Hi, María Eugenia--
What an appropriate message Ricardo E. Garza asent to all of us by sharing his thoughts through his letter in your latest issue of LareDOS!
The appeasement of tyrants like Hitler and Saddam is a dangerous thing to nurture.
Perhaps if any of us had to endure living under Saddam's regime and suffer the loss and torture of our loved ones on a daily basis, we would be less inclined to protest so much!
The thousands who have lost their lives since we failed to "finish the job" in the early 90s would undoubtedly rally and form a united front against their executioner.
I love your newspaper -- keep up the good work.

Barbara Leyendecker

Meg,
I applaud your recent efforts exposing government assault on private property rights at local ranches. Along the same vein I encourage your support in Opposition of the Government taking of land via the Green Space ordinance. Removing land from potential development, or the best use established by its owner constitutes a taking. Imagine, the Border Patrol prohibiting you from building a tank on your property because the arroyo was used for monitoring trails. Or they wished to grade the arroyo to provide four wheeler access to the river. Private property rights stand as the cornerstone of our freedom. Please help protect them.

Mike Creamer

PS While I don't mind if you publish this note, I do not expect it. It's more of a personal message asking you to consider this request to continue supporting private property rights.

Dear LareDOS,
For several months I have been most interested in the comments of one of your contributing writers, Henri D. Kahn, "the insurance man."
I have personally known Henri for over 20 years and realize that when he makes up his mind to do something or say what he feels, you can't change what he does or says. I quit trying, especially during our recent and brief e-mail exchange regarding what I think is his vocal and disrespectful discontent with the "goings on in Iraq" and with our Commander-in-Chief, President George W. Bush.
My first impression of Henri's latest blast is that it comes from an uninformed and judgmental bloke. Knowing him as I do, I tried to read his article with an open mind. Now, I wish to openly contest his unreasonable remarks. I might add that I had another experience with Henri's brashness when he blasted local employers and their payment/compensation practices expressed some months back in your respected circulation... but that time I didn't comment ,and I feel guilty to some degree that I did not.
Ni modo -- Henri has his opinions, and we have ours. Our seemingly "know it all" friend begins his latest barrage with Einstein's Theory of Relativity and the Mother of all bombs (MOAB). I quote, "It has already been detonated to scare the Hell out of a multitude of Iraqi citizens." Could be, Henri, but cowardly and gutlessly hiding behind those multitudes of innocent Iraqi women and children lies a regime of mass murders, torturers, and rapists. Henri further assumes he somehow knows what's going on in our President's mind, referring to Bush as George, adamant on "Wanted-Saddam Dead or Alive," no matter how many innocent Iraqi citizens and U.S. soldiers have to be killed." That really caught my attention! It seems to me somewhat bizarre that Henri feels that Saddam and his cronies shooting innocent Iraqi citizens in the back, gassing and holding them hostage is acceptable behavior? Saddam's thugs are hiding in hospitals and schools and have dispersed atropine to protect a selected few if and when they introduce chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. The rockets they have already used are clearly in violation of the United Nations order of 1991. It sure seems to me that Henri would have us believe that we are there to destroy, not to save, Iraq.
The United States is not a turtle. We can't stick our head inside a shell and act like we don't know what is going on over there, especially in light of the terrorism that we have experienced in this country and with our allies. "It's time for us to show our hand and play it," Henri continues.
Can you believe that I do agree with Henri on one point? Yes! His point on "paying our friends" for rent is a point that I believe he's right about. "You bet." We saw this in Viet Nam. We see it everywhere. Perhaps the U.S. should take a look and consider her interests and quit buying friends. Henri is a friend to many but he is by no means an expert, and nor am I. His comments are his privilege to express freely and openly, which is the right of every American. It is correspondingly, our right to express our disagreement and I believe that this response to his latest blast will certainly invite some further comments maybe pro, maybe con.
I would like to further stress that we all have the right to express our opinions but sometimes it's best to close ranks as responsible Americans, especially at a time of war, and save the arguments for a more appropriate time. We need to support our President and our troops, whose lives are on the line to protect our rights as Americans. Henri, if you aren't happy with GW, then don't vote for him on the next election, but you can bet your old enlisted Marine Corps boots, I'll cancel your vote by voting for him every time. I can't wait to read what Henri will write when we are forced go kick-A in North Korea next. Now, let's roll! Happy Lent!

Glen S. Jackson aka Glenco

Dear Meg,
I enclose a few pages for LareDOS. I do agree witfh you about the war, but disagreeing isn't going to change the evil of it. People can vote against Bush when he runs again.
Besides some snapshots, I enclose a page of handwritten copy sent me by Jan Witt of San Angelo, who once lived in Laredo. She is an artist and likes to do Indian art as she is part Indian. If you can use this in some way, do.
Actually, I'm running out of former Laredoans to write about. Oh, they are here, but with no or little transport, I have a hard time making contact.

Regards to a brave woman,
Elizabeth Sorrell

Dear Meg:
I read thru your LareDOS issue (Feb 03) with great pleasure this a.m. on the deck while the deer fed below and I listened to NPR.
You appear to be creating a great service for the Laredo community -- my congratulations!
As a writer and non-Laredoan, I found the article by Mr. Koch on punctuation particularly interesting and well written.
I always enjoy the Tony Ramirez' "The Medicine Man" articles as they are of special interest to me as an herbal researcher and writer. In the Tarahumara piece #2 he ends by writing, "The plants noted and their traditional uses are based on their common local names in the Sojahuachi area. Several listed are in the Tarahumara language, and should not be confused with any other species of herbs outside of the habitat where these grow. In other words, do not assume that the herbs in this article are the same ones we have either growing in our area, or are for sale as herbal medicine in the various shops in our area -- they are not. It is imperative that you consult with your physician."
A message to brother Tony: As he rightly states, using common names of plants can sometimes cause confusion since several very different plants can sometimes have similar or the same common names in different geographical regions. There is a relatively rational way to help remedy this situation: Tony could include the scientific name (usually called the Latin binomial, since the scientific name consists of two words) of each of the plants he is discussing. While this might appear a bit difficult to the average reader, for the reader with a keener interest in the subject matter, it allows one to pursue more detailed information in authoritative texts and/or on the web. Hopefully, as Tony suggests, one might be able to obtain herbal information from their physician, but even though I'm usually not a betting man, I'm willing to wager that most conventionally trained MDs in the LareDOS area have little scientific knowledge about the chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and/or clinical research (if any has been conducted) on most of these plants.
By the way, our new book, The ABC Clinical Guide to Herb, has just been released and is continuing medical education accredited for MDs, RPhs, RNs, RDs, et al.
My best wishes to Jorgecito!

Abrazos,
Markos Blumenthal