Opinion

Letter To The Editor: Character Attack Requires Rejection

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A Concerned Citizen
Los Alamos

Mr. Antos,

I had intended to put the dispute incited by your letter to rest, but your last character attack requires rejection.

I think my reply to you stands on its own – it invites civil discourse and is not spineless. Unfortunately your reply to my anonymous letter reflects exactly the reason why I am not publishing my name. Unlike you, I do not have the privilege of being the descendant of an immigrant (I guess you are the better immigrant), I am an immigrant myself. Language like yours and language used by the present administration normalizes character attacks, Read More

Letter To The Editor: IHM Initiates Feasibility Survey

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By Rev. Glenn Jones
Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church
Los Alamos

Our community is unique in that so many people come from all over northern New Mexico to work here at LANL—from Chama to Belen and beyond. One of the things lacking in our community is a Christian-based school, which parents might opt to utilize should they feel moved to do so. 

Not infrequently, parents—Catholic and not—have queried us as to whether we might one day start a school here at IHM for this purpose.

This letter is to inform parents and our extended community that IHM has initiated a feasibility survey in which Read More

Letter To The Editor: We Can Censor Tone While Not Censoring Ideas

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By KHALIL SPENCER
Los Alamos

I agree with Mr. Nebel (link). Censorship is a bad idea and drives ideas underground rather than testing and dispensing with them out in the open. But that’s not what I was getting at in my letter.

There is a vast difference between attacking someone personally, i.e.,  ad hominem, and blasting their ideas out of the water when their ideas  are, to put it nicely, sitting ducks for rhetorical ammunition. Frankly,  I share some of Mr. Antos’ excruciating disdain for some of the ideas put forth by my fellow liberals but I much prefer to dissect

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Bill Helping Firefighters With PTSD Passes House

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STATE News:

  • HB 157 Establishes PTSD as Disease that May Result from Firefighters’ Duties

HB 157, legislation that establishes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a disease that—when diagnosed in a firefighter without previous health issues—can be presumed to have been caused by the firefighter’s service, passed the New Mexico House of Representatives Monday.

“Yes, our firefighters are heroes, but they are also human,” bill sponsor Rep. Debbie Armstrong said. “We ask so much of them—from running into burning buildings to pulling victims out of mangled cars. It’s time we let them know that Read More

Letter To The Editor: Censoring People Won’t Help

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By RICHARD NEBEL
Los Alamos

While I agree with Mr. Spencer that the Post has the right to publish or not publish whatever it wants, I’m glad that it has published Mr. Antos’s letters.

I don’t agree with much of what Mr. Antos said, but I think he needs to be heard. The fact that a large segment of the population feels that they haven’t been heard has a lot to do with the present acrimonious
situation in Washington. Censoring people isn’t going to do anything to help that situation.

Listening is a better idea, even if it isn’t reciprocated. Read More

Letter To The Editor: Ok. Will You?

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By JIM BOWIE
Los Alamos

Mr. Antos,

Just to clarify, rather than attempt to respond to what I said to you, you chose to attack me personally. My point, sir, was to show you that if you do not keep things civil, those who are smarter than you may choose to use their superior command of the English language to give you a taste of your own medicine.

Just because you lack whatever sense of self-preservation prevents people like me from writing outlandish, offensive, and inaccurate letters, does not mean that my words are somehow less poignant for withholding that my name. Yet somehow you seem to think that Read More

Letter To The Editor: Why Should We Settle For Anything Less Than Excellence?

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By KHALIL J. SPENCER
Los Alamos

There has been quite a bit of back and forth on Mr. Antos letters in response to those with whom he disagrees. I suggest a simpler solution than ones offered by other letter writers: Screening.

Back when I first started writing letters to the editor in the late 1980’s in Honolulu, these had to be printed out, signed, put in an envelope, and mailed. I suspect that weeded out a lot of bad copy. Further, one assumed that the editorial staff of the newspaper was under no obligation to print our two cents, so we were very careful to write compelling, A-student prose. Unfortunately Read More

Letter To The Editor: To All You Concerned Citizens

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By GERALD M. ANTOS
Los Alamos

Everything you said may be all too true but its credibility comes into serious doubt because you fail oh so miserably to take ownership for your remarks (link, link).

So as far as I’m concerned they are just another pile of meadow muffins to be stepped in.

If you want to be taken seriously for your comments get a spine and take responsibility for your words! Put your name on your letters!

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Letter To The Editor: Open Letter To Mr. Antos

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By A Concerned Citizen
Los Alamos

Mr. Antos (link), the beauty of this country is that we (still) have the right to free speech – so you were able to publish a letter without punishment, despite the fact the large parts of it uses language unacceptable to any respectful trade of differing ideas.

 
If I disregard these unacceptable parts of your letter, you expressed some concerns that are useful to consider in any discourse that a democracy needs, to find a compromise in organizing this country. If you want to contribute to developing rules that benefits the majority of Americans, you might
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Letter To The Editor: Free Speech Is For Everyone

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By BRUCE WARREN
Los Alamos
 
It may be best to ignore Gerald M. Antos recent letter to the Post (link, link), rather than to stoke the fire, but I think some things need to be said.
 
Freedom of speech in America is a wonderful thing, and has been a keystone to much of the progress this country has made. But while it is wonderful, it isn’t necessarily comfortable. Freedom of speech does, for example, allow someone like Mr. Antos in his recent letter to spew insults, lies (Mr. Obama was neither a Muslim nor a communist), and veiled threats (“be warned”) without any consequence to himself.
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