Keep Nuke Running
So the owners and managers of Vermont Yankee cover up problems and downplay risks—this is my surprised face. The solution, however, is not shutting the plant down. What would take its place? A coal plant? Even so-called clean coal is far dirtier than a nuclear plant. Wind and solar power hold potential for the future, but the technology is nowhere near far enough along to fill the capacity.
That leaves the three-quarters of Vermont residents served by Vermont Yankee with three options: take their chances with coal or biomass, go off the grid or live without electricity altogether, or keep Vermont Yankee running—and regulate the hell out of it. The state should enforce genuine transparency and renew the plant's license not every 20 years, but every two, making it prove every step of the way that it is operating safely, cleanly, and openly. Nukes may not be perfect, but they're the safest, greenest technology we have, and are the smartest way to bridge the gap to full-scale renewable energy.
Gregory Lauzon
Deerfield
Saloom Didn't Get His Due
A while back, reading James Heflin's article "How Not To Become Yeats" (Oct. 29, 2009) regarding the 30 poems in 30 days project, I was frankly disappointed in how his self-derision in regards to his ability to generate anything worthwhile from the exercise ended up being a blanket insult (intended? or not?) to the idea and all who participated. In short, he seemed to conclude that, unlike any other creative discipline, practice and exercise are not only unneeded, but damaging.
I am further disappointed in his writing regarding Roger Salloom in the "Cornerstones" article (Feb. 4, 2010). While seemingly the message might be that longer-standing members of the music community should not be forgotten or left out of the media—a noble, and correct, idea—the article comes off as backhanded (at best) praise of Roger. Frankly, the repeated questioning of whether the subject matter is "newsworthy" puts forth an attitude that Mr. Heflin believes that it isn't. So why write it at all?
Frankly, Roger's continued efforts and accomplishments are newsworthy—his albums continue to garner very favorable reviews, and he receives airplay on a national level on many stations. That's better than a lot of musicians can claim—doubly so in that he's been doing it for so long, and continues to do so even after a heart attack last year.
My question regarding Mr. Heflin's (not so) veiled negativity: what's his motive? Or moreover, what's the point?
Mark Alan Miller
Easthampton
Inserts "Insulting"
I agree with Max Hartshorn at GoNomad.com that your advertising inserts are annoying. Not only does it feel like a sellout for such a great liberal rag as the Advocate, but I feel they are insulting and an invasion of my space. If I want to buy something, I'll let you know. And they do fall out all over the place and end up as roadside trash or filling a landfill. Your justifying their existence by claiming they are recyclable really misses the point. Environmentally speaking, nothing beats not producing something in the first place.
Don Chappell
Wendell
Reinventing Children's Menus
Recently First Lady Michelle Obama called on the U.S. Conference of Mayors to help her fight the national scourge of childhood obesity. She noted that one-third of all children are overweight or obese. She proposed healthier school lunch fares, increased physical activity, and nutrition education.
Traditionally, the National School Lunch Program has served as a dumping ground for USDA's surplus meat and dairy commodities. Not surprisingly, USDA's own surveys indicate that 90 percent of American children consume excessive amounts of fat, and only 15 percent eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. Their early dietary flaws become lifelong addictions, raising their risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
In the past few years, several state legislatures have asked their schools to offer daily vegetarian options. According to the School Nutrition Association, 52 percent of U.S. school districts now do. Last fall, the Baltimore City Public School system became the first in the United States to offer its 80,000 students a complete weekly break from meat.
Parents and others who care about our children's health should demand healthful plant-based school meals, snacks and vending machine items. Additional information is available at schoolnutrition.org, schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov, healthyschoollunches.org, and choiceusa.net.
Eli Ingleson
Easthampton
Haiti Story Misses Mark
Stephanie Kraft's article about Haiti is well meaning but severely misses the mark by blaming capitalism and corporations for Haiti's plight. Kraft holds that the Haitians have been "exploited" and that large business interests are something to be avoided in the rebuilding of Haiti. In actuality, it is corruption, inflation, and lack of economic freedom that keep Haitians poor. The sweatshops, however offensive to the sensitivities of wealthy foreign observers, provide the poor in Haiti with jobs that they would not otherwise have, at a wage higher than they would make farming. In fact, with a full two-thirds of its labor force having no formal jobs, more foreign investment and factories are exactly what Haiti needs.
Why anyone would want to see a "national reconstruction plan" run by the most corrupt government in the world is beyond me. It is not the corporations that are responsible for the lack of money in Haiti's treasury and absence of public works; it is the incompetence and criminal fraud of the Haitian government. Foreign aid makes up almost 40 percent of the government's income, yet that money is used for nothing more than political bribes, handouts to friends and propping up the dishonest government. To claim that the United States somehow owes Haiti is to ignore the $1.5 billion in aid that we have given over the years, which is the most of any other country. What Haiti needs is to reform the government and open its markets to outside influence, not the statist prescription of more government control.
Conor Hennessey
via email
