Put the Planet First
In early November a delivery of nuclear waste en route to a “disposal site” in northern Germany met with some unanticipated obstacles. Dozens of farmers lined the route, blocking roadways with their tractors. Trees and stumps cut down by protestors also blocked the routes, and over 3,000 people gathered in protest outside the site deemed acceptable to bury containers of highly toxic nuclear waste.
Several times police had to stop and clear flocks of sheep and goats from the roadway. A shepherdess who would only give her name as “Evelyn” due to fear of reprisal expressed the concern of the farmers and other protesters—that the toxic waste disposal site represented a poisonous long-term threat not only to their livelihoods, but to the health of the land and water.
Along the roads hundreds of people gathered to protest the German government’s decision to extend the life of the country’s nuclear power plants for several years.
Organizers stated that the protest was not only an effort to voice ongoing concern and dissent over the use of nuclear power, but an effort to show support for local renewable energy sources.
One has to wonder how the fate of energy policy in the U.S. would differ if people who regard themselves as stewards of the earth played an active role in the decisionmaking process rather than nuclear industry “professionals” and regulators who give precedence to corporate earnings over the wellbeing of the planet.
Amelia Shea
Peterborough, N.H.
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Doctors Flee Medicare
One of the major reasons I hear from seniors is because they can’t find a doctor who takes Medicare patients, or they are afraid their doctor will stop seeing them. This problem will get much worse if Congress does not act now to stop a 25 percent pay cut for Medicare doctors scheduled to take place on January 1.
More than 1 million Massachusetts seniors rely on Medicare. They have earned their Medicare and the security of knowing they can keep seeing the doctors they count on.
But, more than 10 years ago, Congress created a flawed system to pay Medicare doctors. Since then, Medicare payments have gone up 1 percent while the cost of practicing medicine in the commonwealth has increased 34 percent. The numbers just don’t add up, and today, Medicare does not pay doctors what it costs to care for seniors.
If Congress does not fix the system now—and the 25 percent pay cut goes into effect—some doctors may be forced to stop treating Medicare patients altogether, leaving seniors without the care they need.
Let me be clear: this is not a partisan issue. Both parties share responsibility for creating the system, and both parties share responsibility for fixing it. And if there’s one thing AARP members agree on, regardless of political affiliation, it’s that they want Congress to work together so seniors can continue to see the doctors they trust.
AARP is fighting against this cut, and to stop Congress from driving doctors out of Medicare. If you or a family member counts on Medicare, I urge you to contact Senator Brown, Senator Kerry and your U.S. Representative and tell them to keep doctors in Medicare.
Deborah Banda
State Director
AARP Massachusetts
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Officials Become Laws Unto Themselves
Some years ago I knew a man who had been freed from death row in Oklahoma by the Innocence Project. His lawyer told me that in the process of representing the wrongly convicted he had learned a valuable lesson, one that might help shed some light on the case of Judge Ryan that you discussed in “Blind Justice for Ryan” [Nov. 25, 2010]. The lesson was that police, prosecutors and judges, who hold people’s lives in their hands, come to believe that whatever they do is the right thing just because they are doing it.
After DNA evidence proved that my friend Ron was innocent, and that the real murderer was the man who pointed the police in his direction by lying about him, a prosecutor in the case expressed regret that the state hadn’t executed him when they had the chance.
When two such men confront one another, each might very well resent the other for having the audacity to suggest that he is wrong. That might be how a simple traffic stop escalated into the confrontation we are witnessing between Judge Ryan and the police officer who tried to exercise his authority over a man who considers that his sole prerogative. And, as you suggested in your article, we might all be well advised to think twice before suggesting that any law enforcement official is wrong, even if he or she is.
Paul Cherulnik
Leeds
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“Cablegate”: No Blood on Their Hands
Senator Joe Lieberman has been spouting off about shutting down the Web site on the Internet called WikiLeaks. He is upset because they published hundreds of thousands of cables that were sent from and to American embassies around the world.
Joe Lieberman claims that the people that published this material will have “blood on their hands.”
Joe Lieberman is missing the point entirely.
Just a quick review of the cables reveals what has been suspected around the world for some time: American embassies have changed from being centers of freedom and shining points of light in the world to becoming nests of spies and underhanded activity.
I recall about two years ago writing to the American embassy in Thailand for assistance with some business contacts and another item. These were dull matters that an embassy should have been able to take care of with little or no difficulty.
The response I received was very strange. The person who wrote back told me that they don’t do things like that. I naturally began to wonder exactly what it is that they do if it is not diplomatic activities. I wrote back and asked but did not receive any further reply.
Over time I began to assume the worst—that our diplomatic corps had changed into something unrecognizable and these documents that Senator Joe Lieberman is crying about are glaring proof.
I am continually amazed that Senator Lieberman retains his seat in the Senate. Does he have all the right “friends”?
Alfred Brock
Wayne, Mich.
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There’s nothing America has done that other nations haven’t done. And there’s no wrong in this. The WikiLeaks cables reveal that not much has changed in the way nation-states act on the world stage for hundreds of years. I’m skeptical of the high-minded claims to virtue and morality that some have voiced in the wake of the publication of the cables. We live in a dangerous world. If we actually practiced what we preached, we’d be dead—the victims of those not bound by such restrictive scruples. What good is morality and virtue if you’re dead? Pursuit of warm and fuzzy ideals shouldn’t be a suicide pact.
Paul Fallavollita
Web comment
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Correction: In “And Gluttons Become Poor” (Dec. 2, 2010), we incorrectly reported the amount of “rescued” food received by the Food Bank of Western Mass from supermarkets, local farms and food distributors. Of the 7.6 million pounds of food distributed by the Food Bank in fiscal 2009, 41 percent, or about 3.3 million pounds, was rescued food.
