Online only letters

Safety first

Watch your tongue: Freedom of speech isn't freedom to hurt

Editor, The Times:

Recently, The Seattle Times devoted nearly a quarter of a page to the musings of Dr. Daudi Abe ["Racial slurs in the public square," Times, guest commentary, Feb. 19].

Having read — and I might add, reread — the article, I am still not able to discern what exactly it is the good doctor is trying to say.

Is he merely stating his observations? Is he standing up for a perverted social change and making excuses for it? Or is he perhaps telling us it is all right, because free speech is a Constitutional guarantee and the rest of us should be tolerant toward this practice for any or all reasons?

No matter what his intent may have been, it is inconceivable to think that any person with even the most limited sense of decency would find some of the most vile and hurtful expressions acceptable as part of anybody's manner of speech. It should not matter in what setting or by what social group such words might be in use; there simply cannot be an excuse for such a loathsome practice. Simple decency and a measure of morality should prevent anyone from using these types of expressions in any dialogue.

With all due respect for Dr. Abe, I couldn't disagree more with his casual treatment of this subject; if he can't do better than that, he might just as well consider a change of profession.

— Ruth Quiban, Seattle

Always have a backup plan

What I find particularly disturbing about "No place for mobile homeless" [Local News, Feb. 17], about Seattle's rolling Hooverville, is that Mars Hill Church was reportedly one of the parties complaining about the homeless.

The church is supposed to be a safety net of last resort, caring for those who are not cared for. Instead of complaining, it should have been helping those who were in need, not shooing them away.

— Peter Gregory, Graham

Use your best judgment

As an experienced traffic engineer, I think it would be grossly unfair to enforce Seattle's illegal speed limits with cameras ["Speed-trap cameras approved by Senate," Local News, Feb. 17].

Seattle's speed limits were arbitrarily set many decades ago, without engineering studies as required by law. Without properly engineered speed limits, we are punishing reasonable people for driving in a safe manner.

The vast majority of drivers will drive at a reasonable speed for the given roadway conditions. That speed would be about 25 mph on Northeast 45th Street in Wallingford (with pedestrian activity and businesses), 20 mph on neighborhood streets (with children and uncontrolled intersections) and 35 to 45 mph on most other arterial roads.

Stating that slower speeds are safer is wrong, since disrupting the flow of traffic leads to unsafe behavior (like passing).

Why don't we set all of the speed limits at 10 mph? Would that not be the safest thing to do? Just kidding.

— Tom Simpson, Seattle

Avoid sun damage

The recent article on widespread vitamin-D deficiency in modern countries said almost nothing about natural food sources of this vitamin, and only mentioned a few foods "fortified" with synthetic D, which has been shown to not be as safe and effective as real, food-source vitamin D ["Does our lack of sun put your health in danger?" page one, Feb. 13].

Contrary to what the article implied, vitamin-D status can be improved not only with sunshine but also with the right foods. Modern diets usually don't provide enough vitamin D because of trends toward low-fat foods. Animal fats — which have been wrongly blamed for causing many diseases — typically contain vitamin D.

Most of us no longer eat D-rich foods such as herring, sardines, oysters, shrimp or lard. Many children no longer receive cod-liver oil. Often we are advised to consume egg whites while the D is in the yolk, or we eat the flesh of the fish while avoiding D-rich skin, organs and fat.

Vegetarian and vegan diets are exceptionally poor or completely lacking in vitamin D, which can consequently lead to poor absorption of nutrients such as calcium and other minerals.

In addition to sunlight and vitamin-D-rich foods, supplements such as cod-liver oil can increase our intake of this important nutrient.

— Wade Larsen, Ferndale

Bills, bills, bills

Money down the drain

My husband and I appreciated "Care bill brings out critics" [Local News, Feb. 17], about House Bill 2693, a bill that would increase training for care providers for people with aging issues and developmental disabilities.

While we support adequate, appropriate training for professional caregivers, we cannot understand why the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) would promote wasting taxpayer money to "train" parents to care for their adult sons or daughters who have a developmental disability. We parents have been providing this care for 18 years or longer and are the ones who give other caregivers and the medical community needed information in order to understand our children's specific needs.

Not only are some of the provisions of this bill a waste of taxpayer money, they are an insult to the families who have provided quality care for their entire life. At present, parent-care providers receive six hours of useful training information, and HB 2693 does allow for those parents who wish to go through the increased training requirement.

