The recent I-26 decisions by the City Council and county commissioners are both shortsighted and stupid. The fact is, the I-26 connector has absolutely no reason to exist. Have you ever been on the north leg of I-26? There’s rarely another car in sight. Some people point to the traffic jam that occurs at the […]

Keeping in mind our paper’s motto—“Local Matters”—our Letters section has always given first priority to letters about local issues or regarding stories we have published. As a result, when we don’t have enough print space for all the week’s letters, those written about national or international issues get cut, and are held over in the […]

I moved here three years ago, thinking I would rather die here than live anywhere else.  Little did I know how close—or how often—I would come to death’s door while trying to survive here in Asheville. At first glance, Asheville seems to be a quaint little town with a rich history and culture, [where] anyone […]

I take umbrage with Cranky Hanke’s panning of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino [Jan. 8 Xpress]. I saw the movie last weekend and highly enjoyed it. This is Dirty Harry turning in his long-barreled revolver for an M1 Garand rifle and an M1911 pistol. Walt Kowalski will become a new cult hero, while Hanke is toiling […]

I watch and listen to the public-television program Democracy Now. This is where information from around the world is presented to us. The murdering that has gone on in the area of what was called the Holy Land—and I’m including all those countries and all those voices supporting these ill doings—shows the inability to learn […]

I’d like to add some comments to the thoughtful letters you printed Jan. 10 relating to the appearance of Ayn Rand’s influence on the WNC campus [“Capitalism on Campus,” Dec. 23, 2008], and Rand’s passion for laissez-faire individualism. Regarding her rampant individualism, the following epigraph is from my recently published book, The Imprinters: “I am […]

Can you say humorless? The Jan. 7 letter by Terri David [“The Misery Behind Bright Ideas”] made me think of a pinch-mouthed, squinty-eyed Scrooge. The writer is probably a vegetarian who’s never set foot on a farm and thus doesn’t know what happens to old animals. What does she imagine—they go trotting off to some […]

Hamas wants Israel wiped off the map. Michael Evans (founder/Jerusalem Prayer Team) states that since 2001, more than 10,000 missiles and mortars have been fired into southern Israel by Hamas. Hamas started the recent round of violence with its rockets. For weeks, Israel has been imploring Hamas to stop. The response from the Islamists: They […]

Approximately 4.54 billion years ago, God created this planet for all of us to share. Then, within the last few millennia, some people decided to divide it up amongst themselves and fabricate property-rights laws that would justify their actions. They quickly began to bulldoze the world and cover it with concrete, pavement and fluorescent-lighted eyesores. […]

Terrorism has become the new byword. On the cusp of our country’s new leadership, it has become the 21st century’s scapegoat. As a result, we manufacture instruments of fear to permeate our collective consciousness. What becomes of us as a country, as a people, once we no longer have preconceived notions that the world is […]