Open Forum

When we look back at the Iraq war, the thing that will haunt us will be the unnecessary loss of life and opportunity. The body count rises and it is a shame to think that these young people gave their lives in a unnecessary and ill conceived war. When I look at the amount of money spent, I am outraged. several hundred billion! A million is a thousand thousand. A billion is a thousand million. A hundred billion is a hundred thousand million. Several hundred billion! That money could have been used for programs that would benefit the citizens of this country. That money, mostly spent on over bloated, no-competition contracts with the same companies receiving huge tax breaks under this administration, is just gone, with nothing to show for it.

This war has been taxpayer-funded with money not yet collected. All of our children and those of soldiers who bravely gave their lives, will be paying for this war for generations. We sit on the largest deficit in history. Our future's been mortgaged. For what? The fear and anger generated by the attacks on 9/11 were used to justify this war. Threats were fabricated. Intelligence was altered and suppressed. We were lied to and manipulated. The soldiers that died could have lived and contributed in so many ways. I applaud and respect them for doing their duty, but am saddened by their deaths. That money could have helped so many here at home. I hope we learn from our mistakes, but we never seem to.

John Dundas

Nisswa

What's this all about?

Did you guys happen to notice the notice in the March 27 Dispatch from Consolidated Telecommunications Company that, "To help promote telecommunications service nationwide, the FCC, as directed by Congress, developed the Federal Universal Service Charge (FUSC). Each quarter the FCC reviews FUSC and makes changes accordingly. As of April 1, 2008, the Federal Universal Service Charge for residential and single business line will increase from 10.2 percent to 11.3 percent."

I find this all very confusing.

First of all, I thought we already had telecommunication service nationwide. Secondly, a federal commission "reviews" and "makes changes accordingly." Reviews what? Makes changes according to what? Thirdly, how can we be sure that this outlandish 10 percent increase is going to be enough to cover the cost of doing whatever in the world the FUSC is supposed to be doing? Fourthly, what are they supposed to be doing?

By copy of this letter, I am asking Jim Oberstar to get to the bottom of this.

Stephen A. Busch

Pequot Lakes

Murder is committed every day

I am writing to remind people that murder is committed every day all over the United States against innocent victims with no consequences. For the apparently unforgivable "crime" of coming into existence these innocents are killed in a number of grisly ways. Yes, I'm talking about abortion.

Just because abortion is legal does not mean it is ethical, or even safe for that matter. Obviously, abortion is never good for the unborn baby, but most people don't realize the serious consequences for the mother. A single abortion results in an 140 percent increased risk of breast cancer; 77 percent experience acute grief; 50 percent experience emotional problems of depression, insomnia, nervousness, guilt and regret; 24.3 percent increased risk of complications in future pregnancies; 30 percent increased risk of tubal pregnancies; and lastly an unknown and often untreated number of uterine perforations. If a woman has two or more abortions her risks skyrocket in every single category.

Even setting the horrors of abortion aside, I still don't understand this. In our country thousands of couples spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments and the adoption process. Did you know the United States has the highest number of international adoptions of any country in the world? I guess there aren't enough babies in the U.S. to adopt. Maybe that has something to do with the high number of abortions in our country.

For every inconvenient and unwanted pregnancy that gets "terminated" there is a couple who has spent years and outrageous amounts of money trying to have a child. I just don't understand.

Heather Thesing

Pillager

C-I had a terrific season

What a terrific season for the C-I Rangers! There is no lasting disappointment in a job well done.

Kudos to Coaches Galovich, Tesdahl and Hoge.

Through many years of hard work with varied talent, Dave Galovich has risen to become one of the state's premier coaches. His success has not come simply through coaching games at state tournaments but through the seeding of the program through countless Saturdays running repetitious programs for youngsters who indeed truly have not yet mastered the ability to chew gum and run at the same time.

Special thanks to the Dispatch for its excellent coverage through the articles by Mike Bialka and Jeremy Millsop accompanied by the graphic sets of photographs. Between the paper and the ability to see and hear the games on the internet, there were many around the country who were able to enjoy the games even if they could not be there in person.

Henry Hintermeister

Austin, Texas

Why public schools fail

This morning I heard Sen. John McCain mention something about "schools that fail" and what should be done to or about them. Let's be clear: schools do not fail - students fail, and there are a myriad of reasons for those failures.

First, we as taxpayers charge the public schools with educating one hundred percent of our youth. That simply isn't going to happen. Some simply don't have the intellectual potential to succeed even at the lowest standards. Some are stoned. Some have no system of support from home or parents.

The same folks who instituted "no child left behind" are fond of comparing the achievements of public and private schools. Having worked in a community that had two excellent private schools, I can say from experience that this comparison is ludicrous. Private schools have several advantages over public schools, the chief of which is admission standards. And what happens if a private school student, for any of the above-mentioned reasons, fails? Do the parents take steps to correct whatever problem the student may be experiencing? Not often. They beat a path to the public school and enroll their flawed fledgling, only to have the child fail once again. However, this time the onus is on the public school, and the private school maintains its stellar graduation rate.

If we hope to come close to educating the lion's share of our youth, we need to adequately fund education, and we're not doing that. Not every student is bound for Harvard or Yale or Central Lakes Community College. Many students' interests lie in the manual arts, music, art, athletics, or some other area our district will soon be forced to cut.

I don't remember who said it, but this holds true: "Think education is expensive? Try ignorance."

Lawrence R. Severt

Brainerd