Letters to the Editor

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

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We're looking for inspiration here

With the Iowa caucuses kicking off the 2008 presidential election race, we are preparing for the caucus on Orcas Island Feb. 9. It feels a long way away. Early results in Iowa and New Hampshire can quickly winnow a field of viable candidates down to a precious few. I hope those early states will send us candidates that will provide us with the compassionate visionary leadership we so desperately need in this country.

Candidates who are working for peace, affordable health care for all, alternative energy that gets us off fossil-fuel addiction and leadership on fighting climate change are paramount. But underneath those key issues, I yearn for a leader who can speak to us clearly and passionately about what needs to be done and can fire us up to get busy on the pressing issues of this century.

I have been inspired by many of the Democratic candidates offering progressive visions, particularly Barack Obama, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich. Two weeks ago, during a trip to Chicago, I attended an Obama rally. For me, it was a turning point. I found Obama to be smart, articulate, clear and inspirational. I sensed in the man an ability to gather us together and lead us forward on a constructive path toward a future that includes more than it excludes, creates more than destroys and favors collaboration rather than domination.

My wife's parents, who live in Missouri, generally vote along conservative Republican lines. On our return from Chicago, talking with them about Obama, we were dumbstruck to learn that they were planning on voting for Obama or Edwards. Wow! Change is in the air.

With all the billions of dollars that will be spent on 30-second campaign TV ads and such, trying to manipulate us into voting for a particular person, I hope you will find an opportunity to meet candidates face-to-face and hear what they have to say in detail. Can you picture that person inspiring us as a nation? Bringing us together? Releasing the great potential of this extraordinary new century? I hope so.

Jay Kimball
Eastsound

Kucinich would bring change

Any American who actually works for a living would be well served by Dennis Kucinich. We need to make some serious changes in this country and Kucinich appears to me to be the only one who actually would bring it home.

I read Noam Chomsky from time to time and something he said strikes a chord every time the "candidates" are mentioned: Corporate media simply ignore anything or anyone who threatens the status quo. Kucinich would cut out the fat cats who pay themselves handsomely at the expense of every U.S. consumer. Executive payload appears to have no limit, reaching as high as $1.7 billion for one year.

If we want to affect any real change we need a candidate who isn't money-bit, who is not backed by big-money lobbyists, not endorsed by big corporations, not "brought to you" by special interests who would privatize everything we own collectively and sell it back to us for profit -- the same people who ship U.S. jobs off to children in foreign sweatshops.

Kucinich should be standing out in front. He's still in the running, and I watch for news of him every day. Do not ignore him. He's the man.

Marilyn Phillips
Freeland

MATH WARS

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Bring students up to higher standard

This is a good time to end the math wars. On one side, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson and many educators want to keep reform (everyday) math in the public schools. On another track are many math teachers, scientists and parents looking to Singapore or Saxon math to bring our students up to higher international standards (wheresthemath.com).

What we don't need is a muddle of the two approaches. Last spring, independent consultant Strategic Teaching recommended fewer math topics that use standard algorithms so that students can gain a mastery of math skills. They should learn in a logical sequence instead of jumping around from one math approach to another.

It is time for Seattle's newly elected School Board to show leadership. Elected representatives in Olympia must also insist on the best math program for students so they can become successful engineers, scientists and leaders themselves. It is time for Singapore math in schools.

Georgi Krom
Seattle

HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

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Don't blame sweetener for obesity

The Tuesday article, "Fresh from the garden: Enjoy sweetness at its natural best," may mislead consumers about high-fructose corn syrup.

Dr. Walter Willett, Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Department chairman, told The New York Times, "There's no substantial evidence to support the idea that high-fructose corn syrup is somehow responsible for obesity."

New research continues to confirm that high-fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners such as sugar and honey.

High-fructose corn syrup is a natural sweetener and has the same number of calories as sugar. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high-fructose corn syrup "generally recognized as safe" status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.

High-fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits, too. It keeps foods fresh. It enhances fruit and spice flavors. It retains moisture in bran cereals and helps keep breakfast bars moist.

Consumers can see the latest research and learn more at FCSfacts.com.

Audrae Erickson
President

Corn Refiners Association

Washington, D.C.

ABSTINENCE-ONLY SEX ED

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Gays, lesbians get mixed message

Good for the state of Washington for putting kids' health, safety and well-being ahead of the Bush administration's extortion dollars ("Federal spending: Sex without the ed," Dec. 26).

One thing that is seldom mentioned in the abstinence-only debate is the effect it can have on gay and lesbian kids. First you tell them, "No sex until marriage," then tell them, "You can't get married." How effective does anyone think that approach is?

