I moved from Anniston to Lancaster, S.C., 10 years ago. My parents still live there. I won’t go into my reaction of the news of the Blockbuster murders. What I will comment on is America’s ability to forget.Already so many have forgotten what happened on Sept. 11. Not actually forgotten but have put it away to go on with their lives, vacations, work, important things and some not-so-important things.
Remember how petty and small many things seemed compared to the happenings of Sept. 11? Now those same things are no longer so petty as we have put the tragedy behind us.
I believe that the pictures — the gruesome, the heartbreaking, the sickening — make us understand more of the severity of what happened. It makes us think and remember just a bit longer. Yes, we’ll go back to “normal” as time passes — unless these photos are put in our faces to remind us!
We need the reminders that all people are not good. Some are evil, some are sick. Either way they need to be taken off our streets with no opportunity to do it again.
The pictures remind us to be more aware of our surroundings, to be more careful. The pictures remind us to be angry, deeply angry. Angry enough to insist on the ultimate punishment for them. Angry enough to refuse to forget!
I applaud The Anniston Star for being diligent enough to publish the pictures. No harm was intended to those who are suffering. But we need to be reminded again and again because we are, I am sad to say, a forgetful people.
Deby Tweed
Lancaster, S.C.
Bicycling more
In the afterglow of the wonderful Cheaha Challenge Bicycle Event it seems appropriate to consider the bicycle for the efficient vehicle that it is. Road cycling has been proven viable by 488 cyclists who attempted the Cheaha Challenge on May 5th, yet most will not take their bikes on the road for regular transportation, usually fearing the risk of being hit from behind by passing traffic. Such accidents are quite rare; overtaking motorists cause only about 4 percent of the car-bike collisions, and more than half of those are at night. They generally involve either unlighted cyclists or intoxicated drivers.
By way of contrast 90 percent of car-bike accidents involve crossing or turning traffic — just as with car-car collisions.
Experienced cyclists ride in rush-hour traffic, in all weather, and even at night and have a safety record four to five times better than an average bicycle operator.
There is much to learn from experienced cyclists. Cyclists ride on the right side of the road as cars do and behave like other vehicles so motorists know what to expect.
If there were significant numbers of cyclists, road capacity would increase because each bike needs only about one-sixth of the space of a car. Although bicycles travel at about half the speed of cars on the average, their net efficiency is triple that of single-occupant automobiles. And bicyclists are not burning imported oil, adding to the greenhouse gases, or causing other forms of pollution.
The bicycle is a true “zero-emission” vehicle that is legal road transportation in all states. Next trip to town, try it on a bicycle.
Dr. Charlton H. Jones, league cycling instructor
Anniston
Neutralization
Nice to see The Star stand up for the people (A shoddy lab, May 10).
Why not do us a real favor and take a stand for neutralization? If so many other states are deciding against incineration in favor of neutralization, is it possible that we’ve made a mistake here in Calhoun County?
Did the millions the Army spent on the incinerator really help our economy that much?
Wonder what’ll happen to our economy if we have a tiny problem with the incinerator. You think we have problems recruiting industry now ...
Chuck Meek
Anniston
