Readers write (June 7): Summer heat, state budget, value of the dollar, empty jails

Air conditioning makes up approximately one-fifth of our power costs, which is the highest percentage in history. Instead of taking Paul Douglas' advice and "cranking up the AC" this week, how about experimenting with some earth-friendly strategies?

Challenge yourself to reduce your reliance on the 68- to 72-degree comfort zone. Invest in some good old-fashioned floor or ceiling fans. Keep your shades drawn during the day. Sip ice-cold drinks and wear light-colored clothing.

For a long-term strategy, plant a tree on the south side of your home. Air conditioning is an ecologically unfriendly luxury that many of us can live without.

VALERIE RITTLER, MINNEAPOLIS

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You probably don't think of yourself as a bully, but you are.

You know who I'm talking about. You have blaring car stereos that shake the neighborhood. You bought a purposefully loud motorcycle that you keep revving, day or night. You use illegal fireworks.

You never think about waking the pregnant lady, the new mom, small kids, night-shift workers, or people recovering from illness, injury or surgery, or about the person who has to go to work early in the morning. You never consider that others might like to enjoy their homes or the parks without being forced to hear your noise.

Forcing others to hear you makes you a bully. You know how few police officers there are and how much it would cost the community to enforce ordinances to make you stop. I hear you, and look at you, and wish you would just grow up.

MICHAEL N. HINDIN, ST. LOUIS PARK

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Summer is here. Thousands, including me, ride a bicycle for fun and exercise. I commute to work by bicycle because gas today at near $4 per gallon is more than I can bear. Minnesota state law says I'm a vehicle and as such am obligated to follow the rules of the road, same as any vehicle.

My philosophy, developed from what my dad used to tell me 40 years ago when I learned to drive a car: "I am ultimately responsible for me. I may be right, dead right!"

Ride accordingly.

DANIEL REED, MINNETONKA

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Using superior strength, either physically or numerically, to intimidate or force others to do something against their will is almost universally considered wrong. It's why we work so hard to end schoolyard bullying.

The Supreme Court occasionally rules that a law is, in fact, an infringement on a minority group, and therefore unconstitutional.

So why do some people still feel it's "fair" to pick on a minority of individuals? The answer is when the minority is the top 2 percent of income earners. In a misguided sense of justice, Gov. Mark Dayton has rationalized the acceptability of bullying a minority, since it matches his version of the greater good.

If this state really needs more money, then why not propose a sales tax increase that affects all of us equally? Sales tax in this state excludes necessities (e.g., food, shelter, clothing, medical), so by definition any purchase subject to sales tax is a discretionary purchase.

BOB NELSON, LINO LAKES

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Just give it a try!

PAUL CRAVEN, CHANHASSEN

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Thank you for reprinting Christina Romer's article that so clearly lays out the general principles governing international currency price relationships ("A strong dollar is good for America, right? Well ...," June 2). However, a caveat should have been included: "General principles apply reliably only in the absence of other influences."

Powerful special forces are in play, and their influences will be growing. As our Treasury and Federal Reserve and private banks issue more currency than our economy can legitimately guarantee, straight-line general relationships diverge.

Issuing more and more currency to inflate away our national and personal debt and to stimulate employment will not work. Unemployment will grow, and domestic inflation will explode.

This is the worry of ordinary citizens (our legislators included) for whom the international market situation is way too abstract. The solution should be abundantly clear for any economist who can think beyond traditional generalities.

JAMES M. PETERSON, RICHFIELD

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When a large number of new jails in Minnesota are only partially filled ("3,000 jail cells sit empty, with more on the way," June 6), why not import prisoners from California, which has spent $5.2 billion on new prisons since 1977 and still has the most overcrowded system in the United States.