I enjoy an escapist beach read as much as anyone else. I’ve got no literary pretensions.

That said, however, I was concerned to learn that many romance novels are not as harmless as they seem.

Some marriage therapists caution that women can become as dangerously unbalanced by these books’ entrancing but distorted messages as men can by the distorted messages of pornography.

Many of today’s romance novels have a huge soft-porn influence. Nearly all major publishers are rushing to put out mainstream “erotica” titles to meet exploding demand.

When should we admit there is little difference between the influences of graphic images on men and seductive, graphic words on women?

Erotica provides a porn-laced story with no worry about a spouse catching you online.

Even traditional romance novels promote – almost by definition – an unattainable romantic ideal. The male heroes are all strong, rugged and breathtakingly handsome yet sensitive, patient listeners and utterly unselfish.

Dr. Julianna Slattery, psychologist and author of the excellent book “Finding the Hero in Your Husband,” says: “For many women, these novels really do promote dissatisfaction with their relationships.

“There is a neurochemical element with men and porn, but an emotional element with women and these novels. I have met women that are addicted to these novels.”

If you think that is an insignificant trend, think again.

The Romance Writers of America Web site says 64 million people, mostly women, read at least one romance novel last year, accounting for 55 percent of the mass-market fiction sold.

Although I wish erotica would disappear, I’m not suggesting women ditch other books that also happen to be romance stories.

But this summer, those of us who like a good beach read would do well to remember, as we fold up our towel and head home, that it’s our choice to find the hero in our husband and not in the pages of a fiction book.

Diane Glass, from the left: Romance novels a harmless diversion.

Simply, defeat denies rewards to criminals
It’s so strange to hear the voices of those who were in favor of the defeated immigration bill.

They just don’t understand the opposition.

Those who opposed the bill are not racist; they simply believe in the rule of law. America does not need Mexicans.

Millions of people want to come to America to work, and they follow immigration laws.

It’s simply not right that those who break the law be given priority over those who follow the law. It’s that simple. Laws are important in America.

BRYAN SMITH

Folks on fixed income can’t afford more fees
Re: the Friday article “Garbage fee foes need 1,000-plus signatures by Thursday”:

I would sign this petition. I voted for Councilwoman Nina Trasoff because she promised to get rid of this fee.

It appears she changed her mind and is using these funds for the Arts Center.

The city of Tucson is making money with recycling; what about using these funds for garbage collection?

An Arts Center should use funds collected for that purpose.

To citizens on a fixed income, the garbage fee is hurting and cutting into their food, utilities, gas and other necessities.

Let rich people pay for the Arts Center.

R. WOOLARD

Shopper gives account of Park Place shooting
Re: the Monday article “Police close Park Place mall after shooting”:

My family and I had left the mall about 2:30 p.m., but I returned about 3 p.m.

I was in a store near Dillard’s when I heard a big bang and saw people running through the mall away from Dillard’s.

Then came another bang and an announcement to lie down.

We customers ran to the back of the store, where the manager locked all the storage rooms and her office, I guess so we didn’t steal anything!

About eight of us were hiding in the back.

I was surprised to find the store didn’t have an emergency plan posted in case of some sort of an attack.

You never know what could happen nowadays, especially this close to a holiday!

I would think with the high alerts, the mall would have been practicing for emergencies, as has happened everywhere else.

After about five minutes, the manager said security had advised people to evacuate, as there had been a shooting.

We all filed out the back door to the loading dock near the parking lot. Police and emergency vehicles started pulling in, and people ran to their cars.

Getting out of the parking lot was a little stressful, but by the time I got to Wilmot, police were directing traffic away from the mall.

I hope the shooting victims and witnesses are OK.

KELLY SLACHTER

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APPLE’S new cell phone came out featuring a hand-held wireless Internet connection. Anything you do can be picked up by U.S. spy satellites. As soon as people hear this, there will be a five-block line to buy two tin cans and a string.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin arrived Sunday at Kennebunkport, Maine, to spend a day with President Bush at the Bush family summer residence. It makes you think. When President Bush said the enemy would follow us home, he didn’t say from which war.

HOMELAND Security Director Mike Chertoff said border fence construction is under way. It’s not a new idea. Every problem this country faces can be traced back to an unenlightened immigration policy by American Indians.

NEW YORK Mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped hints that he may be open to running for president. He recently attended a breakfast that raised $12 million to get his campaign rolling. He dined alone with his checkbook.

BARRY BONDS was thrilled when fans of major league baseball voted to make him a starting out- fielder in the All-Star Game. Apparently, he’s above the rules – and above the law. The Republicans may have just found their next vice president.

PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair bid farewell to Parliament, formally resigned from office and left 10 Downing St. His departure has really upset President Bush. His parents had to tell him that Blair went to go live on a farm.

The U.S. Supreme Court expanded the free speech rights of some political associations, but only for those willing to risk going to jail to exercise them.

Somehow, I don’t think that’s what the founders had in mind when they wrote that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.”

At issue was a provision in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation prohibiting television and radio ads that mention federal candidates before elections unless paid for with money subject to federal limits.

As a practical matter, this meant that trade associations, unions and issue advocacy groups couldn’t pay for such ads out of their general treasuries. They would have to form PACs and pay for them out of smaller contributions.

