Do they stare at the sun till they go blind?

To the editor:

Reporter Trevon Milliard mentioned pharm parties, vodka-soaked tampons, vodka eye drops and pretty much every other unsubstantiated public scare to convince parents that their kids are going out of their way to consume drugs and alcohol by anything other than the traditional and direct routes of ingestion (“Drug users in Clark County schools get tragically creative,” Sunday Review-Journal).

Seriously, vodka eye drops? Does it occur to the reporter that maybe, just maybe, after a kid stands there for minutes on end staring at the ceiling while holding an eye dropper in his hand and getting no buzz but having his eyes burn uncontrollably, the kid who wants to get drunk would, I don’t know, unscrew the dropper bottle and drink any vodka inside like a normal person would?

This article was nothing but the dissemination of ludicrous urban legends. I’m sure Jodi Joyce, coordinator of the school district’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools program, has noble intentions, but her failure to substantiate a single one of these ridiculous accusations reinforces the utter folklore.

GREG McFARLANE

LAS VEGAS

Water heater anarchy

To the editor:

You editorialized against requiring a permit or an inspection for water heater installations, instead trusting the contractor who replaces it (“Scrapping permits,” Saturday Review-Journal).

Perhaps you are correct in your assumption that contractors are worthy of such trust that they install the water heaters properly. So a homeowner can decide if he wants to take the risk of installing a heater without a third party making sure it will not emit enough carbon monoxide to seriously injure or kill anyone, not to mention the gas water heater venting that can cause fires.

I’m also sure everyone is aware that a hot water heater is a boiler and subject to horrific explosion if too much pressure builds in the tank. County Commissioner Susan Brager and the Review-Journal editorial page staff should watch a YouTube video and actually see what a hot water heater can do to a house and anyone so unlucky as to be near one when it malfunctions.

Maybe we should do away with all building permits. Just think how much money we could save.

SAM SAINSBURY

LAS VEGAS

Confuse a cat

To the editor:

As I read my Sunday newspaper, I couldn’t believe that Road Warrior columnist Richard Lake suggested using a laser pointer to drive cats crazy. Is this guy some kind of sicko?

DAVID LYONS

LAS VEGAS

Not about the movie

To the editor:

Your headline, “Film brings out Muslim rage” (Saturday Review-Journal) was an embarrassment to anyone with any journalistic integrity. I would like to know how much more you and you ilk will do to ensure that the current disaster of a president gets re-elected.

This film is a trailer and has been seen by hardly anyone. In his news conference, Obama spokesman Jay Carney (Mr. Claire Shipman) looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he tried to explain this. The attack on our embassies was well-planned and coordinated, and on 9/11, no less. There is credible evidence that our State Department had intelligence two days before the attack took place and did nothing about it.

The administration says the Marines had ammo. Who should we believe, the Marines who tweeted early on that they had none, or an administration trying to cover its back side?

The demonstrators were chanting “Obama, Obama, we are all Osama.” How could a president with a lost ambassador go to bed? I guess we know how President Obama will react when he gets that 3 a.m. phone call.

JOHN DOOLEY

HENDERSON

Firefighter doing well

To the editor:

In a Saturday letter to the editor, one of our local firemen expressed his frustration over the public perception that firefighters are overpaid. He says “figures lie and liars figure.” Well, I suggest that he review the “figures” at transparentnevada.com for himself and let us know if those “figures” lie.

They reflect that the letter-writer received total compensation – salary and benefits – of $230,146 in 2010 and $205,365 in 2011. In fact, he has received more than $200,000 a year since 2008.

If his compensation this year is in line with the past four, he probably has been paid more than $1 million during a time when the economy in this area has been horrible. That money has come from the taxpayers of this valley, who have seen real estate values plummet over the past five years.

I have to wonder if he was clueless that his salary is a matter of public record for all to see. When you take the time to look at the “figures,” his complaints ring hollow.

DAVID R. DURLING

LAS VEGAS

We pay twice

To the editor:

According to Reuters, the Pentagon has purchased 1,500 Chevrolet Volts at a cost of about $40,000 each. So we the taxpayers are out $60 million for this environmental friendly vehicle.

But hold on! We the taxpayers are big shareholders in General Motors. GM is quoted as saying it costs $89,000 to produce each Volt. If that is the case, I come up with a grand total of $133.5 million worth of cars sold to the Pentagon for a loss of $73.5 million.

So those little Volts have now cost you and me a total of $133.5 million, and this administration is a financial wizard for pulling the wool over our eyes.

TRAVIS WHITLEY

LAS VEGAS