Letters 11/30/06

Nov. 29, 2006

Tough times
I drove past a sign in front of the new structure in town last night and it spoke volumes to me, for the first time. It advertised a penthouse for sale for only $656,000 or something near that figure! Now, that’s affordable for many of us, isn’t it? Especially when the job opportunities rarely even pay $7.50 per hour? Many of us are managing two or three different jobs to just keep afloat?
I had just returned from Michigan Works earlier, looking for employment as I have been for the past seven months with more than discouraging results. The lady I spoke with had told me what “terrible, terrible shape Michigan is in,” how many businesses were leaving the state, relocating and providing jobs with foreign countries (namely Mexico), and how there are hardly any jobs available in particular in our community.
Then, to confirm her quandary, when I checked with Manpower, the girl I spoke with had one placement for Monday only to answer phones and told me the story of her husband, who had served in Iraq and who also has been looking for work and is unable to find a job and the frosting on the cake, I pulled up a CNN MONEY online article of stats about the states with the lowest unemployment rates, and Michigan ranks #50 out of the 51! (Including Puerto Rico -- ed.)
In other words, Michigan is in more than real trouble.There is only one more state with a higher unemployment rate than ours, and no plan for additional federal extensions for those now collecting unemployment benefits with thousands of job cuts on the horizon.
I am a middle aged, single woman, struggling to support myself in our area where condos and penthouses are advertised with humongous price tags. An area where job ethics, ability to learn and desire to work seem to mean so little. Panic begins to build... will I join the ranks of so many others struggling to stay afloat, or will I become homeless and jobless at the same time with absolutely no way to survive?
It breaks my heart even more than my own situation, to realize and have it confirmed, that our returning men and women who have risked their lives in this ugly, senseless war in Iraq now have to face the lack of jobs to provide for their families. What has happened here folks? Where are we headed? Remember that old joke about the “last one to leave Michigan turns the lights off?” I guess it’s true, history is repeating itself.
So if this resonates with any of you employers out there, put first things first, hire our returning veterans, our current veterans and then think of hiring the rest of us, women, single, middle age with high work ethics and pay us fairly and maybe, just maybe together, we can turn this state back around, at least our own community.

Marty Hermes • TC

Story was a bomb
I found Harley Sach’s article “A Bomb, Anyone?“ interesting but not because it was well written. In fact, I didn’t read past the third paragraph.
As a journalist I know the importance of accuracy. If a reader finds errors in the story he will in all probability stop reading.
In his second paragraph Sach refers to the Navy’s ELF system. He was correct in saying that the system was controversial, and in my opinion it was obsolete the day it went operational. Then he goes on to say that B52 bombers stationed at K.I. Sawyer air base were in the air at all times, ready to be directed to targets in the USSR. That statement is absolutely false. There is no truth to it at all, and it can not be accepted under any journalistic standards.
As a B52-H maintenance crew chief stationed at K.I. Sawyer from 1982 until 1986 I can assure you that no nuclear-ready bomber was ever launched from that base. The Strategic Air Command required us to have six bombers on ready alert to be launched moments after the detection of an incoming weapon, not put them in the air in the event of a strike.
During my final year at the base, alert exercises were held three or four times each week. Flight crews and maintenance personnel responded to an alert warning referred to as a klaxon. More often than not the aircraft engines would be started, but the aircraft would not leave the alert pad.
Occasionally the flight crews received a code ordering them to taxi to the runway. The pilots would throttle up and a jet would roar down the runway eventually reaching take-off speed, but it never left the ground.
Every month or so SAC would order all the wing’s bombers and tankers onto alert status. We would upload all our bombers. As part of the exercise we were being tested to see how quickly we could get the aircraft’s maintenance problems corrected and eight Short Range Attack Missiles and four gravity bombs uploaded--the B52-H payload increased after 1986. When a bomber was uploaded and accepted by the flight crew we referred to it as being “cocked on.” All the bombers would fly training missions as part of the exercise but not until all weapons were removed.
The Air Force has a policy prohibiting divulging information concerning its nuclear weapons to the public. I know of one reporter who attempted many times to get public relations personnel at K.I. Sawyer just to admit that there were nuclear weapons on the base. He was rejected each time, so I’m curious about the source of Sach’s information.
In the third paragraph Sachs says that accidents were inevitable. That’s exactly why you wouldn’t put a bomber carrying a minimum of 12 nuclear weapons in the air on a routine basis. The chances of a mishap are far too great, and it’s unnecessary.
Because of the early detection systems we had in place at the time there was sufficient warning to get the aircraft in the air before an incoming weapon could detonate. From the time the klaxon sounded until the aircraft reached the end of the runway was less than seven minutes.

Paul H. Marcotte • Gaylord

Get the Plan
“Plan First” is a new state funded program that will pay for family planning services for women. You may be eligible if you are 19 through 44 years of age, a U.S. citizen or a qualified immigrant and Michigan resident. There are income limits and one must either have a social security number or make application to receive one.
Covered services include a gynecological exam, as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. The program will cover all contraceptive methods such as; birth control pills, patches, rings, Depo-Provera injections, IUD’s, condoms, and spermicides.
To apply or to receive further information contact the health department in the county where you reside or go online at www.michigan.gov.mdch

Janis Frazee RNC, MSN
GT County Health Department