In 2003, the Supreme Court largely upheld McCain-Feingold on the basis that Congress could act to protect elections from the influence of wealth – a free speech exception not found in the Constitution itself.

The court found the provision banning certain broadcast ads was not unconstitutional per se, because most of the ads running before elections were intended to influence their outcome rather than about issues pending before Congress.

It, however, left open the possibility that McCain-Feingold could be held unconstitutional as applied to specific issue ads.

This was always a curious and indefensible distinction. The notion that the First Amendment protects speech about candidates less than it protects speech about issues has utterly no foundation or logic to it.

In 2004, the Wisconsin Right to Life organization wanted to run television ads urging viewers to contact Wisconsin’s U.S. senators about filibustering judges during the prohibited period. One of those senators, Russ Feingold ironically enough, was up for re-election.

In last week’s decision, two justices said that the McCain-Feingold ban was unconstitutional as applied to these ads; three justices said the ban was unconstitutional per se in all cases; and four justices said the ban was constitutional and forbid these particular ads.

In the curious math of judicial decision-making, although the smallest faction, the views of the two justices are now the law of the land. In the words of Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the controlling opinion, the ban now applies only to ads that are “susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.”

But who decides that? And when?

Violating this particular provision of McCain-Feingold can be a felony.

Courts aren’t in the business of providing advisory opinions. So, the only option for those wanting to exercise this expanded right to communicate during elections is to run the ads and see if the Federal Elections Commission takes enforcement action and whether the courts determine that there is a reasonable alternative interpretation of them.

That’s an inherently subjective judgment. In fact, in this very case, only two justices actually found that there was a reasonable alternative interpretation. Four justices said there wasn’t one, and three said it didn’t matter.

No justice attempted to explain how such distinctions and subjective censorship of the content of political ads could be reconciled with the plain language of the First Amendment.

In fact, the dissent written by Justice David Souter was quite revealing regarding this point. He wrote that this particular provision of McCain-Feingold was constitutional because it “is not a ban on speech.”

That’s because the same message could be delivered through newspaper advertising, the Internet or direct mail, or on television and radio by a PAC.

The Constitution, however, doesn’t prohibit Congress from “banning” speech; it prohibits Congress from “abridging” speech, which Webster’s defines as to “diminish” or “reduce in scope.”

The explicit purpose of McCain-Feingold was to reduce political speech, to prevent some people, organized in certain ways, from saying certain things at certain times.

In an almost quaint move, toward the end of his opinion, Roberts actually bothers to quote the constitutional provision supposedly being construed.

Someday, perhaps, the court will actually apply the language as written.

More Robb: Democrats likely to push for liberal immigration reform bill

Robert Robb is a columnist for The Arizona Republic.

Title IX now neglects male collegiate ranksAcademically, Title IX is a complete failure.

Proponents validly point out the increase in women’s athletics. But they fail to mention male enrollment at the University of Arizona and other big state schools nationwide has been under 50 percent of total enrollment for decades.

Further, as is regularly reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the fraction of male enrollment continues to decrease.

However, despite this difference that should violate Title IX, universities have continued to add programs more likely to attract female students, such as women’s studies.

Title IX, by any definition, should be chiefly about academics, not athletics.

However, if it is interpreted as a strict quota when applied to athletics, it should also be interpreted as a strict quota when applied to academics.

Male athletes have been subsidizing female athletes for 35 years in the guise of gender equity. Why shouldn’t female students be subsidizing male students for the same reason?

MATTHEW LEIGH

Online debate sheds light on immigration
I’m a bit late with this thank you, and I’ve mislaid the clipping so I don’t have the name (June 25 RealFAST ONLINE COMMENTS “The big debate: Deaths in the desert”).

But I wanted to thank you for running the differing opinion on the issue of illegal immigrants, where the person suggested that if Jesus were here, he’d be offering water and food and help to the immigrants.

I’ve often thought of that when reading the bitter and vitriolic comments regarding the immigrants, so I was delighted to see it in print.

BARBARA YOUNG

Green Valley and Tubac

Vehicle border barrier won’t stop trafficking
Americans who promote vehicle barriers on the border (instead of fences) must think the Mexican coyotes are too dumb to drop people off on the south side and have them picked up on the north side.

IVAN RUSSELL

Armed campus staff could offer protection
Re: the June 25 Associated Press article “2007 legislative accomplishments”:

A glaring omission in the 2007 session was the failure to pass a law that would allow University of Arizona staff and faculty who have concealed carry permits to have their firearms on their person on campus.

I can think of 32 reasons why this is a good idea.

The same 32 reasons illustrate the impossibility of any law or government intrusion that is a better guarantee of personal safety.

We should remind our elected servants early and often in the next session to get this done.

DAVID VANGELDER

Occasion arises to talk of fortifying San Pedro
With recent announcement that Grupo Mexico (owner of ASARCO Mining) is expanding operations and investing $1.4 billion at its Canonea operations just south of Arizona at the headwaters of San Pedro River, this is a dynamic opportunity to open a dialogue pertaining to the environmental impact on the river system as it flows north into Arizona and adjacent to Fort Huachuca.

