Letters for April 15, 2022
Eastern State Hospital
Spokane is lucky to have psychiatric services in our county but I worry over the patients and staff and Eastern State Hospital, as should we all. The recent horrific developments have highlighted the need for safety, protocol, highly trained well-aid staff and good care based on best practices.
Having worked with a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who was also a BSN, RN, I keep wondering why the National Guard with medical experience has not been called in to stabilize the institution, set up protocols, provide increased staff safety and training and search the nation for highly qualified leadership and to fill staff vacancies?
I expect we all know someone in our lives who has a diagnosis based on altered neurochemistry and know the suffering that it entails for the patient, the family and our community.
Elizabeth Cobb
Spokane
If you care about democracy
How much does our democracy mean to you? Do we realize what we will lose is we lose our democracy?
From what I have been seeing lately, people seem to be living oblivious to the fact that in 2023, they could lose the right to vote, lose their Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security (which is their own money that they paid into), their children’s free education, their country, and their planet! The poor and “retired” working poor would have to shuffle off and die somewhere having been deemed useless by the oligarchy.
History tells us, repeatedly, what happens to a people who are no longer free. Rise up! Peacefully walk out! Get your sign (your free speech), march in the streets peacefully, breath in your freedom to do so! Show solidarity, save your children’s future! And above all, vote blue!
Jennifer Bates
Spokane
‘Cracker Jill’ is cracked
After reading the Cracker Jill article from April 13 (“Move over, Jack – Cracker Jill’s here to laud women in sports”), I have to wonder why a rebranded snack is such big news on the feminism front.
Have our societal efforts to empower women become so half-assed that a new snack is considered a show of respect toward the female athletes of our country? It’s obvious that this whole Cracker Jill thing is a marketing ploy by Frito-Lay. America has become so driven toward consumerism and superficiality, we’ll buy anything that makes us appear more sensitive toward a topic such as feminism. I doubt even the female athletes represented on this rebranded ballpark fare think of it as a step in the right direction.
Come on America! Let’s show more respect for women than slapping them on an overpriced snack and calling it good.
Hannah Wynne
Spokane
Climate policy
Kudos to the S-R for continuing to headline scientific warnings of climate change. To those readers who believe the story is more than just a doomsday novel, I’d recommend two courses of action.
First, check the policy positions of your legislators. Our Spokane City Council is discussing the implementation of its Sustainability Action Plan. Familiarize yourself with it. If it strikes a nerve, contact your council person.
The same goes for state and federal legislators. They are responsible for collective action on climate. Let them know what you’re thinking.
Second, find ways to make a personal contribution to cleaner air and water. You don’t have to buy solar panels or an electric vehicle (though those are great ideas) to reduce your carbon footprint. Embrace the challenge. Become part of the movement. Make a difference.
Tom Benemann
Spokane
Russia using mobile crematoriums
The mobile cremation trucks Russia is using in the war against Ukraine are for cremating the civilians killed by Russia’s purposeful attacks on civilian targets … destroying the evidence and eliminating the occupants – genocide … extermination … essentially like the Nazis did. Is stopping genocide on such a large scale reason enough for us and NATO to chance nuclear war and intervene in Ukraine? Have we forgotten these death camps and their gas chambers and crematoriums?
Dachau.
Mauthausen.
Ravensbrück.
Flossenbürg.
Sachsenhausen.
Buchenwald.
Neuengamme.
Auschwitz …
Add Mariupol… freedom is not free.
Paul Hyndman
Spokane
Music option for Sunday
Considering our current and forecast weather, an appropriate selection for this coming Sunday could be “I’m Dreaming of a White Easter.”
Tim Rolfe
Spokane