Letters to the editor - Sunday (11-23-08)

Don't believe automakers' tales

I once climbed the Rock of Gibraltar's east face and continued my journey across the Spanish Plains on foot. I swam the English Channel, crossing the great shipping lanes of the Netherlands, without the aid of a guide boat. I spent two years alone in the great Northwest Territory trapping giant beaver. I was with Richard Byrd when he reached the South Pole, and I have invented a time machine.

My stories are more believable and more likely to happen than the automakers paying back the $25 billion they're trying to get from the federal government.

Write or call your congressmen and senators and tell them not to bail out the overpaid auto industry. I don't recall the federal government offering any aid to the textile industry before it collapsed.

— George Hall

Salisbury

Cemetery thieves strike again

On a nice fall afternoon just prior to Veterans Day, my grandson and I were visiting several cemeteries to place American flags on the graves of family members.

Upon arriving at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church on U.S. 70, where my parents, grandparents and an uncle who gave his life for his country during World War II are buried, we discovered the flowers which had been placed there about two weeks earlier were gone.

Even my grandson, who is only 4 years old, could not believe someone would take flowers from a grave. This is not the first time flowers have disappeared from these graves. My mother loved her flowers, and she cherished the American flag; so, to the person(s) who continue to remove these flowers, you are in my prayers.

If you are taking them because you cannot afford to buy flowers for your loved one's grave, call me and I will assist you in purchasing some. I am listed in the phone book.

— Tex Lyerly

Salisbury