Letters to the Editor

No excuse for frustrating experience at area DMV so says a Times reader

I wish to give a few thoughts on the DMV in Pahrump. I am in total amazement that we have come so far in the computer age and cannot cure the problems of the aforesaid DMV.

You go up there at 7 a.m. and stand in line for an hour before the door opens. Once you get in, unless you are one of the first 10-15 people, you could be there for several hours only to find that you do not have the proper documentation.

You then go home and attempt to obtain the aforesaid documentation and then you start the process over. This can be a two or three times or maybe longer process. You cannot convince me that this cannot be corrected.

When we switched over from chauffeur’s license to CDL (nothing but a money grab) I did my part and went with my current license and all of my paperwork to the DMV in Henderson to switch over. I got there early and stood in line like a good little soldier. What confronted me was a nasty, surly woman who I would not hire as a floor sweeper. I spent 24 hours of being insulted and humiliated at the hands of a person who couldn’t even shift gears in the truck I drove. After finally being approved by this thing that filled in as a DMV clerk, I was issued a license. Needless to say I was not a happy truck driver. As I walked out the door she said at the top of her lungs, “There goes another happy customer”, all the time laughing hysterically.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS. Most of this could be done on the computer. Please people in charge, fix this problem. If I ran for governor on fixing this problem alone, I would probably be elected by a landslide.

In closing, I would like to say thank you for all the people who read my ranting are supporting me. Since my experience with my CDL, I would like to say that the caliber of people at the DMV has improved greatly. Further, the people in the Pahrump DMV are usually very pleasant and it is not their fault. It is the system and its distrust of the public. God bless each and every one of you and God bless America.

Stacy L. Riney

America is not a perfect country, but then who is?

Where does it come from, what does it mean, and most importantly how is it lost? Anyone who has traveled to what’s called “developing” countries and paid attention to the average people there and see their daily lives, usually realizes how many things we just take for granted here. Most of these places have people that their ancestors have been there for centuries, most times way longer than the USA has been a country - why is their existence so meager?

There are many that would argue it’s because we’ve taken advantage and abused others to get what we have, and there is a level of truth that can be reasoned, but I’d argue it’s been drastically conflated.

Anyone who has ever studied the history of mankind sees the norm historically has been from dominance and tyranny, from blood lines, religion, and “might makes right” form of who rules and who is subjugated.

As a country, I believe we are subject to all the human nature flaws and failings the rest of the world is subject to without exception, but we were fortunate enough to become a nation formed by a group of diversified flawed men that were strongly influenced by the “Age of Enlightenment” that questioned nearly everything that was just considered “normal” for centuries. Important things like ‘who gets to rule and why? And things like, are there limits to power?

I’m well aware that their human nature flaws are examples of their failures such as the issue of slavery, which was the “spirit of the age of the time”, even for those countries that may have formally banned it in their countries before we did but still allowed it to continue in many forms around the world even in their colonies.

There is little doubt they essentially “kicked” this and other issues that were in direct opposition to their writings, for other generations to deal with. It’s very easy to look at any part of history through today’s lens, but very difficult to fully understand things that were going on at any given time in history that had direct influences on that time. So no, we are not a perfect country and will never be, but I’d challenge anyone to show me which one is and then question, why aren’t you making every effort to get there? That only seems logical to me.

Ronald Reagan said: “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation for it comes only once to a people.” Thomas Jefferson said, “Put reason firmly in its seat,” also, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite essentially preserving our survival as a free people.”

I’d add a truth - factual education that includes the flaws but also the great accomplishments.

David Jaronik

Reader: Recent verbal attack on first lady unwarranted

Well, the political slander has taken place. I am the daughter of a white-supremacist-incognito. Only we know are views. We are both elderly boomers. No, I did not vote for Mr. Sisolak as Lord of Nevada. Our commissioner Cox lobbed a racial (mixed with LOTS of class envy and class resentment) accusational insult at Nevada’s first Asian-American first lady. Upon review of the evidence, reluctantly, I am forced to concede that the political barrage on our first lady was, both, unjustified and unwarranted. Apologies to Mrs. Sisolak.

