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

To the Editor:

Re “Special Visas Help Copycats Take U.S. Jobs” (front page, Sept. 30):

American companies like Toys “R” Us are using the H-1B temporary visa program to take high-paying American jobs offshore in the name of growth and corporate resiliency. At the same time, conservative politicians oppose raising the minimum wage to livable levels with the argument that it will deprive Americans of their low-paying jobs.

They also want to tighten immigration laws that bring foreign workers here to take jobs that most Americans don’t want, as in agriculture.

Is this selective vision, moral hypocrisy or both?

ELLEN JOURET-EPSTEIN

Germantown, N.Y.

Note from KBJ: If you can't find people to work for you, you must increase the pay and benefits.

This is pure, unmitigated bullshit. Major League Baseball is worried that if Chase Utley is in the ballpark tomorrow, the focus will be on him instead of on the game. There may also be concern about fan violence. Is any of this a reason to suspend a player who did nothing wrong, and who has been waiting patiently to play in the postseason? To protest, I will not watch the game. I hope many fans around the country join me. Major League Baseball is disgraceful. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with it.

A terrible shooting occurs. Progressive impulse: change the law!

A hard slide in baseball. Progressive impulse: change the rule!

See the pattern?

Another view of Lake Huron from the roadside park. Click to enlarge. If you haven't been the Great Lakes, you should do so.

Am I the only one who is sick of this? Please don't say that I'm insensitive. I'm opposed to exploitation. The National Football League and other leagues (such as Major League Baseball) are exploiting women's health for personal gain. They're pandering to women in a not-so-subtle attempt to gain female viewers, which puts more money into their pockets. The NFL is also trying to expand into Europe. It's all about the almighty dollar. What say you?

Here.

Here.

Here are the latest rankings. My beloved Arizona Wildcats (4-2) won yesterday, but are unranked. TCU is vastly overrated, in my humble opinion. The Horned Frogs have given up 37, 52, and 45 points in games they won. That's a terrible defense.

Paranoid (1970). Vocals by SpongeBob SquarePants.

Re “A new way to tackle gun deaths” (Oct. 5) by Nicholas Kristof: In Britain we have what must be the most stringent gun controls in the world. Most handguns are banned. To purchase a firearm you must obtain approval from the local police and you need to notify them when you acquire or dispose of a firearm. Anyone with a history of mental health problems or with a criminal record is banned from holding a license. However, in the case of mental health, it is difficult to apply and has not always been properly applied. There are instances of appeals against a ban being upheld, with disastrous consequences.

Nevertheless, I do not know a single shooter who is against licensing. The problems for us arise in the unequal interpretation and operation of the system by different police authorities. I am fortunate, I come under London’s Metropolitan Police, which is swift and efficient in responding to requests to acquire a license (about six weeks), add a new firearm to a license (about one week), or to renew a five-year license (about six weeks). A neighboring police force is currently taking six to eight weeks to add a new firearm and up to 44 weeks to renew an existing license.

What is being proposed in America is mild compared with what we have, and it has taken Britain almost a century of increasing controls and only two public “massacres” to get here. You just need to make sure that those who control firearms are themselves controlled, and above all act fairly and not politically.

By the way, Britain’s firearms laws only affect legitimate shooters; they have done absolutely nothing to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals.

John Roper Woodford Green, England