Readers Write

AIG bonuses

Want to earn them? Head to Fargo

Maybe bonus-getting AIG executives should reconnect with people at the opposite end of the insurance spectrum — specifically, flood insurance. Instead of having their hands out, executives could lend flood-stricken residents a hand. Their bonus could be a shovel and a one-way ticket to Fargo.

Mark Veronen, Ponsford, Minn.

Gov't-created disasters

Red River flooding had roots in '50s planning

It seems as if every spring we hear about the possible flooding of the Red River, with cities and homes along its banks threatened as it runs north to Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. The March 22 Star Tribune carried a long article on this subject but only briefly mentioned that this annual flooding is frequently caused by agricultural drainage.

The feds are no longer financing drainage, but it is too late to store the spring runoff in the sloughs. They are gone forever. So stand by, folks, for the annual "federally financed flood."

Donald E. Engebretson, Bloomington

Bachmann's 'revolution'

She should call for herself to be investigated

Minnesota Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann recently suggested that her supporters should get "armed and dangerous" in response to President Obama's attempts to mitigate climate change. Rep. Bachmann, would you consider violent political opposition to be pro-American or anti-American?

Antibullying bill

A needed protection for all of our children

The Minnesota Family Council's opposition to the new antibullying legislation is ridiculous and reminds me of the absurd protesting of desegregating schools throughout the 1960s.

We are talking about a bill that would help to protect children — not force ideologies upon them. The bill would not teach sexual orientation curriculum to children but rather would enable the schools to protect children from dangerous bullying.

Schools should not be required to protect only the children the Minnesota Family Council deems worthy, but rather all those who need it. I am a mother of two elementary-age children, and I want them to be as safe as possible, bully-free.

Same-sex marriage

How is it in society's best interests?

The March 20 letter writer in support of state Sen. John Marty's proposal to allow same-sex marriage makes a good point (civil marriage is a civil, not a religious, concern). What he doesn't seem to understand is that civil marriage is a privilege, not a right. Society's only interest in recognizing civil marriages is its own continuation. Churches have the right to call any relationship they want a "religious" marriage, but they cannot demand society recognize it as such. Since same-sex "marriages" can do nothing within themselves to promote society's continuation, society has no obligation to give them any civil recognition.

Hap Corbett, Staples, Minn.

Ethanol usage

A couple of clarifications are needed to the Wall Street Journal editorial on ethanol that was reprinted in the March 19 Star Tribune.
• The American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest is a nonpartisan health charity focused solely on preventing lung disease and fighting for cleaner air.

• It is not opposed to higher ethanol blends in gasoline, as the editorial suggests. It is one of many organizations that recently urged the Environmental Protection Agency to complete the review of science-based testing that has been done on higher than 10 percent blends for use in non-flexible-fuel vehicles.

The American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest encourages the use of E85 in flex-fuel vehicles, recognizing that simply by using E85 instead of gasoline, a motorist can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other harmful pollutants from entering the air.