I never have room in the printed Journal for all the letters. Here's the batch that appeared today:

RW, Albuquerque

PK --
You will be swamped with e-mails about the dubious joys of air travel, I know, but as an octogenarian (fancy word for old) lady who must travel by walker and/or wheelchair, I would like to add mine.

Last April my husband and I planned to travel from ABQ to Charleston, SC which we had done before.  We were on a very early flight to Dallas and allowed several hours there to make the connecting flight to Charleston.  You’ve already covered the checking in entertainment.  The flight to Dallas was nicely uneventful.

Departure  from Dallas:  Do not put much faith in announced gates and terminals.  Ours were changed 3-4 times, not only the gate changed but also but also the terminal.  Even with the ‘train’  or whatever it is, doing this is frustrating & time consuming when making these changes using a walker or wheelchair.   By the time we’d find the new gate & terminal, it would have changed.

Found the final gate eventually, boarded the plane, left the gate, parked in line on taxi way  for several hours, returned to gate for re-fueling, everyone told to get off the plane during the 20 minute refueling to find food, later told the flight was canceled so back on the plane to collect personal belongings, then everyone sent to another gate for rescheduling assisted by only 2 airline personnel.  Most flights already full, in line for almost 1 1/2-2 hours, late afternoon, new schedule included next afternoon flight to Washington, DC, then another airline’s flight to Charleston.

Given a ‘distressed passenger’ discount on motel room, discounted to about $50 cost to us, lengthy search in airport for luggage  before calling the motel shuttle.  One passenger with us was given motel reservation but arrived & was told no reservation so she had to return to the terminal to get another motel. Left Dallas about 1 p.m. the next afternoon for DC.

Washington, DC:  Arrived late at Gate 28, sign telling passengers for Gates 30-something to Gates 40- something to go to Gate 28 for the bus.  We did, with others, but no one else was at 28 and no bus.  Eventually a man came over, called to order the bus.  Still no bus, time running out & the man came back, called again & was told no bus was running that day.  The other passengers were, they took off running to the end of that terminal  and onto the main concourse which means leaving a secure area.  We followed as fast as possible using my walker, down that terminal arm, down the main concourse almost to the end, back through security again and on to the end of  that terminal  to Gate 42 where they were holding the plane for us, thanks to the intervention of an US Federal Officer we learned later. We arrived in Charleston  too late to continue on by rental car so booked a motel for that night...but our luggage arrived so life was good.

Our later return through Dallas involved only several gate and terminal changes.  I think the Changer People were taking the day off.  So please sign us up for The Revolution and I’ll try to improve my ‘running-with-walker’ skills and perhaps my “Mom” voice.  We also plan to avoid Dallas in the future.  Orville & Wilbur had no idea what they were starting, did they.
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BF --
I never thought you’d be involved in a conspiracy, but apparently you are, based on your story this Sunday. It was obvious: the page your column began on had one story about raising chickens in the city. OK. But below that was a story about a bust of a cockfighting ring. For relief I turned to your column, which I normally enjoy, and what did I find? Airline passengers “pecking” at computers! Was this a subliminal message or what?

And we thought we had a problem with illegal aliens. It’s the chicken invasion that will bring the US to its knees.
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BW --
My family and I fly a lot too.  My 5 daughters all reside east of the Mississippi, and we have friends all over the country, and in fact, the world.  We have flown to the east coast lots of times, and we were in Europe twice in 2007.  So I believe I qualify to comment on your editorial.
    We Wardens have had experiences similar to yours before, notably with America West and Delta.  Maybe some airlines are more service oriented than others.  We always have good experiences with Southwest (and Lufthansa), where the truth is told and the Mom voice is couched in a sense of humor.  At our frequent check-ins, I have never heard anyone complain about the computer terminals, which allow their waiting lines to diminish faster than I ever would have thought possible.  Maybe their touch screen is more user friendly, or maybe more of the computer-friendly customers gravitate to the airlines that are more user-friendly.
    Based on our combined experiences over the past 8 years, since the first of our brood went away to the east for college, I would encourage my readers to fly, rather than to discourage them, as you’ve done.  We’ve seldom had a bad experience.  Maybe we’re more discerning in our choices that you are.  By the way, I don’t own Southwest stock, nor do I have any financial interest in their success.  Please feel free to check.
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WD --
Gee,golly,gosh.Its only a Swastika.The Indians have used it for years.Treat it as any other graffiti.I think he should find something better to do with his time and stop worrying about what other people think.We already have too many people like him now.There is always someone out there trying to tell someone else how to think.
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Last week, I wrote of the controversy surrounding the inclusion of gay couples in the 2008 Clovis High School yearbook. Reader e-mails follow:

