Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 15, 1993 TAG: 9312150298
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
1. Will the Democrats who received this money be forced to return it to FDIC? If not, will Republicans, independents, etc., be receiving equal amounts from FDIC?
2. Will Ms. Hill and/or someone at FDIC be prosecuted for this apparent fraud?
3. Why did FDIC allow Ms. Hill and her company to go ``several years'' without paying any interest or principal before foreclosing? (Banks should be so kind to working people with home mortgages.)
4. Why will taxpayers have to cover the loss of more than $23 million (as stated by FDIC officials in the article)?
5. Most importantly, why is FDIC making loans? When did it become a lending (in this case, giveaway) institution? FDIC was established to insure against losses by depositors when banks fail.
6. Is this the only time FDIC has given away millions or is it common practice?
This could be a major scandal just waiting to be uncovered! But, since only taxpayers are hurt, maybe no one cares.
WAYNE STANLEY
NARROWS
Don't categorize the mentally ill
THE HEADLINE for a story, ``Jury sides with firm against woman with 44 personalities'' by staff writer Laurence Hammack, in half-inch bold type in the Nov. 26 Roanoke Times & World-News, was, in my opinion, a serious error in judgment by this newspaper. Unless one read the article, one would conclude the reference was to an entire group of people rather than a reporting on a specific case.
Mental illness, in and of itself, is no more grounds for dismissal than the illnesses of heart disease or cancer. People with mental illnesses must be viewed individually and not categorized as a group. People with physical illnesses have differing abilities and disabilities and aren't defined as a whole. The same criteria must be applied to the mentally ill.
Headlines such as this one only serve to further stigmatize and do a tremendous disservice to people with mental illnesses.
RITA J. GLINIECKI
Chairman, Blue Ridge
Community Services
Board of Directors
ROANOKE
Teens can rely on heavenly father
I HAVE a word of encouragement for all teen-age moms. Your babies love you and thank you for bringing them into this life. Love them. Hold them near and wonder where the life in them came from. Teach them concerning our father in heaven. Grow with them, for soon, they'll be grown. Don't be afraid.
If you need help, ask, and you'll receive it. ``Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.'' The faces of the angels of our children are always before our father in heaven. Don't forget this. He loves your child and you. He'll care for your needs.
MARSHALL TACKETT
BUCHANAN
Beyond goats and Gallimore
THANK YOU very much for your recent series of articles pointing out my mismanagement of my small herd of Angora goats. I hereby announce the grand opening of the Hollar Hills Petting Zoo/Hunting Reserve. The animals rights' groups can come and, for $1, pet my goats. Those who feel the need to kill something, but lack the wherewithal to actually go out and hunt something that might run away can come and, for $100, shoot a goat that won't run away.
And you and the television stations can send reporters and camera crews to interview and photograph me. I can be on your front page for a week.
Oh, also, I'm a preacher. While I have only one wife, I do have two jobs. Surely you can make several hundred column inches of that.
You people in the valley need a hobby, another job or therapy. With all the death, suffering, violence, hate and poverty in the world, surely you can find better use for your ink and paper.
THOMAS A. SIMPKINS
HIWASSEE
Making music like they used to
THE MILL Mountain Theater's production of ``The 1940's Radio Hour'' is, indeed, a timely treat for Roanoke. The show takes one back to the times when popular music had a different and more pleasant character. There were lyrics that complemented the language without vulgarity or cursing, with innuendo instead of explicit sexual description, and with humor that avoided sarcasm. Orchestras depended on the musical ability of their members, rather than their gyrations or dancing. Drummers could vary from soft brush work to solo breaks without damaging the eardrums. Vocalists sang, without shouting, brilliant scores with style, rather than repetition.
This show is performed by a great orchestra with marvelous arrangements. The vocalists sing beautifully, and the program is punctuated with excellent humor. Altogether, it is a most enjoyable evening of entertainment. But it left one with the inevitable question: Why has popular music fallen to such miserable depths of quality?
JAMES A. HANCOCK JR.
BUCHANAN
The government's hired killers
REGARDING Zelda Woodson's Dec. 1 letter to the editor, ``Use electric chair to reduce crime'':
I have one question: If someone takes a life and receives the death penalty, who's responsible for taking the life of the person who flips the switch on the electric chair and who'll do away with the person who did away with the executioner, etc.?
I guess the instructions should read, ``Thou shalt not kill; if you do, you give your own life in return, f+iunlesso, of course, you are paid by the government to electrocute, inject, hang, shoot, or gas someone to death ... ''
NELL CARR
ROANOKE
by CNB