Letters to the editor, March 9, 2011
Published on Wed, Mar 9, 2011Read More Letters
Women still fighting
Between 1972 and 1982, women of my generation marched and lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment. It passed the Congress in 1972 but was not ratified by two-thirds of the states. It failed.
Today, most young women would say, “Who cares?” Women are CEOs of Fortune 100 companies. A woman almost became president. Women travel in space. Women are governors and senators. What more could we ask?
The answer is, “A lot!” Women still do not control their health care or reproductive rights. In February, the House of Representatives dared to place women in jeopardy by refusing to fund mammograms and contraceptive programs. They denied young women prenatal care and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Is it OK for poor women, even those with some form of insurance, to have cancer, stillbirths and preventable diseases? How would male Republicans feel if their insurance could not cover prostate or testicular cancer screenings?
Not funding Planned Parenthood isn’t about preventing abortions. It’s about not caring about the health of poor women. We have the highest infant mortality rate of the 33 “advanced economies.” We should be ashamed! We let babies die!
I weep for all women when I remember Jackie Speier, D-Calif., rising in the well of the House to slam her colleague Chris Smith, R-N.J. To protect her life, she had endured a dreadful procedure. One he had just described as if it were a selfish, baby-killing lark. These are not abstractions. This is reality in women’s lives.
If the day comes when a priest stands in the sanctuary and denies sacraments to a man who has had a vasectomy, perhaps men will begin to understand. Women do not have equality. We may be better, but we are not equal.
Pat Johansen
Sequim
Keep supporting our schools
I write once more to answer Peter Heisel. He thinks it is a waste of money to spend more tax dollars on our public schools. He says, “facts are stubborn things.” I agree. Here is one fact: Voters of Port Angeles recently voted overwhelmingly for a replacement levy to preserve funding for their children’s
education cut by the state. It followed votes in recent years to fund our public libraries and the Olympic Medical Center. I salute these voters who cast their ballots to impose an increase in their own tax burden to keep the teachers, librarians, doctors, nurses and other public employees (many of them protected by union-negotiated contracts) on the job.
I return to my first point: Five
Sequim teachers took the courses and tests necessary to become National Board Certified. They were promised a $5,000 bonus. Now that promise has been broken. Why? Because our tax system shelters the income of wealthy banks, corporations and individuals causing a big deficit. I am happy that Mr. Heisel agrees that “Sequim has many fine teachers.”
We should keep our promises to them by rejecting the devastating cuts to our public schools and other vital public services in the budget now being debated in Olympia. To pay for these benefits and services, tax Exxon-Mobil and General Electric that did not pay a penny in federal taxes on tens of billions in profits in 2009.
Tim Wheeler
Sequim
When I moved to Sequim, I immediately felt the difference in attitude. People loved the climate, alternative lifestyles, a simpler life and the fresh garden-to-table vegetables and fruits. But changes in the food industry are transforming farming that could potentially impact the future of food on our wonderful peninsula.
Like me, many people aren’t aware of these changes. They don’t know about cross-pollinated fields or farmers being sued because their fields were contaminated. They don’t know about seeds being modified to withstand chemicals or that the diversity of local produce may be lost. They don’t know about patented seeds and non-testing of newly developed technological seeds.
Soon the corporate takeover of seeds may affect us in very direct way: we may no longer have food on our table that hasn’t been compromised; we may no longer have a choice about where to buy our seeds or know what is in our food; we may no longer have organics or food for vegetarian/vegan lifestyles.
What are genetically modified/engineered (GMO/GE) seeds and how do they and the industry that produces them impact our life?
Watch the videos “The World According to Monsanto,” “Food, Inc.” or “The Silent Forest.” Talk to local farmers and find out how these changes shape their future and our sustainability. Read “Stolen Harvest” by Vandana Shiva. Research of GMO/GE technology.
Please make a decision to become informed to protect the future of our food and our choices.
Nancy McPhee
Sequim
Between 1972 and 1982, women of my generation marched and lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment. It passed the Congress in 1972 but was not ratified by two-thirds of the states. It failed.
Today, most young women would say, “Who cares?” Women are CEOs of Fortune 100 companies. A woman almost became president. Women travel in space. Women are governors and senators. What more could we ask?