Lately, I have eaten a lot of political crow. But, I wish that a becalmed Mrs. Sisolak and an equally becalmed Mrs. Cox could have sat down together at a table. That would have been the first step. Step number two would have been, with respect and honesty in their hearts, they could have aired their aggravations with each other. In my opinion, that would have been a superior teachable situation for our young.

Janice Gilmour

Too close for comfort to California says reader

More than 50 years ago, back when my vision was really superb, I stood on Kyle Canyon Road and looked toward Railroad Pass. I could see the vehicles traveling on U.S. 93 and 95, heading toward Boulder City. I was able to identify the vehicle - cars, trucks, pickups, pickups with travel trailers and buses, not by brand but by size. I had two things going for me - perfect vision and perfect environment. When the ‘Henderson Fog’ lifted, I had unlimited vision..

Here we are, more than 50 years later, and we have progressed with unlimited environmental restrictions, laws, conditions, and this day the visibility is about two, maybe three miles.

Then you ask, “What could cause all of that smoke?” Answer, “It is California again.” They will never learn. Yellowstone was not even a clue to them. They have played with Mother Nature so often that 60 or so years of fuel has accumulated, even in the cities (Santa Barbara, for instance), and when a fire gets started, it becomes practically impossible to extinguish. All of those bits of information came out of the Yellowstone, when we almost lost Yellowstone Park completely. “What does California do”, you query. The response, “Why the same thing they have done so many years.”

I have heard that anyone, or any group of folks that do the same thing over and over, expecting different results, have a problem. California is sending their smoke to Nevada. Has everyone forgotten the battle cry, “Nevada is not a dump!”, and, “Not in my backyard!” Yet we have smoke so heavy in Amargosa Valley, my breathing became so labored, short of breath and coughing so hard, that for a moment I was not sure I would stop coughing, or continue breathing. Californians are such hypocrites. They portray themselves as the saviors of the nation, when in fact they create environmental catastrophes of monumental proportions. They are so suave and urbane that we should consider ourselves fortunate that they allow us to breathe the same smoke that they create.

The time has long since passed for our governor to file civil and criminal complaints against the state of California. Who can forget that California created a law that forbade the flow of cigarette smoke across property lines? Will Sisolak ‘step up to the plate’ and defend Nevada and Nevadans against the damage (health hazard) caused by California?

I find it quite difficult to have much sympathy for someone or group that continues to do the same dumb thing and get the same disastrous results, year after year. Then go before our nation and beg for support (money) from the rest of the nation that practices proper forest protection. The arrogance and contempt demonstrated toward Nevada/Nevadans is intolerable, but California will send ever more pollutants our way.

Wayne Brotherton Sr.

Reader gets annoyed with writer of recent PVT letter

I keep saying that I am going to quit writing these letters and then a person like Jim Ferrell, a self-proclaimed Democrat that talks like a socialist writes a piece of crap about gun control.

He states that Joe Biden, notice I did not say president, is trying to keep guns out of the hands of teenagers in Chicago. I would like for him to tell me when and where Biden stated this. To start with, Biden can’t even complete sentences without stumbling and bungling any statement. People such as Mr. Ferrell helped elect this idiot. We all agree that guns should only be in the hands of competent people. I will remind you and the rest of your socialist/communist people that our forefathers wrote the Second Amendment in the Constitution for a reason. It is to stop idiots like the ones in charge now from doing what they are trying to do.

Mr. Ferrell then starts in on Fox News. Please check your facts and you will find they are the most watched and listened to according to all the polls taken and that is a fact. Calling people names as he does can’t justify his inadequacies or the grasp of the English language. Fox does not stir up hate of the left, they leave it to people like you and then they just report on what people say. If you can’t stand the heat then stay out of the kitchen and keep your mouths shut.

Oh, by the way, if you like Canada so much, move there and take the rest of your commie buddies with you.

Trump was truly a breath of fresh air that was needed after Obama and the country boomed, a fact you can’t dispute even with all of your lies. If you think Trump is a criminal then by all means you should go down to the courthouse and file charges. Make sure you take all your proof with you for they will want it to corroborate your charges.

I am one of the dying breeds of a Democrat, the JFK Democrats. Thank you readers for listening and supporting me. God bless everyone and God bless America!

Stacy L. Riney