Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

To the Editor: Though the final death toll of the Texas winter storm will take months to determine, at least 80 people have died so far. People are still dealing with water shortages, broken pipes and water damage to their homes as well as job and wage losses. Recovery costs are expected to exceed $50 billion, the most costly storm in Texas history. Much has been written about the lack of preparedness of the energy infrastructure for an extreme weather situation, but it pretty much boils down to Texas, rather than becoming part of a national well regulated grid, wanting to do it “their way,” …

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To the Editor: On February 14th there will be elections to the Catalan Parliament. [Note: We received this letter on February 11th, too late for inclusion in our paper of the 12th. – The Ed.] These are not normal elections in a regional parliament but are yet another chapter in the confrontation between the Catalan independence movement and the Spanish state. The European institutions are hoping that the Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will defuse the independence movement with some kind of negotiation. The problem is that Sánchez is very reluctant to negotiate, firstly, because his party is deeply Spanish nationalist and, secondly, because any …

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To the Editor: For the third time in a row, the Catalan pro-independence movement wins with an absolute majority in the Catalan elections. It has won resoundingly with 74 seats, more than the 68 that establishes the majority (in the previous elections it had won with 70). This time also with 51.22% of the votes, making it the majority among the voters. The elections were due next year, but they were brought forward because the Spanish courts overthrew Catalan President Joaquim Torra for having disobeyed an electoral board that ordered him to take down a banner criticising the imprisonment of Catalan politicians. The President refused, …

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To the Editor: I agree with the conclusions made by the author of [an article at RedState.com, headlined “Wow—Missouri County Passes an Act Empowering Sheriffs to Arrest Feds Who Try to Confiscate Guns”] and add one thought. If the other states follow this lead, and state law enforcement and/or other state resources, like their National Guard units, have to be used at any time to stop federal agents from restricting or taking people’s “guns,” [sic] there will be a real moral dilemma for the officers in the military. Can those protecting their right to bear arms—John Q. citizen and their state civil servants—under laws like …

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To the Editor; The election of Joe Biden engendered optimism among some Progressives that Trump’s control over Republican legislators would diminish, facilitating a return to a more rational politics based on a respect for Constitutional principles and democratic processes. The hope was based on the assumption that most if not all Republicans continued to honor traditional Republican values such as a belief in small government, fiscal conservancy and a reverence for individual initiative. Recent events, however, have called this assumption into question. The invasion of the Capitol revealed the extent of Trump’s control over his base who demonstrated their willingness to resort to violent insurrection …

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To the Editor: I am disheartened that the media shows little inclination to mention the words “plutonium” or “probabilities of accidental release” in their so-called reporting of the Mars rover arrival. You have to question who they work for. A “1 in 960 chance of a deadly plutonium release” is a real concern—gamblers in Las Vegas would be happy with those odds. We daily hear the excited anticipation of the nuclear industry as stories reveal the growing plans for hosts of launches of nuclear devices—more rovers on Mars, mining colonies on the moon, even nuclear reactors to power rockets bound for Mars. The nuclear industry …

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