Letters 5/25/06

May 24, 2006

From: ads2@northernexpress.com
Date: May 22, 2006 9:51:55 AM EDT
Subject: letters
To: lynn@northernexpress.com

Conservative: then & now
When I was a teenager in the 1960s, dabbling in politics, my mom and dad left the Democratic party. They’d had enough of street protests and flag burnings, and made for the shores of the party of Eisenhower and Nixon. They’d seen Democrats try to solve all problems by throwing away money, but government, they reasoned, should conserve. They were conservatives. They didn’t like the idea of government being in debt, and were aghast at this new thing called a “trade deficit.”
The 1994 “Republican Revolution” would’ve especially thrilled them. Small government and welfare limits would’ve been right up their alley.
But they were true conservatives. Yes, keep government out of your pocketbook, but also out of unnecessary wars, your bedroom, and your telephone records. If they were alive today, they’d be appalled at the number of Republican congressmembers under investigation for corruption. They’d have just called it stealing.
They would have found the Republican’s trillion-dollar boondoggle in Iraq just as offensive as the useless Democrat-led government agencies of their own day. And the idea that a Republican president would move America from a surplus to this yawning, endless deficit would’ve made them furious. After all, isn’t that what “tax and spend” Democrats did?
But Democratic spending was a drop in the bucket compared to current Republican pilfering. No wonder commentators like George Will have long claimed that Bush and the current Republican crop, with their mounting legal bills, are not conservatives at all.
Me, I’m a liberal, a bit homeless in the current climate, but if my parents were alive, they’d feel just as adrift in today’s so-called “Party of Abe Lincoln.”

Lawrence Ming • via email

Abstinence doesn‘t work
Some “FACTs” in response to Matt Davis’ claims, from the Journal of Adolescent Health (April 2005) co-authored by Columbia’s Sociology Department Chair Peter Bearman and Yale professor Hannah Bruckman:
- Teens pledging abstinence are just as likely to have an STD as their non-pledging peers. That means, of the 600 pledging teens, 150 will acquire an STD.
- Teens pledging abstinence are six times more likely to have had oral sex, and male pledgers were four times more likely to have engaged in anal sex than their male non-pledging peers who had not had vaginal sex.
- 88% - that’s nine out of 10, or 540 of those 600 teens - will have sex before marriage.
- Teens who break their pledge will be 1/3 less likely to use protection than their non-pledging peers.
Your statistic about 30-40% of college men not knowing how to use a condom properly is interesting. Perhaps we could reduce that percentage with some good old-fashioned education? Some condom facts:
- Condoms, while not 100% effective, are between 80-97% effective; it varies depending on the study, but even at worst they are vastly more effective than the 12% success rate of abstinence.
- Most condom failures are due to misuse, not inherent failure in the condom itself. With perfect usage, the effectiveness is around 98%.
- Condoms reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission by around 85%, and reduce the risk of gonorrhea for men by around 71%.
I would love to end this with a clever non sequitur, as you’ve ended your past letters, but unfortunately all I have are actual facts, and the facts are indeed clear. Abstinence might be a nice idea on paper, but in the real world it is clear, and factually proven, that it is not a viable or effective method of protection for our teens.
The solution is not a sad attempt to keep teens blind, deaf, and dumb in regards to sexual education, but is instead to provide them with all the options and education we can, so if they do decide to participate in sexual activity - and according to the facts, most of them will - they will be protected from unwanted pregnancy and STDs. Education and honesty are the answers, not a moral crusade.

