All Readers Respond
- Readers Write: Threats to a new Detroit; How to help 'English Language Learners'
Letters to the Editor for the December 2, 2013 weekly magazine:
Detroit citizens can't look to government for 'all of the answers,' but they should look government, to ensure the city avoids the mismanagement that fed its bankruptcy.
Beginning ELLs will neither acquire English nor learn subject matter if they are placed in regular classes right away. Evidence supports LA's plan to separate them initially.
- Readers Write: Fracking threatens public safety; Industry can't be trusted
Letters to the Editor for the November 25, 2013 weekly magazine:
Fractured shale provides minimal filtration, so contaminants can travel more easily and quickly. Putting chemicals in water and shooting it into the ground isn't a good idea.
Some make the case that government is doing a good job regulating the oil and gas industry on fracking. If companies really were trustworthy, they would have been self-regulating.
- Readers Write: Valor and empathy go hand in hand; Ultimate bottom line is saving Earth
Letters to the Editor for the November 18, 2013 weekly print magazine:
Teddy Roosevelt's example is one for all of us to follow: Personal valor and being a strong negotiator go hand in hand with empathy for all mankind.
The ultimate bottom line for efficiency improvement and clean energy is to save the planet, and humanity, from the worst of climate disruption.
- Readers Write: Less population growth means more water; More to 'Heart of Darkness'; Partisanship kills progress
Letters to the Editor for the November 11, 2013 weekly print magazine:
The Middle East's population boom will exacerbate the regions' upcoming water shortage. Why aren't more environmentalists recommending that these countries work to reduce fertility rates?
Joseph Conrad's novel 'Heart of Darkness' is much more complex than 'the enemy as Other.' It can even be read with that feeling of 'We have met the enemy and he is us.'
Excess partisanship is deadly to sensible progress in legislation. Does this phenomenon not explain why those who seek compromise have essentially been excoriated by Congress?
- Readers Write: Bullies need mental health help, too; Peace resonates; Good ideas are contagious
Letters to the Editor for the November 4, 2013 weekly print magazine:
Victims of bullying who hurt themselves or others are also likely suffering from mental illness and deserve help. But probably so are bullies. Let's offer them the mental-health services they need.
Ronny Edry's "Israel loves Iran" campaign shows that individuals can have a voice. We can each add to what I believe will be a "critical mass" who support an end to all war.
If we don't talk about alternatives to political gridlock, then there is no chance of inspiration or change. Ideas are contagious.
- Readers Write: US must maintain strong military; Encouraged by fight for common ground; Media violence feeds gun violence
Letters to the Editor for the October 28, 2013 weekly print magazine:
An strong, efficient American military is needed to maintain safety and security at home and abroad; Olympia Snowe's suggestions for how those of us with no political clout can still mobilize for moderation are encouraging; When will we finally understand the consequences of allowing violence to permeate our entertainment?
- Readers Write: Cooperation – it's the American way
Letters to the Editor for the October 21, 2013 weekly print magazine: There are many examples in US history in which the blending of ideas and seemingly contrary perspectives has led to outstanding accomplishment.
- 6 reader views on Common Ground, Common Good Many readers have responded with praise and gratitude for the new Common Ground, Common Good feature in Commentary, and for Sen. Olympia Snowe's inaugural column. We've collected some of their remarks here.
- Readers Write: Fix the debt, but protect the needy; Rodeos show animal cruelty
Letters to the Editor for the October 14, 2013 weekly print magazine:
There is no doubt that some entitlement reform is needed to address US debt, but we can't 'fix the debt' on the backs of the most vulnerable.
Rodeos, although less cruel than dogfighting, cockfighting, and bullfighting, can nonetheless be seen as exhibitions of animal cruelty.
- Readers Write: Help for middle class helps US; Appreciation for Budge Sperling
Letters to the Editor for the October 7, 2013 weekly print magazine:
Too many lawmakers cannot see that increasing the share of wealth at the top by weakening the middle class leads to less spending, lower profits, and a slower economy.
Reading the recent tribute to former Washington, D.C., bureau chief and Monitor Breakfast creator Godfrey "Budge" Sperling Jr. was like a warm and vivid visit with Budge himself.
