Today's Opinions

I sense an increasing anxiety about the future of our country and thus offer the following modest proposals for improvement. Call it a baker’s dozen for a better America:

1. Shut down all coal burning power plants by 2015, replacing them with solar, wind and conservation. Natural gas (expensive in the short-term) can ease our transition, but the fossil fuel burns have got to go. It’s either that or the polar ice caps. (And we need others to help: China, India, etc.)

In reading this week’s column, you might get the impression the poofreader is on vacation. That’s a common enough assumption but a rare occurrence. But look carefully. Your job is to figure out that we mean by these cryptic titles to books, movies, plays and TV programs.

But be warned: Some of the puns and plays on words are atrocious; there’s bilinguality, far-fetchedness and even a few titles made to fit the local scene. Most titles involve changing a single letter; occasionally, you may need to make two changes or even divide a word.

If Las Vegas attorney Dave Romero had lived in the late 1700s, he likely would have been a follower of Alexander Hamilton, who supported a strong executive and central government.

By the same token, Las Vegas’ Charter Commission would likely have fallen behind Thomas Jefferson, who advocated the spreading of power.

A couple of weeks ago, Romero criticized the work of the commission, a city-appointed panel charged with drafting a new charter, which is essentially the city’s constitution. The current charter is nearly 40 years old.