Letters

I was disappointed by Hal Dixon's Sept. 8 letter ("Services attract homeless"). It was lacking knowledge on the topic. I unfortunately found myself homeless with my two young daughters three years ago. I was required to take random breathalyzers and drug tests and everyone there was required to participate the daily work that keeps the place running.

What with all the natural smoke that was in the air, I would like to propose that during this forest fire smoke difficulty, tobacco smokers be allowed to light up indoors in all public places. A little relief would be very helpful.

I was surprised at Shawn Vestal's open letter to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers urging her to vote to protect illegal immigrants who know no other country. The surprise wasn't his self-righteous, morally superior tone, it was his ignorance, perhaps feigned.

The Sept. 6 edition offers a fine example of what a newspaper is supposed to do – inform and educate.

On Sept. 7, the Trump administration, acting through Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, announced a formal review of Obama-era guidelines related to sexual assault protections. Obama's guideline had spurred universities to more aggressively investigate campus sexual assault due to the intolerable conditions perpetrated against college women on U.S. college campuses.

I was in college in 1962 when Malvina Reynolds released her song, "What Have They Done to the Rain?" Also sung by Joan Baez, it was a protest against atmospheric nuclear bomb tests, which brought radioactive Strontium 90, detected in kids' baby teeth, to the earth in toxic rainstorms.

A guy goes to his doctor with the complaint that it hurts when he hits himself on the head with a hammer. The doc recommends that the dummy stop hitting himself on the head with a hammer, right? Wrong!

Regarding Trump's DACA decision, I just want to clarify the Republican stance: If a parent breaks the law, we will punish the children. Is this correct?

WSU should not be held accountable for the fall of a student, but the parent's parenting and the student's common sense should be to blame. Someplace along the line the parents should have instilled in their student the perils of excessive drinking, and the student should have the sense to know when to stop.

Darlene LaFollette's Sept. 6 letter says that removing statues diminishes us in some way, that we need these reminders to appreciate who we've been in the past. Statues are made to honor historical figures and events. They are not mere reminders of the past. They celebrate the past. If Darlene can find a statue of a shackled black man being sold at auction or maybe a nice bronze of a family being torn apart, then we can talk about reminders.

After reading the letter by Steve Blewett ("Statues celebrate bigotry," Sept. 3), I must offer another reason to save the memorials. Many people (over 600,000) died defending their state and country. Robert E. Lee had a difficult decision. He was offered to lead the union, instead he decided to defend his home state (not fight for slavery). People of that era felt a deep responsibility toward their home land. They died defending their state and county, not to enslave people. The war was fought because the South left the union, and the people that perished on both sides should be remembered.

Once again public broadcasting misleads the public. Spokane Public Radio recently posted on its website "McMorris Rodgers splits with Trump On DACA." In that article, Emily Schwing incorrectly states that DACA is "... the law passed in 2012." DACA is not a law; at least it's not a law as described in our Constitution.

Auntie's Bookstore recently hosted a world-class scientist who has written about his bicycle trip across America. He took that trip to witness and discuss the effects of climate change. A handful of people showed up at Aunties.

The voters in the 5th Congressional District are poised to prove again that old canard, "If you don't learn from your mistakes, you are bound to repeat them." In 1994, we traded Tom Foley, the speaker and most powerful member of the House of Representative, second in line to succeed the president of the United States, for a political novice. In 2016, we elected a political novice over one of the best ever qualified candidates for president of the United States. Now, we have the fourth-ranking member of the Republican majority in Congress seeking re-election, who confesses she is out of the loop regarding "Harvey aid" and "assumes we will see 'some kind' of a package."

Now, with Hurricane Harvey having brought record rainfall to the Texas Gulf Coast, and wildfires devouring wide swaths of Western forests, it's time to connect the dots. Climate change is real, and it's not just the "cyclical pattern" that so many skeptics cite to refute abundant evidence.

Hurricane Harvey is an unnatural disaster. Climate change, caused by fossil fuels, raised the sea level contributing to Harvey's intense rainfall.

With ACA repeal-and-replace comatose, may I offer a possible prescription for resuscitating?

In 2009, all Republican and two Democratic senators killed ACA's proposed "public option" that likely would have led to national single-payer health care (Medicare for all). Although vastly superior in coverage and more equitably affordable than Republicans' recent draconian bills, Obamacare may hardly cut overall costs. Fortunately, single-payer Medicare-for-all would both greatly cut costs and markedly increase Obamacare's improved coverage, impossible until health insurance companies lose control.

I am just one of many Spokane-area parents who were responsible and kept our young child indoors last Sunday when we were told that it was ill-advised to bring them out under the unhealthy air conditions. We had been excited because our son just turned 1 and loves classical music, so naturally the outdoor concert was a perfect venue.