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• Suggestions for letter writers

  Suggestions for letter writers

  The Fresno Bee has been reflecting, if not contributing to, the increasing dumbing-down of our society by printing letters full of name-calling and personal attacks. Here are a few suggestions for The Bee; convey these guidelines to your letter-writers and reject letters that fail to conform.

  No name-calling and personal insults ("idiot," "ignorant," "blabbering nonsense," "get off your high horse"; all these in a single recent letter).

  If you disagree with others, either critique their reasoning (first summarize it before refuting it), or refute their facts. If the latter, mention the source of your own facts so as to appear more credible than the person you are criticizing.

• One man's gobbledygook

  One man's gobbledygook

  I was quite amused at Michael C. Schiebelhut's letter (Feb. 21) concerning the last sentence of Prof. George Kauffman's commentary (Feb. 15) on Darwin in The Bee. I have three college degrees, and I can vouch for the fact that there's nothing wrong with that sentence. It certainly does not read like slang or gobbledygook. I definitely got a kick out of Schiebelhut's comparison of Fresno State with USC because many of us know that those letters have not stood for University of Southern California for many years, but rather for University of Spoiled Children, which is what Mr. Schiebelhut appears to be.

  Bill Turrentine

  Fresno

• The right to speak freely

  The right to speak freely

  While perusing through the ranting restrictions that Sasan Rahmatian (letter March 12) wants to implement in order to acceptably submit a letter to the editor of The Bee, I asked myself: Where is my copy of the Constitution of the United States of America? I found it, and low and behold I reread Article 1 of The Bill of Rights, that in part states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press."

  Very simple, Sasan. Game, set, match.

  Carl Pederson

• Examine City Hall spending

  Examine City Hall spending

  It is not only our right, but our duty to question our elected officials -- not only their motives, but the ways in which they get what they want without regard to what the people want.

  A recent letter in The Bee referred to Section 1218 of the Fresno City Charter. If this is right, there appears to be some irregularities in the outsourcing of departments within the city. If nothing else, this may deserve further investigation.

  We are asked to give more and get less, so spending of tax dollars must be looked at more carefully. Just because City Hall holds the purse strings doesn't mean the purse belongs to them.

• Better use for foreign aid

  Better use for foreign aid

  Several letters to The Bee have addressed the $250 million being given to Egypt. Did you know that during 2012, the U.S. gave away more than $50 billion in foreign aid? That breaks down to more than $160 for every man, woman and child in the United States per the census data. Anyone homeless or out of work that could use $160? How about a displaced family of four? Could they use $640? Government is raising our taxes and giving it away while we are all struggling to make it through the day.

  Dianne Romine

  Fresno