Political correctness shouldn’t trump truth
The Grand Poobahs of Political Correctness are doing it again. They are taking Vice President Biden to the woodshed for his comments on avoiding being in enclosed spaces, such as airplanes and metros, during the pandemic.
The vice president’s comments made good sense from a public health perspective. The PC Poobahs are now pushing to rename the virus and no longer refer to “swine flu.”
Perhaps they are afraid of losing the vote from the pig lobby. However, at least some aspects of the government are telling the truth.
There is a health emergency, as has been acknowledged by the U.S. Department of State:
“The World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have sent experts to Mexico to work with health authorities. CDC has confirmed that seven of 14 respiratory specimens sent to CDC by the Mexican National Influenza Center are positive for influenza A (H1N1) and are similar to the swine influenza viruses recently identified in the United States.
“On April 25, the WHO Director-General declared this event a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under the rules of the International Health Regulations. CDC and state public and animal health authorities are currently investigating the outbreak in the United States. … Some of the U.S. cases have been linked to travel to Mexico.
“CDC is concerned that continued travel by U.S. travelers to Mexico presents a serious risk for their health and the health of others during travel and after they return to the United States. At this time, CDC recommends that U.S. travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico.”
In light of the WHO warnings, Vice President Biden’s cautions are justified and reflect the public health issues accurately. Whether or not various industries and groups have their feelings hurt by the stated truth is irrelevant.
ó Richard D. Sorensen
Salisbury
Swine flu dangers are overstated
The best sense to use with regard to swine flu is to stop describing what has happened as a “pandemic.”
Sure, a few hundred people have died from this illness, and my prayers and sympathies go to their loved ones. However, that number is far dwarfed by the number who die each day from heart disease, cancer, or HIV/AIDS.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said it best on his radio program, “The Huckabee Report” (heard at 8:30 a.m. each day on Salisbury’s own Memories 1280, WSAT): “Swine flu isn’t spreading. The only thing spreading is the panic over swine flu.”
ó Stephen V. Gilmore
Charlotte
Gentle, painless death for homeless animals
Re: “Mecklenburg uses lethal injection to euthanize animals,” April 28:
We are thankful that animals have dedicated and compassionate individuals like Dr. Mary Blinn and staffer Jeremy Helms caring for them at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control, and we’re grateful that the facility never turns its back on needy dogs or cats, despite the fact that the best anyone can offer many homeless animals is a gentle and painless death.
No one despises the sad reality of euthanasia more than the brave people who hold the syringe and who go to work every day knowing they may have to say a final goodbye to animals whom they’ve fed, walked, cared for and loved.
Euthanasia by intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital, when administered by trained, caring shelter staff, is painless, peaceful and very quick. It is a kindness for suffering animals and those for whom no good homes exist.
Shelters like Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control are true havens for homeless and unwanted animals because they accept every needy cat and dog who comes through their doors, unlike so-called “no-kill” shelters, which accept only the youngest, cutest and most adoptable animals and turn the rest away.
Please, help reach the day when there is a loving home for every animal by always spaying and neutering and adopting from shelters instead of buying animals from breeders or pet stores. To learn more, visit www.Helping Animals.com.
ó Teresa Chagrin
Norfolk, Va.
Chagrin is an animal care and control specialist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Real inconvenience is global misinformation
A recent editorial article seems to prove that Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and the media hype over global warming have convinced some that we are destroying the planet by emitting carbon dioxide. Remember that Gore also said he invented the Internet.
Gore failed to mention several important points in the movie. Some of the glaciers featured in the film have been receding for over 100 years. Also, when the graphs of temperature and carbon dioxide levels are superimposed, it can be seen that carbon dioxide levels normally increase after warming, not vice-versa. NASA has made a correction in its data since the release of the film, which now shows that 1939 was the warmest year in the last century.
Out of the 10 warmest years in the last century, six occurred before 1960.
Yes, climate does change. Dr. Christopher Scotese, an earth history professor at the University of Texas, used fossil evidence to produce a graph of temperature in ancient times (www.scotese. com/climate.htm). It shows we are continuing to warm up out of the last ice age. As humans, we may assume that sea levels should remain constant. However, contrary evidence can be found in the small town of Clayton, a few miles southeast of Raleigh. Fossils of ocean creatures can be found there today over 200 feet above present sea levels. Within the last thousand years, Vikings had settlements in Greenland and Canada during a warm period. Later cooling produced the “Little Ice Age” which punished the revolutionary troops at Valley Forge. During the last two years, northern and western states have experienced unusually cold weather.
The claim that all mainstream scientists agree that we are causing global warming is a myth. Many credentialed university professors do not believe we are the cause. In 2007, NPR sponsored a debate in New York between scientists of both sides. After the debate, those on Gore’s side were a minority.
The current carbon tax and trade scheme is just another attempt to control us. My carbon footprint is already smaller than Al Gore’s.
ó Joe D. Teeter
Gold Hill
State lottery becoming N.C. Racing Lottery?
It seems the N.C. Education Lottery is sponsoring the truck race at Charlotte in May.
After reading this, we made a quick call to Mike Jones of Lowes Motor Speedway, who stated that the cost of being a title sponsor of a race starts somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000.
So, let me get this straight. We have a budget shortfall in North Carolina, we are cutting the pay of teachers and other state employees across the board and robbing education money to help balance the budget, yet we can afford to spend $300,000-$400,000 to sponsor a truck race?
Unfortunately, I stopped after four years of engineering school. Can someone please explain this math to me?
I guess if the money were truly for education, I could go back to school and learn how to account for this. Since the governor is the person most in charge, maybe she can answer this. Somebody needs to be fired.
Folks, please contact your representatives about this: Lorene. Coates@ncleg.net and Andrew. Brock@ncleg.net. Enough is enough.
ó Jeff Chapman
Salisbury