Netlets for Tuesday, Jan. 22

Regarding the death of the 29-year-old man at the hands of the police using a taser, I too recently was faced by a police officer threatening me with a taser. I believe that the police are being too quick to turn to this "non-lethal" weapon.

When I later spoke to the officer's police chief I was very surprised to hear him state that he is instructing his officers to use their tasers as their second choice immediately after issuing a verbal order. No debate, no delay, no clarification, no violence, no resistance of any sort. And, the chief insisted that a taser is never lethal. Ever. I really have come to believe that the police are using tasers as "first choice" cure-all.

I would also like to point out that I am a 62-year-old conservative, retired teacher, with no criminal background whatsoever. Old, weak, balding, drab, and as establishment as we come. Yet now, I do not trust the police.

EAMON ANDERSON, CHISAGO CITY, MINN.

Bridge bullies are an embarrassment House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher was quoted saying "The NTSB investigation is not yet complete" ("Political reaction to findings is intense," Jan. 16). Our Sen. Steve Murphy (chair of the Senate Transportation Committee) admitted the National Transportation Safety Board report drew no definitive conclusions about the reasons for the collapse. I guess any conclusions surrounding the bridge collapse at this point would only be speculation.

So why has Murphy wasted the last few months on a headhunt? I can't turn on the TV without seeing him foaming at the mouth. He behaves like a rabid dog on a rampage to remove Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau from her position. Maybe he just wants Molnau's job, but in any case, he sure has become an embarrassment to his district.

Henry Kissinger once said, "Ninety percent of the politicians give the other 10 percent a bad reputation." Uncanny, it is almost as if he had met Sen. Steve Murphy prior to making this statement.

Standing in the way of energy innovation and independence After reading Robert Bryce's preaching regarding the "mythology" of U.S. .energy independence (Opinion Exchange, Jan. 16), I understood what it must have felt like to be a proponent of human flight in the early 20th century, when guys in garages were attempting to work out the physics.

Bryce's statement, "So we're woven in with the rest of the world and going to stay that way," harkens back to one widely attributed to George W. Melville, chief engineer of the U.S. Navy around 1900: "If God had intended that man should fly, He would have given him wings." But then, a little research into Bryce's affiliation with the Houston-based "Institute for Energy Research" exposed the oil-rich roots of his wishful thinking in our country's continued dependency on fossil fuels.

Mr. Bryce, the journey from Kitty Hawk, N.C., to Tranquility Base (on the Moon) took only 66 years -- using long division rather than computers, no less. With the right leadership, the only reason the world's most powerful country can't realize energy independence in less time is if organizations (and attitudes) like yours stand in the way.

MICHAEL RIDDLE, MINNETONKA

Every little energy alternative helps Robert Bryce's Jan. 16 Opinion Exchange article makes several points. He thinks that alternative fuels can't make much difference, that petro-powers will prosper in global markets regardless of our efforts to save energy, that not buying oil won't stop terrorism because conducting terrorism is relatively inexpensive, that the Muslim world did not reform even during the years of cheap oil, and that imported oil actually saves us in times of disasters like Katrina. Most significant, he advises us that we realistically can't expect to develop "energy independence."

JIM BARTOS, BROOKLYN PARK

All that military spending Sen. John McCain has proposed a plan to lower the corporate income tax rate in order to stimulate the economy. McCain stated that his plan is "pro growth, less taxes and less spending." I have to wonder if McCain really believes in less spending.

We are currently spending $275 million each day for the war in Iraq, of which McCain is a big supporter. If he truly wants less spending, shouldn't we cut it across the board? After all, if one is a real fiscal conservative he should support cutting our largest expenditure by far -- the war.