Letters January 6, 2010

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

By JH Weekly User

Airport body scanning
I would like to address the issue dealing with the consideration in using the full body scanner in our nations airports following the near disaster on Christmas Day over Detroit. It appears that many feel that the use of such an invasive detection system is an infringement upon one’s person.

How cold must the waters be when splashed upon the face to realize that the world has changed? No longer is air travel the luxurious convenience it once was. Not only is the overcrowding of the skies, terminals and tarmacs problematic but since the infamous date of 11 September, a more perilous threat now exists in the form of any one faceless individual. It is quite unfortunate but Orwellian screening is now a necessity in this world in which we live.

 I believe that the protests of those who oppose such a system of scrutiny, which scans the entire anatomy, are based upon age old religious fixations regarding the shamefulness of the human body.

Ironically, it is also other religious fixations that are the cause for such precautions in the first place. This is but one more evolutionary example of how religions are yet the great wall of separation amongst humanity.

As globally connected as we all boast to be we are still primitively tribal in our factional insistence upon the true road to heaven.
– Patrik Troiani, Jackson

Letter within a letter about dogs
To the Editor and the vocal potential owner of a brand new affordable house built for them north of town.

Instead of the rant about the injustices of rules restricting dog ownership, take a deep breath, then perhaps take a little of this kind of letter, and try it on for size:
“Dear Editor and Taxpayers of Teton County, After nine long years of living in this amazing valley, I have been given the opportunity to be able to own my own home.  It is a dream come true for me to become truly rooted in a community of people I love, surrounded by impossibly beautiful landscape and wildlife that is unmatched on this planet – especially this house, where I am surrounded not only by open space, but by Grand Teton National Park open space! 

I will be able to see long-time resident moose and deer from my new windows potentially every single day – the same windows that frame the Cathedral Group and the Sleeping Indian through beautiful old cottonwood stands. Elk will migrate through in the fall, sometimes staying in the area for a number of months.  I’ll go to sleep with my bedroom window cracked so I can hear them bugling through the night.  Can you believe that?

“Now that I’m a homeowner, I feel vested here – a real part of this place, and I really understand that stewardship comes with the responsibility and honor of living here.  I had a long time to think about having a dog, as it sure seems my right, but the truth is that the very presence of not only my dog, but the dogs of each of my neighbors (you should see the beautiful rescue husky fostered by the family moving in 3 doors down – it has so much energy after they get back from a day at work that it gets away from their daughter at least once a week – it took them two days to find it last time… and don’t get me started about the Jack Russell that would be across the way!)  such a presence will irrevocably change what has been there for countless decades… certainly more than nine years. 

I honestly didn’t come here to change the very essence of what I have always said I love about it, or affect the opportunity of my new neighbors and their appreciation of it.

“In any case, while in some ways it bums me out to have a dog restriction, I do understand why it comes with the territory, and honestly, it’s a small price to pay for the chance to actually own my own home in such a place.   Who knows, this may be the stepping-stone for me to eventually get to move into the free market someday, where the dog restrictions are not governed by the master plans, but by HOAs!

“Oh, and by the way… Thank you!  Sincerely, Alfred P. Lucky-Newhomeowner”
– Leslie Northup Goodyear
North of Town Valley

PERMALINK:
Letters January 6, 2010 | Planet JH News Article: Letters To Editor

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