- Readers Write: Unfair comparison for diverse US students; US media need global view
Letters to the Editor for the September 30, 2013 weekly print issue:
You cannot compare small, relatively homogenous student populations in other countries to our very diverse, multicultured US student population.
Too many American media take a narrow US-centered perspective. Americans need and deserve deeper journalism and a broader, global view.
- Readers Write: Precision needed on climate change numbers; Interpreting the Quran
Letters to the Editor for the September 23, 2013 weekly print magazine:
Only about 3 percent of the Antarctic temperature rise occurred during the time of humans burning fossil fuels. Climate change is a complex subject. The 'facts' about it must be stated precisely.
Does interpreting the Quran according to the spirit of our time mean that truth has no universal quality, but instead a temporary one?
- Readers Write: 4 responses to an abortion op-ed Here are some of the most compelling responses to a recent web op-ed by Elizabeth Jahr, "Pro-life groups don't really protect the unborn."
- Readers Write: Why a moderate dislikes GOP; Unfair comparisons for US schools
Letters to the Editor for the September 16, 2013 weekly print issue:
To me, a moderate, the Republican Party is bent on obstructionism, sees bipartisanship as a dirty word, and is primarily concerned with a personal vendetta against the president.
To compare the large US educational system and its 50 diverse states with small homogeneous countries like Finland or South Korea faults the comparison from the beginning.
- Readers Write: Big Data can't predict the future; Racism of today is more insidious
Letters to the Editor for the September 9, 2013 weekly print issue:
In trying to understand the effect of the information revolution on society, it is essential to remember the inextricable linkage between data collection and analysis.
It's hard to think that today's racism is "far more insidious" than continual, unprosecuted lynchings, but it is certainly more hidden, subtle, and coded.
- Readers Write: Consequences of climate change; US attitude adjustment on wildfires
Letters to the Editor for the September 2, 2013 weekly print edition:
Wildfires, natural gas and fracking, and Arctic development are closely linked to climate disruption, but the articles on those issues failed to mention that key connection.
Solutions to wildfires must address entitled-to-be-saved-from-myself attitudes in the US. If we continue like this, people will build on the lips of volcanoes and then demand to be saved.
- Readers Write: US must preserve, not develop Arctic; Way forward for Israelis, Palestinians
Letters to the Editor for the August 19, 2013 weekly print issue:
The effects of climate change in Alaska are significant. Instead of striving to develop the Arctic, the United States should focus on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, among other things.
Strengthening reasonable voices on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a good idea – but only if those voices respect universal human rights. A fully secular two-state solution is the best way forward.
- Readers Write: Civil discourse in Big Sky country; Kids of US parents aren't 'immigrants'
Letters to the Editor for the August 12, 2013 weekly print issue:
The recent cover story on a new 'green' economy in the Rocky Mountain region created a civic space in its pages for persons who hold often strongly divergent political views to find some measure of common ground as they think about the economic potential of the region.
The term "second-generation immigrant" is inappropriate and inaccurate when used to describe children with one parent born in the United States.
- Readers Write: Myth of a 'ban' on school prayer; Modeling respect for Afghans
Letter for the Editor for the August 5, 2013 weekly print issue:
Shorthand references in headlines to a Supreme Court 'ban' on school prayer are misleading. The meat of the recent cover story makes clear the court did no such thing. The 'ban' language is part of a campaign by those who want to return government-mandated religion to public schools.
Can Afghanistan defend itself? The more important question to ask is whether the people of Afghanistan can defend themselves from themselves. Americans can never force Afghan citizens to treat each other in a certain way. They can only model respectful treatment.
- Readers Write: US must not arm Syria's rebels
Letters to the Editor for the July 29, 2013 weekly print issue:
The Sunnis fighting against the Assad regime are backed by Islamist jihadist groups. If the US arms the opposition, it will be, in effect, helping Al Qaeda. The best thing for America to do is stay out of Syria's civil war completely.
Did intervention make Iraq a better place? Unseat Bashar al-Assad so Islamists can make further inroads? Arming the rebels will only amplify the firestorm.