To the editor:

Go ahead, ask me if I care? On second thought, you don't have to ask - I'll tell you.

I don't care who the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child is, where she's buried or how many men she's slept with. Let her, and us, rest in peace.

I don't care about Britney Spears shaving her head. Nor, do I care about the revolving rehab door, only that they don't lock her in and throw away the key. I don't care that she and Paris Hilton go "commando." I do care that there are people in this world who want to wear underwear but don't have any.

I don't care about the Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell feud. There's enough fighting in this world, don't waste my prime time TV on it. I don't care when Manny Ramirez shows up, only that he gets the job done. If he's effective despite his childish behavior, I don't care.

I don't much care about North Attleboro's continuing fluoride saga which, at this point, is longer than "War and Peace." I do care, though, about pre teen and teenage girls being denied access to HPV vaccine because their parents are in denial about their child's potential for sexual activity. I wonder if they'd feel the same way if a vaccine were available to prevent breast or colon cancer?

I don't care much for the politicians that want to stop "funding" the war (this is not to say I am, or was, in favor of it). But, I very much care that those in harm's way have whatever they need to protect themselves and our country. I also care about the treatment, or lack there of, afforded to them at Walter Reed Hospital, aka the Mecca of military medicine.

So, what do you care about?

Pam Gagnon
Attleboro

Use reference points to decide on fluoride

To the editor:

Recently there have been a few letters and editorials praising the effectiveness and safety of fluoride introduced into our public water supply. We question this procedure of fluoridation for several reasonings.

In the past, the prestigious American Dental Association was a total advocate of fluoride whatever the source with some transparent thoughts about a daily safe amount.

In November 2006, they issued a warning to its members that fluoridated water should not be used in mixing formula for babies one year old and younger. It appears that if the baby is 366 days old, it is OK. We wonder how many of our local dentists and doctors have advised their patients of this directive. Has our water department considered inserting a letter with the bills with this caveat? Our question to the American Dental Association is, should pregnant women be drinking fluoridated water? If it's bad for babies, how about babies to be.

In the same alert, the ADA suggested the children 2 years old and younger not brush their teeth with toothpaste that contains fluoride. Apparently, the day after their second birthday, it's all right. It should be noted that Orajel has started to market "toddler training toothpaste that is a fluoride-free and safe to swallow." The word "safe" has a certain significance to us.

The healthiest country in the world is Sweden. Fluoride has been banned from their drinking water by an act of parliament. This ban was due, in part, to the efforts of Dr. Arvid Carlson, pharmacologist and Nobel Prize winner, who conducted an exhaustive study on the product and concluded that fluoride has many negative side effects. It should be noted that the United States spends more per capita on health care than any other country in the world yet ranks poorly on the list of "healthy nations."

Our intent is not to use scare tactics as a recent letter writer indicated but to question.

How many prescription medications have been introduced and sanctioned by the Federal Drug Administration only to be withdrawn from the market place after finding out they caused more health problems then beneficial effects? Let's face it, our governmental watchdog agencies have made many egregious errors in the past.

Judging from the quantities of jugs and bottles of spring water that are being sold in our stores, it appears that many people are dissatisfied with the taste of our local water.

Let's get this product, be categorized a medicine or a skull and cross bones poison, our of our water supply.

David and Donna Lee Robinson
North Attleboro

Opinion page not venue for Web links

To the editor:

I must take objection to your posting of a Web link in a recent letter printed in your Opinion section. While the content of the letter rightfully pointed out the shameful conditions greeting wounded service people when they recover back home, I find that the "link" to an MSNBC Web site is completely inappropriate for this venue. I think this is a place for expression of original thoughts and ideas, not the place to promote the propaganda of MSNBC, which has taken a decidedly left slant since the last election.

I would no sooner ask a reader to link to MSNBC than to "Salon.com" or "Rush Limbaugh.com." Those are not places of original thought, they are devices for both parties to test run ideas, push agendas and tell half truths to the American people while claiming to impartial or balanced.

If I want MSNBC's "opinion" I will watch television, not read The Sun Chronicle, so please, no more "links" unless it is source material that is in dispute.

Gary Johnson
North Attleboro

Sex story employs faulty conclusions

To the editor:

A Los Angeles Times story on the front page of The Sun Chronicle on Thursday, March 8, titled "Earlier Sex Means Later Trouble" annoyed me. It was one of those agenda-driven stories whose deception should stay on the pages of L.A. Times and not be repeated on the front page of The Sun Chronicle, even if its purpose is simply to fill space.

The story insists that students who lose their virginity earlier than their peers are more likely to "steal, destroy property, shoplift or sell drugs " as if somehow the act of sex puts a literal seed of destruction into the youths. The story attributes the study to the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

The cause and effect attributed in this story is astounding. As the story moves on, it is obvious that these youths are more likely to participate in more risky behavior, which includes sex, but the story presents it is as if sex is the cause of the risky behavior. (I would bet these students might drive faster than their peers, too, but nobody would suggest that a heavy foot on the pedal causes students to steal or take drugs.)

There is plenty of ignorance and fear and down right juvenile discourse in this country, especially in schools, about sex. Promoting such a story with its inane conclusions only adds to the childishness.

