I’m tired of it. This caterwauling from the radical right must stop. The same old defenses of their inability to understand anything but their own point of view is getting ridiculously boring. Again and again, over and over, complaints about Americans who “enslave themselves permanently to those refusing to work” (Letters, Sept. 7). I can’t figure out how to do that.
Or calling those with valid real-world opposing views “communal narcissists who rant about it publicly, to feel good about themselves.” Or how about the statement that liberal shamers proclaim it is very “humanitarian” to coddle these bottomless pits — it feeds their own big egos. Have you visited an immigrant holding facility?
“Bottomless pits” — sounds like the writer follows her lord and master Donald Trump’s opinion that no one less “perfect” than yourself has any worth.
Finally, the writer proclaims, “My advocacy for legal immigration is consistent; I will always be very proud of it.” Thank you for joining me and I am sure the vast majority of Americans of all political parties who are advocating for the same thing. What you will not receive thanks for is your constant denigration, criticism and berating those who are trying to work toward legal immigration for everyone so qualified, even in the face of dauntless immoral opposition from your party. You do nothing but stand in the way of reaching that goal.
Ned Sheats
Mission
Baha’is face
oppression
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ….” So begins Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an important document in the history of human rights. The right to the freedom of religion is taken for granted in the United States. But not in Iran. The Baha’is, the largest religious minority in that country, have experienced waves of repression since the mid-19th century. They are currently facing an ominous crackdown.
Since July 31, members of the Baha’i faith in Iran have been unjustly targeted more than 200 times. Arrests and detentions. Home invasions and searches. The destruction of houses and confiscation of property. The denial of higher education. Excessive bails, beatings and the denial of medication to prisoners. All this in a country where the official news media are being used to incite hatred against the Baha’is.
In one outrageous propaganda ploy, agents entered a kindergarten in a major city in Iran. They distributed Baha’i books and pamphlets to the teachers and ordered them to say, on camera, that Baha’is had brought the materials and distributed them to teachers. All of this to suggest that Baha’is are trying to convert Muslim children. The opposite is true. Numerous government documents testify to Iran’s plan to convert Baha’i children to Islam.
The international community is coming to the defense of the Baha’is of Iran. An outpouring of statements, news coverage and social media posts continues. Government officials, international and national media outlets, and dozens of prominent civil society actors and individuals have condemned the crackdown and hate propaganda and demanded an end to the persecution of the Baha’is.
The Baha’is of the Rio GrandeValley are grateful for this support. We look forward to the day when people of faith everywhere can live and practice their religions freely, without fear of repression, in a world at peace.
Steve Wilder
Harlingen
Make investment
in communities
The Texas Department of Transportation is making a historic investment in the future of our rapidly growing state. During our August Texas Transportation Commission meeting, we approved TxDOT’s 10-year transportation program that includes more than $85 billion dedicated to improving safety, addressing congestion and connectivity, and preserving roadways for Texas drivers.
Our state covers more than 266,000 square miles and 1,000 new people are added to the population in Texas every single day. According to recent Census estimates, Texas grew by more than 310,000 from July 2020 to July 2021, and we’re fast approaching a population of 30 million.
TxDOT has planned, and will continue to plan, for this growth and play a critical role in providing the needed infrastructure to help move people and products. That’s where our Unified Transportation Program, or UTP, comes in.
Since our mission at TxDOT is “Connecting You With Texas,” we’re working hard to make sure every region of the state stays connected. That’s why we’re dedicating more than $12.2 billion to statewide connectivity projects to upgrade interstates and other major rural highways over the next 10 years via the 2023 UTP.
Since fiscal year 2015, we’ve completed more than 258 rural connectivity projects — an investment of $7.7 billion. And we have another 120 projects — $7 billion worth — currently under construction.
In fact, we’re planning to invest a historic level of approximately $14 billion in our rural areas over the next 10 years through our 2023 UTP. This represents a 600% increase in planned rural funding compared to planned funding from just seven years ago. It demonstrates TxDOT’s commitment to building and maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system, not only in our most populous areas but also in those rural areas that are so vital to our state’s economic success.
This UTP also puts us to work in the energy producing areas of the state. Roads in our energy sector are bearing the brunt of that industry’s economic boost to the state in wear and tear. That’s why we’re dedicating $2.5 billion to address specific roadways impacted by traffic in five energy producing regions.
With this historic investment, we’re showing our commitment to connecting every region and every Texan to the people and places that matter most.
Alvin New
Commissioner
Texas Transportation Commission
San Angelo
Immorality
in assistance
Jesus Christ taught us to always give a hand up to those in need. Most people of good conscience will always do so quietly, more than those communal narcissists who rant about it publicly, to feel good about themselves by extolling their fake philanthropy. You have received your reward (Matthew 6:5).
I’ve always been proud of, and consider myself a strong advocate for, lawful immigrants, and joyously proclaim all their hard-earned rights.
A very high percentage m of asylum seekers do not meet the criteria to apply for asylum. Those who do are required to follow a strong, defined legal process. Crossing illegally into this country at will is not a strong argument for asylum seeking.
People who break our immigration laws in full knowledge should not taunt, demand, or receive special entitlements on the backs of those hardworking citizens who are penalized with increasing taxes and ignored.
While we agree to always lift our brothers and sisters in need, nowhere does the Good Word say that anyone should enslave themselves to those refusing to work while in good perfect health, with a smug sense of entitlement, while those who follow the rules are burdened with the tyranny and autocracy of paying for these shameless opportunists’ perks. It is rampant abuse against the funding taxpayers. Contrastingly, the communal narcissists feign it is very “humanitarian” to coddle these bottomless pits — it feeds their own big egos.
These self-entitled, who only care about themselves, without any compassion for those carrying the load, are the real definition of the term “immoral.”
Imelda Coronado
Mission
