Letters 1/5/06

Jan. 4, 2006

Our Christmas present
Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? Lately that has been the contrived media buzz question for us to argue about.
But in the real world this is how the Republican Senators (all but five moderates) with help from Vice President Dick Cheney said Merry Christmas on Dec. 21 to university students, America’s seniors on Medicare, and the millions on Medicaid. They passed the so called Work, Marriage and Family Promotion Reconciliation Act of 2005 with $40 billion in cuts to social spending to those least able to afford it.
This is the first time a budget bill has had cuts like this in eight years. As part of this Christmas time messege to us the American people, the Senate also voted unneeded huge tax cuts to the rich and powerful during a time of war and in which many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and are afraid of their job being outsourced or afraid to get sick with no health care. If you aren’t outraged yet you haven’t been paying attention.

Jim Moreno • Mt. Pleasant

O‘Reilly‘s War
I read with interest your editorial “Bigotry and Christmas” in the December 22 issue (Random Thoughts by George Foster). It was a particularly good column, well written and thoughtful about bigotry and its possible roots. It was right on until you reached the point of addressing the purported “Christmas Controversy.”
I often feel like throwing a brick at O’Reilly on his programs, and can’t stand Sean Hannity, but to be reasonable I think to be accurate one would have to admit that O’Reilly, whatever kind of bombastic blowhard he may be, has not called for any kind of boycott of any business related to the so called “War on Christmas.” If you, as an editor feel that he has, you are welcome to prove it. I challenge you to name what source was used to accuse O’Reilly of promoting boycotts of any merchandiser.
Please provide what program and on what date.
Speaking of intolerance, it gets down to intolerance is as intolerance does. When a town in the Miami area allows a menorah in the town square, but bans a manger scene, and the City of Los Angeles is sued by the ACLU to remove a cross off a mission house on the city‘s seal but leaves the pagan goddess Pomona on the seal it shouldn’t be so difficult to understand that Christians would feel that intolerance is being directed toward them.
These are only two of hundreds of instances. Documentation can be provided for many, many more.
Finally, for anyone who wants to argue separation of church and state, first sit down and READ the first amendment to the Constitution word for word before arguing it. Knowing what words are actually written in the Constitution instead of guessing at it saves a lot of unnecessary and pointless haranguing.

Lee Oslund • Mackinaw City

(Response: O‘Reilly often mentions that he won‘t patronize businesses that use the word “holidays.“ The reference to “O‘Reilly and others“ in my column is supported by the lists of organized boycotts that can be Googled on the Internet. -- G.F.)

Winter biking
I’d like to reply to Robert Downes, for his remark that winter cyclists are DUIL offenders, fitness freaks, or trying to save money on gas (Random Thoughts, 12/29). As one of those winter cyclists, I’d like to add to his list of reasons for cycling in winter. In addition to saving a great deal of money (only a small part of which is an incremental increase in the price of gas), and to improving fitness, cycling is simply a great way to get around Traverse City.
Plus it‘s really fun well...usually). We see the city close up and from all sides, because we can use alleys, sidewalks, and some nifty trails and shortcuts. Parking is always within steps of the destination. The weather isn’t bad when you dress right, and sometimes the experience is exhilarating; like on cold mornings with a half foot of new light fluff snow. Traction is generally good, there is no road noise, and the snow has a neat way of silently poofing away from the wheels. It feels like riding on a cloud.
As Bob says, there are more cyclists on the streets now, for example there are at least five people in Building 50-A at the Grand Traverse Commons who ride to work frequently. As far as I know, all would give the same reason as the primary motivation for cycling in the winter. We invite our neighbors at the Northern Express to join us in the fun.
I want to add my appreciation to your readers for the fact that a very large proportion of drivers in Traverse City are courteous and pass me safely. We cyclists are keenly aware of our vulnerability relative to vehicles in slippery or sloppy conditions, so we are grateful when drivers respect us as fellow travelers.

Dan Tholen • TC

Christmas in Iraq
Merry Christmas to you all. I am sorry to say that it is a pretty sad Christmas here at our base, one of my team members, Sgt. Myla Maravillosa was killed yesterday when an RPG rocket hit her vehicle during a patrol in a nearby city. Myla was a devout Catholic and had planned to become a nun when she got home from Iraq.
We are all taking comfort in knowing that Myla is at peace and with God today, we would appreciate it if people could please say a prayer for her mother that she may find strength and solace during this difficult time. Everyone here is pretty somber today, but we are trying to spend the day together as we process through this. Take care all.

Jonathan Reed • Iraq

(Jonathan is a soldier from TC serving in the war. His letter was passed on by members of TC Common Sense.)

A night with the homeless
Another perspective on homeless shelters: I volunteered to host one night when our worship meeting decided to take on the task of providing a week of shelter this winter.
We’d never done it before and didn’t know what to expect. I know some of the people were addicts, but unless it was obvious, I didn’t know which ones. Almost all of them were respectful, polite, helpful, and grateful. I’m sure some of them manipulate the system; instead of spending money on room and board, they spend it on their addictions.
Do we give up on them? How to tell the recovery hopefuls from the hopeless? Some people from another church came to help at our shelter and told stories of addicts that they had helped into recovery by, first of all, befriending them and extending God’s love.
Maybe some of the homeless scam some charities, but if scoring a sleeping space on the floor of a church and two meals a day is the best they can do to “manipulate the system,“ then I consent to being manipulated. I have hope that some of them can be returned to a responsible, self-supporting life.
On the flip side, how many ex-CEOs from companies like Enron can be rehabilitated? Will they give back the billions of dollars they bilked from all of us? Will they give up their addictions to greed, to excessive self-centered lifestyles? Will I ever see one of them sleeping on the floor of our meeting house?

