The dumb leading the stupid
Donald Trump’s repeated threats to stop all public school funding unless schools eliminate vaccination requirements for students have been greeted in much of the media with a collective yawn, while Republican politicians are either silent or claim “He doesn’t really mean it” or “That’s Donald being Donald.” Too many news organizations like the N.Y.Times prefer, of late, to dwell on “Joe’s lack of energy” instead. Florida’s DeSantis-appointed Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has referred to Covid booster shots as “The work of the devil.” Even with rising cases of measles in Florida, he continues to cite “parental freedom” for his position that parents have a right to send unvaccinated children to school. Maybe it’s time for Ron to update his slogan “Florida is where woke goes to die.” How about “Florida is where measles goes to thrive?”
Robert Ellis – Duluth, Minnesota
This is not a test
Up until now the judiciary has been democracy’s strongest defense against The Orange Menace. Trump’s Big Lie was defeated in the courts more than 60 times during the legal part of his coup attempt, and hundreds of seditionists have been convicted related to the violent portion of the coup attempt. However, the judiciary isn’t perfect, and it isn’t quick. A Trump-appointed judge in Florida is slow-walking his stolen documents case, and now the Supreme Court, with 3 Trump appointees, is delaying Trump’s election interference case by deciding to hear (2 months from now) an appeal over the absurd issue of absolute presidential immunity from prosecution. MAGA fascists are exploiting the freedoms and institutions of our open society to overthrow that same open society. This has been accomplished elsewhere, as the actual thinkers in MAGA surely know. Voters rejected Trump in the last election, and then he rejected the will of the people. Now, instead of just participating in our democracy, voters must stand as the last defense in preserving that democracy. This is not a test.
David A Sorensen – Duluth, Minnesota
Avoid animal products
Running, walking, snowmobiling, motorcycling, to raise money is good. But what seems to help the most is to avoid animal products, sugar, white flour, procressed food and replace them with vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds.That is, the thing most likely to help is the thing people are least likely to do.
Karen Moore – Duluth, Minnesota
Divide and confuse
Although climate scientists have known for decades that the weather extremes plaguing America and the rest of the world would arrive and may be even worse than predicted, the oil Industry, conservative think tanks, and State and Federal legislatures, controlled by Republicans have been casting the argument that Climate Scientists have invented this entire issue, thus dividing those who stand to gain the most, (the oil industry), and (those who will gain little or nothing at all)—climate scientists—(both of whose opposing camps are struggling to disprove (the mistakes in the argument offered by the other side). But when scientists obtain grants to study man’s influence on our climate, much of what they receive goes for the costs of the research itself, and/or for providing the researchers with compensation for what they might normally have received as professors--pay lost while being unavailable to lecture to their students. Many climate scientists do earn good incomes via teaching and research, but not enough to make them millionaires or billionaires, while the oil industry is full of executives whose pay increases dramatically as long as they attempt to increase the uncertainty of global warming in the public's collective mind, and thus, preserve oil production as a way that we need to go. But think tanks are designed to protect the very large incomes that may be had for spreading misinformation, disinformation, and partial truths to create doubts around the world, while those who are interested in doing research and passing on their findings to government officials are being portrayed as somehow wanting to make fortunes by forcing companies to reduce C02 emissions. But consider how deniers keep spreading anti-global warming messages around the world, and how they have spawned the bizarre Citizen’s United ruling that effectively turns money into free speech, and keeps mega-donors from revealing their identities.
How amazingly brilliant! Deniers have managed to cast those who are trying to save this world as villains, for simply spreading the results of decades of research that contribute relatively little to their own financial gains, and who are supposedly spreading a massive hoax to benefit themselves. So let’s be real!--those who are making oil and distributing oil have far better reasons to game the system, and thus are motivated by trying to discredit what climate scientists have discovered! All over the world, democratic, socialistic, communistic, and autocratic countries, are all doing global warming research which has globally led to the same conclusions. So this is not a political issue, nor even an (our side, vs their side), issue. It's just about an oil industry that obviously stands to gain the most by preventing scientific research from limiting their incomes! The Tribune often publishes letters written by authors who try to spread an (our side, their side, mentality), used to convince Americans that the oil industry benefits us all, while those who merely want to spread facts in order to educate their governments are cast as evil people who want to control the future of energy production worldwide—However, if climate scientist were only motivated by making more money, the best place to seek employment would be in the oil industry itself!
Still, climate science is not wrong, and the ideas of deniers do not represent another “side” to their arguments. Only objective facts (like those that science produces) are truly valuable! if we are to lower man-made C02 and educate the public, even though scientists do not represent a “morally right or wrong side,” those who reject proven facts cause the greatest danger i.e.like those who believe that the Earth is the center of the Universe, as ancient astronomical evidence Seemed to demonstrate. But it's not whether one side’s opinion or the other’s is “morally” superior?” A common misconception is that those who have researched global warming for decades don’t want a solution to be found other than reducing atmospheric C02. But in reality, if economically feasible, any way of extracting C02 from our atmosphere would make climate scientists among the first to rejoice. Scientists don’t want humankind to face a bleak and/or dangerous future—and none of them are happy about what their own research indicates—but If any researcher found another effective solution why shouldn’t scientists also be very happy? So far no such alternate solution is available. So, why don't we quit casting this issue as a struggle between those who are morally right, versus those who are morally wrong? There are only facts, some that both climate scientists and deniers (or “contrarians,)” might be overjoyed to discover!
Peter Johnson, Superior Wisconsin
