Thank you for the good-bye words for Seely (Suchi) Solomon in the December issue. I treasured her writings in the Sun and elsewhere -- they were so full of wisdom and passion and insight, just like the way she lived her life.

Whether seeing her at the Santa Fe Farmers Market or at countless public hearings on Los Alamos Lab nuclear-weapons programs or at gatherings for peace or the forest, she was always an inspiration -- such a light in the darkness.

To all of us who loved Suchi: Keep that flame burning; redouble your efforts to care for Mother Earth; write that letter to your senator or congressperson; work for peace and against LANL weapons work; or just turn your compost pile!

Suchi was such a gift to us all -- it's like an old grandmother tree has fallen in the forest. Let that passion and wisdom feed the soil and nurture new growth to continue on.

-- Joanie Berde, Llano, N.M.

The features blurb on page 6 of the December Sun ("Cross-Country! The Bicycling Adventure of a 75-Year-Old") credited me with a 3,000-mile cross-country ride. Actually, the distance was 3,900 miles. Why would I bother with a short 3,000-mile ride? But . . . you guys did a beautiful job, which I appreciate. I hope this will inspire readers to get out and seek goals beyond their vision.

-- Herb Schon, Eldorado

I was heartened by both the number of citizens who attended the Santa Fe High meeting about oil drilling in the Santa Fe area and their impassioned, articulate comments. I was disturbed by Commissioner Anaya's statement that he would listen to all sides and then make his decision: he was elected to serve the citizens, not to weigh our needs alongside the desire of a corporation to make short-term profit at the cost of irreparable damage to our land, air, water and community. There is < span class="text195">no way to protect an aquifer from hydraulic fracturing! Let's remember that democracy is a government of, by and for the people, not the corporation.

I want to share some ideas (a couple of them "out of the box") on stopping this beast in its tracks:

1. Enlist the help of celebrities and the ultrarich who live in Santa Fe. Benefit concerts? Donations?

2. Bring up for passage a nonbinding resolution in the City Council as well as the County Commission (and why not the state Legislature as well?) declaring that in Santa Fe County we do not allow corporations to have human rights. . . . We deny corporate personhood. (This introduces the idea into public consciousness and sets the stage for eventual legislation that would have some teeth when corporations denied the right to exploit would sue, declaring their [human] rights have been trampled.)

3. Buy back the leases from Tecton.

4. Extend the public comment period, since this is obviously of great interest to the public, and extend the moratorium to six months.

5. Join with other communities that have successfully stopped oil/gas drilling. How did they do it?

6. Deny Tecton's application (when it comes) and let ourselves be sued, then figure out how to come up with the money (see no. 1). (Let's act as though the integrity of our land, communities and water is priceless -- because it is.)

7. Transparency is desperately needed in this whole process: the public needs to know what the county commissioners are being told and by whom.

There is much knowledge, wisdom, creativity and passion alive in our community. Let's bring it to bear on this crucial issue.

-- Carole Tashel, Eldorado

As a lifelong New Mexican and a 25-year resident in the Galisteo Basin, south of the village of Galisteo, I am extremely unhappy about the particular type of destruction and its inherent ramifications from oil drilling looming over the state and the beautiful, clean, historically priceless landscape of the basin. With that thought in mind, I presented a petition pertinent to this problem to Mr. Richardson's office on Friday December 7. The petition contained the symbolic number of signatures (over 200) and presents Mr. Richardson with the opportunity to live up to his current platform running for president as a green governor. I believe he has done a reasonably good job of pursuing clean energy with wind and solar, but needs to do more. This is his opportunity to show he means business about clean energy and renewable resources. But he needs a little help to be reminded of this in view of his statements over the past few months about being a green governor and protecting our water resources, among other things. Of course, it would be major news if he lets this Houston oil company run roughshod over New Mexico, its citizens and our efforts to protect our landscape and water.

Below please find a copy of the petition. I hope you find this of interest and look forward to any questions you may have. Thank you for your time and efforts.