Margaret Patchin • TC

Camp & the environment
I am a Congressional candidate for the 4th District. I read with great interest your recent article concerning Rep. Dave Camp’s involvement to help a developer destroy wetlands on Traverse Bay. He is not a friend to the environment.
This is not a surprise to those of us that know his environmental record. The citizens not only in the Grand Traverse area should know this but, also the entire state who enjoy the beauty of the bay. He has voted against allowing the EPA to enforce environmental laws and voted to cut EPA funding (HR2099). Voted to weaken the Clean Water Act and to limit spending on Environmental Quality Incentives Program which aims to improve water quality (HR961, HR2673). He has voted against Sierra Club issues 100% of time (Project Vote Smart).
The list goes on; however, the Dioxin mess in his home county of Midland really tells it all! There are thousands of acres that the game animals are not fit for human consumption as well as rivers, lakes and streams that you can’t eat the fish out of. He not only has done nothing to help this situation, he is a large stockholder of Dow Chemical, of which they are a large campaign contributor for him. If he would allow this type of disaster in his own “backyard” what do you think he is willing to do in your “backyard?”

Michael R Huckleberry • Greenville
U.S. Congress candidate

Skinned alive!
For those of you who think wearing fur coats or buying any items with fur is cool or fashionable please read on.
There is a fur industry that involve cats and dogs in China. These cats and dogs are kept in small cages, piled on top of each other. This is not the most shocking part. These animals are tied up, then skinned alive. This process takes at least 20 minutes through which the animal lives and dies slowly.
A video smuggled out of China shows dogs waging their tails as they are tied up to be skinned alive. The cats lick each other’s wounds instead of lashing out in the tight spaces that they are kept in. The sound was not on when this video was shown on Larry King Live since it was too disturbing.
We can do our part, by not buying real fur products and spreading the word. Many times products are mislabeled so you won’t know that there is cat and dog hair. There are plenty of fake fur products out there that look beautiful and were not the result of an animal’s suffering or death.
Renee Wareck • TC


Wolfdog woes
Thank you for writing a more comprehensive story than the bits that have seemingly given just one side (re: “The Wolf‘s Last Stand,“ 12/22).
I didn’t know John Sutherland, but Brenda Pearson - who runs West Michigan SPCA and Wolfdog Sanctuary and I knew of him. Brenda now has the wolfdogs that were Mr. Sutherland’s. She and I worked very hard for several weeks following Mr. Sutherland’s death to make sure that his wolfdogs were not euthanized.
As canine rescuers, which includes wolfdogs, wolves, coyotes, and dogs, Brenda and I see a situation where the authorities, including animal control officers have misinformation about wolfdogs, and tend to use “muscle” instead of reasoning and logic.
The “Little Red Riding Hood” syndrome concerning wolfdogs is alive and well. Brenda Pearson and I have tried to show that there are good and responsible wolfdog owners, who can successfully raise wolfdogs and that wolfdogs are no more dangerous than any other dog.
Dogs, whether people know it or not, are predators. As such, all predators have the potential to be dangerous. But, with proper training and socialization wolfdogs and dogs can be successful companion animals.
Both Brenda Pearson and I would welcome a more thorough investigation of the current anti-wolfdog law in Michigan. It does nothing to educate the public and those unsuspecting people who buy wolfdogs without knowing about the law. It also does nothing for those people who misrepresent their wolfdogs, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Some of the so-called wolfdogs we’ve seen over the last five years since the law was enacted are simply German Shepherd/Alaskan Malamute/Siberian Husky crosses with no recent wolf heritage.
However, because one part of the law states that if a person calls his or her animal a wolfdog, it IS a wolfdog. There are no provisions in the law for cases where the dogs are clearly dogs, not wolfdogs.
There are no exceptions for misrepresentation. Since unscrupulous people can sell a wolfdog for more money than a mixed breed dog, they will tag a dog with the wolfdog label. Instead of having to give away a mixed breed dog, they can now sell it for about $400 or more. That amount of money looks pretty attractive to those unscrupulous people. Others are simply ignorant or ill-informed and just don’t know that they don’t have a wolfdog. I’ve had people come up to me at “Bark in the Park” events telling me that their beloved dog is really a wolfdog, when the dog looks like a lab or a border collie.
This summer I was contacted by a lady who bought a low content wolfdog puppy in Indiana and did not know about the Michigan Wolfdog Law. There was paperwork that followed the sale of the dog and when that caught up to the local animal control officers, the lady was told that she had 30 days to get rid of the dog. This was a sad and painful episode. We couldn’t find a placement for her dog in that short a time period, so she ended up taking her dog to a shelter in Indiana. Hopefully, someone adopted the dog, but, in all honesty, the dog was probably euthanized.
Brenda and I would like to see either a repeal of the Michigan Wolfdog Law or at the very least an amendment to it. But trying to change a law after it is enacted it difficult, time consuming, and costly.
Thank you, once again, for presenting a balanced side to the tragic story of John Sutherland and his wolfdogs. It still seems to me that had cooler heads prevailed, John Sutherland would be alive and his wolfdogs would not be looking for new homes.

Suzie Myers • Gladwin


The Express received incorrect information recently which surfaced in last week‘s Hot Dates photo feature depicting singer Miriam Pico. Miriam had no plans to perform with Clayton Smith and friends at Horizon Shine Cafe in TC. Apologies to readers who went to the performance hoping to hear her sing.