Perhaps conservation efforts could improve the watershed, now deteriorating at a rapid pace.

RUDY REUSER

Happy Trails sign cause for concern?
I searched carefully through the new Pima County budget, but I did not find a section for grammar corrections.

Hard to believe that with so many excellent Spanish speakers, this county street sign got by them: Feliz Paseos.

It should be Feliz Paseo (both singular) or Felices Paseos (both plural).

Please get this corrected!

OSCAR-ERNESTO MORALES

Continue effort to save Arizona’s bald eagles
Re: the June 27 article “Az’s desert nesting bald eagles exception to species recovery”:

The dilemma of Arizona bald eagles is a very serious one.

Since the number of breeding pairs of the Desert Nesting Bald Eagle is still only in the 40s, taking their protection will be a fatal blow for the species.

The word “species” is vital. They have adapted to their desert habitats and become irreplaceable within those habitats, so considering them part of the rest of the bald eagles is irrational.

Besides this, developing cities are ravaging the eagles’ habitats. Groundwater pumping, diversions and dams are depleting the Salt and Verde rivers, along which the eagles have their best nesting sites.

If the eagles keep their place as an officially endangered species, they will receive the protection they need.

Otherwise, the minimal protection they would get cannot save their habitats from utter destruction.

Bald eagles are a symbol of our country, yet most people are lucky to see them once in a lifetime.

If we let this species die out in Arizona, what does that say about us?

I encourage readers to ask Gov. Janet Napolitano to continue her effort to keep the Arizona bald eagles on the Endangered Species Act.

ANIKA LARSON

Phoenix

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U.S. immigration law needs to be changed
As a card-carrying member of the Republican Party, I cannot begin to express how upset I am with the state party leadership.

While both Arizona senators understand that we must take a pragmatic approach to immigration reform – especially now that we are the minority party – our own state party leadership is trying to cut them off at the knees.

They cheer that they killed the bill so we can “keep out the furriners” while ignoring the fact that with the political calendar, it will be two or three years before we can bring this subject up again.

They scream about “amnesty” while wrecking the only possible chance to do anything about it for the foreseeable future.

They insist the bill be crafted entirely the way they want without any compromise.

It may come as a shock to them, but Republicans no longer control Congress and cannot write legislation that way anymore.

They insist “the law is the law!” and must be enforced.

Never mind that the Fugitive Slave Act was once a law, too. Some laws need to be changed.

DAMON MOSIER

Jeff embarrasses self with offensive ‘tripe’
Re: Jeff Smith’s Friday column “Make it again the home of the braves”:

What a piece of unqualified tripe. “Dirt worshippers”? “Native Americans all”?

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, some moron like the “writer” of this rubbish emerges.

“Deadwood” is hardly what can be called a reliable source of information.

And the writer’s characterization of the Lakota Nation’s spiritual cosmology as “dirt worshipping” is as offensive as his use of “Deadwood” as some kind of historically accurate source. Embarrassing!

JEN CROW

What’s not to hate of acting un-American?
It is a basic American responsibility to know about our three branches of government, as taught even in kindergarten.

Our Constitution defines the president and vice president as within the executive branch.

Vice President Dick Cheney’s claim that his office is not within that branch is without merit, laughable and filled with the kind of hypocrisy only Cheney can display.

When Cheney was sued to find out whether there was improper influence on his energy task force, he refused to comply with discovery as ordered by the courts.

He said the Advisory Committee Act did not apply to his energy panel because only federal officials were on it.

Never mind that people such as Ken Lay were members, the Supreme Court said Cheney did not have to comply because he is in the executive branch.

His noncompliance in that case cemented the fact he is in the executive branch.

Thomas Jefferson wrote that Congress has the right to request information from the president, who “ought to communicate such papers as the public good would permit and ought to refuse those the disclosure of which would injure the public.”

The only injury to the public in Cheney’s case is sanity.

Defenders of this administration call those who question “Bush haters.” What then do we call those who defend every action, no matter how bizarre?

Since President Bush took an oath to uphold the Constitution, I’ll call them un-American. Their punishment should be to sit in a kindergarten class and learn something.

ANDY MORALES

Dishonorable Cheney irreparably mars office
Dick Cheney has made a mockery of the office he holds.

His penchant for secrecy is pathological, and his disregard for our U.S. Constitution is unforgivable.

His sins are innumerable, and he must not “serve” one more day in a position he has dishonored beyond repair.

Impeach Cheney and Bush, too.

DONNA HUNGATE

Power-hungry despots should be impeached
Bush and Cheney should be impeached! They are both liars and power-hungry despots who should never have been put in office in the first place.

Al Gore was elected by the people, and it was only because the Supreme Court was controlled by right-wing Republicans that they were successful in stealing the 2000 election.

GEORGE TADD

Green Valley

End vice president’s shadow government
We must avoid at all costs the potential permanent state of world war by allowing the vice president continued carte blanche and blank checks to run his dangerous shadow government without the consent of the American people and citizens of the world.

JILLIAN ATKIN SIM

Youth’s appreciation of military is touching
At noon Tuesday, my husband and I went to a Pizza Hut near our home.

