Police blotter does no good
I question the purpose or value of your including the "Police Blotter" news in The Daily Star.
If you have the need to report this gossip, why not list the final findings from the court? As far as I know a person charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty in most of the country.
You are listing the names of "innocent" people charged with an offense they may not have committed or the charge is later thrown out or dismissed. And yes, they may be guilty also.
Your actions create unnecessary gossip, can ruin a reputation and negatively impact a person's employability. An individual may be denied a job or promotion because of a cloud over their head created by what you publish.
It's the 21st century, let the "Police Blotter" gossip column go. We are all better than this.
Orlo Burch
Hartwick
Air Force funds could be better spent elsewhere
I couldn't believe what I had heard, and so I went online to the U.S. Air Force's official website (www.af.mil) to check it out. And there, much to my "shock and awe," I learned that each copy of the F22 "Raptor" fighter plane costs the taxpayers a whopping $143 million. That's each one.
To put that in perspective, you could create 4,766 jobs that pay a salary of $30,000 for the price of one F22. I'm not an economist, but I suspect the "multiplier effect" of the spending of those 4,766 people would far exceed that of the money spent in the design and building of one "Raptor" _ besides the plane is going to rust, depreciate, and never spend a dime at Wendy's or J.C. Penney.
Think about it. How would you like to be the pilot, who by a mistake, commits an error, has to eject from the plane and later explain to his commanding officer where his 143 million dollar machine went.
I'm still having trouble getting my head around that price _ 143 million dollars for one plane.
Wow! That's nuts. Even nuttier is the fact that the Air Force has 195 of the planes. Do the math, if your calculator can go that high.
Lyle R. Chastaine
Stamford