Tanya Willow
Norton

Give Iraq generals means to fight war

To the editor:

So that will be two wars that we will have lost, not due to battle field losses, but due to the lack of fortitude from our own elected wimps.

If the Democrats, and the Republicans for that matter, really wanted to win this war, they would declare weapons free. The commanders in Iraq would be given the OK to utilize whatever means necessary to defeat the insurgency and get this travesty settled. If someone is shooting at our troops from a mosque, flatten it. If the Sadr army will not disband, destroy it. Wars are won by attrition and by subduing the enemy. If you cannot destroy the enemy's ability to wage war, then you are doomed to fail.

Do not get me wrong, I did not want us to go to war with Iraq. The reason I did not want us to go to war is that we would not do what it would take to win. Thanks to the politicians (mainly the Democrats) and the media, our country has conveniently been hamstrung and prevented from completing the task in Iraq. Leaving with out completing the job will only embolden the radicals to execute more attacks against our country.

I think it's time for another revolution in this country. It's time to take our country back from the people who obviously dislike it and give it back to the people who love and respect our country. Back to the people who realize that while this country is not perfect, it is the best there is.

Scott T. Boulet
North Attleboro

Process, not liberals, contributed to laws

To the editor:

RE: March 8, 2007, Op-ed by Gene Moore.

Regarding the list of things "accomplished" by liberals, these were results of our political process and constitutional order, not liberal doctrine. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by the House 290-130, and the Senate by 73-27.

Strong bipartisan support, particularly by Republicans in the Senate, made passage of the bill possible. With respect to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress at that time. And, strong bipartisan support made passage of the amendment possible; the House vote was 304-89, and the Senate vote was 56-25. Thirty-six states, the minimum needed for ratification at that time, ratified this amendment within about one year after U.S. Congressional approval.

Mr. Moore wants some suggestions about what benefits should be eliminated. I think the question should be are there any functions performed by the federal government that can be better performed outside of government.

Social Security and medicare, in my view constitutionally dubious, are basically middle class entitlement programs that are funded with an intergenerational wealth transfer (i.e., FICA and medicare taxes are paid by workers and such taxes go to retired people as benefits).

There are no "lock boxes" where current FICA and Medicare taxes are held to support and sustain benefits under these programs. These taxes are spent each year like all taxes on everything the U.S. government does. These programs certainly need to be reformed because they are financially unsound.

The federal government must meet its obligations to current recipients in these programs; however, a transition to private solutions that include more personal choice and market based alternatives are needed.

David J. Seermon
Foxboro

Writer lists GOP's 'achievements'

To the editor:

In response to Gene Moore's excellent list of liberals' achievements, I'd like to contrast my list of right-wing Republican achievements.

First, intolerance for the views of others, certainly of foreigners and immigrants.

Government spending: Seldom is federal money spent on worthwhile programs for the American people, but rather on unnecessary wars such as the war in Iraq. (The lie continues to be perpetuated that it is for our freedom even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 nor did they ever attack the United States).

Enormous national debt: Only Clinton, a Democrat, balanced the budget in recent times. The Republicans under George W. Bush have put America in debt big-time. They have spent like drunken sailors, mostly for the military, not for the American people. Exception: Medicare Plan D, but does anyone really like it?

Tax cuts: For the wealthy no less. How can we ever have a more equitable society when the rich get richer, the poor and the middle class get poorer? But perhaps that is the capitalistic way. Thank God for the benefits that liberals accomplish and for their concern about such vital matters as the environment and global warming.

Rigmor Clark
Attleboro

Recognize benefit
of school libraries

To the editor:

"The library is the heart of the school." These words are inscribed on the plaque honoring K. Gerald Smith for his 23 years as the principal of the L.G. Nourse Elementary School. The Norton Public Schools named the school's library after the beloved principal upon his retirement in fall 2005.

Smith's philosophy, that the library is the heart of the school, embodied the importance of literacy as the foundation for all student learning. It is a shame that the doors of that library are now closed due to the lack of adequate school funding, as are the library doors at the J.C. Solmonese Elementary School, the Henri A.Yelle Elementary School and the Norton Middle School.

Horace Mann was America's first great advocate of public education. Born into poverty, Mann educated himself at the public library in Franklin, Mass. He later attended Brown University, studied law, and served in the state legislature. He also served on the school committee in Dedham, the nation's first free, tax-supported public school. In 1837, Horace Mann was elected to be the first secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education.

As state secretary of education, Mann fought for educational reform. He stressed that in a democratic society education should be free and universal. He argued the importance of public schooling in the development of an educated and virtuous work force.

He stressed the necessity of public schooling in the furtherance of social and economic equality. He is quoted as saying "the common school, improved and energized, ... may become the most effective and benignant of all the forces of civilization." Mann's reforms resulted in better appropriations to schoolhouses, increased teacher salaries, wider curriculum and an extended school year.

The virtues of public education for which Horace Mann fought are as valid today as they were 170 years ago. The library IS the heart of the school. Norton students need access to library services on site at their schools.

Students benefit from instruction on how to use the library and all of its resources on a weekly basis. Learning the skills to navigate a library system gives students access to endless possibilities. From this, we all benefit.

Kathy Voegtlin
Norton