We had barely been seated when a young man, maybe 12 or 13 years old, came up to my husband, took his hand and said, “Thank you for protecting our country.” (My husband is a Vietnam veteran and had on a hat saying so.)

This young man went to several other service personnel who were there, took their hands and said the same thing to them.

My husband and I were touched deeply. I was told the boy’s older brother is into his second tour in Iraq and is anxiously waiting his return home.

It made my day, maybe my year. And my husband, he stood a little taller.

JUDY YATES

Oregon outpaces S. Az in sharing the roads
Tucson and Pima County are strange. Where are the bicycle paths like we have in Oregon?

I can see why cyclists are run over by cars down here. Sharing the road is impossible as there are no shoulders.

And what happened to the half-cent sales tax we passed for transportation? This was for bike paths, bus turnouts and widening of Grant Road.

OTTO HOLGERSEN

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THE WHITE HOUSE announced the bald eagle is no longer threatened and so the Interior Department has removed the national bird from the endangered species list. Republicans love the bald eagle. It tastes just like condor.

THE STATE Department said the U.S. is working with Syria and Iran to stop incursions into Iraq. We can’t control the borders. U.S. troops have only been in Iraq for only four years and Telemundo is the No. 1 network.

RUDY GIULIANI’S campaign chairman in South Carolina was indicted for possession and distribution of 500 grams of cocaine. It was an honest misunderstanding. Giuliani told him to get him 500 grams of Rogaine.

THE WHITE HOUSE reached a deal with Colombia, clearing the way for a free-trade treaty. Their two main products are coffee and cocaine. The country is in its 400th year of the War on Sleep.

DICK CHENEY (right) caused a firestorm by refusing to allow National Archives auditors to review his handling of classified material as required by law. He told investigators the law doesn’t apply to him. It’s right there in Nixon’s will.

Argus Hamilton is host comedian at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. E-mail: argus@argushamilton.com

Some salaries more sensible than others
The June 25 article “Mayor eyes global role for city” says the city manager’s salary has improved from about $110,000 to $193,000 over the past eight years.

Is that supposed to shock us?

The guy deserves it.

Tucson pays public employees second-rate salaries. That’s part of the reason it doesn’t get done what comparably sized cities do.

City Manager Mike Hein makes $193,000 for a major hand in running a city with a population of more than 500,000.

By comparison, Kevin O’Neill, the less-than-successful coach whom Lute Olson just hired to be the assistant basketball coach, will make $375,000 for helping 12 kids try to play defense.

Does that make sense?

JOHN VANDEHEY

SaddleBrooke

Thankful for pieces that affect community
Re: your Wednesday editorial “Southwest Gas backs clientele”:

Congratulations! Congratulations! Your piece on payday loans had an impact on our most vulnerable people.

Now they do not have to pay these sharks extra money in order to pay their gas bills. Thank you and God bless you.

Please expose more of these criminals on your future segments. I am becoming a full member of the Tucson Citizen.

M. ABIB

Short but memorable time in Sunshine’s light
I met Sunshine, the Lakota Sioux homeless woman who was recently murdered, some years ago while riding the bus.

It was a cold day in January, three days before my birthday. She sat next to me at the bus stop, and we got to talking.

She told me about being a full-blooded Lakota Sioux and seemed impressed when I told her I had read the book “Black Elk Speaks.”

I suspected she was alcoholic, but it didn’t seem to matter. I found her so interesting and funny that after we got on the bus, I kept talking to her and almost missed my stop to transfer to another bus!

I don’t know if this is true, because she seemed to make things up as she went along. But she said I had the same name as her daughter.

When I mentioned that my birthday was in three days, she smiled and said it would be a good one for me. I just shrugged and said “OK.”

When I was getting off the bus, she took off her necklace made of leather with a crystal wrapped with wire and little carved rock beads.

She put it in my hand, told me it was my birthday gift and that it would bring me power.

Hokey as it may sound, I believe her. My life has been all the better for having known her just that short while, and my life’s path has changed for the better since.

I still have the necklace and still wear it from time to time. But mostly, I just hold it in my hand and think of her.

RHONDA SUE DAUGHTRY

Transient appreciates kindhearted gestures
Re: the Thursday article “Homeless receive a cool helping hand”:

Being a transient, it is greatly appreciated when a community reaches out with a kind heart.

PARM PRICE

Peacekeeping effort not likely to happen
These words are not mine, but they are true:

News reports say Sudan may have finally agreed to deployment of a full United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force to Darfur.

Despite the flurry of press coverage applauding Sudan’s “agreement,” we know better than to trust a commitment from the Sudanese government.

Sudan has broken its word on almost all its previous commitments on Darfur.

It even “agreed” to this peacekeeping force last year before it changed its tune.

MICHAEL RAY

Oro Valley

Don’t be sure Sudan will honor its pledge
Please help the public become aware that just because someone says something doesn’t mean they’ll do it. Sudan is a case in point.

Print the truth about what is going on for the sake of those suffering in Darfur.

ALLIE MOUW

Vail

‘Way to go, Conoco’: No Venezuela oil pact
Re: the Tuesday article “Report: Conoco to refuse pact to keep producing oil in Venezuela”:

Way to go, Conoco. We are proud of you.

