Where’s the outrage from Henderson officials?

To the editor:

I was absolutely disgusted with the gratuitous beating of a defenseless man, Adam Greene, by an out-of-control, unprofessional and under-trained Henderson Police Department unit. This egregious act was exacerbated by the apparent indifference of the police chief, who failed to apply substantive discipline to the head-kicking sergeant involved, and our buffoonish mayor and other Henderson city officials, who treated the incident as business as usual (Friday Review-Journal).

Inasmuch as Sgt. Brett Seekatz and his rib-breaking cohort are going to be on the police force and in good standing for the foreseeable future, and presumably available for future beatings, I want to suggest that Sgt. Seekatz be used to apply his artful head-kicking to the police chief and the mayor in an attempt to loosen up their frontal lobes so they treat this incident, and any future such incidents, with the firm leadership and direction that they have so far pathetically failed to demonstrate.

William Schiffers

Henderson

Vote them out

To the editor:

Your Sunday editorial, in reference to the settlement for a recently disclosed police beating from 2010, concluded that Henderson’s “elected officials have a long way to go to restore some semblance of public confidence.” That’s the understatement of the year.

This is the same group that changed the city attorney job requirements in order to allow Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s son to become eligible. After this brewing scandal was exposed, these elected officials had the audacity to go ahead and hire him anyway. Then they had the chutzpah to give him a salary at the high end of the pay scale, arguing that it’s difficult to keep good help around here.

The only way to restore public confidence in Henderson, and around the valley, will be at the ballot box.

Mike Mathews

Las Vegas

Great recognition

To the editor:

It was truly encouraging to see the recognition you gave the winners and competitors in the recent Science Bowl held at the Vegas PBS facilities in Las Vegas (Saturday Review-Journal editorial).

In this era of technology-driven evolution and the attendant de-personalization of our society, it is heartening to know that some youth still yearn for real knowledge and all the life-long benefits that accrue from becoming educated. Although science is but one field of endeavor to which we can apply our talents, it is the search for knowledge that defines who we’ll become.

As a volunteer for the Department of Energy-sponsored Science Bowl, I salute you as a shining example of how the print media can still be relevant in the digital age.

Sydney Gordon

Las Vegas

Don’t blame capitalism

To the editor:

A Sunday commentary in your Viewpoints section, headlined “How slavery stayed alive after Civil War,” brought to light some little-known historical injustices concerning the economic exploitation of black Southerners in the post-Civil War period. The article claims that racism was (and continues to be) a factor in the economic exploitation of prisoners, but completely misuses the term “capitalism” when assigning blame.

These people were no more “victims of capitalism” than people tortured during the Inquisition were “victims of religion,” or Jews used in World War II death-camp experiments were “victims of medicine.” The problem was the economic, social and legal systems and institutions that allowed this to happen.

The sort of economic exploitation described in the article is not part of capitalism; it is much more reminiscent of feudal and despotic regimes. And, of course, the worst examples of the slave labor camp system are from the Soviet Union and communist China, which cannot be considered examples of capitalism at work.

James Moldenhauer

North Las Vegas