Regarding the April 12 article “Teacher says she was fired over Martin fundraiser” (Mideast edition): This teacher is giving absolutely the wrong impression to her students. She is doing nothing more than jumping on the “race bandwagon.”

I wonder how many black-on-black and black-on-white killings, and drive-by shootings, took place in her city, Detroit, the same day Trayvon Martin was shot in Florida. Why is she not trying to raise money for those families? Is it because no one would notice or even care?

This teacher is doing nothing but trying to get her 15 minutes of fame.

Richard Martin

Camp Stone, Afghanistan

Oiler needed for new fuels too

In the article about the Navy developing alternative fuels (“Navy energy coordinator warns of dangers of relying on oil,” April 12, Mideast and Pacific editions), Cmdr. James Goudreau has one big flaw in his logic about the dangers of relying on oil. He states the USS Cole would never have been a target if she did not have to pull into port to refuel. He further makes the leap that if we were using alternative fuels it would have been avoided.

What he fails to mention is that, in his alternative-fuel world, the alternative fuel would still need to be transported by an oiler vessel. When the Cole was bombed, there wasn’t an oiler in the area, so she had to stop for fuel. The same logic would apply for alternative fuels.

Mark Thill

Daegu, South Korea

Migrated