Editor, Times-Union: Re: Mr. Jack Hyden My letter was not false, misleading or erroneous ... unless you are stating that the officials at Tri County Fish and Wildlife are giving out the wrong information. Yes, you are right that we must follow the laws set forth by Indiana Department of Natural Resources for hunting animals they classify as native to Indiana. The big problem is "non-native to Indiana" animals. According to Tri County, there are no shooting limits of any kind (days to hunt, caliber of gun and no permit/license) on these animals (elk, bear, wild boar, bison, etc.) as long as they are purchased in Indiana. My letter, if you re-read it, was about non-native animals purchased within Indiana, and if you are a hunter, you know what animals can be purchased, either from breeders, private exotic animal farms or zoos here in Indiana. When you comment about our old neighbor hunting the same parcel of land and we didn't protest ... there weren't a minimum of 15 deer (Saturday's count) on the 35 acres at one time and definitely not five elk ... and he was a neighbor, not someone who bought 35 acres at an auction and plopped this into our laps. When deer season ended, the shooting was over. Actually, I can't remember ever seeing Delmar hunt, though he really liked to fish! The new owner lives nowhere within bullet distance. There is plenty of farmland around his house and it would seem easier for him to have it closer to his home? I live on a farm; I grew up on a farm; I have hunted; I own a gun. This problem is not anti-hunters, not anti-gun, it is about what is hazardous to the neighbors 365 days of the year. This is not farming; this is not a farm; this is a business; this is a shooting range, not hunting. It has endangered all of the neighbors every day.
When you speak about property owner rights, where are our rights? Do we not have the right to mow our yards, ride dirt bikes, ride snowmobiles, ride four-wheelers on our own property? Property that some of us have owned for over 100 years versus 3 years? We have to change our way of life and keep out of our own yards because someone puts 8-foot fences around his property? Who is taking away whose property rights?
Perhaps the owner could "live on the land the way he desires" as you suggest and then he would realize the danger he has put himself and all of us into. He doesn't live there. He visits.
Barbara E. Kintzel Pierceton via e-mail
Carbon Monoxide
Editor, Times-Union: I would like to express my gratitude to the Pierceton Fire Department, Pierceton EMS, Warsaw EMS and for all the volunteers who took care of our family on Jan. 7 for the carbon monoxide poisoning call they received.
I wish to tell all the readers of the paper our family story, you see we had a furnace that was recalled. Our family received information by a certified letter in the mail, no phone call was ever given to us. In this letter they requested that you call them if you have a unit that the model number was on this piece of paper, well, I did, not once but twice, no one returned my call. I then got on the Internet and found a company who was listed on the Web site to call, I called, they sent out a representative. Now, granted, the recall is for possible cracks in heat exchangers. It took around one to two weeks to get someone out to look at my furnace, I then had to take a morning off work to wait with no phone call from the company that they were running late, so I called, and due to the weather they were behind. I then went on to work letting them go to our house. While at work I received a call that the heat exchanger was cracked and he had to shut my furnace down and could not install till Friday Jan. 7. My husband took the day off that day for the install of our new furnace. It took all day on that day to install the furnace. My husband called me between 4 and 4:30 p.m. stating we have heat, asking if the company I work for when we install just states we're finished, sign here, that there is a burning oil smell, you need to open the windows to let the odor out, and that was that. When I returned home that evening as soon as I walked in the house I complained of the horrible smell ( it was bad, never once thought what was in store for myself and my family). My husband then again told me what they told him about the smell and what to do. By the grace of God my husband stated that he was going into the bedroom to get the carbon monoxide detector and put it in our daughter's room. Well, it had a reading on it and we made all the necessary phone calls and were treated and released for carbon monoxide. The people who helped were great and let me tell you, if you have not met Gordon Baker and the Pierceton Fire Department team, you don't know what you're missing, along with the EMS crew from both Pierceton and Warsaw! Bless you all for the safety of my family. Please, if you do not own a carbon monoxide detector, please think about purchasing one. Also, I can't express enough how important it is to take care of your furnace and all appliances in your home. It may even be a good idea to research and see if your equipment is working safely and not on a recall.
