RSS06/27/09 Letters to the Editor
Yakima Herald-Republic
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Thanks for helping
To the editor -- I am writing this letter to thank all the people who watched my SUV and camp trailer flip on its side on Interstate 82 between Selah and Ellensburg on June 16. I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for lending a helping hand to my family and friends in our time of need. It's nice knowing that there are still good people in this world.
Thank you again from my family and our friends who needed all the help you gave.
MELISSA RUSSELL
Selah
A wish comes true
To the editor -- As a volunteer on behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I would like to thank Legends Casino for picking this foundation as one of their 2009 recipients for their charity donations. As I sat and listened to all the different charities being called up to accept checks, I was so impressed at the generosity of Legends Casino and the amount they gave back to the community. I would also like to thank the American Reflections car club for their donation during their annual car show held in May. It is because of the generosity of clubs, casinos, local business and many others that we are able to help local children's wishes come true. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is the largest and oldest wish granting foundation and we have been granting wishes in the Yakima Valley for over 20 years.
TRACEY SLAGLE
Naches
It's senseless
To the editor -- Two June 20 articles caught my eye. On Page 1A I learned the state will open more liquor stores and raise prices to increase taxes due to decreased revenues. This increased opportunity to buy liquor will increase costs because there will be more drunken drivers on the road, increased domestic violence, street fights, which will result in more officers, prosecutors, mandatory drug rehab, which will be paid for by taxpayers, more jail bookings and emergency medical dollars to pay for this legislative fiasco.
On Page 10A, I found that due to shortfall in state revenue, some 500 juvenile offenders won't be supervised once released. This will cost more in the long run. Many will commit more crimes, meaning more bookings, public defenders assigned to them, jail space and on and on.
This is what the voters of this state are now subject to by the governor and legislators. What will they think of next?
It does not make sense to be an honest, law-abiding citizen. The penalties are enormous.
JANEICE A. JUMP
Ellensburg
Just obey the law
To the editor -- Re: Shirley White's June 18 letter, "Releasing three-strikers." I thank God there aren't public beheadings or hangings like many years ago. Oh, by the way, I think all judges have experience. The law is the law: Abide by it and you won't be "thrown away."
VENETIA dela FUENTE
Yakima
Passing the buck
To the editor -- I agree with Cathy Williams (Letters, June 19, "Hoops too loud.") With windows and doors closed, I could hear the beat, beat, thump, bang. After three hours of this, I went over there (three blocks) and asked them to shut it off. They were having a kick boxing tournament. When the music stopped, we could hear the loudspeakers, and then the music started again.
I was told they had a permit to do it. I asked them to turn it down and was told no. I said I would call the police. They said they just left, but they would call them back if I wanted to file a complaint. I went home and called the police. I was told to call the code division who issued the permit. I went there instead and was told the police is the one who has to sign off on them. They gave me the officer's name and phone number. I called and left a message. He did call me back and told me the code division is the one who issued the permit.
So is this what you call passing the buck?
MAUDE GILLELAND
Yakima
Universal care
To the editor -- Once again we have people touting the U.S. health care system as being the best in the world, saying those poor Canadians with their universal coverage have to come to the United States for proper treatment. What nonsense! We have the most expensive health care system in the world (twice the percentage of GDP as other rich countries), the highest paid doctors in the world and very poor health statistics. We have the highest infant mortality rate of any rich country and a lower life expectancy than most of them. According to a Gallup poll in the Toronto Star, only 2 percent of Canadians believe that the U.S. has a better health care system than their own.
Yes, we do have a fine emergency care system with highly trained doctors delivering Star Wars technology to the critically ill, but we are totally lacking in the preventive care needed to keep people healthy in the first place. What good is the best medical technology in the world when millions can't afford it? The way to improve our health statistics is to pass universal coverage. Or, on the other hand, we could just continue to bail out insurance companies!
SUSAN RICE
Naches
Make voices heard
To the editor -- Judy Feder, professor of public policy at Georgetown University (Opinion, June 16) states that a third of annual health-care spending, or roughly $700 billion, is going toward services not known to improve health. That is about as much money as was spent on the largest stimulus package in U.S. history earlier this year. It is roughly $200 billion more than we spend every year on our wasteful defense budget.
Private insurers have an average of 30 percent overhead according to U.S. Reps. Conyers and Kucinich. Government programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and state industrial have all have less than 6 percent administrative costs.
Single payer would be the best approach to a concerted, cost effective and efficient health-care system. Just 3 percent of our health-care dollars are spent on prevention.
Many insurance companies cover Viagra, but do not cover birth control. Obesity is a pandemic in the United States and is costing us tens of billions of dollars. A universal common sense approach to such matters is needed.
Do not be hoodwinked or let special interests pull the wool over your eyes. They are interested in clogging up the arteries of your mind with fear mongering and obfuscation. Now is the time to let your voice be heard.
ED PATTON
Yakima
SUSAN RICE,
http://emac.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2009/06/23/health-care-myths/
Myth: “The U.S. has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world.”
Talk about stretching a point until it snaps. This ranking is based on data mining.
The U.S. ranks high on this list largely because this country numbers among those that actually measure neonatal deaths, notably in premature infant fatalities, unlike other countries that basically leave premature babies to die, notes health analyst Betsey McCaughey......
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a country’s infant mortality rate as the number of infants who die between birth and age one, per 1,000 live births.
WHO says a live birth is when a baby shows any signs of life, even if, say, a low birth weight baby takes one, single breath, or has one heartbeat. While the U.S. uses this definition, other countries don’t and so don’t count premature or severely ill babies as live births-or deaths.
The United States counts all births if they show any sign of life, regardless of prematurity or size or duration of life, notes Bernardine Healy, a former director of the National Institutes of Health and former president and chief executive of the American Red Cross (Healy noted this information in a column for U.S. News & World Report).
And that includes stillbirths, which many other countries don’t report.
And what counts as a birth varies from country to country. In Austria and Germany, fetal weight must be at least 500 grams (1 pound) before these countries count these infants as live births, Healy notes.
In other parts of Europe, such as Switzerland, the fetus must be at least 30 centimeters (12 inches) long, Healy notes. In Belgium and France, births at less than 26 weeks of pregnancy are registered as lifeless, and are not counted, Healy says. And some countries don’t reliably register babies who die within the first 24 hours of birth, Healy notes.
Norway, which has one of the lowest infant mortality rates, shows no better infant survival than the United States when you factor in Norway’s underweight infants that are not now counted, Healy says, quoting Nicholas Eberstadt, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute....
SUSAN RICE,
http://emac.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2009/06/23/health-care-myths/
A good rule of thumb: If the source is foxbusiness or foxnoise, it's wrong. Remember that and you won't often be misled.
Yes, I did read the blog post cited. It's a crock.
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