A billboard advertising the sports betting app Novig featuring Sydney Sweeney is displayed in New York City on Sept. 18, 2026.
Jeenah Moon
REUTERS
Editor’s note: After today, the Star-Telegram will no longer publish letters to the editor.
It’s not about female athletes
Sydney Sweeney, love her or hate her, is not portraying female athletes in her recent advertising campaign for a sports-betting site. The purpose is to draw attention from those most likely to engage in online sports betting — men. Mission accomplished! The negative backlash from female athletes is completely unwarranted and simply hurtful to Sweeney’s career and reputation.
– William Kenny, Cresson
Unplug critical systems
If the sky falls and kills us all, it won’t be because of artificial intelligence. It will be because of our obsession with the “Internet of Everything”— wiring our refrigerators, thermostats and critical control systems to the web.
The danger comes when we connect operations that can cost lives if things go wrong. Power plants, food distribution, military networks, medical equipment and traffic management must be completely disconnected from the Internet and restricted to secure, non-commercial data-transfer methods. Remember, Israel disabled Iran’s nuclear centrifuges using the Stuxnet virus on standard USB drives. Any online access point invites disaster.
AI lives on computers. It relies on the web to touch life-critical operations. Don’t kill AI; break its thumbs.
Slowing AI development isn’t the answer because rivals such as China won’t. Instead, go buy a refrigerator that can’t talk to the Internet.
– Clete McAlister, Arlington
This Republican’s for Talarico
I am a lifelong Republican, and I will vote for James Talarico for U.S. Senate.
I did not make this decision lightly. What finally pushed me over the edge was seeing Sen. John Cornyn run ads attacking Ken Paxton over his well-documented personal scandals — and then, after losing the primary, say he would back the Republican ticket. If Cornyn believed Paxton was unfit for office, how can he suggest that Texans to vote for him?
That kind of political calculation over principle is exactly what is wrong with our party.
Paxton has been indicted, impeached and credibly accused of corruption. He does not represent Texas values. He represents his own interests.
Talarico talks about real issues that affect working Texans like me. I suspect I am not the only Republican in Texas who feels this way. It is time we put people over party.
– Lisa Mitchell, Bedford
The answer on debates
Since the top three Republicans on the November ballot refuse to debate their opponents, I suggest that Democrats Gina Hinojosa (gubernatorial candidate), Vicki Goodwin (running for lieutenant governor) and James Talarico (U.S. Senate) form a debate team and travel the state.
The three could present themselves to Texas voters, answering questions for moderators. After each response, the moderators could turn to empty podiums on the right and ask the three missing Republicans the same questions.
For reference, there could be cardboard cutouts of Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton.
– Lori Block, Argyle
It’s the welfare spending
Our national debt now exceeds $40 trillion. Why? This is not a taxation problem: U.S. government revenue has averaged 17% of the total economy for 50 years. It’s a spending problem, and the biggest part is the explosion of safety-net programs.
Our forefathers were generally self-sufficient, but during the Great Depression, national leaders envisioned a need for “safety nets.” The Social Security Act of 1935 provided for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance and limited public assistance. Payroll taxes funded the program; recipients earned their benefits.
That has since ballooned into myriad entitlement and transfer payments. Some people now even encourage a “universal basic income” paid by the government, a recipe for an absolute disaster.
Charitable organizations and churches should meet more needs. We must eliminate and limit entitlement programs to slowly reduce our national debt and save our country.
– J. Mark Bronson, Fort Worth
Don’t listen to labels
Words like “radical,” “communist” and “corrupt” are being thrown around to describe candidates. A better picture of a candidate is past behavior and endorsements from organizations whose values the voter shares.
An uninformed voter who selects candidates based on a few words thrown around gets the corrupt government we’ve had in Texas for three decades. That vote may be based on some culture-war criteria or a climate of fear created by a candidate.
Is it radical to want decent, affordable healthcare? Is it radical to want adequately financed, high-quality public schools for all Texas children? Do only the radicals among us want an honest, public service-minded government in Austin?
– Loveta Eastes, Fort Worth