Online only letters to the editor

An inconveniently political issue

Editor, The Times:

Regarding "Hot air warms Federal Way schools" [Times, editorial, Jan. 17]: I was a social studies teacher in the Federal Way School District for 27 years. Throughout that time, all teachers had to stay alert to the latest issues of political correctness.

The Federal Way School District is really unlike any other district in the state of Washington. Federal Way developed with a large influx of people from Southern California, many of whom were very conservative in politics and fundamental in religion. It wasn't until 1990 that Federal Way was finally incorporated and developed its own city government. Consequently, School-Board meetings were the only public forum where people met to voice their community concerns, and those who shouted the loudest got the most attention.

Many teachers in the 1960s and 1970s felt John Birch was a member of the school board, as we always had to be careful of what was said in the classroom. About every 10 years there was always the one parent who wanted "Huck Finn" removed from the classroom because of its racial overtones. A committee would be formed, the "offending" English teacher confronted, the principal present, but not offering a word of support. The verdict was always the same: not guilty; the book stayed, however, all teachers got the message.

Once, while teaching my senior global studies class, a man I didn't recognize came in and sat down. I had a class discussion on the events surrounding of the ending of the Vietnam War. The class left, he approached me and said he was a member of the school board. In no uncertain words, he then told me I was wrong in telling the students the United States lost that war. I couldn't reason with him even when I told him I was a veteran of that war. I guess I got off lucky though, as he later moved to California. Had that happened now, I would probably have to get someone in the Vietnamese government to confirm the outcome. I am sure glad I didn't have to teach a smoking cessation class.

Unfortunately, the real losers in all of this are the students, as teachers will simply skip those issues that could be political minefields. This only makes it more difficult for Federal Way students to later compete successfully in college with students who didn't have to put up with all this nonsense.

— Keith Forest, Seattle

Is Federal Way in the state of Washington or in the state of Kansas? It is simply beyond belief that three of five Federal Way School Board members voted to place a moratorium on the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," stating human-induced global climate change is only a theory and not science. Such an egregious and uneducated stance should make the citizens deeply concerned about the guidance these individual are providing to the school system.

The good citizens of Federal Way should now consider their options: (1) Demand that the three board members receive remedial science education, (2) Request their resignations, or (3) relocate them to Kansas (or Crawford, Texas).

I believe the citizens of Federal Way should choose all four options. No community should have such individuals making decisions about public education.

— Charles Kilo, Portland, Oregon

Former Vice President Al Gore gets the Oscar nomination for another left-wing docudrama as Democrats are giddy that they now have the weapon of mass destruction to steal our freedoms and to diminish American free enterprise.

Secular socialism failed miserably in the 20th century. Why? Because people want self-determination. We actually believe we know better for ourselves and our families than limo-driving, pollution-causing elitists. So now the oppressors have created "global warming," the new and improved political weapon that uses fear to control the people.

Science proves we are either moving away from an ice age, or moving toward one. Some experts are actually more concerned about global cooling than warming. In fact, Atlantic currents are reverting to a mini-ice-age pattern that swept Europe and Asia and killed millions, hundreds of years ago. While ice melts in the Arctic, there is freezing record ice growth in the Antarctic.

Global warming is long on politics and short on science. History tells us that voodoo religious science has dominated mankind. Today is no exception. Worse is that Democrats are threatening real scientists who disagree and the industries that fund them. No moderate or reasonable scientist would now dare to question them.

We all need to treat our planet better. There's a lot of real pollution that demands our attention. But look at greater Seattle. We spend billions upon billions on enviro-payoffs, yet our air is not clean, our water isn't any more drinkable and our government-caused congestion diminishes our quality of life.

The problem is that eco-industry is all about money and power and short on science and results. Now they tell us that, because of global warming, only they know how we should travel, what we can eat, where and how we can live, where and how we work, and when and where we can recreate.

The Soviets failed militarily, while our local progressive socialists have failed legislatively and judicially to shred our Constitution. So now it's global warming.