GEORGIA WHITE

Sierra Vista

On the rise: Border fence, gov’t ineptitude
Re: the Tuesday article “U.S. builds border barrier on wrong side”:

If I did my job the way the government does theirs, I’d be in the unemployment line.

There is no reason for being this stupid.

KAREN MOSELEY

No appetite for Ruben, his stale commentary
Does the Tucson Citizen really need a columnist whose sole purpose is to say “illegal good, border enforcement bad”?

If Ruben Navarrette has ever written about anything else, I missed it.

IVAN RUSSELL

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A pro-immigration rally in Detroit in May. There will be lots of gloating over having killed 'amnesty.' There will be claims that senators finally 'listened to the people.' And, no doubt, some conservatives will be emboldened to consider the next step in their war against illegal immigration, namely to deport those now here illegally.

Immigration reform is dead. But before conservatives who killed this bill start popping champagne corks, they ought to consider the following:

Our borders will be less secure, not more. Employers who want to do the right thing and hire only legal workers won’t have the tools to do so.

The 12 million illegal immigrants who are here now will continue to live in the shadows, making them less likely to cooperate with law enforcement to report crimes and less likely to pay their full share of taxes.

In other words, the mess we created by an outdated and ill-conceived immigration policy 20 years ago will just get worse.

But you won’t hear this if you tune in to talk radio over the next few days or read conservative blogs.

There will be lots of gloating over having killed “amnesty.” There will be claims that senators finally “listened to the people.” And, no doubt, some conservatives will be emboldened to consider the next step in their war against illegal immigration, namely to deport those now here illegally.

What you won’t hear is that liberals are just as relieved that this bill didn’t pass as conservatives – and they know time is on their side.

Their plan is to wait until January 2009, when they expect bigger Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and a Democrat in the White House, and then reintroduce immigration legislation.

They know that the present laws can’t be enforced, not because of lack of will but because the laws themselves are inadequate and contradictory.

Under current law, an illegal immigrant can present a fake Social Security number and a fake identity card with a photo so long as it looks reasonably like a legitimate government ID. If the employer is suspicious about the authenticity of the documents, there is little he or she can do now.

Questioning the prospective employee could lead to a civil rights law violation – such objections are now one of the largest sources of civil rights complaints filed with Justice Department.

Even the government’s own program to check employment eligibility – Basic Pilot – is unreliable, failing to detect fraudulent employees so long as the Social Security numbers they use are valid and aren’t being used by other persons.

Worse, the system spits out a high percentage of false ineligibles, in other words, citizens or legal residents who are entitled to work but are flagged because of outdated or inaccurate government data bases.

So how do you enforce the employer sanctions provisions of current law? You can’t, except sporadically, by raiding companies suspected of wrongdoing.

Those raids make headlines, but they barely dent the problem of illegal workers. And, truth be told, if all illegal workers disappeared overnight, we’d be in a bind.

The United States creates 1.5 to 2 million jobs every year, but without immigrants – legal and illegal – we’d have a hard time filling all those jobs.

The sensible way to solve that problem would be to create a market-based legal immigration system that would increase the number of persons admitted when job creation justified it and decrease the number when unemployment rose.

Of course, the priority for new jobs has to go to Americans first – but some jobs, at both ends of the job skills spectrum, will go unfilled unless we allow foreign-born workers to take them.

Not enough young Americans are studying engineering, science and mathematics to fill all the jobs that require those skills. And Americans are over-educated to fill the jobs at the lowest end of the skills spectrum.

But none of this matters to the radio talk show hosts who encouraged their millions of listeners to shut down the congressional phone system with calls protesting “amnesty.”

Nor does it matter to the myriad direct mail outfits opposing immigration, which will reap tens of millions of dollars in donations to fatten their coffers as a result of this “victory.”

Meanwhile, the real majority of Americans will have to wait for genuine immigration reform. And Republicans who believe this is going to help them at the polls in 2008 may well find themselves sitting on the back benches for years to come.

Editorial: Everyone loses with immigration reform’s demise

Tucson Citizen Editorial Board blog: Why immigration reform’s foes are disconnected from reality.

Linda Chavez is chair of the Center for Equal Opportunity. E-mail: lchavez@ceousa.org

Every night around 11 o’clock, my wife reluctantly relinquishes the remote control so I can select the local newscast we will watch.

The scene is familiar to millions of people for whom the TV remote can sometimes cause marital friction and spark a battle for the power to determine what others watch.

Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to discuss whether there is too much violence on cable and satellite TV and what to do about it.

The issue of TV violence is the baby of Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who was scheduled to testify, but canceled at the last minute for family reasons.

Martin thinks there is too much violence on subscription TV. The hearings went ahead without him as others testified for and against his proposal for federal regulation, which would make the point of the remote moot, as consumers could no longer control their entertainment choices.

In testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, an FCC representative was joined by at least one other commission member, one network executive and an advocacy group representative.

They testified in support of legislation that would allow cable and satellite TV subscribers to select their programs “a la carte,” meaning consumers could choose the networks they want to come into their homes and reject others.

This cafeteria approach might sound good at first glance – but suppose someone didn’t want to see the violence in Fox TV’s “24,” but did wish to see the violence of NFL football? Because Fox carries both, consumers who rejected Fox because of “24,” would not be able to watch NFL football.

