Help our democracy heal

February 18, 2023

To the Journal editor: I picked up the book “Endurance” about Shackleton’s 1915 ill-fated Antarctica expedition. Facing the dire consequences of their ship being crushed, the Endurance’s crew perspective changed from self-serving to seeing the humanity in each other. Their only chance for survival was to combine each of their unique skills in order to be successful. They jettison ego and petty differences, and began to salvage what they could before the Endurance finally succumbed to the violent stresses of polarizing ice sheets. The crew relied on each other to navigate ...

Real reason given

February 17, 2023

To the Journal editor: Marching in local parades with “Yoopers for Ukraine,” I was profoundly struck by large spontaneous outbursts of applause at the Chassell Strawberry Festival, the many eager takers of the Ukrainian flags we passed out at the Parade of Nations, and most recently the proud sight of the Ukrainian flag carried alongside the American flag by the color guard leading Hancock’s Heikinpaiva parade. Yet, every week as we protest Putin’s invasion of Ukraine at the Portage Lift Bridge, there will always be two or three people passing by who will shout out “Go ...

Loss of unions impacts all

January 28, 2023

To the Journal editor: Recently read a couple of editorials from The Detroit News. Also noticed the Mackinac Group is heavily flogging the same thing. Incidentally, “Right-to-Work” is, in my opinion, the worst misnomer since the Red Delicious apple. Here are some facts to keep in mind when you read that former Gov. Snyder saved us from the evil of mandatory union membership when he made us a “Right-to-Work” state 10 years ago. 1. A “closed shop” is one in which a worker must join a union in order to work in that shop. It has been illegal in all 50 states since ...

Knowledge is power

January 27, 2023

To the Journal editor: What we count as newsworthy, like what we count as historically significant, is a matter of opinion. These days, many avid news seekers ferret out “news sources” that only reinforce their present biases. About 1.4 million Americans tune into Fox News each day, about 1.3 million view MSNBC and/or CNN. Together, that’s less than 1% of the U.S. population. If you’re reading this, you probably believe most other people read the paper, as well. Pew Research says about 25 million Americans routinely or occasionally a physical or online newspaper; or about ...

Climate change having impact

January 25, 2023

To the Journal editor: The World Meteorological Organization released a report in September stating that human-caused climate change/global warming has caused weather-related disasters to increase fivefold over the last 50 years, resulting in an average of 115 fatalities and $200 million damage every day around the world. The WMO warned that unless humans reduce the burning of the dirty fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas responsible for this climate change, these disastrous impacts will only get worse. Additionally, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ...

Safe homes are the goal

January 24, 2023

To the Journal editor: For all of us freaking out about the government coming to haul away our gas stoves, let’s stop a moment, let our pulse return to normal and ask why this is happening Why would this problem suddenly arise after we have been happily cooking with gas all these long years? The answer is this: most of us grew up in houses where we would raise and lower the leaky old windows with the heavy weights on each side, go outside in the spring to remove the heavy storm windows and install the screens for the summer. Then, in the fall, it would be time to get out the ...