Letters to the Editor
curmudgeon2
Published Letters: 414 Editor's Choice: 64
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Old?
[Read the article: I'm younger than that now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My neighbor, a woman in her 60's, took up Iron Man (Woman?) triathlons a few years ago. She has completed at least two. You know, 2.5 mile swim, 108 mile bike ride, and then 26.2 miles running. I took up marathons at about 50. In my 50's I considered a half-marathon a short run, and went back packing in the afternoon after completing them. Everyone said my knees would go when I go old. I'm in my mid-70's and they are still just fine. I still love pussy, which my wife is thankful for.
The most important thing to know is that doctors don't know shit about staying healthy. If you involve yourself with the medical industry it will turn you into a chronic sickie as fast as possible. After all that's where the money is. I found I had a leaky aortic valve 25 years ago, during my long distance running days. The Docs told me that I needed a valve replacement ASAP. I tore up their prescriptions and see them every 5-10 years for the latest and greatest in ultrasounds, which I interpret. They have given up advising me, so we fun each other about it.
Dr. Johnson had it right, everyone needs a good medical problem. You take care of it and it will take care of you.
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Type 2 diabetes costs $18,000 a year
[Read the article: Healthy, my ass]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Medicare spends $18,000 a year each to treat the vast numbers of type 2 diabetics on the rolls. Docs and Big Pharma make lots of money treating these people. They are a real cash cow. Since the most effective (and safest) treatment for type 2 diabetes is diet and exercise (which cost nothing), the policy should be that your medical costs will be covered for one year. After that you are on your own. It's called tough love.
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Not everyone who gets Type 2 Diabetes is obese
[Read the article: Healthy, my ass]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Totally true, but most type 2 diabetics are obese. However, a person can appear thin and still have unhealthy levels of body fat. I'm sure that a tough love medical system could identify those who have some cause of their diabetes other than their rotten health habits.
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Salt Lake City (SLC)
[Read the article: Ask the Pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well Patrick, you've nailed it this time. SLC has lots of regional jets flying in and out because it serves a sparsely populated Intermountain West. How many people do you think fly to Bozeman, Montana or Cedar City, Utah on any given day? It would take several days worth of passengers to fill a 737. I live in Idaho Falls, which is served by five airlines, mostly with regional jets. We are two hundred miles from SLC. Skywest (Delta) flys to SLC, United flys to Denver, Northwest flys to MSP, Alaska flys to Boise, and Allegiant flys to Las Vegas. Idaho Falls has a population of 50,000, and the airport serves an area with about 200,000. Allegiant flys only to Las Vegas and uses MD-80 class planes, the largest planes that serve IDA. There is no way that we would have such service without regional jets. We also occasionally get Air Force One parked at IDA while the Pres enjoys the local area. Yes IDA can handle 747's. 90% of our traffic is general aviation, however.
The advent of regional jets has opened up towns like ours to decent air service. The other end of the flight is almost necessarily a major hub. Because of the nearby Idaho National Laboratory we have lots of people going to DC every day. I think a regional jet could be filled up doing a daily round trip from IDA to DCA. The advent of VLJ's will make life even more interesting for the airlines, since they will probably lose a lot of their first class clientèle. But they probably won't increase crowding at the major hubs, since they will be able to go direct from Bozeman to Cedar City. TFL.
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Bush supports climate change
[Read the article: "Bush's policies are accelerating climate change"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now that he appears to believe in it, he will do his best to do nothing about it. I applaud that. Change is good. A few million years ago, before the Himalayas decided to rise and erode, thereby removing the warmth-giving CO2 from our air, the Earth was a semi-tropical paradise. The only ice was in Antarctica. Palm trees in Alaska and Siberia, now that's heaven on Earth! A few rich people will lose their ocean front property, and a billion or so ordinary folks will have to move, but that's how it works. The last 10,000 years, AKA The Holocene, is an anomaly, which will end no matter what we do. After we have burnt the last of the fossil fuel in three hundred years or so, orbital forcing will plunge us into the next ice age, which we have temporarily delayed by that burning. Have no fear, however, modern humans evolved during the last ice age, and we are well adapted for life along the glaciers. There will far fewer of us, but that is also good. The brains of our glacier-living ancestors were 10% larger than ours. The easy life that the Holocene has provided has made us weak and stupid, not what God intended. Bring it on, as our esteemed Pres likes to say.