Letters to the Editor

Torture is ineffective

D evotees of the TV show “24” may think that torture is appropriate and effective. It is neither. “24” is fantasy, not a basis for U. S. policy.

The U. N. Convention Against Torture defines torture as the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, for interrogation, intimidation, etc. Torture does long-term devastating damage to survivors. It also traumatizes perpetrators. Part of supporting our troops means making sure they are never asked to torture. This includes water boarding (for centuries known to be torture). Here’s the best test: How do we want our soldiers to be treated when they are taken captive?

Yes, captives can be interrogated, but cruel, inhumane or degrading means are forbidden. From ancient times to our modern military, it is known that torture is ineffective, as people will say anything to stop the pain. It fuels international hatred and makes our service personnel targets for revenge.

And finally, torture is anti-biblical. At its core, the Bible upholds the essential dignity of all and the sovereignty of God, who demands justice and forbids revenge. “Remember ... those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (Hebrews 13:3).

Bert Townsend

San Luis Obispo

Help for caregivers

Recently there was an article (March 25) in your paper about people caring for others who have Alzheimer’s or dementia and how hard it is for caregivers to find help or to have any respite time.

I also know that travel can be a problem, so I want to let people in the Morro Bay, Cayucos and Cambria areas know that C. A. R. E. S (Cambria Adult Resource Education and Support) is an adult day care center located at St. Paul’s Church in Cambria. Our hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a. m. to 3 p. m.. We have a wonderful program for our clients to keep them physically and mentally fit, and it also allows respite for the caregivers.

The Cambria bus takes our local clients from their homes to the program and back home again. For Morro Bay and Cayucos clients, the Ride On bus is available.

For information, call 927- 4290.

Dorris Miller,

C. A. R. E. S.

Hanson’s revisions

The pedantic commentary of Victor Davis Hanson (“Here are words about race Obama should have said,” March 27) stretches the boundaries of paternalistic hubris and gives new meaning to the phrase “unmitigated gall.” Apparently Hanson, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, has given up on restoring the ball and chain of slavery and has settled for rewriting the speeches of blacks.

Did he not have time to put words in the mouth of a televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, who called the Catholic Church “the great whore of Babylon” and linked Hurricane Katrina to the behavior of gays and lesbians? Or the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who declared 9/11 was God’s retribution for America’s tolerance of the gay rights movement. Why no column chastising these divisive conservative religious leaders? Surely it’s not because they are white and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama are not.

There is little doubt in my mind Hanson would have rewritten Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech to read: “I have a nightmare that one day a black man will be nominated to run for president of this great nation.”

Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. isright— social conservatives should “be on time for a change.”

Ron Neal

Paso Robles

There’s money in light

Thanks for the very timely piece on local LED impresario King Lee (April 13); it’s not overstating things to say light emitting diodes will transform lighting worldwide.

Some of us are already onboard; I’m part of an informal geek group known as modders who buy the latest and brightest LEDs from various sources in Asia to create LED flashlights. My latest is a $10 AAA battery head-strap light with an LED emitter chip that puts out 240 lumens, roughly the same as a $400 high intensity bicycle headlamp.

To give you a better idea of the energy efficiency, my next project will be a 900- lumen LED-modified flashlight that should outshine a 75-watt incandescent bulb on the power of just three D-cell batteries. The technology is still in its infancy but advancing rapidly with some manufacturers promising 140 lumens per watt —twice as efficient as compact fluorescent bulbs — by year’s end. And that’s just a warm-up.

Organic, or OLED, technology promises efficient, brilliant computer displays and TVs — even transparent glass windows and ceiling panels that emit light when switched on and they’re already on the market. This technology represents a major industrial paradigm shift, and I hope our county and people like King Lee reap some of the billions to be made.

Bruce Curtis

Los Osos

Plenty of tattoos

I can appreciate the concern of young ladies like Jennifer Crockett (Letters, April 13) when she expresses the perceived threat a “former” sex offender might pose, but each of us may feel threatened for different reasons by many of the people we have to deal with every day. In my case, I’m uncomfortable with many of the teenage drivers on the road; and what about drunken drivers or old people? And when you take into consideration a person’s race, sexual preference, politics and religion, there aren’t enough colors for all of the possible license tag combinations.

But the real problem isn’t the sex offender in his car; it’s when he gets out of the car that should concern Jennifer the most. Then how do we recognize him or any of the other dangerous people in our community? Maybe the tag should be on the person and not the car.

We either have to actually develop a prison rehabilitation system that works or keep those who may be a threat to us in prison for life. Or we could put a tattoo on the forehead of every person that we perceive as being a threat to each of us. If that happens, I want to be in the tattoo business.

Rex Farris

Pismo Beach

Young musicians shine

R egarding the All-State Music Festival on April 20 at the Performing Arts Center; Congratulations to Bill Johnson and the Cal Poly music department for presenting the best high school musicians in the state in a wonderful program displaying their talents in symphonic band, symphony and jazz.

It was truly amazing to see and hear what these charismatic leaders (Julian Wachner, Bruce Forman and Laszlo Marosi) could bring the young musicians together to play. They had only two days to get the very difficult and demanding music together with challenging for chairs and selecting a soloist for the group. As an added attraction, we were allowed to hear the fine jazz guitarist Bruce Forman playing and soloing with the jazz orchestra.

These young musicians have something that will be with them the rest of their lives, and they can take it as far as they may wish to go.

Joseph Young

San Luis Obispo

‘Mozaic’ doesn’t do it

I wish to add my concern about the name change for the Mozart Festival. There is absolutely nothing in the name “Festival Mozaic” to suggest it has anything to do with music. If the directors feel they must appeal to a wider audience, perhaps the name “Mozart/Music Festival” or the “SLO Music Festival” would do the trick. “Festival Mozaic” sounds like a visual arts show, possibly of tiny tiles artistically arranged.

Susan Gleason

San Luis Obispo