This is in response to a Viewpoints piece by Rev. Robert Nugent (John Edwards and the stone throwers - August 17, 2008). Father Nugent lays out a convincing case for "forgiving" John Edwards of his marital infidelity and for allowing him to seek public office because of his other leadership qualities. Of course, Fr. Nugent is right. We should "forgive" Edwards just as we would hope for forgiveness for our transgressions. However, it seems to me, that to gloss over this as a minor character flaw in favor of his other positive qualities is just asking for trouble. That's not how the world works and for good reason.

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RE: Our decisions . . . by Barb Murphy.

Ms. Murphy is very much on target with her comments. I think she should be commended for her courage to identify that perhaps the cry of "wolf" when said without the support of true hard work towards a goal, is getting quite tiresome. It also points out that perhaps many of these statements/stories are stand-alone stories or thoughts without a real foundation.

Leroy Keeney
York Township

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The community columnist Barbara Murphy article was humorous and interesting but way off the mark. Yes, there are 72 little kingdoms and 17 fiefdoms in York County. I served in one of the fiefdoms for a number of years and now serve in one of the kingdoms. When you allow the king to believe he has new clothing while he strutts around naked, it is the people who are at fault. It took a little child to make the people recognize the king was naked.

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In her recent column, Lynn Schuessler praised Dallastown High School for it's long tradition of outstanding science fair participation and lamented that Dover High School has no fair. She implied that Dover's putative lack of enthusiasm for science fairs is of a piece with its attempt to insert mention of the existence of alternatives to Darwinian evolution into the biology curriculum a couple of years ago and that their fondness for Intelligent Design and the seeming disinterest in science fairs does not bode well for the scientific literacy of Dover's students.

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When I first began reading Susan Jacoby‘s Article, I was excited. “Finally,” I thought, “America’s intellectual downfall will be brought into the open.” Her statement of the problem was right on; America‘s intelligence is declining with each passing generation. The more I read, however, the more disappointed I became in her solution.

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By Lincoln A. Warrell, Board Member, Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy

For the past 60 years, one scientific study after another have proven that adding fluoride to water supplies is a safe and effective method to significantly reduce tooth decay for those who consume the water. The time is now for Pennsylvania to join other states in requiring water systems to fluoridate their supplies to the optimal level for health benefits.

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When YorkCounts’ volunteers first announced the Metro York recommendations, which include regionalizing public safety resources, I wrote to congratulate the group’s leaders for recognizing that regionalization is the future of police and fire service. It was a smart move then, and it’s a smart move now.

In the meanwhile, our own merger of the fire departments in Springettsbury and Spring Garden Townships has moved closer to reality. Although our municipalities have some distinct differences, the professional fire fighters, new fire chief and local elected officials are taking strides to resolve issues involving equipment, funding, training and pensions. There is more work to do, but I am confident that the new fire department will provide an improved level of service to the residents, community leaders, visitors and the fire fighters themselves.

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When I was a child, few people had air conditioners or systems to cool their houses. The windows were open with screens and we had fans to circulate air out and into the house. There were many nights when we just sweated it out. We were lucky if we had large shade trees to help keep the heat at bay.

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By Michael C. Martin

Government seems to be having more difficulty in keeping their noses out of my dinner plate, and I and others are becoming very unhappy about it. We will vigorously defend our right to know what is in the food we eat, and to make up our own minds about whether we think something is safe to eat or may be suspect or unsafe.

The most recent "dust up" locally has been over Rutter's milk advertising regarding rBST. A few months earlier there was a rerun of the badgering of York Water Company to add fluoride to the water supply by some who place their own intelligence above that of the rest of us, and see no problem in forcing others to ingest levels of fluoride they may not desire or require. A little while back the government began to allow bread companies to label their product as "whole wheat" when it isn't whole wheat as long as they add enough fiber to make it equivalent to the fiber level of real whole wheat bread.

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In a study released in August of 2007 it was detailed how Pennsylvania could gain 2.2 billion dollars annually if we meet 25% of our energy needs with domestic renewable resources. It is not only the job of energy companies to meet these needs. A small island in Denmark is showing the rest of the world that being self-sufficient is possible.

Denmark is the world’s leader in producing wind turbines and wind-powered energy production. In 1997 the small island of Samso was selected to participate in a program that would make it entirely self-sufficient with regard to energy by 2008. They used wind energy, solar power, biofuels grown by local farmers, and other renewable sources of energy for heating purposes. The island met the requirements by 2003, five years early, and continues to be totally energy self-sufficient.

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