Boulder should again accept FAA funding

The recent withdrawal of two ballot initiatives calling for the closing of the Boulder airport was probably due more to strong public support for the airport rather than timing considerations related to the initiation of a lawsuit against the FAA by the City over an airport closure dispute. Recall that a past failed attempt to municipalize and separate from Xcel Energy cost the city more than $27.5 million. Money wasted that could have been spent on public infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. The sensible action for the City judging by the support for maintaining the airport would be to immediately drop the FAA suit and return to accepting FAA grants for airport improvement and upgrades.

If public officials supporting the lawsuit continue on their course of action they owe the citizens of Boulder a timely and accurate reporting of all costs associated with this action and to not hide the costs which are expected to rapidly build. A knowledgeable individual or watchdog entity familiar with Freedom of Information actions needs to pursue this matter to avoid letting the City once again make a costly mistake.

— Richard Socash, Boulder

A program for women that JD Vance would approve of

As a childless cat lady and retired philosophy professor, I have been following the remarks by J.D. Vance on the value of women with great interest. His comments that childless teachers (and I presume professors, as well) are not fit to teach and that post-menopausal women are only fit to serve as grandmas, inspire me to suggest that the following program is what he really wants for girls and women in this country.

First, school must be mandatory for girls only until eighth grade, after which it is illegal for them to continue their education because it would interfere with their child-bearing. Girls should only learn simple arithmetic for the grocery store, sewing, cooking and bible studies (the Catholic bible, of course). Second, make sure girls do not know how to read so they can’t be led astray from their god-given goal of having little white babies for Jesus. Their husbands will do all their reading for them. Third, eliminate all professional positions for women so they can’t get those 90-hour-a-week jobs that would pervert their progress toward being mothers. Fourth, make sure all women dress modestly, preferably fully covered, in public and are accompanied by a caretaker male who will keep them out of libraries and bookstores. If women are to be all and only mothers, they’d better be kept stupid and ignorant. Fifth and last, the most efficient use of women would be to execute them after their useful lives as mothers and grandmas are over — perhaps at age 70? When they can no longer fulfill their purpose of having and mentoring children, they are useless. The correct procedure would be to get rid of them to make room for fertile women who can produce kids. Think Vance would agree with this program? I do.

— Ellen Wagner, Boulder

U.S. should stop funding Israel’s war in Gaza

Thousands of Israelis are protesting Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war. They want the hostages returned alive not dead.

Send the IDF into the tunnels to find Hamas. Allow food, water, medicine to be brought in. To date, many of the trucks have been accosted and attacked. Help to the Palestinians is being stopped. Some get through. It is an extremely sad situation.

Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed. They are living in filth and squalor on the ground in tents. One child has come down with polio. Vaccinations are now taking place for children 10 and younger. My concern is the child had the disease days before it was detected and the polio disease has had a chance to spread. Has it spread to the West Bank, Israel, the countries outside Gaza and Israel?

Netanyahu is a killer and I hope the polio disease is contained to Gaza, Israel and the West Bank.

No Human Being should have to live in filth like this.

The United States must stop sending weapons and billions of dollars to Israel. If Netanyahu wants to continue this war and escalate it to surrounding countries he must do it with Israeli funds.

— Diane Wood, Longmont