Marsha Delinsky Pierceton via e-mail
Reality
Editor, Times-Union: Reality is something that exists, it never has to be constructed. Reality just like truth is eternal, and it stands in stark contrast to manufactured reality. Fabricated reality is built on the shifting sands of the lie. Reality like truth has a rock solid foundation and it will endure forever. Fabricated realities have been constructed in the past, are being constructed in the present, and all indications point toward the continuation of this despicable act in the future. Anything that is based on a lie is fabricated reality.
My words are not aimed at the fictional literary world of made-up people and made-up places. Instead they are directed toward real people and real places. One of the biggest fabricated realities we Americans, and indeed the world face right now, is the war in Iraq. Based on a lie exactly like Korea, Vietnam and many other wars. One of the biggest questions Americans should be asking right now is, who are the fabricators?
The fabricators are those politicians in Congress and the Senate who block any attempt at legislation designed to provide a verifiable paper trail for touch screen voting. The fabricators are those who make counting the votes look like a criminal act. The fabricators are those who stole their way into the highest offices of our government, so that they could change a democracy into a Roman style Republic.
The banks love the fabricators, they make millions in interest on our national debt. China also loves the fabricators, they've been buying up our debt. The very wealthy love the fabricators, because they get tax cuts and other favorable legislation designed to line their pockets. The corporations love the fabricators because they can now write their own legislation. The military industrial complex loves the fabricators because now they are guaranteed a war any time they ask for one. Huge profits are made from the sales of weapons.
The fabricators are those who would not obey international and domestic laws, accords and agreements. The fabricators are those who demand deregulation making monopolization possible. Which by the way was the cause for the great Depression under Hoover. They also demand privatization, not only of our most cherished right, voting, but also our most urgent resource, water.
The fabricators are those who would change the rules to suit their own purpose, silence criticism via bribes, force or elimination.
The fabricators are those who will turn the tsunami-devastated Indonesia into an opportunity to corral thousands of sweatshop laborers for the garment industry, and child labor for the toy and doll factories.
My words are not conspiracy theory oriented. Instead they are observations of chronological happenings as the clock ticks. It should be obvious to all Americans who the fabricators of reality are. The empirical evidence is in, the documentation is complete. I've made an important new year's resolution to be more partisan, not less. I will not give an inch to those who want to destroy my beloved democracy. I invite all who love democracy to join me in total opposition to the secretive help America vote act. This act singlehandedly destroys the integrity of our votes. There is only one way to solve this problem - the integrity of our votes must be re-established in order for "we the people" to constitute our government the way we see fit. Thanks to the editor for the opportunity to express opposition to unauthentic reality. Thanks to the readers for realizing the importance of this subject.
Gene May Etna Green
Stolen Game
Editor, Times-Union: I was in Wal-Mart this past Saturday (Jan. 8) with my 8- and 10-year-old granddaughters, around noon. Against my wishes they took their Advanced Game Boys in with them and were going to sit in the game room and play them while I picked up a couple things I needed. As I was about to check out my 10-year-old ran up to me and said a boy took her Game Boy. To make a long story short, they had laid their Game Boys down and were playing a game, and that is when this teenage boy with blond hair, black sweater and jeans must have picked her Game Boy up and walked off with it. Yes, she should have been more responsible BUT so should the person who stole this little girl's Game Boy that she got for Christmas and loved playing with. I checked at the customers' desk to make sure it had not been turned in. I asked the 10-year-old how she knew it was this person that done this and she said he was the only one in there when they were. She was very sure on what he looked like and what he was wearing. All I can say is I do not know how thieves like you sleep at night! This little girl cried all the way home and most of the rest of the day. She kept telling me how stupid she was for leaving it lay out in the open instead of putting it in her pocket. I tried to explain to her that you learn from your mistakes and that she did nothing wrong other than being a trustworthy little girl who did not realize some people cannot be trusted and you have to protect those things that are important to you. Anyway if this person that took her Game Boy has a conscience and sees this article, please turn it in to Wal-Mart, there will be no questions asked. Please, whoever you are, THINK the next time before you take something that is NOT YOURS, how it can and will affect the person you took it from!
