About 'Greens' meetings
Having always been concerned about our environment and how we human beings affect planet Earth, I joined the Traverse Bay Watershed Greens just over one year ago in an attempt to "do something" about what I truly believe.
The activities and discussions in which I have participated have helped me understand that this organization encompasses a broad spectrum of important values, including ecological wisdom, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, decentralization, community-based economics, feminism, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility and future focus/sustainability.
When I review this list, I am always surprised that more people don't attend the Greens' meetings. It has not been necessary for me to give up my membership in a major political party, the varying opinions Greens express at our meetings over issues are thought-provoking and it has been reassuring to be part of a group possessing beliefs similar to mine.
The meetings are informal and are held on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. downstairs at Horizon Bookstore. If this sounds interesting to you, I hope you will join us. Advance notice not required!
Truda Fagan
Traverse City
Chorus of barking dogs
If it's not one dog it's another!
It seems no matter where you live there is a barking dog in the neighborhood. My husband and I recently bought a house in town and were enjoying our new neighborhood until the nice weather came around and the barking became more noticeable. There is not one, but three or four dogs who at one time or another annoy us with a chorus of barking.
I can't help but wonder how this does not bother the owners themselves; are they immune to the noise, or do they not notice their own dogs barking? To top it off it seems to also happen on Sunday morning when we are trying to enjoy sleeping in.
To all dog lovers out there, including me, be aware of the barking and how it is affecting your neighbors. An old proverb comes to mind: Do unto others, as you would have done unto you. I happen to like my windows open and should not be forced to close them in order to enjoy my right to peace and quiet.
Renee Wareck
Traverse City
Keep those rabbit ears!
The June 20 "No More Rabbit Ears" article was good, however the title is a bit misleading. Consumers will especially need the UHF part of the "rabbit ear" or UHF house antennas for the box to function properly. The digital TV system picks up on the same type of VHF/UHF signals which still requires the same kind of antenna (UHF for the Traverse City and Upper Peninsula stations). The VHF or V Whip portion of the antenna is required for two stations in Grand Rapids for those able to pick them up south of the region.
Old antennas should suffice, but it doesn't hurt to update to a preamp version for farther range and less dropout.
Mark Cameron
Worthington, Ohio
The writer, who formerly lived in Elk Rapids, is an electronics representative for a consumer electronics company.
Distortion of facts
Cal Thomas (June 17 column) either does not understand, or willfully distorts, a writ of habeas corpus when he asks whether the dead victims of the next terrorist attack will be "wrapped in a copy of the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling" granting habeas corpus right to detainees at Guantanamo.
Thomas insists that the decision will unleash a hoard of terrorists upon us. That is his first mistake or distortion. A habeas corpus writ is not a Get Out of Jail Free card. It grants individuals an opportunity to question whether they should in fact be imprisoned; it does not mean that the prison door will then open for them.
Thomas' second, and more insidious, mistake or distortion is terming those seeking habeas rights "terrorists." Doing so assumes precisely what the result of a habeas corpus hearing is supposed to determine, namely, whether evidence indicates that the detained individual poses a terrorist threat.
Some of these detainees have been in custody for six years without an opportunity to prove that they were mistakenly imprisoned in the first place.
If the government has solid evidence, it should not fear a habeas corpus hearing. If it does not, one has to wonder what it is doing and why.
Stephen Lewis
Old Mission
Gambling ruins lives
I begin each morning reading my favorite newspaper, the Record-Eagle.
On Friday, June 20, when I saw the sports section, I was shocked at its decision to do another "local resident makes good" feature; this one about Mr. Banducci, who enjoys an apparently "successful" career as a professional gambler. I'll bet (pun intended) of all those who gamble, Mr. Banducci is one in a million or more. What about all the rest, including many who are compulsive gamblers?
The consequences of pathological, compulsive gambling are horrendous. Dr. Gregory Jantz, Ph.D., founder of the Center for Counseling and Health Resources, notes the following: the suicide rate is 20 times that of the non-gambler (one in five attempts suicide); 65 percent commit crimes to support their habit; and the divorce rate for problem gamblers is nearly double that of non-gamblers.
I am very concerned, and so should the Record-Eagle have been, about the number of readers who, after reading this article, will become compulsive gamblers, and the number of lives that will be ruined.
Karlton DeFoe
Traverse City
Just use electricity
In his June 21 letter Anthony Thomas says "Wind farms are using electrolysis for power storage. Environmental tree huggers can't even complain about hydrogen! Hydrogen made by electrolysis burned turns back into water.
Clean fuel."
All true -- but not very efficient. Regardless of the source of energy use during electrolysis, it always takes more energy to make hydrogen than one can reap from it.
It would be better to just use the electricity itself as the "fuel."
Reminds me of turning corn into methanol.
Frederick Ide
Williamsburg
Americans first
I recently read that the American Red Cross was running out of essential food and tents for the flood victims all over this fine U.S. of A.
At the same time, we have wasted hundred of millions of dollars on the typhoon victims in Burma.
We need to get back to taking care of Americans first and stop catering to the rest of the world.
Ken Monroe
Harbor Springs
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