Samuel Fine • Elk Rapids

Not our oyster
I’m afraid George Foster’s Random Thoughts column from May 11 reveals much of why our country and society are in trouble. Statements like needing to double the size of your home to four bedrooms and three baths to accommodate visiting family when you can be sure that over 90% of the time these rooms go unused, but are heated and cooled to some extent. Bragging about owning four cars and trucks with only one getting under 10 mpg and the others getting more than 20 mpg is no badge of honor but a damning piece of evidence that most of America, including Mr. Foster, just doesn’t get.
Listening to people who drive inefficient and self-gratifing vehicles is like listening to a criminal complain he or she is sorry that they got caught but not sorry for the crime. The world is not our oyster to slurp and devour as we please as many of our citizens and leaders believe. Maybe Mr. Foster should rethink his lifestyle in a more profound way if he is serious about saving energy and the future of our planet. Recycling newspapers and tin cans is not the answer, but a bandaid to a much larger issue of self entitled over-consumption.
We don’t need to all drive hybrids but driving even medium sized SUVs is without merit for all but those who live on large agricultural properties or on two tracks in the backwoods. Most residents of northwest Michigan seem far more interested in their wants than their needs and have lost the ability to discern between the two.
This is why we will soon be regulated to second class superpower status in the near future by a far more progressive and future thinking Europe and second class economic power by China. Our world might be much different if things had gone in a legal and fair way in 2000 but we will have a chance to fix some of these problems in November this year and in 2008. So get out and vote for your children’s and grandchildren’s sake.

Stuart Mitchell • Elberta

Pedal power
I would like to respond to the May 11 article “Gas on the Fire: Who’s to blame for high gas prices?“ Why do we need to point fingers and blame someone? We are all to blame. It is time to stop pointing fingers and DO something about it.
TART Trails is hosting an event called Smart Commute Week June 5-9 that offers a solution to the rising prices. What is the solution? Drive less.
Smart Commute Week is in its 12th year and is a celebration of alternative transportation options in Traverse City. The event promotes biking, walking, carpooling and taking BATA.
The event educates and encourages area residents that there are other transportation options available. Even though it may not be easy for everyone to smart commute to work, there are options available to you. Just try smart commuting, at least for a week. Hopefully, you will get hooked!
For more event info, please visit www.TraverseTrails.org/SmartCommute

Missy Luyk • Trail Program
Specialist • TART Trails, Inc.

Education in ethanol
Robert Downes story about ethanol reads like propaganda from the industry itself (Random Thoughts, 518). I expected more from Northern Express, especially its chief editor.
Many people know very little about ethanol or the price we pay to produce it. Interesting that Mr. Downes chose to leave the environmentalists who support ethanol shrouded in mystery.
If he had contacted the oldest, largest & most widely respected environmental organization, he would have discovered that the Sierra Club OPPOSES ethanol, as do many diverse groups of people (ie: Sen. John McCain, the CATO Institute).
There are many inconvenient truths ethanol proponents choose to ignore.
A distillery producing 50 million gallons of ethanol per year will likely consume over 500,000 gallons of water per DAY. The USA doesn’t have enough water (or cropland, for that matter) to replace, or even significantly reduce, our dependence on oil.
It is incredibly irresponsible to state as fact that ethanol “is a cleaner burning fuel that is easier on the environment.” The fact is, according to the EPA & the National Academy of Sciences, (among many others) ethanol reduces some pollutants, but it also increases emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds - major ingredients of smog. Not to mention the pollution created in the manufacturing and transporting of ethanol.
Ethanol distilleries use massive amounts of fossil fuels in production and while gas is distributed in pipe lines, ethanol must be distributed in fossil fuel burning vehicles. Ethanol decreases car mileage and costs the same or more as gas, thereby increasing costs to consumers.
Researching the Caro ethanol distillery will confirm a horrible safety and environmental record which includes six fires since opening four years ago; citations and fines from the DEQ. and pending lawsuits by more than 20 families who regrettably believed the hype spewed by the ethanol industry.

Mylene Courtade • Summit City

Same difference
Roman Grucz- Howard Walker -- what’s the difference?
Here we go again -- a Republican and a Republicrat. Are we to settle for the lesser of two evils again? I can’t possibly support either of these two candidates (for State Senate). And if you call yourself a woman or a progressive, you can’t either.
Neither candidates are pro-choice and if you believe a politician who says openly that they are anti-choice but won’t persue the issue, then you were born yesturday.
Would someone please send us someone other than another Republican running under the guise of a Democrat? Whether it is our bodies or our candidates, we need choice in this country. There is no choice in the 104th District.

