SCREAMING BLUE MURDER
In response to the article by Julie Szego ‘Vegas and the need for tragic distinctions’ (Illawarra Mercury, Friday October 6, 2017), many media outlets and journalists including the author of this article have referred to the Las Vegas massacre as being the worst mass shooting in modern US history, yet we need some perspective.
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While not wishing to dismiss the tragedy of the 59 who died and over 500 injured, in Chicago there were 762 murders in 2016.
This equates to more people dying "per month" in Chicago, than the Las Vegas shooting.
Yet, why no wall to wall news coverage?
Chicago also has a lesson for Australia in relation to licensed firearms and gun laws.
Unique to America, Chicago has very strict gun laws, with no gun shops in the city.
We see more effort to restrain the police instead of restraining the criminals which seems to be happening more and more in our own country thank to political correctness.
Adrian Devlin, Fairy Meadow
VISION UNREWARDED
In the midst of the current debacle over foreign ownership of Australia’s minerals and related infrastructure could we spare a thought for Rex Connor, our former local Member for Cunningham, who I knew personally and admired.
Rex was the Minister for Minerals and Energy in the Whitlam Labor Government in the 70s.
His mantra was public involvement in the development of our nation’s vast mineral reserves. The free gifts of nature which should belong to us all.
It is a pity that Rex is best remembered for `The Khemlani Affair’ when he naively tried to arrange finance from the wrong person, for the construction of a public pipeline to bring gas to the Eastern states.
What a shame that Rex couldn’t have raised the loan from a legitimate source and have his vision rewarded.
We Australians would probably be in a much better position than we are at present.
John Martin, Woonona
COME TO PASS
Regarding all the talk about access for people of Dapto to the proposed bypass, the RMS states that the access is not needed at this stage, but might be added at a later time.
So, when the job is finally completed and all the inconvenience is forgotten, in 10 years time they will start digging again because the Dapto and Horsley community is finally big enough.
This time the cost will of course be so much more than when it should have been done in the first place.
But the government has $120 million dollars to waste on a useless poll.
God help us all with people like this in control.
U. von der Burg, Dapto
TIME TO LISTEN
This is In response to Kate McIlwain’s column on October 4 `Readers tell complainers to turn it down’.
As Wollongong residents we are all happy to see any festivals that go well, and we do have many and varied festivals over the years.
Very rarely they disturb and divide the community due to their noise levels.
Close range loud noise causes hearing loss.
Distant long lasting repetitive beating disturbs the peace and generates distress for humans and animals.
Extremely loud noise is physically unfriendly to everyone.
A community festival should be different from purely profit-making ones.
It should place their audience as well as surrounding residents' health as a first priority, because its long-lasting success can only be build on the support of the whole community.
Jei-Jen Hetherington, Mt Pleasant