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Letters To The Editor

Climate change real

I'm a meteorologist with two degrees in atmospheric science. The great majority of the most qualified scientists in my field believe human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and other short-sighted, irresponsible actions like mass deforestation are responsible for a dangerous global warming/climate change that is causing many more extreme weather events and that urgent action is necessary to avoid the worst impacts. Since trees effectively draw the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, maintaining healthy forests would be one effective way to help slow this climate change. The ...

Memorial Day reflection

To the Journal editor: As a kid, each Memorial Day I stood next to Dad in the sun, rain and cold with hand placed over my heart. I remember listening to veterans’ names being read-off as the wind weaved through the cemetery’s quaking aspens, as if they were whispering to me. I will again place hand over heart, with my eyes welling up as my Dad, Uncles, and other Veterans’ names are called. I know this resonates with many of you. Dad didn’t share many World War II experiences, but I learned he landed on Europe’s shore four days after D-Day and fought throughout Europe. One of ...

Community, not battleground

To the Journal editor: Marquette County neighbors, I just came back from the Kaufman awards. It’s an annual ceremony recognizing students who are doing something exceptional for their school, peers or community. Some examples that struck me were making equipment for our firefighters, serving as a liaison between the students and the school board during the Redmen to Sentinels change, and presiding over the Marquette Senior High School chapter of the national honor society. It showcased the potential of the students, but our new High School Principal Gavin Johnson saw something even ...

Investing in U.P.’s youngest residents is investment in all of us

To the Journal editor: A baby born in the Upper Peninsula and a baby born in Ann Arbor arrive with the same theoretical access to care, but the U.P. baby's mother may have driven past two hospitals that couldn't deliver her child, rationed gas money between appointments and groceries, or spent her third trimester relocated hours from home. By the time her baby arrives, the gap is already wide and it has almost nothing to do with the care received. That is why the expansion of Rx Kids to the Upper Peninsula deserves the full attention of policymakers, health systems, funders and ...

The Dark Age of Trump

To the Journal editor: America has always been a beacon of hope for the world, known for its openness, tolerance, love of freedom, religious pluralism and global stability. But under President Trump, we have become a nation that shuns immigrants, destroys alliances, embraces protectionism and has become an undependable ally. You can trash talk your friends for only so long. Forgotten are the 80 years of shared sacrifice with our allies in facing down common enemies like the Soviet Union. Now, our closest allies increasingly see us as a global threat (Politico). This belligerence ...

The Tale of the Fisherman and his Wife

To the Journal editor: The Grimms Brothers' fairy "Tale of the Fisherman and his Wife" came to mind when I recently reflected on the war in Iran. I loved that story as a child and years later, dutifully read it to my children at bedtime. In this classic tale, a poor fisherman lives in a hovel near the sea and catches a magic fish. His wife pesters him to ask the magic fish for a bigger house, then a mansion, then to be a king, then emperor, then pope. The fish grants all these wishes. But when the greedy wife asked the fish to make her "equal to God," the fish cast them back into their ...