March 19, 2024

Letters 03-02-2015

March 1, 2015

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American Exceptualism

Rudy Giuliani was espousing his opinion to Fox News that Barack Obama did not love America and didn’t brag enough about "American Exceptionalism." Rudy did have a flag lapel pin, which proves he must be a patriot.

I often hear Republicans pontificate about American exceptionalism and I wonder what they mean. While overseas, I decided to ask my French friend if he feels our exceptionalism is superior to his. Francois was not offended and we discussed. One example of exceptionalism he sees is that the U.S. spends more on its military than the next ten nations combined. Another, he noted, is that the top 1% of the population owns 40% of America and despite an economic "recovery," the top 1% income rose 13.3% while the rest only 1%. Francois noted that American college students graduate with immense debt that will take a lifetime to repay. I fear my friend was just getting started by giving new meaning to exceptionalism. Francois continues:

"America has more of its citizens incarcerated per capita than North Korea and China combined and five times higher than most countries. Americans, after the Chinese, are the world’s number two polluter and with a pro-corporation government, are driving your country to environmental disaster."

His final comment was regarding our stance that church and state must be separate, though it appears that religion does indeed influence many of our laws. I thanked Francois for helping me gain a different perspective: exceptionalism can have a different meaning and one that is not necessarily positive.

W.D. Bushey, Traverse City

Fur Is Not Chic

When my 25-pound dog stepped in a toothed steel leg hold trap a few ft off the trail, I learned how "unchic" fur is. I had to carry her out two miles to get to a vet. Trappers are required to check traps only every 24 hrs. The coyote or fox is then hit in the head to kill so the pelt will not be damaged. I think the smiling women in street style would not be smiling if saw an animal in a trap.

Deb Poineau, Beulah

Which Is More Dangerous?

Just a couple of thoughts I had in response to the letters by Gordon Lee Dean and Jarin Weber in the Feb. 23 issue. Mr. Dean claims that there have been zero deaths from the measles in the past ten years. So I’m just going to throw this out there as food for thought but, is it at all possible that maybe the widespread use of the vaccine might have had some small part in that?

And in Mr. Weber’s letter, he states that between 1989 and 1991 there were 53,000 cases of measles and "only" 120 deaths (my sympathies to the parents of the 120 children who died). Now out of the 53,000 cases of measles how many had the vaccine? I have no idea, but I’d bet the answer to that is pretty close to zero.

Now let us consider that 120 out of 53,000 is 0.0023% and true that is quite low, but if we take Mr. Dean’s claim of 100 deaths due to the vaccine in the last ten years and take that out of say, 10 million vaccines given in that time (and one million a year seems quite low to me) that comes to %0.00001. I wonder which is more dangerous?

Karl Leonard, Traverse City

Real Action on Climate

In "Climate Madness" in the Feb. 9 issue, the writer points out that scientists are all but unanimous and that large numbers of people agree: global warming poses a threat to future generations.

The real madness in this is that the people who see the truth seem prone to talk and despair rather than act and hope. When I ask friends to take a stand on climate change I usually get a recitation on how they are reducing their own carbon footprint by cycling, recycling, carpooling, insulating, composting, dialing down, eating local, buying green. I am proud of efforts to use less and be mindful of our impact on the planet. While these lifestyle changes should be commended and continued, they will not be enough. If we hope to restore our planet to a sustainable balance we need sweeping changes, empowered by the will of the people, and put into law. Certainly we all need to do our part, but we also need to tell our leaders to do theirs.

The shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy isn’t going to happen through the goodness of anyone’s heart. We need to demand it by acting through the representatives we have chosen to legislate on our behalf. Take a few moments each month to write or call the Honorables Stabenow, Peters and Benishek and tell them to make climate legislation their priority.

Cathye Williams, Thompsonville

Real Science

Wolfgang Pauli, the Nobel Prize winning Austrian-born theoretical physicist, was known not only for his work in postulating the existence of the neutrino but feared for his razor-edged humor. He had a particular loathing for sloppy thinking, saying of one paper, "Not only isn’t this right, it isn’t even wrong." Congratulations, Thomas Kachadurian, for winning a Pauli award for your attempt to define science (2/16/15).

Kachadurian begins by stating that there are two types of science, absolute and theoretical. What he calls absolute (e.g. the boiling point of water) are mere physical constants. There is simply no such thing as absolute science, and to state as much is to demonstrate a profound misunderstanding. Science is a way of thinking, a dynamic process whose resulting theoretical framework alters and becomes more precise (or dismissed) as methods improve and observations demand. It isn’t a static collection of facts bound in leather, but a living tool in the minds of those who practice it, allowing them to explain observations and, perhaps more importantly, to make predictions. Kachadurian goes on to impune statistical modeling, saying it is often not based on empirical data. This is simply untrue. Statistical models in science are not spun out of mere speculation but require observed data as a starting point.

Finally, Kachadurian says "Us normal folk don’t get into these weeds." Well, maybe you should. Not to get into those weeds is to abrogate your responsibility as a well-informed citizen of a technologically sophisticated society. And if you are not willing to do the heavy lifting required then leave it to the people who spend their lives professionally interrogating the universe to do the necessary work of advancing mankind.

Thomas Czarny, Traverse City

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