Editorials:


What others are saying

11/28/2009

With a primary in August, congressmen Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt are vying for the six-year promotion to the Senate and all the perks and esteem that come with sitting in America’s version of the House of Lords.

It’s no surprise that campaigning is hot and heavy already. What’s surprising is how ugly the campaigning has been to this point.



Talking back to Ext. 333

11/27/2009

Voters approved a sales tax with part of it going for a luxury water park. It’s under construction and will open next year. Sometimes, you just can’t stop progress.





Columns:


Why we need mammograms

11/28/2009

This development has once again raised a heated public discourse on the benefits, risks and harms of breast cancer screening. This rigorous discussion is an important part of reaching clear and understandable public health guidance. But it can be messy and confusing to the public. And, in this case, it could result in fewer women getting screened and a return to the days when we caught cancers only when they were big enough to feel.

That’s a step the American Cancer Society does not want to take. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women ages 40 to 49, with more than 4,000 deaths expected in this age group this year. The task force says routine mammography would reduce deaths by about 15 percent.



The day the lights came on

11/28/2009

The REA changed my uncle’s farm. It changed America. It was and is a government program that provided for the American people what the free market just would not do. It is an undeniable success and is an example of the best of government in our lives.

A talking point often repeated by conservatives is that “the government should be run like a business.” I assume they don’t mean like Enron or Chrysler. Of course, running the government like a business would have meant no rural electrification. The electrical power industry fought the creation of the REA tooth and nail. The coal industry fought the Tennessee Valley Authority and its dams. They didn’t want to electrify the countryside but, like the dog in the manger, they didn’t want the government to do it, either. That, they claimed, would be, shudder, socialism!



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Letters to the editor

The Salina Journal welcomes letters to the editor; length is limited to 250 words, and must be signed and include an address and a daytime phone number for verification of authorship.

Letters may be mailed to the Journal at PO Box 740, Salina, Kansas, 67401; or, Sent via e-mail to [email protected] (send your letter in the message body, NOT as an attachment); Letters to the editor are not published online.

333 Opinion Line

Besides written letters to the editor, the Journal also welcomes brief comments by telephone. Some of these are published each day on the newspaper’s editorial page.

To participate, call the Journal at 785-823-6464, extension 333. You do not have to leave your name.

Recent calls include…

“Isn’t it amazing that we all bring our horses to town but only the people with money get to put their horses at the front of the parade. Let’s think about this.”

“The police department won’t hire smokers. Why doesn’t the hospital adopt that policy?”

“It’s interesting that every time I call the Journal 333 line my comments never get printed.”

“Keep raising the mill levy and Salina will be known as the city on the move — moving all the old folks right out of town because they won’t be able to afford their taxes. It’d be the all American city with no old people.”

“Yes, Salina needs a new expo center like my grandpa needs a new topless bar. Money is spent in better places, I think.”

“Actually, we could finance a new expo center if we started charging 10 cents per call for every idiot who called the 333 line.”

Columns by:
Amy Adams, Copy Desk
Email Amy
Call 785-823-6363 Ext. 115