Petition to Governor Bill Richardson

We, the undersigned, being citizens of the state of New Mexico, draw the attention of the governor of New Mexico to the following:

That the Galisteo Basin and surrounding area, pristine, archaeologically and historically priceless in its content to the citizens of this state, is threatened by wanton destruction due to the looming possibility of oil and gas speculative drilling. This speculation threatens wildlife, untouched areas of landscapes throughout Santa Fe County, and possibly other areas with use of noxious chemicals to extract oil from rock underground (oil shales); it also carries with it, by the nature of this

New Mexico is already a state recognized as a national leader in the important role to utilize clean energy such as wind and solar; we the undersigned believe there are more viable, productive, nondestructive, economically profitable methods of providing energy already in use today and being developed not only by private enterprise, but also at Sandia National Laboratory. Therefore, we respectfully request you protect these areas, in keeping with your past actions in support of environmentally sound practices in other crucial, priceless landscapes in the state of New Mexico, by blocking this possible activity, not only for citizens here now, but for generations to come who will also enjoy the best of what New Mexico has to offer: its history, landscape, pristine wilderness and wildlife, and, most importantly, healthy natural environment.

-- Sina Brush, Stanley, N.M. (sblejo@sblejo.com)

For George Bush and Dick Cheney:

To the extent that the things you do are being carried out in the name of the American people, including me; for your crimes against humanity, for unnecessary wars, for torture committed under your direction, I forgive you.

To the extent that I do not feel safer; for lying and deceit, for breaking numerous laws   and for diminishing the Constitution, I forgive you.

To the extent that I feel my vote is tenuous in the context of votes being manipulated; for your involvement in stealing elections, I forgive you.

To the extent that your actions affect our society and so affect me directly and indirectly; for those who are the power behind the "throne," the ones who control you, I forgive all of you.

To the extent that my psyche and the Earth I live with are damaged; for putting corporate interests above your own and above those of the American people, as well as the people of the world and myself, I forgive you.

To the extent that it hurts my heart; for your misuse and nonuse of Christian, religious and spiritual ideals, including kindness, compassion and, yes, forgiveness, I forgive you.

To the extent that I feel like I am starting to live in a police state; for the people of the CIA, FBI, NSA and George B. Sr., from whom you have learned so well, for using fear and secrecy, I forgive you all.

To the extent that you are proud of your crimes, or that you don't actually see them as crimes, and/or that you feel justified in doing them for whatever reasons, I forgive you.

For thinking that what you "need" to do (or "have" to do) is more important than what you truly want in your heart, I forgive you, as I forgive myself.

More than anything, for living in a fear-based way when you're able to choose a life of love, I forgive you and myself as well.

While I do not condone what you have done in your corporate and political lives, I stand with you in being human. We all know that you did not arise from nowhere. For all of us in our society who have helped to shape and mold you, and to the extent that what touches any of us touches all of us, I forgive you, I forgive me, I forgive us.

For God's sake, for your sake, for my sake, truly . . . I ask you to forgive yourselves.

I find it surprising that I have the power to do this, you have the power to do this, we all have this power to forgive.

-- David Coleman, El Rito, N.M.

How did we find ourselves so vulnerable to the pill pushers? My mother-in-law recently fell deathly sick after a full regimen of antibiotics. It seems that after so much overuse of these drugs, we are exposing ourselves to more virulent strains of both viruses and bacteria. Her sickness was caused by a very common bacteria called, in short, C-Def. The antibiotic she was taking killed everything in her digestive track, allowing C-Def to grow unhindered. In researching on the Web about this, I found advice from the Mayo Clinic suggesting that when having to take an antibiotic, do not allow a doctor to prescribe a "kill all" answer. Insist that any drug prescribed is specific to, or as close to as possible, the bug that's bugging you.

Here's another heads-up: The December 11, 2007, Washington Post included an article about a virus that starts off like a common cold but quickly turns quite deadly, even for the very young and healthy. My motto for this letter is, wash your hands, particularly parents with kids in elementary school, and don't take whatever the doctors prescribe. Get them to think a bit more.

Lastly, I pose this question: How can we back off the pill pushers and build a better relationship based on real science instead of what's promoted?

-- John Cole, Eldorado