— Alfred Petermann, Bellevue

I believe the Holy Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God and must be taken literally. In 7:1, the Book of Revelation states the following: "And after this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the Earth"

Clearly then, since orbs do not have corners, the world is flat. Yet, over the years, a scientific community fully dedicated to evil, has used illusion, deception and funny business to convince many the Earth is indeed a big rounded ball!

Today, still bent on doing the devil's bidding, it is focused on another assault: Employing the usual tools of trickery, it is attempting to persuade the ignorant, unthinking or naive that Earth's warming trend is evidence of something other than the wonderment of God, as He finally begins work on His long-awaited Armageddon project, as prophesied so vividly in Revelation.

Which heresy is next to be suggested? That the world is billions of years old and that life all originated from the same source? Ha! Get thee behind me, Satan! I have been created in God's image and thus am far too clever to fall for such foolishness. The Earth is flat!

— Dan Postema, Everett

There can be no question there is global warming. It is evident in weather records all over the world, in our own experience. What the big fuss is all about is whom to blame.

Why not accept there is enough scientific evidence and agreement to suggest that human behavior is contributing at least partially to the phenomenon, and to make an attempt at reducing it in any way we can, beginning with the most obvious.

Let history make up its mind who was to blame. Or is that too reasonable and pragmatic?

— William Houston, Port Townsend

Ignorance and bias are rampant throughout the letters arguing against global warming. ["More bad weather," Northwest Voices, Jan. 19].

Mr. Beckenbaugh refers to "The Satanic Gases," written by Patrick J. Michaels. In 1998, as editor for the World Climate Report, Michaels wrote: "we would be willing to wager that the ten-year periodJanuary 1998 and extending through December 2007 will show a statistically significant downward trend in the monthly satellite record of global temperatures." He has already been proven wrong. Michaels received $100,000 from a cooperative opposing mandatory carbon dioxide caps.

The "intelligently designed" students in Federal Way schools will have no trouble reasoning through the rubbish presented by pseudo-scientists who argue against the existence of global warming.

— Patrick Miller, Seattle

Some of the letters in the Jan. 19 Northwest Voices revealed a good deal more than skepticism regarding climate change. There's a strong suggestion that the writers would like to exercise the common human response to something that requires serious thought, deliberation and even change --deny it's happening.

There's really no denying the surge of industrialization throughout most of the world is increasing the release of CO2 at an unprecedented rate in human history. There's really no denying that average temperatures have increased globally. Prominent scientists have linked the two, but whether or not one believes a case has been made to hold human activity responsible for this, we still must adjust our behavior to accommodate the inevitable changes -- whether we hold ourselves responsible or not.

It is essential that the educational system prepare our youngsters for understanding the changing environmental conditions before us, and that includes strategies for dealing with these global perturbations, regardless of their causes.

One of your letter writers does a "quick review of articles in the magazines Science and Nature," and concludes most scientists don't agree on the global warming issues. He might benefit from spending more time reviewing these sources. I would conclude just the opposite, and find there is much agreement on global warming and climate change. Another letter writer goes to his "global warming" bookshelf, which includes the industry-sponsored and promoted environmental education publication, "Facts Not Fear" --his motives are immediately suspect.

—Tony Angell, Seattle

I'm sure reader Ed Davis gets a lot of comfort curling up with his library of books "debunking" global warming. I'm equally sure it would be heartbreaking for him to realize that the books he treasures are all lacking, if not utterly devoid of, scientific merit.

"The Skeptical Environmentalist" was written by Bjorn Lomborg, a political scientist with no training in biology, climatology, or any of the other topics his book purports to cover. Both "Global Warming and Other Eco-myths" and "Facts Not Fear" were published under the auspices of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a front group for the gasoline, petroleum and pharmaceutical industries, which works tirelessly to elevate corporate profit over consumer and environmental safety.

