Letters to the Editor
winebug
Published Letters: 13 Editor's Choice: 2
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genetically modified microbes
[Read the article: Cautionary tales of microbe evolution]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As a microbiologist I will not attempt to debate the ethics of creating new microbes to work for us, but I would like to point out that we have been creating and releasing microbes for our own use for what is likely thousands of years. We have been using genetic engineering to do it for at least 30 years. We have released a lot of them into the environment and there has been an ongoing debate about the safety of this practice. I and many other scientists advocate that there be rules that require that we at least inform people (consumers) of what is created and released. In Europe there are rules. In this country there are not. As long as the organism is generally considered safe, not pathogenic, there is little oversight about what is done with these engineered organisms.
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Call a spade a spade
[Read the article: Neoconservative radicalism has reshaped our political spectrum]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Neoconservative, nationalism let's just call it what it is. The idea that security of the homeland is of predominant importance is a central idea of good aold fashion facism.
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Call a spade a spade
[Read the article: Neoconservative radicalism has reshaped our political spectrum]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Neoconservative, nationalism let's just call it what it is. The idea that security of the homeland is of predominant importance is a central idea of good old fashion facism.
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Pelosi and Truth
[Read the article: Real inconvenient truths]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You have an interesting take on truth. While 5 male Republican congressmen can go to Syria and meet with Assad and question the administration's Middle East policy, when Nanacy Pelosi does it it sends mixed messages. Is it because she is a Democrat or because she is a woman? Or is it just because the right wing press jumped all over her and ignored the Republican delegation?
As for global warming, it is unquestionably the concensus of the scientific communitee that global warming is a reality and is being affected by human action. As a working scientist I have searched the literature for a peer reviewed article that denies global warming. There are none. There is no real consensus on the predicted results of the warming, but that is not the same thing as agreeing on the reality of increased carbon in the atmosphere and it's affect on the average global temperature. As average temperatures increase we could see many results; including increasingly cold winters but even hotter summers, warming in coastal areas and cooling in the interior, or even the eventual return of an ice age. Those results, like a snowstorm in April, don't mean that the earth is not going through severe climatic change due to increased atmospheric carbon.
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mixed age classes
[Read the article: Somebody keeps biting my 2-year-old]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When my son was bitten in day care it was the older kids that put a stop to it. He attended a high quality daycare that was relatively small and had mixed age groups. The older kids (we're talking 3 and 4 year olds) made sure the younger ones (1 and 2 years old) were safe and taken care of. A 4 year old can be an affective deterent to an aggressive 2 year old and an advocate for a child that is being picked on. The staff made certain that the older kids took their responsibility seriously and never bullied the younger children. This system worked so well for my son that now, as a teenager, he still takes it upon himself to make sure others are treated fairly. If we had more of this attitude among our children and teenagers we would have fewer school shootings. Peer pressure works both ways.
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Issue a signing statement
[Read the article: The GOP's loyalty oath]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All Virginians wishing to vote in the Republican primary should take a page from the President's play book and issue a signing statement with their loyalty oath
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Real Truth
[Read the article: I'm embarrassed to admit I met my guy online]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you don't like "online" try "We met through a professional service. It is so much more civilized than the bar scene. People have been meeting through match makers for centuries."
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Obama demographic
[Read the article: Racism on the trail]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]OK I admit it. I was one of those who hung up on an Obama caller, twice. The first one wanted to know if I was supporting Clinton or Obama, I said Edwards and hung up. It wasn't racists but I'm not sure he knew that. The second time a woman called and asked me to donate $100 to the Obama campaign. When I said no, she asked for $25. I had just made a donation to Barbara Boxer's PAC and wasn't feeling very much like giving anything more, but this woman never bothered to ask if I was an Obama supporter. I just hung up after saying that I didn't want to donate anything at all to Senator Obama. I will certainly vote for Obama if he gets the nomination but I feel that I have been sterotyped as a "liberal" with the assumption that I must support Obama. I'm not even a registered Democrat!
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Cop Out
[Read the article: The atheist and the creationist: Can't they just get along?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cary's answer was a total non-answer. The problem is that the friend is being asked to teach religion as science. There is nothing wrong with the creation myth itself, but it isn't science. As a working scientist I have a great respect for all cultural beliefs but they have nothing to do with scientific theory and proof. Evolution is a theory in the same way gravity is a theory. If we called it the law of evolution (like the law of gravity) perhaps it would get more respect. As for how evolution accounts for truely large changes in life i.e. microbes to plants and animals I suggest reading any of Lynn Margulis' books on the subject, such as "Symbiotic Planet : A New Look at Evolution". As with any good scientific idea "evolution" has built on itself since Darwin and we have come to understand far more than Darwin could have imagined about how life on our home planet came to be and how it works now. For an excellent program on why intelligent design is not on a par with evolution as a scientific theory watch the PBS NOVA broadcast, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/programs/ht/wm/3416_01_220.html