M in Clovis -- I agree with you, change is very difficult. In Clovis the pain has been great for so many. My child has been bashed for having homosexual friends. The hate and anger being spewed forth in the name of religious righteousness has been so hurtful to so many students. Thank you for writing a piece that did not condemn the students, if only others could be as kind.  

AF, Albuquerque -- I want to thank you for your article regarding the Clovis High School Year book. You are absolutely correct. The kids are way ahead of their parents. Just as with the Civil Rights movement, which was often led by children, so too, are these young people leading the way to a more open, respectful America.

Tim, Roswell -- Your column on the gay uproar in Clovis was right on the mark, calm and well reasoned.  But get prepared for some divisive religious attacks.  It's SOP for them.
Tim in Roswell
A 70 year old non-gay person with tolerance for gay rights, not gay basher.

TW -- Jim Belshaw wrote (May 28, 08) that it took courage for two staff members to include lesbian photos in the 2008 Clovis High School yearbook. It certainly did not take any courage for Belshaw to be politically correct.

SC -- How does that go?  "From your lips (or in this case, from your pen) to God's ear?
 
Thank you for your beautifully written column.  As a member of PFLAG and the mother of a gay daughter, I get impatient.  But you are right, our hope is in our youth.
 
I always enjoy your column, but this is the first time I've written to tell you so.  This one touched my heart.

JH, Albuquerque -- Sadly, I have to agree with your conclusion that the “courageous” students who included homosexual couples in the yearbook will win.  If you wonder why I consider the overturning of this “primitive taboo” against homosexual behavior to be sad, it is because I have looked at the historical evidence for what happens when it is overturned.  Haven’t you ever wondered why it took until the twenty first century for people to overturn the “primitive taboo” that marriage should be limited to one man and one woman?  Even if the Christian and Jewish faiths imprisoned the intellect of a large portion of the world with their superstitious beliefs, there have been plenty of other cultures that could have overturned this “primitive taboo.”  Were people of the past, so much less intelligent and sophisticated than we are?  Of course not, and the fact is that past cultures have overturned this “primitive taboo.’ The reason that we do not hear much about this is that to do so is cultural suicide.
 
A British sociologist named J.D. Unwin examined the effect of eliminating this “primitive taboo” on historical cultures during the 1930s when Sigmund Freud’s view that “primitive sexual taboos” were the cause of individual and cultural neuroses was vogue.  J.D. Unwin conducted a massive study of 6 major civilizations and 80 lesser societies covering 5,000 years of history in order to understand how sexual behavior affects the rise and fall of social groups. He included every social group on which he could find reliable information. Mr. Unwin found, in every case, the “expansive energy” of a social group comes from restricting sex to marriage, and sexual license is always “the immediate cause of cultural decline.” In other words, all the evidence he discovered showed that the survival of civilization or society depends on keeping sexual energy focused on supporting child rearing and family life and not allowing individuals access to sex in ways that do not support procreation and family life.  He found that “In human records there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on pre-nuptial [premarital] and post -nuptial [extramarital] continence.” In every verifiable case, he found once a group became sexually permissive, “the energy of the society...decreased and finally disappeared.”  He came across the same pattern over and over. A society would begin with high standards limiting sex to one partner in marriage for life. This produced great social strength and that society or culture would flourish. Then a new generation would arise demanding sex on easier terms and would lower moral standards. But when that happened the society would lose vitality, grow weak, and then die. He explained that “In the beginning, each society had the same ideas in regard to sexual regulations. Then the same strengths took place; the same sentiments were expressed; the same changes were made; the same results ensued. Each society reduced its sexual opportunity to a minimum and, displaying great social energy, flourished greatly. Then it extended its sexual opportunity [lowered standards]; its energy decreased, and faded away. The one outstanding feature of the whole story is its unrelieved monotony.”  These results are documented in his books Sex and Culture (published by Oxford University Press in London in 1934), Sexual Regulations and Cultural Behavior (published by Oxford University Press in London in 1935), and Hopousia: Or the Sexual and Economic Foundations of a New Society written with George Allen and published in London in 1940.  The data are there if we care to look at them.
 
