Strong defense

Your Friday editorial arguing for another round of U.S. military base closings is probably shortsighted. The California-oregon-washington coastline is about 1,300 miles long. It’s not too difficult to visualize a Chinese navy fleet of 130 ships positioned about 10 miles apart each with an invasion force. The defenses along the coast need to be strong.

Fact is, in Las Vegas and Clark County there is no enforcement mechanism other than filing suit. Code enforcement is non-existent.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) set standards for things that are ignored. The law says there can be greater access, but not less. This has been violated here. One example is the designated parking spaces. They are required to be set aside only for those with significant mobility limitations. But Nevada grants this to many people who do not have such conditions. Because we have many physicians who lack ethics, anyone with a gray hair can get a handicapped certificate. When a permit is issued, the state should review the physician records.

When members of Congress passed this law, they did not foresee that the lazy or self-centered would use these spaces or that some physicians lacked the character to refuse requests from patients who are not limited.

I have seen young people get out and run when using them — one said his grandmother lets him use the placard. Once, a woman told me she was a nurse and had to get to work. One casino has slowly eliminated some of the spaces without consequence. One eatery eliminated a space to install a power unit and did not replace it.

Shape up Nevada.