Not only is this a bad business model in that cable and satellite TV make money by telling advertisers they can reach a certain number of homes, it also takes away the privileges and responsibilities of individuals to make these decisions.

I don’t want – you shouldn’t either – any government official or bureaucrat deciding which cable shows are good for me, and which ones are not.

Much of this “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” attitude derives from the supposed negative impact such programs have on children, but census figures show that only one-third of American households have children 18 or under. Chairman Martin favors regulating all households to accommodate this relatively small percentage.

It might be worth it if other avenues were not available to parents to control what their children watch, but those avenues exist in abundance.

Parents can turn off, or even get rid of the TV; they can make use of the V-chip, now a part of all newer TV sets; they don’t have to subscribe to cable or satellite TV; they can make use of the imperfect ratings system or they can monitor what their children watch.

It amazes me that some conservatives who preach against “big government” control of our lives think nothing of rushing in to ask big government to control our entertainment choices.

The a la carte approach is the worst of all worlds. Fox News could not have been launched in an a la carte environment, which might be good news for liberals, but bad news for those who wish to have another perspective on the news than what they got before Fox was born a decade ago.

What about religious programming? Would conservative Christians, for example, wish to allow people to block Christian programs when the opportunity to reach nonbelievers is a strong motivator for the people who produce them?

One expects government regulation and control during a Democratic administration, but a Republican administration is supposed to be dedicated to the free market.

The FCC’s own study shows that in an ideal a la carte world, consumers would get 20 channels, but would pay the same price as today’s 150 channels. Only those who don’t mind buying one egg and paying for a dozen would be comfortable with such a deal.

Those on the right who favor this proposed regulation had better think of the consequences.

If the FCC and not the market control your entertainment choices, would a Democratic president and his (or her) appointees to the FCC feel emboldened to control the political dialogue? They surely would cite the entertainment regulations as precedent for coming after talk radio and anything else they deemed “harmful” to the public.

Don’t let them take your remote, because you won’t get it back.

More Thomas: Israel needs more than gestures from Arab world

Cal Thomas is an author and broadcast commentator. His e-mail address is calthomas@tribune.com.

Too late to go a round vs. traffic circle demise
I am angry about the destruction of the traffic circle at Main and Drachman.

I heard about this many months ago and stuck my head in the sand. I figured it was just a bad rumor.

The reason cited for its removal was safety: the intersection is dangerous. That isn’t true.

I have driven through that intersection many times a day for 30 years and have never seen an accident.

In fact, in 1937, when it was built, it was called “an almost perfect piece of roadway that will be foolproof! It will be the only safety-plus thoroughfare in the West . . .”

Until the bulldozers arrived. it was still an excellent piece of roadway.

Mark Kimble’s enlightening column June 21 filled in the blanks (“A minor miracle gets bulldozed”).

The city OK’d demolishing a Tucson landmark to allow yet another developer its way.

Whatever is built at this intersection cannot have the charm and beauty of the destroyed traffic circle.

To me, it looks as though the city has engaged in another lose-lose situation.

As Kimble wrote, “One more traffic signal. How nice.”

LEE OLER

Fellow Lakota holds memory of Sunshine
I am so sad to hear that I lost a long relation.

Sunshine lived and loved for people’s friendship.

I am so glad that I heard her speak Lakota and that I stopped and took focus.

For so long, I thought I was the only Lakota in Tucson.

I will bury her spirit in my memory, and I will know she will always be a “Sunshine” in my everyday glory.

JOY MICHELLE MILK

Yankton, S.D.

Seized birds could’ve fed many zoo animals
I was deeply troubled to see and hear of the poultry seizure by Pima Animal Control on Tucson’s South Side.

A poultry breeder and animal lover, I recently took in 14 birds from a previous seizure.

When I heard of this seizure, I contacted shelter manager Patti Mahaney to offer any aid.

I was told that the roosters, being aggressive as fighting cocks are, were promptly euthanized, and the hens and chicks had been adopted out.

While I was happy to hear of the adoptions, I was saddened by the deaths of so many birds.

But it doesn’t stop there. The euthanized birds were sent to the landfill. More than 300 birds!

Asked why they couldn’t be used as feed for animals at the Reid Park Zoo or Desert Museum, Ms. Mahaney said this was weighing on her as well, but disposal is the policy.

She also said policy cannot be changed from within; the public must request it.

I asked 19 friends and family members to write to Pima Animal Care Center requesting a change of policy.

Now I ask that you add your voice. Make meat from birds captured from unlawful ventures available to other animals.

Letters may be sent to PCAC, 4000 N. Silverbell Road, Tucson, AZ 85745, attn: Patti Mahaney. This is something we citizens can and should get changed.

KARON HASSAN

Avra Valley

56% in insurance plan for Az kids are adults
Dana Wolfe Naimark and Leonard Kirschner’s guest opinion Tuesday (“State insurance plan for kids is wise, just”) suggests the State Children’s Health Insurance Program should be expanded as “a wise investment.”

It has been anything but a wise investment. Arizona has the sixth-largest percentage of uninsured children in the nation, yet the Government Accountability Office estimates that 56 percent of enrollees in Arizona’s SCHIP are adults.