The answer is, “A lot!” Women still do not control their health care or reproductive rights. In February, the House of Representatives dared to place women in jeopardy by refusing to fund mammograms and contraceptive programs. They denied young women prenatal care and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Is it OK for poor women, even those with some form of insurance, to have cancer, stillbirths and preventable diseases? How would male Republicans feel if their insurance could not cover prostate or testicular cancer screenings?
Not funding Planned Parenthood isn’t about preventing abortions. It’s about not caring about the health of poor women. We have the highest infant mortality rate of the 33 “advanced economies.” We should be ashamed! We let babies die!
I weep for all women when I remember Jackie Speier, D-Calif., rising in the well of the House to slam her colleague Chris Smith, R-N.J. To protect her life, she had endured a dreadful procedure. One he had just described as if it were a selfish, baby-killing lark. These are not abstractions. This is reality in women’s lives.
If the day comes when a priest stands in the sanctuary and denies sacraments to a man who has had a vasectomy, perhaps men will begin to understand. Women do not have equality. We may be better, but we are not equal.
Pat Johansen
Sequim
Keep supporting our schools
I write once more to answer Peter Heisel. He thinks it is a waste of money to spend more tax dollars on our public schools. He says, “facts are stubborn things.” I agree. Here is one fact: Voters of Port Angeles recently voted overwhelmingly for a replacement levy to preserve funding for their children’s
education cut by the state. It followed votes in recent years to fund our public libraries and the Olympic Medical Center. I salute these voters who cast their ballots to impose an increase in their own tax burden to keep the teachers, librarians, doctors, nurses and other public employees (many of them protected by union-negotiated contracts) on the job.
I return to my first point: Five
Sequim teachers took the courses and tests necessary to become National Board Certified. They were promised a $5,000 bonus. Now that promise has been broken. Why? Because our tax system shelters the income of wealthy banks, corporations and individuals causing a big deficit. I am happy that Mr. Heisel agrees that “Sequim has many fine teachers.”
We should keep our promises to them by rejecting the devastating cuts to our public schools and other vital public services in the budget now being debated in Olympia. To pay for these benefits and services, tax Exxon-Mobil and General Electric that did not pay a penny in federal taxes on tens of billions in profits in 2009.
Tim Wheeler
Sequim
Are your meals compromised?
When I moved to Sequim, I immediately felt the difference in attitude. People loved the climate, alternative lifestyles, a simpler life and the fresh garden-to-table vegetables and fruits. But changes in the food industry are transforming farming that could potentially impact the future of food on our wonderful peninsula.
Like me, many people aren’t aware of these changes. They don’t know about cross-pollinated fields or farmers being sued because their fields were contaminated. They don’t know about seeds being modified to withstand chemicals or that the diversity of local produce may be lost. They don’t know about patented seeds and non-testing of newly developed technological seeds.
Soon the corporate takeover of seeds may affect us in very direct way: we may no longer have food on our table that hasn’t been compromised; we may no longer have a choice about where to buy our seeds or know what is in our food; we may no longer have organics or food for vegetarian/vegan lifestyles.
What are genetically modified/engineered (GMO/GE) seeds and how do they and the industry that produces them impact our life?
Watch the videos “The World According to Monsanto,” “Food, Inc.” or “The Silent Forest.” Talk to local farmers and find out how these changes shape their future and our sustainability. Read “Stolen Harvest” by Vandana Shiva. Research of GMO/GE technology.
Please make a decision to become informed to protect the future of our food and our choices.
Nancy McPhee
Sequim
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Your opinions on issues of community interest and your reaction to stories and editorials contained in your Sequim Gazette are important to us and to your fellow readers. Thus our rules relating to letters submitted for publication are relatively simple.
• Letters are welcome. Letters exceeding 250 words may be shortened. We strive to publish all letters.
• Letters are subject to editing for spelling and grammar; we contact the writer when substantial changes are required, sending the letter back to the writer for revisions. Personal attacks and unsubstantiated allegations are not printed.
• All letters must have a valid signature, with a printed name, address and phone number for verification. Only the name and town/community are printed.
• Deadline for letters to appear in the next publication is noon Friday. Because of the volume of letters, not all letters are published the week they are submitted. Time-sensitive letters have a priority.
• Letters are published subject to legal limitations relating to defamation and factual representation.
• To submit letters, deliver to 147 W. Washington St., Sequim; mail to P.O. Box 1750, Sequim, WA 98382; fax to 360-683-6670 or e-mail news@sequimgazette.com.
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