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Letters to the Editor

Enraptured perfectly describes Sedaris event

This letter is in response to Clyde Shuman’s May 6 LTE referencing an article Anne Gentry wrote for the April 28 Alpena News edition. Although Mr. Shuman seemed to understand the message underlying Anne’s article, which was to highlight the value of public libraries, he became pedantic over a particular word. Anne used the term “enraptured” to describe audience reaction to author David Sedaris during a recent visit to our area, a program orchestrated and hosted by our own George N. Fletcher Public Library. Mr. Shuman felt this to be an overstatement. As one who attended the ...

Reading between lines of Thomas’ column

I was disturbed when I read the headline for Cal Thomas’ article in the May 10 issue of The Alpena News: “Christians are treated Trump like a king.” However, my feelings changed when I realized that Mr. Thomas was referring to evangelical Christians. There are millions of us who try to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus without believing that every word in the Bible is a direct quote from the Lord God Almighty. The scriptures are a vital block in the foundation of our faith, but we need to use our minds when we read and interpret them. It is especially hard for us to ...

Let’s all be safe during this bicycling season

It’s bicycling season! Let’s all drive alertly and be on the lookout for bicycles and motorcycles. Remember, Michigan law protects bicycles by granting them the same rights and responsibilities as cars and trucks on all Michigan roads except limited access highways (like I-75). Bicycles are required to ride with traffic (not against it) and to keep to the right of the lane. Most bicyclists try to stay to the right of the fog line if it’s big enough, or even a paved shoulder, but we have a legal right to the actual lane. Normally vehicles can go around us when the roads ...

Fluoridation causing more lost IQ than lead

Estimates of the total child IQ points currently being lost due to fluoridated water in the US are greater than those being lost from childhood lead poisoning [Neurath 2020, Neurath 2021]. Fluoride truly is the new lead. Fluoride is causing substantially greater population-wide loss of IQ today than lead. Two-thirds of Americans receive drinking water that has had fluoride added and dental interests are calling for expanding fluoridation. In contrast, lead was banned from paint and gasoline starting in the 1970s and, as a result, child blood lead levels have steadily declined to a tiny ...

Understanding differences in debt, budget

The 14th Amendment: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…shall not be questioned.” SCOTUS upheld this in Perry v US which said “Congress is without the power to abrogate the obligations of the United States in an attempt to lessen government expenditures.” The 2022 debt was approved by law and passed on a bi-partisan vote. That money is already spent and it has NOTHING to do with the budget for new spending. This is not a normal budget stand-off, but about our obligations as a nation. Defaulting would put our economy in turmoil. Our ...

Is marijuana money really worth the cost?

Recently I saw an interview by Jan Jerkielek with Ben Cort entitled “The Truth About the Marijuana Industry and the Terrifying Effects of High Potency THC. It was published Nov. 22, 2022. In it, he pointed out that the THC in today’s ‘grass’ is far more potent than was the stuff brought home from Vietnam in the 1960s. Last week I read about the tax money we shall be enjoying up here in our little corner of the world from the cannabis being sold in the three shops here. I am aware that as Americans, we are very vocal about our rights and freedom granted by our US ...