Anniversary celebration

While standing in the line at Farm Fresh waiting to pay, a young lady ahead of me asked me what the beautiful roses were for. I told her they were for my wife on our 65th wedding anniversary.

When it came my turn to pay the cashier, I was told the young woman ahead of me had paid for my purchase. This type of spontaneous generosity, these days, is rare indeed.

Norfolk ambassador

Re ''Uncle Pete' leaves legacy of love, laughs,' front page, Feb. 4: Many years ago I was standing on the sidewalk at Norfolk's Main Street looking around, trying to find a certain building. A man across the street must have noticed what I was doing. He came across the street and asked if he could help me. It wasn't until I saw his picture where I worked that I knew who he was. No surprise. It was Peter Decker.

South vs. North

For years, Hampton Roads taxpayers have had their gas tax siphoned off to pay for massive transportation projects in Richmond and Northern Virginia. Now that we need improvements to our tunnels, those of us who use those tunnels will have to absorb an $800 to $1,000 annual hit on our taxes (via tolls).The fair and equitable way to fund tunnel improvements is a gas tax; the more one drives, the more one pays. If our politicians, both local and state, can't grasp this concept, then I say put tolls everywhere.

After all, this is the only way to ensure that the burden is shared equally.

And why haven't our local city leaders, en masse, come out strongly against these tolls (taxes)? Are they not cognizant of the tens of millions of dollars in discretionary spending that will be extracted from local business owners such as retailers and restaurateurs?

Isn't it time that our elected officials stand up for their constituents, now that it's really hitting their pocketbooks?

Pledge to voters

Re 'Varied views greet Rigell after switch on tax pledges,' front page, Jan 31: I am encouraged that Rep. Scott Rigell has disavowed his no-new-taxes pledge to Grover Norquist. I voted for Rigell, not Norquist. Rigell displayed courage in recognizing that we're in dire economic times that demand sacrifice by all. We need not only to cut government spending but also to reform our tax code and end tax loopholes.

For all those on the extreme right and left, compromise is the key to good government. Our Constitution was hammered together by compromise. Those having the attitude of 'my way or the highway' defy the spirit of the Constitution.

Mean-spirited bill

Re 'Pre-abortion ultrasound: Too invasive,' front page, Feb. 3: Del. Mark Cole may have introduced the most mean-spirited bill in the General Assembly. Currently, federal law requires Virginia to provide funds to poor women for abortions in cases of rape, incest and danger to the woman's health. Virginia also pays for an abortion if the child is likely to be born with a totally incapacitating physical or mental deformity.

Cole's bill would eliminate funds for the latter category. Last year Virginia spent less than $2,800 on these abortions, so Cole is not doing this to save money; he is imposing his values on the women of Virginia.

'Big government' GOP

Columnist Kerry Dougherty ('Those who hate nanny-state should loathe abortion bill,' Feb. 3) carpet-bombed the legislative initiative to require ultrasounds prior to abortions. As she said, no true conservative could support such a governmental invasion of the doctor-patient relationship.

It amuses me greatly that self-professed 'conservatives' argue with equal fervor that no restrictions can be placed on gun ownership, but that any manner of ill-concealed 'safety' impediments to a woman's constitutional right to choose abortion are perfectly OK.

It is intellectual dishonesty and a sad commentary on how far the state GOP has deviated from true conservatism. It no longer has a philosophy, only a doctrine.

Compelling an informed decision

RE 'PRE-ABORTION ULTRASOUND: Too invasive,' front page, Feb. 3: The state Senate approved SB484, requiring a woman to have an ultrasound before an abortion. The requirement of an ultrasound does not force the mother to look at it; rather, it gives her the opportunity to see what is in her womb and then make a truly 'informed' decision. The decision is still hers to make no freedom of choice was taken away from her.

The public outcry against SB484 has been very vocal. On Friday, The Pilot carried three articles, all with negative connotations (using words such as 'invasive' and 'restrictive'). The editorial referred to the possible use of a probe as an 'invasion' of a woman's body. However, the invasion of the woman's body took place weeks before the ultrasound. That, too, was a choice.

Unless it was forcible rape, the 'invasion' would have been consensual. The issue now is whether the parties involved will be responsible with their 'choice.' The product of their union is not responsible for his presence; the parents are.

It's easy to avoid responsibility when you don't see the consequences of your choices.

I would prefer that both mother and father see the ultrasound, because they will see a child, not a blob of tissue. Having seen the child, it would be wonderful if they acknowledged that they had brought a life into the world and need to be responsible for his care. However, it is still their choice.

Young science stars

I had the pleasure of judging the Science Fair at Granby Elementary School. Not expecting much, I was greatly surprised when I walked into the gymnasium to see more than 70 science fair projects, starting with class projects of kindergarten through second grades to individual projects of the upper grades.

My amazement continued as I reviewed and judged each proposal. The experiments and their descriptions quickly expressed students’ depth of understanding of scientific principles.

The fun parts of the process poked through with displays of snapshots and drawings.

None of this could have happened without the inspiration and enthusiasm of the administration and teachers at Granby Elementary. I especially want to applaud Assistant Principal Kathy Verhappen and Science Lead teacher Kim Bonay who, despite their busy schedules, were able to organize the fair and help other participating teachers.

Debora Mosher

Norfolk

The genius of crowds

In a recent phenomenon, millions of idle personal computers were networked into grids to perform massively complex calculations as quickly and accurately as the world’s best supercomputers. The process goes virtually unnoticed by the PC users and has doomed the fate of many supercomputers.

What if, instead of networking PCs, we create a grid connecting millions of citizens to solve the complex problems facing society? In addition to raw power, we offer features no supercomputer will ever have — discernment, morals and intuition.

The genius of the Founding Fathers and Steve Jobs was having the courage to recognize that the most complex problems are best solved via a combination of transparent “open source” approaches and the conviction that all men are created equal.

Today’s politicians spend hundreds of millions of dollars to condition us that we are neither equal, nor capable nor deserving, of managing our own lives and “their” money. Let’s find the courage to prove them wrong. Let’s make 2012 the year of digital democracy.

Stephen Zarpas

Norfolk

Needless expense

Requiring government-issued photo IDs at the polls will not only make it impossible for poor people to vote, it is fiscally irresponsible. Virginia has a $2 billion budget shortfall; the cost of implementing photo ID is between $9.73 million and $29.1 million. That’s a lot of money to solve a problem that doesn´t exist.

There is no history of voter fraud in Virginia. These laws are designed to keep people entitled to vote from voting.

Lindsey Watts

Virginia Beach