Sadly, it is easier to accept the homosexual agenda without any thought because it is vogue and it feels bad to be “prejudiced” against any behavior.  When one has a megaphone as you do, one can foster the agenda, chipping away at the foundation of our culture and civilization.  Could either of us stop this destruction of our culture and civilization?  I doubt that my e-mails suggesting that we actually look at the data and think about the issue will.  Particularly, when so many unthinkingly accept the homosexual agenda.  I know that you and others will label me a homophobe and, to a certain extent, that is a correct characterization.  I do not fear homosexuals and am not fearful about my own sexuality.  However, I am deathly afraid of what history tells us happens to each and every culture or civilization that affirms homosexual behavior.  I pray that you and the other cheer leaders for the homosexual agenda will live long enough to see the consequences of your actions.  Given the current progress of that agenda, the general degree of “sexual liberation,” and the implacable enmity of our Muslim foes, I am fairly confident that my prayer will be answered.
 
May God have mercy on us all.

GC, Albuquerque -- I know you are a gentle man because I have often read your articles.  It seems the gentle thing to do to commend the high school students for what seems the gentle approach to dealing with the gay students. But, Jim, if your son went over next door and took out a knife and killed your neighbor's son with it, would you respond with gentleness to him, and say, "Oh, that's OK son, that's the way our society is going these days."?
 
Of course, these gay students are youth that need love and affirmation, but to affirm their wrong actions is not gentle.  It is very destructive for them and for our society. You mentioned God in your article.  God makes it very clear that homosexuality is a sin that He hates.  He loves the sinner but He hates that sin.  He wants all men everywhere to come to a knowledge of the truth--that there is sin in our world and we need to turn from it and to Him.
 
If we want to truly help our youth, we elders should be leading them in the standard of what is right and wrong, not what is "in" and acceptable by society's rules. Moral failure will bring a nation to ruin, as history proves, not to mention an individual's life. I have a feeling that is what the elders you mentioned were trying to do.  I'm sorry if they did it in an angry or unseemly way.

HK -- I am retired, straight man. Raising a daughter was the most important part of my life. Now I am grandfather.

It is frightening to think of the fuss going on in Clovis. Love is love. We can't have too much. People like Walter Bradley make me sick.

PB, Santa Fe -- I found it especially ironic to read about the yearbook controversy and next peruse my economist to find the featured obituary was on Mildred Loving

Mildred Loving | Economist.com

http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11367685&CFID=7458602&CFTOKEN=28548180

In my case these hidden and some time not so, stupid prejudices fly in the face of reason, I am a white Africa from Rhodesia and as such many people I meet assume incorrectly I have a strong hidden racial bent.

Isn't it ironic that both America and the old and new South Africa are two countries that promote racial perfection but classify there people in nice tidy color and sexual preference groups with some really vicious real world attitudes all covered with a religious cloak.

Yup as these kid already instinctively know black brown yellow white gay straight we are all gods little creations

What in the heck will these dumb politicians do when they meet a real off planet alien when we are so busy creating our own.

KSN -- Thanks for the completely astute article on the Clovis yearbook news. I appreciate you covering all the aspects of this case and knowing that those kids did what was truly courageous for the community at large.
I also wrote a letter to the editor on this issue called Clovis Kids With Mature Attitudes. I did bring up the fact that this is again The State vs Religion.  Thanks again for writing the truth.

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