to destroy the national treasure that is PBS. They cite Bill Moyers on NOW as "liberal bias" proof. Yet I can't remember a single charge of "conservative bias" all the years we watched that conservative lion William F. Buckley on PBS.

As the "liberal bias" mantra has grown louder, I've become increasingly sensitized to what conservatives are charging. The more sensitive I've become, the more obvious it's become what they really mean. "Liberal bias" is a misnomer. It's not liberal bias at all. Rather, "liberal bias" is really the absence of a conservative bias.

I had this epiphany seeing the boundless praise that conservatives heap on the Fox News network, which, despite the laughable label "fair and balanced," makes little effort to hide its conservative leanings.

So, if you want to see what Tomlinson and his followers are out to do to PBS, take a look at Fox. As you can see, our beloved PBS is in great danger.

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