Rethink war
Re “USS Gettysburg’s 6-year overhaul is finally over; cruiser has brand new combat system” (Oct. 22): The Virginian-Pilot reported on the USS Gettysburg, which took years to build, is only 30 years old and just had a six-year restoration done at a cost of $147M. She’s seen little to no action.
Re “Virginia is second in nation for defense spending, personnel” (Oct. 25): Soon after, The Pilot reported the state of Virginia enjoyed a 47% increase in defense spending in the past five years.
Re “Milley: China’s weapon test close to a ‘Sputnik moment’” (Oct. 28): The Pilot reported that China launched a hypersonic missile, an event some have called another “Sputnik moment” for the U.S. This should be a wake-up call showing how far behind we are in modern warfare. Much of the defense budget is spent on building or rebuilding the same old tanks, planes, subs, ships and weapons of bygone years.
It took the Army decades to get rid of the horse and the Navy decades to get rid of the battleship. All this reminds me of the fight for survival facing our fledging Air Force at the end of World War I.
Sadly, I believe the time has also come for our aircraft carriers. We have been fighting wars for more than 75 years. We haven’t won them, and many of those opponent countries didn’t own an aircraft carrier. China, our biggest threat today, has only two small diesel carriers; we have 11 nuclear ones. China is putting their money on cyber warfare and missile development. Wake up America.
John J. Martin, Norfolk
Not the answer
Re “Plan to fight climate change” (Other Views, Oct. 28): I read this column with interest. Jonah Goldberg tries to explain away the comment by Greta Thunberg that nuclear power is “extremely dangerous, expensive” and “time-consuming.” Well, she is right. Nuclear energy is a very unforgiving undertaking. One mistake and people die, and land is uninhabitable for years.
Cases in point, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Mining and refining nuclear material for reactors has been and still is an environmental disaster. As for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, yes it was closed due to politics, but it has not been reopened also due to politics up to and including former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. The reason is that from the start, the project has been challenged by the public, the Western Shoshone peoples and politicians.
Goldberg also neglects to mention that nuclear plants nationwide are being shut down because they can’t compete with increasingly lower cost sources of electricity such as solar power. New nuclear plants will take several decades to plan, site and build. Solar and wind power facilities can be built much quicker and are more cost effective.
I suggest to Goldberg that he do a better job of researching his future columns, so he won’t fall into the trap of pushing a technology that is a blind alley.
James Haluska, Chesapeake
Container trucks
I do not understand why the city of Norfolk allows container trucks to travel on Hampton Boulevard between the Midtown Tunnel and 38th Street. The road is very narrow. The container trucks want to ride in the inside lane, which makes it dangerous for cars in the outside lane as well as oncoming cars. I have seen these trucks wander into other lanes many times, some resulting in accidents. In addition, they have to travel through a narrow underpass. Why can’t the container trucks travel Interstate 64 to Terminal Boulevard and then get onto Hampton Boulevard where the road is much wider?
John T. Byrum Jr., Chesapeake
Stop confusion
In a world turned upside down it appears the labels pro-choice and pro-life have had their polarities reversed. Once upon a time in America pro-choice meant a woman had the right to choose whether or not she wished to end her pregnancy for very personal and often poignant reasons, while pro-life meant the yet-to-be-fully-formed unborn had a right to develop to full term and be born despite the wishes of the mother or the circumstances surrounding conception.
The lines were clear in pre-pandemic America: The pro-choice cause was championed by the “liberal” left (who ironically are anti-death penalty and anti-Second Amendment), while the “conservative” right aligned with the pro-life camp (who ironically are pro-death penalty and pro-Second Amendment). Today the tectonic plates of these two intractable movements have shifted.
Those opposed to vaccine mandates have suddenly adopted the pro-choice rhetoric — clamoring loudly “my body, my choice” — actively resisting participating in the most efficacious effort to end a pandemic, which has claimed more than 700,000 lives in America. Conversely, those who have resisted government meddling in reproductive rights have lined up en masse to receive a vaccine from the same government.
In both cases the simple solution is the one least addressed or totally ignored. To avoid pregnancy and the need for abortion, use the many forms of contraception and avoid making that other choice. To avoid COVID-19, get vaccinated and wear a mask. Let’s stop this confusion.
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