Friday, February 22, 2013
Letters: Digital checks are nothing to fear
Letters to the Editor
Recent letters to the editor
- Pick of the day: No due process for collaborators
- Letters: Our leaders agree: We'll be in trouble
- Pick of the day: Gun control by gun owners
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From the RoundTable blog
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Digital checksare nothing to fear
This is in response to Lois Dezelich ("Don't force seniors to go digital," Feb. 20 letter).
She does not want her Social Security check to go digital. We have received ours by direct deposit ever since we've gotten it.
I like the peace of mind knowing it will be in the bank. I need not worry about the weather allowing me to get to the bank.
If I am away from home, I know it won't be stolen from my mailbox, and it will be in the bank when I need it.
You do not have to have a computer to receive your check; all you need is a checking account. Some people are just afraid of change.
Sometimes change is good. Otherwise we would all still drive horses and buggies, and there wouldn't be automobiles.
My 91-year-old mother uses direct deposit. She is in assisted living, and this has been a real help for her.
Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
CAROLYN DUNCAN
ROANOKE
Founding Fathers said nothing about ammo
Guns don't kill people. Bullets kill people. So let's ban bullets.
Yes, the Second Amendment gives everyone the constitutional right "to keep and bear arms." But it says nothing about powder and ball. So taxing and regulating ammunition would not be unconstitutional.
Comedian Chris Rock has the right idea for curbing senseless gunfire. A bullet should cost $5,000.
JACK CHAMBERLAIN
LANCASTER
Firearms violence demands a change
Apparently, many people are not particularly upset about 20children being murdered, 32college students being killed, thousands of women having their domestic problems resolved by their murder, or thousands of other people being killed by firearms annually.
That is why they are happy with the status quo or wish to see more liberal gun laws. This is America; that is what we do.
Does the Second Amendment give us the right to unfettered gun ownership? I don't think so. The assault weapons ban stood for 10years until Congress repealed it.
The Founding Fathers mentioned a well-regulated militia in that amendment; I question if they were thinking about the town drunk or the village idiot. The standard firearm in those days was a 5-foot muzzle loader, not a rapid-fire weapon with several dozen rounds.
Nor do I think unfettered gun ownership is going to help if the world-government people come in their black helicopters.
The Founding Fathers were pragmatic; that is why many of them accepted slavery. We need to be pragmatic. The United States, especially Virginia, should control gun ownership more effectively.
DAVID SMITH
ROANOKE
Use the restored Virginian station
Re: "Timetable for rail service pushed up," news story by Ralph Berrier Jr., Feb. 5:
The story says, "The city also will have to replace a long culvert to make way for new passenger tracks that will parallel the current tracks. The culvert project is estimated to cost $6.1 million, which caused some sticker shock among members during the council's work session."
As a former Virginian Railway employee and supporter of the restoration of the old Virginian Railway Passenger Station at Williamson Road and Jefferson Street in Roanoke, I feel this would be a great reason to consider this restored passenger station for the Amtrak connection to our city.
With an addition of a connection track from the Winston-Salem line to the old VGN track, the train could go from the NS main line at Roanoke Shops through the wye track, across Campbell Avenue and south to the restored station and avoid this $6.1 million modification.
The station project is already advertising to lease the larger building, will have parking, handicapped accessibility and a connection nearby to the free Star Trolley to downtown. This would add a special historical atmosphere that the proposed complex on Norfolk Avenue could never match.
WIS SOWDER
ROANOKE
