Letters: vaccine segregation fear, dams not the problem, GOP truth and more | May 23

He fears vaccine will segregate us

So Emperor Inslee says we can fully reopen June 30, but what world will we be in then? Due to the fact that I am concerned that I may be allergic to certain ingredients that may be in the various COVID-19 vaccines, I will not get it!

Furthermore, America cannot return to the era of Jim Crow! I pray I do not see sections at movie theaters, churches and sporting venues marked for the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Such an arrangement would violate the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fifth and 14th Amendments of the Constitution!

America has already seen the travesty of segregation due to race/skin color, and I pray we do not see it rear its ugly head again based on whether or not one chooses to get a vaccine for a virus with an over 90% recovery rate!

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Progress edition was outstanding

The Tri-City Herald is to be complemented on the Tri-City Progress 2021 supplement, which was delivered with the April 30 newspaper. The breadth and scope of the industries and community life that the article(s) covered is remarkable and the leadership in these areas is impressive.

Of the 50 organizations detailed, 15 had women in leadership, which means that we are on par with the national average of about 30% in non-STEM fields such as the political and academic areas. Our community has the privilege of employing a high number of workers in the science, tech, engineering and math fields, which generally attract more men than women. However, STEM camps for high school and middle school girls such as our AAUW Tech Trek Camps at EWU and PLU provide inspiration for young girls to enter the science world and rise to leadership roles.

It is possible in some cases to reduce the barriers to leadership for women in any field by using blind resume screening, providing professional development and offering workplace flexibility. The Tri City Herald has led the charge by closing the gender leadership gap in hiring Laurie Williams as its executive editor!

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Predatory birds decimate fisheries

There are 2,000 white pelicans on Badger island that consume 2,920,000 pounds of fish yearly. There are an estimated similar number of cormorants, which consume a pound of fish each day which comes to over 730,000 pounds of fish annually. Both are protected by the migratory bird act. And sea lions eat 15 to 30 pounds of fish daily

Wonder where the salmon went?

Look up the data for yourself on Google and do some simple math. The dams are not the entire problem.

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Want schools to open? Show it!

Perhaps the Pasco School Board and members of the community who insisted the district return to full-time instruction would like to come down to their neighborhood school and do a little substitute teaching? Were you one of the dozens of parents at the community forums who said they could help schools open? This is your chance! It’s time to step up and show those weren’t just empty promises. On any given day, some schools are short between 15 to 30 substitute positions, which have to be filled by other teachers, counselors or administrators, who also have their own jobs to do. The application is on the district website. We expect to see you Monday at 7 a.m. Don’t forget your mask.

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Truth a low bar GOP can’t hurdle

As much as I admire Liz Cheney for standing her ground against what is left of a once great political party, her allies are now lauding her for doing no more than what we expect of members of Congress in ordinary times: merely telling the truth.

Truthfulness requires ordinary powers of observation, thoughtfulness and an adherence to a basic code of morality. Students of human behavior know that the simple act of telling the truth can sometimes be influenced by beliefs, even if facts may not support the beliefs.

Such is the sad case now before the American people. Future generations of us may one day read something of the delusional nature of the current Republican party with the same kind of angst and incredulity young Germans experience in reading about their own country’s politics of the 1930s and ‘40s. It can happen here. The Republic is still in danger.

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Biblical thoughts on ending a life

To all who think abortion is okay, please read Psalms 139:13-19 and Jeremiah 1:5. I will provide snippets due to lack of space.

God created life. He watched us as we were conceived in secret in our mothers’ womb; He formed us, watched our substance grow. He records our life in a book which He has, even before we are born. He thinks about us, plans for us and loves us.

Matthew 10:30 says: God knows the number of hairs on our heads. He values us.

And if you think this doesn’t apply today, think again. Hebrews 13:8 says: Jesus the same, yesterday, today and forever.

God is omnipresent—He is everywhere and He is the creator of all of us and everything!

So when we abort a baby, we are in essence ending what God has so lovingly thought about, watched over and planned for!

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GOP killing us with its capitalism

Republicans over the years have done everything in their power to keep America a capitalist paradise for the country’s ultra-wealthy, ensuring that they retain a firm hold on the tiller of the ship of state through tax cuts, deregulation and dark money, meanwhile railing against the evils of socialism in the Biden Administration’s agenda.

And yet, if you pay attention, it isn’t socialism that’s actually killing and impoverishing Americans these days, it’s the ugly underbelly of under-regulated, corrupt and unaccountable capitalism.

The opioid crisis is just the latest example of greed and immorality unleashed on an unsuspecting public. The human toll is heartbreaking, while the economic burden has been estimated to be as high as $2.3 trillion — a staggering blow to America’s economy.

It was capitalism writ large that brought the country to its knees, and Americans’ IRAs to their nadirs in the 2007 - 2008 financial crisis.

Stimulus and infrastructure bills are smart fiscal policy, leveraging capitalist enterprise, in a time when America’s people and its economy are reeling from the pandemic. But Republicans don’t expect you to know what socialism really is, nor do they want you to know what capitalism has become under their helm.

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Consider what net zero really means

Net zero is all the rage as corporations, countries and even people are pronouncing their commitment to reducing their carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. Even oil companies have announced the net zero goal. It means little.

Net zero means any carbon emitted by an entity is offset by purchasing carbon credits for either removing the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it, or for causing someone else to reduce their emissions by that amount.

But some credits are far less durable or demonstrable than others. Guess which ones cost less? Who would purchase the more expensive credits?

Planting trees is a relatively cheap way of removing carbon from the atmosphere, but what happens when the trees burn or die and rot on the ground? The carbon returns to the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide can be captured from combustion plumes or directly from the atmosphere and then stored permanently in cavities deep underground, but such removal is so expensive than only one millionth of annual carbon emissions has been removed that way.

So when someone proclaims a net zero goal, ask them where their carbon credits are coming from. It matters if they’re counting on them.

This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Letters: vaccine segregation fear, dams not the problem, GOP truth and more | May 23."