Bill Dubay
Seattle

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GLOBAL WARMING AND LOGGING

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Wood as sequestering end product

The P-I's Dec. 27 editorial, "Global warming: Re-examine logging," asks whether less logging in the Pacific Northwest will help prevent global warming. However, less logging may actually mean more global warming.

One of the best ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmospheric cycle is to sequester the carbon-rich wood in trees and turn the wood into houses or other end products. The new trees that grow in place of the felled trees will then sequester additional carbon from the atmosphere.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported in April 2007 that forests in the general latitude of the Pacific Northwest have a net warming influence on climate because of their dark green canopy reflecting very little sunlight. During the interval between the felling of trees for wood and the maturation of replacement trees, more sunlight will be reflected back into space, resulting in cooler temperatures.

James M. Taylor
The Heartland Institute

Chicago

VIADUCT

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Pay attention to what geologists say

I hope whoever is making the decision on the Alaskan Way Viaduct will listen to the geologist better than the Interstate 90 experience. I couldn't figure out why anyone would build I-90 for several miles over one of the biggest faults in the Seattle area and then, going over Snoqualmie Pass, set it up so that there were areas where it was very obvious that there would be slide potential.

The biggest fault area is between Alki Beach and downtown Seattle. I was glad to see that there would not be an Alaskan Way tunnel, as Seattle is located on a plate that moves in a southerly direction. The Olympic Peninsula is on a different plate that travels in an easterly direction and travels underneath Seattle. That would make me uneasy if I had to drive through a tunnel located there.

Ted Lambie
Renton

Not 'everybody' wants to see it down

Gosh, it is sure nice to know that we now have Gov. Chris Gregoire the "decider." Who the heck does she sound like and act like? We also have Seattle's deputy mayor Tim Ceis who has "decided" that "it's everybody's objective to get the viaduct down as soon as possible and practical."

Did I miss something? I've seen nothing to indicate that "everybody" wants to see the viaduct come down. I know that I sure as heck don't want to see it come down. The answer is to fix it.

Gregoire and Ceis need to stop playing bully.

Steve Swihart
Federal Way

RED LIGHT CAMERAS

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Who pays fine when city violates?

The planned red-light cameras could be a good idea, but who pays traffic fines for city-owned vehicles such as the parking enforcement scooter that nearly ran me down recently while it was running a red light? Silly me. Those will be swept under the rug as part of SPD policing its own.

Bill Roberts
Renton

Spend the savings on something smart

What great news. Traffic enforcement, even if it doesn't involve officer intervention.

Where's the $1.1 million? After we buy more cameras, we should have a little more than a million left. Let's hope it gets spent on something other than a million-a-mile streetcar.

Mike Strong
Seattle

POLITICAL GRIDLOCK

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Group not known for progressive fixes

Researching the "bipartisan group" of politicians who will meet in Oklahoma to fret about "gridlock" in D.C. (Thursday editorial) does not turn up names notable for promoting any progressive solutions to the problems we face.

Hardly a group that has been outspoken in advocating for universal health care, stricter measures to control global climate change, increasing the minimum wage to catch up with inflation, protecting civil liberties instead of trampling them, etc. Indeed, this is a fairly right-of-center group, regardless of there being some Democrats in it.

If those people had spoken out publicly during the first six years of the Bush administration when there was no "gridlock" (because the GOP majorities and the administration were collaborating to tear down the previous 40 years of social and environmental progress), they might hold a bit of credibility for me.

Instead, I think they are folks who are afraid that a fundamentalist Mike Huckabee might be the GOP nominee against a powerfully attractive Democratic candidate who responds to a newly awakened liberalism. And they don't want a liberal candidate to triumph.

Compared with the first six years under Bush, I'm glad a lot of his proposals were "gridlocked" last year.

Philip L. Bereano
Seattle

Gridlock caused by moneybags

When I see a headline that says "Campaign '08: Fix our system," the last thing I think of is independent third parties. Gridlock is not because of partisanship but because of who rules the parties and that would be the big contributors to the parties and their campaigns. Alternative parties can still be used as mouthpieces for the special interests. A party privately funded by a gazillionaire is not an independent party. We need to change the source of the money and allow candidates of merit to compete with their new ideas, even though they are not wealthy or well-connected. Public campaign funding will level the playing field, doesn't invoke First Amendment issues and is working now in seven states and two cities. Go to WashClean.organd check it out, then fix the system or take the fix out of the system.

Marcee Stone
President of the board

Washington Public Campaigns

Seattle

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