However, families do not need a bill that puts roadblocks to finding relief providers or stipulates irrelevant training that costs everyone time and money, money that could be directed toward more services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

— Joanne O'Neill, Bellevue

Current imbalance

Substitute House Bill 2775 will provide teachers with National Board Certification an added $5,000 stipend if they work in high schools that have more than 50 percent poverty rates. But in middle schools, it takes more than 60 percent poverty rates to get the stipend, and in grade schools it takes more than 70 percent poverty rates to get the stipend.

My question is: Why?

Research shows that whenever poverty goes over 40 percent in a school, it impacts all students in the school, not just those in poverty. Why aren't teachers working in grade schools with high poverty just as deserving as those working in high schools?

Whether in the Rainier Valley, Chehalis Valley or Okanogan Valley, teachers can be working in schools that sit next to each other with the same 55 percent poverty rates, yet some get $5,000 more. Why not give them all the stipend for the same poverty rate?

If getting an accurate read at high school on poverty rates is tough due to their students not filing for federally funded meals, why not base their poverty rate on the middle schools and grade schools that feed into them?

— Neal Kirby, Centralia

African agenda

Rethink the plan

President George Bush's recent trip to Africa comes at an opportune moment ["Bush touts anti-AIDS success," News, Feb. 18]. At a time when his approval ratings are gloomy and the war in Iraq drags on, he is able to highlight what is perhaps his greatest success as president: committing unprecedented sums to fight the planet's most difficult health challenges — HIV/AIDS and malaria — through the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Malaria Initiative.

Basking in the praises of the African presidents with whom he met, the president can solidify at least this positive legacy by reauthorizing an expanded HIV/AIDS program in the form of PEPFAR II.

The current bill up for legislation commits $30 billion in the next five years — a promising start, but far short of the $50 billion recommended by HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations and Senate proposals now being debated in Congress. Other proposed changes crucial to a better PEPFAR II include removing earmarks requiring abstinence-only prevention programs and removing a pledge that recipient organizations cannot provide services to commercial-sex workers.

Such changes are critical to a more realistic and effective approach to fighting HIV/AIDS, and Bush should build upon his greatest success for the benefit of a healthier world.

— Julia Robinson, MSW, UW Department of Global Health Research Assistant, Health Alliance International, Seattle

Questionable motives

As President George Bush and the first lady return from the poorest continent in the world, feelings of achievement fill the air. With the $15 billion providing adequate treatment for those who are HIV-positive or have AIDS, nearly one million people have experienced these results of the antiretroviral drugs first hand.

Yet hiding under all the gloss of the anti-AIDS initiative is a clear question: Does the president really care for the dying people of Africa or solely for the United States' self-interest in combating terrorism?

President Bush seems to have a perception that nondemocratic, poverty-filled nations are breeding grounds for terrorism, and it is the United States' purpose to rid nations like these. He claims that this visit to Africa was based on a moral mission of realism, but, interestingly, the travel itinerary for Africa only included stable countries, which have benefited from American foreign aid, instead of those in real need of some sort of intervention, such as Kenya, Darfur, Somalia and Chad.

It will be interesting to see how President Bush plans to entice Congress into doubling the current anti-AIDS initiative when the proposed budgets for 2009 cut money for international-peacekeeping efforts and child-health programs.

Here's a suggestion: Take 15 percent of the money going to the war in Iraq and use it instead for feeding the 200 million chronically malnourished people in Africa.

— Diane Luden, Bellingham

His lips are sealed

During George Bush's recent tour of Africa, not a word was said about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since 1998, war in Congo has taken up to 5.4 million lives, the world's deadliest war since World War II.

Bush has raised aid to Africa to about $6 billion a year, or $9 per person. By comparison, the three largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid — Israel, Egypt and Pakistan — receive $6.5 billion a year, or $29 per person. Yearly incomes per person for these countries are: Israel, $17,500; Egypt, $4,400; Pakistan, $2,600; and Congo, $400.

Instead of being directed to the poor, our foreign aid is used to further a political agenda. Rwanda, which was part of Bush's recent visit, borders on Congo. "In Congo, a people's gold rush" [News, Oct. 21, 2005] reported that most of the minerals smuggled from Congo go through Rwanda and Uganda before arriving in the United States and Europe.

Does that explain George Bush's silence on the war in Congo?

— Bill Distler, Bellingham

Breathing easy

Quality control

"Trouble in the air at Port Townsend" [page one, Feb. 19], about the Port Townsend Mill, accurately describes the issues. While one can acknowledge the mill's historic role in Port Townsend, the mill does emit large amounts of effluence, so it still seems quite reasonable to ask for independent, objective monitoring of air and water quality.

— Mike Cornforth, Port Townsend