It's disingenuous of President Barack Obama to warn Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and former President Vladimir Putin that the "old Cold War approaches" are no longer acceptable ("Obama: Putin must move past Cold War," July 3) while, behind the scenes, Sen. Ben Nelson is prancing all over Eastern Europe trying to sell the idea of a missile shield ("Nelson wants Russia to help pressure Iran," June 30).

The United States says a missile shield would guard against an attack from Iran but that the best place to park such a shield would be at Russia's doorstep, in Poland and the Czech Republic.

No wonder the Russians are wary. In their eyes, it looks a lot like the United States is trying to restart the Cold War.

However much we insist we're acting with the best intentions (e.g., Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.), we shouldn't start issuing ultimatums to the other parties involved when they come up with a different interpretation or don't automatically go along with our plans.

Eric T. Foster, Lincoln

Clean up factory farms

I hope Congress rejects H.R. 2749 and cleans up factory farms instead. Small farms, good policies and procedures that require humane treatment of animals and employees, and sustainable farming practices are what is needed.

Granting the Food and Drug Administration the power to dictate farming practices nationwide will not result in food safety. The practices of the FDA have not resulted in my trusting this agency to protect us regarding drugs let alone with our food.

We need to identify the problems with the system and come up with ways to solve the current problems before giving oversight to an administrator.

Patricia Tetreault, LincolnCare plan short-sighted

I would like to ask those who support the president's endeavor to enact national health care how they possibly could be so short-sighted.

The president wants to have a computer system that contains everyone's medical history, ostensibly so any doctor has a complete medical history on hand.

Even if you believe the president's motive is harmless and he does not intend to use this information against political enemies, what happens in the future when an administration comes in and does want to use this information to harm political enemies?

The national health care system would be a powerful tool. Not only could medical information be used to threaten and embarrass political opponents, but health care also could be withheld from them easily.

Democratic leaders in Washington constantly are whaling on about how corrupt the Republicans are.

What is going to happen in the future when a Republican takes office? If Republicans are as corrupt as the Democrats claim, then don't they worry the Republicans will come into power and use the national health care system to injure political opponents?

Russell Rimovsky, Lincoln