The program is supposed to cover children. It’s little wonder why Arizona ranks so poorly.

Another $50 billion for SCHIP is unnecessary. Arizona taxpayers should ask SCHIP to refocus on children, not on their wallets.

DANE G. WENDELL

legislative specialist

The Heartland Institute

Chicago

Workers’ safety steps keeping us safe on I-10
The people working on I-10 have done an excellent job. Lanes are well marked and striped clearly, with plenty of warning.

Everyone talks about the “mess” and awful problem for three years. No one seems to notice these guys are doing a great job of keeping us safe while they are working.

Keep up the good work and thanks.

KATHRYN KOLTON

McCain’s, colleagues’ role in reform criminal
U.S. Sen. John McCain is a combat veteran, former POW and war hero. Thanks to him.

In Arizona we have Florence, home of the old Arizona Maximum Security Prison. This prison is packed with veterans, former POWs and, yes, heroes.

The past does not entitle one to break law.

McCain and his colleagues took an oath to uphold the laws of this great country.

He has broken that solemn oath by refusing to enforce and uphold existing law in regard to illegal immigration.

McCain’s part in the creation of the amnesty bill, as well as that of Sen. Jon Kyl and the rest, is a national disgrace.

They should be deeply ashamed of themselves. McCain belongs in the Florence prison.

NORM JOHNSON

Safford

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Thank you for educating people in Tucson about the overpopulation and resulting euthanasia of thousands of pets each year at the Pima Animal Care Center and the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.

The June 14 article (“Population boom hits local animal shelters”) focused on why animals are at a shelter – because of a lack of spaying and neutering.

While I know pets need to be spayed or euthanized for several reasons, there are other reasons pets’ lives may be ended prematurely at animal shelters.

As rescue group member Signe Razzi noted, many people who move may not be able to take their pet and either do not take the time to find a new home or cannot do so in time.

Sometimes the move is to an apartment, nursing home or rental home that will not take pets.

So people take their pet to the shelter and hope for the best.

Other times, a pet escapes from a yard, and the owner does not follow up by calling or visiting a shelter regularly – or even once.

Some people let their dogs run free. When the pets are picked up by Animal Control, the people do not follow up or cannot afford to pay the fees to get the pet back.

Some people get a puppy, cat or adult dog that does something they don’t like, such as ripping up a pillow, barking too much or scratching furniture.

Rather than addressing the issue, they take their pet to the local shelter.

I am confident that any shelter worker could easily add to this list of “reasons” pets are in shelters.

Many of these cats and dogs find wonderful, permanent homes.

Many of my clients have adopted and fallen in love with their rescued pet.

These are the feel-good stories. Then there are the thousands who die each year with no one they know or love with them at the time of euthanasia.

Thank you for publishing the shelter’s contact information.

And thanks to all of the local rescue groups that spend countless hours, money, love and compassion in rescuing, fixing, fostering and finding homes for the pets whose owners they cannot find.

Their work is very important, even though it is sometimes a thankless job for them and for employees at the Pima Animal Care Center and the Humane Society.

Adopting a pet is a very important responsibility and commitment.

When one cannot keep a pet for one reason or another, there is an alternative to taking it to an animal shelter.

Take the time to find a new loving “forever” home by contacting family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to help spread the word that a new home is needed.

It takes time and effort.

However, the payoff for the pet and your peace of mind is priceless.

Bridget Monrad, RN, owns Happy Tails Travel Inc., a worldwide pet travel agency.

N ow this is what I call a communication gap. Whenever Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to talk about Latinos and language, he winds up in agua caliente.

During a recent appearance before the conference of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the California governor suggested one way to improve the dismal test results of students with limited proficiency in English was to “turn off the Spanish television set.”

It brought to mind what happened last year during a campaign stop to Los Angeles’ Chinatown when he lectured Mexicans on how to succeed in this country.

The secret, he said at the time, was “that you learn the language . . . and (that) you have to become part of America.”

He insisted “that is very difficult . . . for Mexicans (who) . . . try to stay Mexican but try to be in America.” His advice to Mexicans: “Go and immerse yourself, and assimilate into the American culture.”

I thought those comments were out of line and said so to Schwarzenegger.

And yet, I feel differently about what the governor had to say last week about how students who want to learn English should start by switching off Spanish-language television. About that, he’s absolutely right.

What helped sell me was listening to the governor recall his immigrant experience.

Schwarzenegger explained to the journalists that when he came to the United States from Austria, he rarely spoke German and that he learned English “through immersion and just really sitting in front of the television set” even though at first he didn’t understand a word being said.

He also read English-language newspapers, he said, along with comic books and anything else he could get his hands on. It paid off. He learned English within a couple of years.

If only we could say the same for Latino kids who get stuck in bilingual education programs indefinitely – because it’s good for the school and for administrators, even if it isn’t good for the students.

These programs survive thanks to liberals, who seized on Schwarzenegger’s remarks and tried to exploit them.

Then there was the response from failed 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, who said the governor’s remarks “displayed a troubling ignorance about our state’s diversity and strength.”

Part of that strength comes from immigrants who work hard and contribute to California. The governor, Angelides said, “should give them a hand up, not a slap down.”