Bruce Peterson • TC

Go slow in Acme
The Acme Township Board and Supervisor Bill Kurtz should be praised for their “go slow, let’s get it right” approach to the proposal for a super-sized, big box Meijer’s store along M-72. They realize the stakes for the region are very high.
Exploring alternatives is the very best approach. The board understands if the store is built as planned it will likely create a domino effect of exploding sprawl east along the M-72 corridor, thus creating a maze of strip malls, fast food restaurants, and many other big box stores. The result will be yet another ugly sprawl zone which looks like Anywhere, USA. The board knows we can do better.
There is also great concern regarding the impact of such a large store on both Acme and Yuba Creeks which are tributaries to Grand Traverse Bay. Many other environmental questions about the project still have not been completely answered.
It is hoped the Meijer Corporation will send representatives to Acme Township to work out a compromise which could be a win-win for the entire Grand Traverse region.

Greg Reisig • Elk Rapids

Can‘t predict violence
This is in response to Bill Sullivan’s request for opinions if one of the people living at the Whiting were to attack someone on Front Street.
Bill, it would be the exact same opinion of the guy who killed Kaylee Bruce: very low. Let’s not forget what door her killer walked out of: an expensive waterfront condo in East Bay Township.
The point being that it’s impossible to predict violence based on where someone lives.
Jen Andtbacka • via email

Floating to heaven
Did you hear that? The sound of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rattling his sword for the folks at home. His fundamentalist policies weren’t playing so well, poll numbers were down, so now he just bashes America (his numbers have since soared).
And did you hear that? Bush is jumping for the bait, knowing that invading a second Muslim nation will impress his core constituency as well. This time, he doesn’t have to make up stories about weapons of mass destruction, because his new fight is with a nuclearized loudmouth who’ll do anything to give Bush a black eye.
Which brings me to that other thing you hear in the background: World War III, and Bush’s core voters singing their approval.
In case you didn’t know, they’ve all been raised on tales of the world ending any day now, as the result of a war in the Middle East. Ever stood at a book stall and thumbed through Tim LaHaye’s popular “Left Behind” or Todd Strandberg’s “Are You Rapture Ready?” or Hal Lindsay’s classic, “The Late Great Planet Earth”?
You should. According to these Bush-favored texts, nukes rain on the Arabs, God roasts the Blue-state voters, and evangelical Christians float up to heaven just before things get nasty.
Imagine that. Walking around believing God wants you to start wars, but since you’re a favored person, you’ll not have to endure what you’ve started.
Ever wonder why Bush is so strangely upbeat about the war in Iraq, despite daily, unrelenting bloodshed? Now you know. For Bush, the only thing wrong with the battle is that it’s not a firestorm of biblical proportions. But if we allow him to drag Iran into it, he’ll get his wish.

Sara Miller • via email

Save Turtle Lake
Two weeks ago I was simply an at-home “mommy” enjoying the simple life in Benzie County. Then life changed. A neighbor informed me that a developer had plans for a site condo project that would double the number of residences on our little Turtle Lake. Now I am an activist.
I promised my five-year-old daughter that I would defend our precious lake, do my very best, and I am keeping my promise. Although antiquated zoning ordinances consider the property R-1 (lakeshore residential) suitable for having as many as 149 homes, in the Benzie County 2020 master plan the land is considered a “Sensitive Environment.”
In the plan “such environments would be prioritized for acquisition by conservancies or public agencies.”
Still, since the developer is following all the “rules,” this development could go through. So we have organized a group, hired a lawyer, raised funds, contacted organizations, gotten support.
Benzie County is the smallest county in Michigan and the fastest growing -- it doesn’t have to suffer growing pains. Benzie County must look toward its goal of sustainability outlined in its master plan. It must protect the rural character that draws people from all over the globe to Northern Michigan.

Amy Moehle • Benzie County