A good day to remember the words in our Declaration of Independence (Letters)

A good day to remember our Declaration of Independence July th is much more than BBQs and beer parades and horns It celebrates the birth of our nation as expressed in the Declaration of Independence a report of why our first patriots felt compelled to rebel against their king Every American would do well to read it aloud at home and in their inhabitants spaces on this day and to honor its contents Specific of the complaints sound familiar to our ears the King has obstructed the Administration of Justice he has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power he is cutting off our Transaction with all parts of the world and imposing Taxes without our Consent he is depriving us in multiple cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury and is transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences he is altering fundamentally the Forms of our governments He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us They declare A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people By this Declaration Americans asserted their unwillingness to be serfs or vassals to an unaccountable ruler but rather as free people who demand their leaders be answerable to them and to the laws they enact Let us honor the true meaning of this national holiday Wendy Orley Highlands Ranch A history of unwanted immigrants The current immigration policies are clouded in a blanket of hypocrisy Multiple of our ancestors were once unwanted immigrants And a great number of were likely undocumented In the second half of the th century the U S executive broke numerous treaties with various indigenous people all under the guise of manifest destiny Two huge American figures at that time Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S Grant opposed the Mexican-American War on moral grounds Grant called it one of the worst examples of a strong country taking advantage of a weaker one It was a shameful display of American greed and power Maybe we need more understanding and compassion when it comes to immigration and fewer ICE raids Chris Sandoval Arvada Inhabitants radio deserves federal sponsorship It is shameful to see the administration s fraudulent approach to dealing with general broadcasting Citizens radio stations receive on average of their operating expenses from federal funds That s it The rest is given through individual advocacy I have regularly supported populace radio as the vital independent source for news and music that it is Contrary to the false statements by President Donald Trump and his followers constituents media is neither radical nor does it have an agenda other than to inform through independent journalism and provide a wide range of community-specific news and features especially in rural areas I suspect that at the core of his attacks Trump does not like citizens media because it is fact-based reporting and he is unable to control the narrative and it is well known he despises any news entity that reports on him truthfully This administration froze funding to Radio Free Europe after a -year history of truthful reporting reaching people suffering under authoritarian governments Repressing all outside news is a pathetic attempt at budget cutting and a boon to monsters like Vladimir Putin Kim Jong Un Viktor Orban and so on Thomas M Holzfaster Lakewood Rail is not set up for reliability Re Board tentatively OKs pursuing Front Range traveler rail between Denver Fort Collins June news story When will people learn They make jokes about the unreliability of Amtrak and then folks expect to borrow freight track from Union Pacific BNSF Railway Canadian National or any other non-governmental host railroad for a cost and schedule that perfectly fits their plans After almost years in the industry both railroad manufacturing and transit agencies my answer is Good luck with that The host railroad that profits primarily from freight operations will never prioritize guest runs Longer consist fewer engineers looser regulations tighter schedules and emphasis I repeat emphasis on cost containment all mean one thing plan on Amtrak-like reliability for guest trains Accidents repairs and maintenance will all product in the same thing We gotta use the bus currently Ride quality is another issue Cargo containers can sway pretty wildly before triggering any shock watch Unless RTD wants to trigger plenty of passengers they d better plan on paying billions to upgrade freight track concrete sleepers continuous rail at grade crossings becoming bridges PTC upgrades etc etc and all at taxpayer expense as none of these upgrades would be necessary to continue those freight operations Either pay to double-track that right-of-way buy it outright or forget about ever meeting cost or schedule or the expectations of the commuting constituents Dave Knutson Arvada Related Articles Rancher compensation Don t cry wolf without the facts Letters Megan Schrader s call for Trump protests is dangerous Letters Keep our residents lands community Letters Beware federal agents hiding behind masks Letters Ozone days and stifling heat are not the days to cut EV tax credits Letters As we consider shipping along the Front Range let s ensure we explore the benefits of Maglev high-speed trains look up China s CRRC or Central Japan Railway Company JR Central L Series Maglev also has the promise of being able to handle -degree inclines making it a natural extension to our mountain resort communities relieving traffic on I- Other alternatives worth considering Personal Rapid Transit PRT and Automated Transit Arrangement ATN where small carriage pods propelled by maglev would move four to six people with no or very limited intermediate stops the total station to station movement time may be even better than maglev trains and the cost to construct maintain is a fraction of a tradition rail system with large stations Depending upon projected volumes passengers cargo electric vertical take-off and landing eVTOL aircraft may have even better cost and benefits lower land purchases infrastructure maintenance Rather than building more than a century-old rail device and implementing obsolete tool let s consider Maglev ATN PRT and eVTOL Michael MacLauchlan Denver Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to the editor about this article submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail