Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Foghat (1972).

To the editor:

I agree that keeping families safe will be a key factor in the election.

Trump’s “toughness” is obviously aimed at those who are already afraid their country is escaping from them and want it back. Logic does not matter to these voters. The easy solution is to ban Muslims and other refugees, ignoring the fact that perpetrators of these terrorist attacks are citizens of western countries, as is the case of France’s recent tragedies.

Closing our borders, as Trump advocates, is not the solution. Eradicating terrorism is a long-term effort involving patience as well as the isolation and elimination of those preaching violence around the globe. Carpet bombing areas where terrorists may be hiding will mean the death of innocent civilians and expand the conflict, which is what Islamic State really wants.

Domenico Maceri, San Luis Obispo

Note from KBJ: Domenico Maceri won't be singing this tune when Muslim terrorists hit San Luis Obispo.

If you're a conservative (as I am), the fun and games (e.g., #NeverTrump) are over. It's time to get behind the Republican nominee for president, Donald J. Trump. He won fair and square. He kicked the asses of 16 Republican candidates, including Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, and Rand Paul. The Republican establishment expected us to vote for their candidates (George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, John McCain in 2008, and Mitt Romney in 2012), and we did. We the people now expect establishment Republicans to vote for our candidate. Get right with Donald. Now. If you can't, then have the decency to shut the fuck up.

The entanglement of science with progressive politics continues apace. Science (and scientists) will suffer as a result. It's Keith's Law, which says that authoritativeness is inversely proportional to partisanship.

I spent the past four days (Thursday through Sunday) participating in the Journey of Hope, which is a philanthropic project of Pi Kappa Phi known as "The Ability Experience." My friends Joe and Denise have a son, Jason, who is a student at Louisiana State University. Jason and three dozen other college students are riding their bicycles across country (from San Francisco to Washington, DC) to raise money for people with disabilities. Joe and I drove to Omaha this past Thursday and drove home yesterday. On Friday, we rode our bikes 51.63 miles from Omaha, Nebraska, to Griswold, Iowa. On Saturday, we rode 93.85 miles from Griswold to Des Moines, Iowa. The courses were very hilly, which made them a challenge. As if that weren't enough, we had a headwind or partial headwind the entire way. All told, I pedaled 145.48 miles, which gives me 3,363 for the year. (I'm on track for my best mileage year ever, of 36.)

The riding was only part of each day's activities. Afterward, we interacted with disabled children in a gymnasium (Thursday evening) and on a baseball diamond (Saturday evening). We also found time to swim in a beautiful lake in Macedonia, Iowa, and to attend a minor league baseball game between the Iowa Cubs and the Las Vegas 51s. The food was good, the accommodations comfortable, and the company pleasant. I was amazed by the energy, discipline, and compassion of these fine young men. I have no doubt that every one of them will have a successful career and become an upstanding member of the community. Though I was intruding on their journey as a ride-along, and though I'm old enough to be their grandfather, they treated me with the utmost kindness and respect. I will always remember them and the fun we had.

If you'd like to make a donation to this worthy cause, please do so in Jason's name. Here is his webpage.

Addendum: Here we are, a couple of miles from the finish of the second day's ride:

Click to enlarge.

Here.

Here.

Yesterday, in Wellington, Kansas, I paid $2.049 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. What're y'all payin' in your neck o' the woods?

Freshman Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (Harvard Law, 2002) gets it. Freshman Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (Ph.D., 2004) does not. Guess who will have a successful political career.