What in the world is he talking about? If you want to give people a hand up, you start by treating them as grown-ups, giving them lots of straight talk and expecting no less from them than you would of yourself.

That is exactly what Schwarzenegger did. The governor has it figured out. People will pick up English if they’re immersed, and if they have no choice but to learn it.

When we set up industries such as native language education or Spanish-language television, we create linguistic cocoons that offer the comfort of a warm bath when what English-learners really need is a cold shower.

More from Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a columnist and editorial board member of The San Diego Union Tribune. E-mail: ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com

We’re all affected by loss of Sunshine

Re: the Thursday article “Vigil for slain Sunshine draws over 100″:

A lot of people make choices that affect their life in an adverse way. Don’t blame the community or the messenger.

We need to ask ourselves: Why are all these social service agencies not reaching these people? And why did Sunshine not feel comfortable going to a shelter?

Whoever committed this crime eventually will be caught, and our legal system will prosecute them.

Crime knows no class, no race; we are all affected by it.

JOYCE WEEDEN

Engineering students build Tucson pride

Re: the Thursday article “4 THS students in natl. engineering contest”:

Congratulations to Lindsay, Charles, Susma and Ernie for their participation in the Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement national engineering design competition.

With the shortage of engineering talent we face locally, nationally and internationally, I am encouraged by our own Tucson students demonstrating interest in the exciting field of engineering.

All of us benefit from the many technological advances that engineering provides, and I hope Pima County, as an employer, might be fortunate enough to have these young people join our work force at some future date and help us on our path to being a livable, sustainable community.

Best wishes for a successful competition. You make all of us proud.

JOHN BERNAL

deputy county administrator, public works

1965 Tucson High graduate

Human life too sacred to save, but OK for war

Our illustrious George W. Bush vetoed the bill for embryonic stem cell research, making one wonder how we could be saddled with his and his followers’ convoluted thinking.

He says he supports science, but “all human life is sacred.”

This is the same man responsible for the deaths and maiming of thousands of innocent Iraqis and thousands of our young.

Yet he won’t allow science to help those who suffer tragic health problems, insisting that somehow using a stem cell is taking a sacred human life.

Obviously, the embryonic cell is in a dormant state created by science and will not be a human life until it is implanted in a womb, nourished for nine months, leaves the womb and takes its first breath!

Many years ago, my wife carried our first and only child, a girl full-term, only to have “it” come into this world stillborn.

“It” was the term given to us at the hospital. Because our baby never took a breath, we were told, this was not a human life, though we could name her and put her name on a headstone if we wished.

Now the killing in Iraq goes on with no end in sight, the people of Darfur are in a living hell and millions and millions of our sick have no health insurance.

But look at the “bright side.” We could have elected a president who did not believe “all human life is sacred.”

JOHN R. CLARKE

Oro Valley

Parental involvement does make a difference

Re: the Friday My Tucson column by Saul J. Ostroff (“Parents who invest time with kids rewarded”):

I trust this article will be a wake-up call for other parents.

It is so encouraging to hear about parents who are supportive of their children and the school.

All parents with children in school need to be involved. It does make a difference!

When my boys were in school at Flowing Wells, my involvement with the school made a difference in their lives, their grades and the young men they have become.

Oh, they got into the usual mischief, but nothing major. I am proud of my sons. Thank you for your column.

PAT MESSER

Immigrants learned on own time, dime

Re: your Saturday editorial (“Legislature ignores order to fairly fund ELL students”) in which you toss verbal rocks at the Legislature for “ignoring the needs of more than 133,000 students who are trying to learn English”:

Just hold the phone here a second. When my great- grandfathers came to this country (legally, I might add), they spoke only Russian and Yiddish.

Did the state of New York rush to offer their children “English language learning” classes with money extorted from the taxpayers? It did not.

My people understood that it was up to them to learn the language and assimilate.

They made sure their kids became proficient in English, on their own time and their own dime.

Somehow these dirt-poor Eastern European Jews made a go of it and proved to be among the most successful immigrants ever to come to these shores.

At work, the guy who sits to my right is of Irish ancestry. His people learned the language on their own, too. The woman on my left is of German extraction. Same with her family.

The current wave of immigrants is the only one in U.S. history that has received these special considerations. Why? Are they dumber than previous immigrants? Not likely.

There’s only one possible answer: Pandering politicians and their brain-dead media lap dogs. Do you fools at the Citizen recognize yourselves yet?

RON SOLOMON

More letters to the editor

GORDON BROWN took over as Prime Minister of Great Britain Sunday from the outgoing Tony Blair. The new prime minister wasted no time setting his agenda. He promised that Great Britain will stay close to the United States, if only out of morbid curiosity.

LAKE TAHOE was the site of swift wildfires that burned 52 houses on the California side of the lake. Who knows how long those people will be out of their homes. The construction workers are refusing to rebuild unless they get amnesty.

FERRARI Motors complained when the Vatican declared that it is a sin to use an automobile as a means to outshine other people and make them jealous. If it wasn’t official before, it certainly is now. Everybody in Los Angeles is going to hell.

Argus Hamilton is host comedian at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. E-mail: argus@argushamilton.com