Netlets for Tuesday, Sept. 25

It's a wonderful thing that hybrid sales are up 98 percent in our state (Star Tribune, Sept. 18), and the American consumer is headed in the right direction. However, it is disturbing that we don't ask ourselves what this has to do with the closing of the Ford plant right here in St. Paul.

Ford and the rest of the American car manufacturing industry has been steadily losing market share for decades, and contrary to what the industry might tell you, it isn't because of rising health care costs. It's because our legislators have done nothing to mandate more fuel efficiency in our vehicles since 1975. In fact, Toyota is one of the biggest opponents of the latest fuel efficiency legislation, demanding 35 miles per gallon. Here in the United States, they can sell the giant gas-guzzling SUVs that Japanese fuel efficiency requirements make undesirable there.

Bigger profits don't have to come from inefficient use of fossil fuels and factory shut-downs. They can also come from good old-fashioned American ingenuity in places like St. Paul, Minn.

CHRISTOPHER R. COX, ST. PAUL

Ask some questions, get Tasered

At our school last week, we talked about the Constitution Day signing of Sept. 17, 1787. What our forefathers did for us to ensure freedom of life for all Americans. One of those freedoms is freedom of speech.

Isn't it ironic that a student at a Sept. 17 forum at the University of Florida was cut off and eventually tasered? I truly wonder what would have happened if it were a different person. Maybe Patrick Henry?

MARSHALL WOLD, MAPLE GROVE

Senate Republicans filibuster while U.S. troops serve and serve

The Senate Republicans have filibustered yet another resolution that would improve the morale for our troops in Iraq. This latest bill would have required time at their home bases equal to the time spent in Iraq.

In a speech regarding this statement, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said: "I think we would demean their service if we were to say to them that there had to be a parity between the time in service out of the country and the time at home."

How would it demean their service if we reward that same service with more time with their families? How would it demean their service if we allow them to re-equip and receive additional training? How would it demean their service if we let them live like normal human beings?

If anything demeans their service, it's keeping them there because there's no plan to get them out and because it's better to keep the status quo rather than to admit a mistake.

SCOTT GRAUPNER, WABASHA, MINN.

Aging is mainstream, and housing should be too

Your Sept. 17 article "A senior condo puzzler: Safety vs. privacy" illustrates how the Twin Cities already is feeling the age wave and underscores the need for Minnesota to mainstream aging so people can grow up and grow old in the communities they call home. None of us is immune from dementia or moving without a wheelchair or walker. And none of us wants to be institutionalized. Yet, if we're lucky, we will grow old.

To live fully until we die means doing things differently, such as delivering mobile assisted living services to people's apartments or condominiums; deploying technology that better connects caregivers, physicians, family members and seniors to identify small health problems before they grow; expanding multigenerational connections by connecting senior housing to churches and other faith communities; recognizing that employees are increasingly working as caregivers, too, and providing resources that help them plan and pay for that reality.

We've never experienced demographic change like the age wave. If we're going to ride it, all of us must think and act differently.

KATHRYN ROBERTS, SHOREVIEW; CEO AND PRESIDENT, ECUMEN

Not all churches consist of homophobes

While reading Charlotte Sullivan's column, "An unavoidable truth" (Opinion Exchange, Sept. 16), I was struck with a deep respect and admiration for her courageous path to accepting her sexuality. She clearly underwent incredible difficulties in this process, and her commentary showed a realistic, nonidealized view of her lifestyle that was highly refreshing.

While I am sure Sullivan herself realizes this is not true, her column seemed to unfairly suggest that all aspects of the church promote bigotry, and all share a strictly anti-gay point of view. Christianity encompasses a plethora of denominations, ranging from the extremely liberal to the very conservative, and even within those denominations, members have highly different opinions, values and points of view. Not all churches are made of up "homophobes."

As someone who has grown up in the Episcopal Church, I have never experienced homophobic teaching, and have always been taught that God's grace is found in acceptance and love for your neighbor. As a graduate of the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, two Catholic institutions, I was encouraged to respect and embrace all people, including homosexuals, by nuns, monks, priests and other members of the monastic community. While the vast majority of gays, like straight people, are not bathroom-cruisers or "sex-crazed pedophiles," it is just as important to point out that the majority of church members are certainly not anti-gay bigots.

ELIZABETH STRAWBRIDGE, ST. PAUL