Editor:
This is a response to a Letter to the Editor dated September 25, 2025, penned by Jay Miller, of Hillsboro.
Jay begins by telling of his training experiences aboard a square-rigged Coast Guard cutter, The Eagle. He continues with a brief history of the vessel, starting with its construction in Germany in 1936. It was later converted into a training ship for German sailors. The ship’s given name at launch was Horst Wessel, named for an individual of ill repute.
Jay continues with the story of the ship and the man, Horst Wessel, in some detail. Most interesting.
This narrative is then used as a clever segue to another line of thought, assassinations.
I quote, “The story of Horst Wessel resonates with us today as a large portion of the American public and politicians seek to raise up one of their own who was tragically assassinated – but all assassinations are tragic.”
It is reasonable to assume that Jay is alluding to the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. I wonder why he didn’t mention the victim by name.
Jay goes on to list all the assassinations and attempted assassinations of former presidents and political figures going back to John F. Kennedy. Going forward, he lists them all by name.
Well, almost all of them, because when he came to the most recent assassination, this is what he said: “The recent assassination of a young political operative – married with two small children – was horrifying…”
The No Name Political Operative?
Come on, Jay, his name was Charlie Kirk. He was active in politics, but a political operative? Sounds a bit cloak and dagger. Most consider him a lot more than that. You could add evangelist and motivator, but in any case, he deserves to be called by name.
From there, Jay goes on to point out the great chasm between right-leaning folks and those pointed in the other direction.
Another quote from Jay’s dissertation: “Time will heal the deep hurt caused by such a violent and public death. But the destruction of perceived enemies and political opponents – and assault on all provisions of the First Amendment –will take much longer to be restored.”
And here I find common ground with Jay Miller.
I agree that the assault on candidate Donald Trump by the U.S. Justice Department and certain State Judicial branches was nothing but an attempt to ruin Donald Trump’s chance of becoming president. The then-candidate Trump spent weeks and months in a courtroom defending himself from politically motivated charges.
And still he won. Again.
Joel Srodes
Marlinton
Editor:
Human beings have a habit of enthusiastically adopting new technology. The new technology is sold and promoted by some individuals to make money. Therefore, they don’t want anything to get in the way of enlarging their bank account.
When DDT first came out, there was an advert in the 1947 issue of TIME magazine that said: “DDT is good for me.” When automobiles first came out, it took decades before anybody put a seatbelt in them, even though anybody who knew physics, understood that that was an obvious cheap safety feature. The manufacturers did not want anyone to think, when they saw a car with a seatbelt, that maybe they might get hurt by using the car and therefore not buy it. This pattern is being repeated with wireless technology.
DDT was banned, but we have made many improvements to make automobiles safer, as the benefits were worth the injuries and deaths that occurred. I believe the path that we took with automobiles, is the same one we need to take with wireless technology.
I have read numerous scientific studies that indicate that children are much more affected negatively by wireless technology than adults. Children rely upon adults to guide them to live life safely. The Board of Education is celebrating that finally all schools in Pocahontas County have wireless technology. I have been unable to find out whether they are implementing this technology in a way that minimizes the negative effects on children in their care. Transparency does not seem to be there. Are they using the equivalent of booster seats, shoulder harnesses, and speed limits with wireless technology? Are they teaching the children how best to access the internet with the minimum of wireless exposure? Are they sending home information to the parents, giving hints on minimizing wireless exposure. I hope they are doing these things, but I have no way of knowing at the moment.
There are many people in the county that would be glad to share their expertise with the school district in accomplishing these goals. Also, there are people called certified electrical building biologists, who specialize in this. All the board has to do is reach out.
Bob Grigg
Dunmore
