Letters to the editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Editor’s note: this letter initially was sent to Tim Burke, local columnist for the Pahrump Valley Times.

English tourist finds Pahrump area interesting

I am a 67-year-old British resident born in Liverpool who has just returned to the UK after a memorable two-week vacation in West Coast USA with five other members of my family.

I purchased a copy of your newspaper whilst stopping at the Area 51 Diner in the Amargosa Valley en route from Las Vegas to Bishop in California.

I read your article regarding thefts and found it interesting and extremely thought-provoking. We all enjoyed a great stay in the USA and didn’t experience any distressing incidents other than my son losing a recently purchased pair of $207 designer sunglasses that he stupidly left on a restaurant counter for less than five minutes.

Having passed through your area I can imagine that living in such a warm climate in such isolation is challenging but I would hope that a strong sense of community is of benefit to all decent people who deserve to retain their property and possessions that they have worked so hard for.

Having visited the USA many times before, I found this trip to be far more expensive than I expected it to be and what was quite distressing for our group was witnessing a large amount of beggars and homeless people, especially in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco with a surprising number of females amongst them.

I know your recently elected president is quite a controversial figure but I do hope he tackles the problem. It was interesting to hear the views of the American people on the president, I didn’t actually hear one positive comment about him but maybe he will surprise them, I just hope he gets a move on and improves the living standards of the people he represents.

Best Wishes to all at your newspaper and to the residents of Pahrump. I hope to return one day.

Kind regards,

Kenneth S. Farrington

P.S. The proprietor of the Area 51 Diner is an interesting character to say the least. I can truthfully say he was the most eccentric person we encountered on the whole trip (nice hot dog though!)

Nevada needs legislation to limit government control of Internet

On July 12, many companies participated in a Net Neutrality Day of Action. As a local IT professional, I strongly believe the role of government in the Internet needs to be as limited as possible for our economy to reach its full potential. Since its earliest years, policies that encouraged unbridled innovation helped online businesses and technology companies prosper here in Las Vegas and across the country.

That is why I was alarmed when the Obama administration took the unprecedented step of regulating the Internet as a public utility a couple of years ago. I think most Nevadans would agree that the Internet is not just another utility service like the electric company—so it should not be treated like one. This move was implemented under the banner of net neutrality, but the misguided regulations were not needed to truly preserve an open Internet. In my view, it was government overreach and micromanaging the development of new technologies in a manner incompatible with the realities of the dynamic Internet marketplace.

I am glad to see that the current Federal Communications Commission chairman is working to review these regulations and the potential harms caused by them – billions of dollars in lost investment according to some reports – but it’s now time for Nevada’s congressional delegation to act. What is really needed is legislation to settle this issue that will preserve net neutrality without the consequences of utility regulations once and for all. I know there are many issues facing our country, but this one should not be forgotten.

Leo Bletnisky

Reader thinks Nevada DMV is unnecessary office

Decades ago, I relished (OK, a stretch) visiting the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, located on the southwest corner of Sahara at Mojave. I didn’t walk through the front door, with the hairs up on the back of my neck. They were very pleasant, in their manner of business. After 15 minutes of business, we would get around to swapping tales. I learned a lot about the history of Nevada, and Las Vegas. I enjoyed those visits.

All of that would change, in 1973, when NDMV would move into the new ‘whiz bang, super computer’ office building, located at the northeast corner of Sahara and McLeod. The instant that building was opened, a level of arrogance and contempt that I had not expected, surfaced, and was directed toward the ‘ignorant, unwashed, lackey louts’ that paid for the new building to be graced by the elitist public servants. No longer would they respect those that provide the cushy, slow-paced, soft, easy jobs. Paper cuts would become their prime concern.

After all of the disrespectful antics demonstrated by the NDMV, my wife got a notice of her driver’s license renewal. The notification stated, “If you will be 71 years of age or older at the time your license expires, you need to have your physician complete the Physical Evaluation form on page 3 of this notice (missing punctuation by NDMV). You must submit the form within 90 days of your physical examination.”

I sat down and calculated this latest idea from our NDMV. There would be 230 miles traveled, to our physician, to conduct the examination. There would be 230 miles traveled to retrieve the examination, plus a $35 fee for the examination paperwork, plus the doctor’s fee for the visit. Then, there would be 130 miles traveled to get to the NDMV, or 40 miles traveled to the United States Post Office to mail (return receipt required) the paperwork. Then there are the many taxes levied against her to pay for the license.

As you all may have noticed, the number of and the costs of all of those taxes have increased as fast as their imaginations can create them. All monies paid to the government, regardless of level, regardless of name/description, are taxes that fund the operation of our government. We would have 500 miles, or 590 miles traveled, in addition to the $150-plus costs in cash.

I noticed, some time back, the addition of the ‘technology fee - vr $1.00’. They are paid quite handsomely, to do that which they have added another tax, to perform that required task.

After giving careful thought, and reviewing the history of the NDMV, I feel quite comfortable in stating, “We Nevadans, could get along just fine without the NDMV.” The tax collection could be accomplished by the Nevada Tax Commission, and all of the unnecessary, fanciful, imaginary, expensive rules and regulations could be eliminated. There is nothing that NDMV does that we could not survive without. NDMV provides no increase to the economic wealth of our nation. To the contrary, NDMV is an expensive, frivolous government office that wastes our tax dollars.

Wayne P. Brotherton Sr.