The authors of "The Satanic Gases" have admitted being on the payroll of several coal and petroleum companies including the Kuwait Oil Company. None of the books cited was subjected to scientific peer review before publication. "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton, is, of course, a novel -- a.k.a. fiction.

While Mr. Davis is welcome to bask in his private fact-free daydreams, his ignorance does not constitute a "viewpoint" requiring equal time in the mass media, let alone in the public schools.

— James Dalton, Seattle

Deluded drawing

Regarding "Scientist Gore" [editorial cartoon, Jan. 18]: I love a good political cartoon. A good cartoon makes a visual point, using exaggeration, to point to an underlying truth. It can take our breath away, make us chuckle at ourselves or others, or have us think in a different way about something important.

One essential, however, is that a cartoon that refers to a situation or public figure must be grounded in the facts.

Sadly, political cartoonist Eric Devericks' Al Gore cartoon was a bomb. It did not reflect the facts, and the only point I got from it was that Mr. Devericks hadn't seen "An Inconvenient Truth," or done his homework around the urgent issue of global warming.

Every public figure is fair game, but the facts have to be solid before the fun can be poked.

Mr. Devericks got the finger in his own eye this time.

I'll look for better next time.

— Virginia Day, Redmond

Eric Devericks, like the religious zealots who criticize Al Gore and his film "An Inconvenient Truth," obviously hasn't seen the film, or he would know that Gore carefully presents himself as a journalist, not a scientist. Al Gore's credentials in journalism go back to the Vietnam War.

In the film, Gore gives credit to scientists for the work they do. Fans of the movie believe he does a very good job of explaining a scientific phenomenon, a job that the corporate media wasn't doing.

Mr. Devericks tries to divert attention from the message to the messenger.

This guy's ignorance is An Inconvenient Truth.

— Wyatt Wood

A big gamble

Surge or no surge, how are we supposed to win a war against an insurgency that makes routine usage of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers? ["War of words: 'Surge' stirs its own Iraq debate," News, Jan. 10].

They're not fighting fair.

We lost the war in Iraq the day we invaded that country.

— Dave Richards, Bainbridge Island

Four years ago, Mr. President, you asked that we Americans stand with you as you proclaimed your determination to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and eliminate the threat that existed from Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam is dead, and there were no weapons of mass destruction. Claim your victory, and get us the hell out of this hell you've created! Once Saddam was removed from power, we destroyed the mechanisms of a viable government and economy by dismantling the Republican Guard and the Baath Party.

Sir, if you were to be removed from office, there are many in the government who could aptly fill your shoes, and likely do a better job. If we were to dismantle the government and military of this country, we would find a horror on these shores not unlike the chaos experienced by the survivors of that great hurricane in New Orleans in August and September of 2005.

The management of "reconstruction" started with the destruction of any functional body politic within Iraq, and since then you've been befuddled by Iraq's inability to create a legitimate functioning government on terms you find acceptable. To quote you from the 2000 campaign on nation-building, "I'm not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say, 'This is the way it's got to be.' ." Recently you claimed that "Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that sectarian interference will not be tolerated." And further, that "America's commitment is not open-ended." Strong words, Mr. President. I guess Mr. Maliki understands now that "this is the way it's got to be."

On Nov. 30, 2005, the White House issued the New Strategy for Victory in Iraq. "Our mission in Iraq is to win the war, our troops will return home when that mission is complete." On Nov. 6, 2006, you stated "absolutely, we're winning the war." On Dec. 6, 2006, the Iraq Study Group issued a report stating the situation in Iraq is "grave and deteriorating

Mr. President, you have dropped the last of your political capital on the table for one more gamble by a desperate con man to hit it big. Pick up your chips. It is time for the people of this country to sit you down and with every ounce of love and conviction we can muster initiate an intervention to stop the destructive course your path has taken.

— Dwight Avery, Gig Harbor

Drug dilemma

Regarding "2 activists see drug raids as revenge" [Local News, Jan. 19]: Congratulations to the drug task team for making sure we are still the number-one state in the U.S. for marijuana use.

— Gail Hill, Kent