Not all British boxing fans are morons
To the editor:
After witnessing the disgraceful conduct of the U.K. boxing fans during the singing of the national anthems prior to Saturday’s Mayweather-Hatton fight, I felt compelled to write to you and to apologize.
You may not be aware that the English soccer team failed to qualify for the major European championship next year. The English soccer fan has gained the reputation throughout Europe as being loud, drunk, and not always conducting himself as an ambassador for our country.
Of course, it is the minority and not the majority that these fools represent, but as always it is the majority that get tarred with this brush. It seems that on Saturday night, you were unfortunate enough to have received a large majority of these “soccer” fans, clearly not able to travel to support their national team next year, so they decided to follow Ricky Hatton.
It makes myself and the majority of the U.K. people cringe at this type of conduct, and for this I wholeheartedly apologize.
As nations so closely linked in history and by current world conflicts, I would have hoped that even to these mindless morons some sense of decency would prevail, but alas not.
I have spent a number of memorable vacations in the United States, and will visit Las Vegas in January for the third time.
So I would ask that you bear in mind that these are the minority, and we are not all that bad.
Andrew Greig
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
Convention authority
To the editor:
I found the Sunday essay from Las Vegas Sands CEO and President Bill Weidner interesting (“The confused gaming tax debate”). His proposal to have the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority divest itself of convention facilities and business, concentrate solely on tourism, and free up tens of millions of dollars annually for other public needs, has merit.
Why do we have an overpaid, overstaffed quasi-governmental agency engaging in a business that competes (more accurately, undercuts) directly with the private sector?
The fact that Monday’s paper featured a full-page ad paid for by the convention authority dedicated to the passing of Evel Knievel only exemplifies the fact that it is an agency with way too much money to burn. This single, particularly wasteful act is even more egregious in view of the current budget shortfalls at all levels of government in the state.
Michael A. Dimmick
LAS VEGAS
Taxes and respect
To the editor:
It’s sad that the movers and shakers of our community would ever consider raiding the educational infrastructure of Nevada while the casino tax rate remains at 6.75 percent.
Everyone understands — it goes without saying — the importance of the gaming industry to the financial well-being of Nevada residents. But how can this well-being be justified at the expense of education, which benefits everyone?
And all of this hand-wringing in the name of preventing new taxes from being implemented. It is a classic case of the gaming tail wagging the government dog.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said it best years ago, and the quote is inscribed on the IRS headquarters of our nation: “Taxes are the price society pays for civilization.” If this is true, and there is good reason to believe it is, why are so many Americans vehemently opposed to, and fearful of, taxes?
Could it be that respect for and consideration of others are little more than quaint, outdated ideas of years past?
John Esperian
LAS VEGAS
Tax matters
To the editor:
As Congress weighs the biggest federal cigarette tax hike in history to pay for children’s health care, a USA Today analysis finds that higher state taxes on smokers have produced sharp declines in consumption. What will replace the millions (billions?) of dollars in taxes that come from the sale of tobacco?
Both the states and the government stand to lose all that wonderful spending cash. What will the government do about the tobacco-growing states that stand to lose all the cash from the sale of tobacco? Put ’em on welfare?
Before we close the door on tobacco, we had better think about how that money will be replaced.
My idea is to raise the property tax, income tax, sales tax (include food at the grocery store), gasoline tax, luxury items sales tax, liquor tax (whiskey and wine), etc.
There must be other ways also — and you can bet our guys in public office will find them.
I don’t smoke.
James Altemara
LAS VEGAS
