March 18, 2024

Letters 02-08-2016

Feb. 5, 2016

Less Ageism, Please

The January 4 issue of this publication proved to me that there are some sensible voices of reason in our community regarding all things "inter-generational."

I offer a word of thanks to Elizabeth Myers. I too have worked hard for what I’ve earned throughout my years in the various positions I’ve held. While I too cannot speak for each millennial, brash generalizations about a lack of work ethic don’t sit well with me.

My first position out of college, before coming to Michigan, had me up every morning working 60–70 hour weeks. A 9–5 position? Not so much. Try 9am until 9 or 10pm, six days a week!

I wholeheartedly agree that insinuating that millennials are, through and through lazy, unreliable "slackaholoics" whom could hardly perform the day to day workloads required through most employers is a gross generalization that undercuts the efforts of many workers in and around Michigan (and don’t get me started on the "hipster" conversation).

More mutual respect, indeed. Less insulting ageism, if you please.

Joe Connolly, Traverse City

Now That’s an Escalation

I just read the letter from Greg and his defense of the AR15. The letter started with great information but then out of nowhere his opinion went off the rails. "The government wants total gun control and then confiscation; then the elimination of all Constitutional rights." Wait... what?! To quote the great Ron Burgundy, "Well, that escalated quickly!"

The government wants SOME gun control (any responsible gun owner should want the same), but at no point in recent history has there been any talk or action to show that they want to confiscate all of our weapons or eliminate all of our Constitutional rights. This is quite an ignorant assumption and it would seem that he himself has been the victim of "propaganda delivered by TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines."

George Nemetz, Traverse City

Healthy Eating and Exercise for Children

Healthy foods and exercise are important for children of all ages. It is important for children because it empowers them to do their best at school and be able to do their homework and study.

The benefits of healthy eating and exercise are mental and behavioral. Mental benefits include doing better in school, feeling better about themselves, and handling their emotions better. Physical benefits include protecting children from illnesses now and in the future, building stronger muscles and bones, and cutting down on the risk of teeth problems.

Children need around 60 minutes of physical activity every day. This differs by age but children ranging from 1st–5th grade need this much exercise.

My Plate is a nutrition guide for people to divide their five food groups into the right recommended amount daily. The first food group is dairy. This group is important for children’s bones. The second food group is fruit, which helps you stay healthy. The third food group is grains, which provides high fiber in your diet. The fourth food group is lean meats and poultry, which provide protein to build, maintain, and repair the tissues in the body. The last food group is vegetables. This group is a large part of the daily food intake; it helps you stay healthy.

Tips for parents to encourage healthy eating and exercise for children, include being a good role model, keeping things positive, getting the whole family moving, limiting television video games and computer time, encouraging physical activity, and staying involved.

Emily Chipman, Traverse City (Early Childhood student, Ferris State)

Mascots and Harsh Native American Truths

The letter from the Choctaw lady deserves an answer. I have had a gutful of the whining about the fate of the American Indian. The American Indians were the losers in an imperial expansion; as such, they have, overall, fared much better than a lot of such losers throughout history. Everything the lady complains about in the way of what was done by the nasty, evil Whites was being done by Indians to other Indians long before Europeans arrived. Massacre, genocide, slavery, culture extermination, all of it. The Europeans were just more efficient about it. The Indian "culture" was, even in the case of the civilized nations of Latin America, a Stone Age culture. It included human sacrifice in the case of the Aztec and cannibalism in the case of a bunch of others. Some culture.

In all of the whining about Indian mascots I’ll bet there is not one Indian whining about "denigration of culture" who wants to go back to living as the noble red man really lived, say in Michigan. That would mean living in a primitive shelter, roasting in summer, freezing in winter, half-starving most of the year, spending most of one’s time trying to find something to eat, and wondering when the next enemy war party was going to show up. And how many White whiners want to live like serfs on some European noble’s estate? There’s a reason Whites came here and defeated the Indians and took over. Treaties? Let the Indians exercise their treaty hunting and fishing rights using only pre-Columbian technology, for example. What’s fair is fair, isn’t it?

Indians should concentrate on solving their own problems, such as alcoholism, instead of complaining about mascots.

Charles Knapp, Maple City

Snyder Must Go

I believe it’s time. It’s time for Governor Snyder to go. The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the EPA Criminal Investigation Division are now investigating the Flint water crisis that poisoned thousands of people. Governor Snyder signed the legislation that established the Emergency Manager law. Since its inception it has proven to be a dismal failure. I call on the governor to step down, as well as members of the legislature that voted for this legislation that has poisoned its citizens and led to the Detroit Public Schools’ horrendous financial crisis. This is exactly what happens when accountants are put in charge and the Democratic process is usurped. It’s time for the governor to go and for the people of the State of Michigan to have real leadership again.

Tom Speers, Fife Lake

Erosion of Public Trust

Let’s look at how we’ve been experiencing global warming. Between 1979 and 2013, increases in temperature and wind speeds along with more rain-free days have combined to stretch fire seasons worldwide by 20 percent. In the U.S., the fire seasons are 78 days longer than in the 1970s.

Global warming also contributes to drought intensification by the rise in temperature rather than the amount of rain and falling snow. The excessive heat has increased the rate of water loss by evaporation and caused precipitation to shift from snow to rain, leaving a meager snowpack and parched reservoirs. Unfortunately, the doubters of global warming omit the foregoing and focus on surface temperature.

Many of the non-climate scientist deniers of global warming tend to think of global warming as an overall upward trend in air temperature. From a scientific perspective, it is best understood as an energy imbalance between the Earth and space, with less heat escaping and more heat being retained within the planet’s system.

Climate scientists have known for some time that when global warming occurs, the oceans will be the site of the most profound response – 90 percent of trapped heat from global warming is going into the oceans.

This misunderstanding of global warming by the deniers exposes their lack of depth regarding this scientific concept.The Republican candidates either have not studied this issue or only listen to fossil fuel–funded think tanks. This is of great concern because we expect our elected representatives to represent and protect the public interest.

Ronald Marshall, Petoskey

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