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GNAT NIGHTMARE In response to “Tiny insects, big annoyance” (Karen Ackerman Witter, Illinois Times, May 31): Factor in the increasingly mild winters due to climate change, and every spring is a new nightmare. Fred Slocombe Springfield

DOUBLE-STANDARD GAME Wind a conservative up and they’ll go off looking for a “single-edged double standard” that is being used against them. It’s very effective. The latest is the flap over a comedian calling Trump’s daughter a bitch. Big, big DS cons are crying. Roseanne gets canned and nothing happens to her.

Well here’s a DS for you:

When Geraldine Ferraro stuck it to H in their VP debate, Barbara Bush called her a word that rhymes with “rich.” The GOP’ers loved it … so much so that a speaker cited it at her funeral in the church as an example of the outspoken Barbara saying what was on her mind. It was well-received. There are many other examples of them using a DS on this issue.

Dems don’t play the “it’s a DS” game well … they mostly sit there mute or agree that it is a DS that their side is using ... too bad for our side. Tom Ferrari Tovey

PENSION ATTENTION DEFICIT

Upon reading the letter by David Sykuta in the May 24 edition of Illinois Times regarding the apparent disinterest among the powers at be to deal with Illinois’ huge public employee pension fund deficit, I am puzzled that there does not seem to be any great hue and cry among those in the private sector about this state of affairs. As pointed out by the letter writer, all those many private sector workers and retirees, many of whose pensions either are far less than those of public sector workers and retirees – or nonexistent – will be stuck with a large share of the cost of paying off this huge burden, with tax increases and/or with cutting back essential services.

Yet there seems to be no movement among these private sector folks to rise up and say “no more.” In fact, they continue to elect the very legislators who continue to ignore this liability, which is a large part of our egregious fiscal status. Thinking that there must be (statewide) far more private sector voters than public sector voters, it would seem they would have the voting strength to turn things around, if they were so inclined. So, again, I am puzzled as to why they seemingly are not so inclined. Dick McLane Springfield