Letters: Both parties make COVID political; Justice served for mandated reporter
Both parties make COVID political
I’ve got to hand it to the Republicans and Democrats for making COVID a political issue. Wow, what a great way to insure you stay in power — gripe back and forth about who’s to blame and pass voter restrictions. Also what a way to cull the population without actually admitting to it. You can bet that as soon as the vaccine was available, all the haves rolled up their sleeves and continued on arguing about who can get it. While the have nots listened to the rhetoric and we divided and squared off against one another about masks and about whose life matters. Come on, last year was one of the best years for least number of flu deaths how did that happen? Hmm, masks. So in the end check on your neighbor, wear your mask and maybe we will get through this and actually vote in the right people who can make a difference and bring back the USA to its glory because the one in there now won’t do it. They have forgotten that is is not about them but about the people they serve. Good luck and -od bless. Didn’t want to offend anyone. Isn’t that sad we have to think like that?
Justice served for mandated reporter
You can tell your psychologist, clergy person, or educational professional you killed your grandmother and they can smile and say, ”how does that make you feel.” You tell them you abused a child and they must report it. Mike McQuery saw a naked man and a naked boy in a university shower late at night. He did what he was legally required to do and reported that to his boss the football coach. The coach passed that along to the athletic director, another bureaucrat and the university president. They sat on the information. As Spanier put it in an e-mail, the only downside to not reporting this is they might get caught.
When they were caught the athletic director and the bureaucrat eventually pled out.
Spanier apparently got an offer he couldn’t refuse from the board of trustees. He got a no-show job at the university at $600,000 a year plus a bunch more money tax-free from a life insurance policy and free legal council. His only constraint was he couldn’t implicate anyone higher, which was the board of trustees itself. The boy in the shower was never located because the university never looked for him. All Spanier had to do was call the police. He didn’t do it which is why he went to jail.
No time to lose on addressing climate change
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its most dire warning yet: Climate change is already causing catastrophic floods, droughts and wildfires around the world and it’s going to get a lot worse unless we drastically reduce carbon pollution.
Although many Republicans, like Congressmen Thompson and Keller, remain wedded to the fossil fuel industry, county commissioners Mike Pipe and Mark Higgins have been leading the charge to get us off these dirty fuels that are wrecking our planet. Almost two years ago, they had the foresight to install solar panels at the prison.
Like many homeowners and businesses, they realized that installing solar panels was like paying your electric bill in advance, and this would not only save the county money but also reduce carbon pollution.
And their initiative is paying off. According to the latest report, the county is on track to save up to $6.6 million over the life of the project.
Installing solar panels at our home is also paying off. With the 30% tax credit, savings on our electric bill, payments from the power company for producing excess electricity, and monthly Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) payments, we will pay off our investment in about 8 years.
The climate crisis is the greatest threat our civilization has ever faced. The good news is that the solution is readily available, if only we can get our political leaders to act.
We have no time to lose.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 7:00 AM.