Change the weather
I am disheartened by the September 4 cover story, “A Cruel Summer.” He suggests that the harm of global warming lies in “jeopardizing long-term economic growth.”
There appears to be deep concern that insurance companies whose response to unexpected fire and flood losses is to stop selling high-risk insurance, thereby shifting the damage to people who lose their homes. The story highlights a company that “aims to transform…capital markets to reduce economic risks from the climate crisis.” This suggests that global capitalism can pressure modern economies to become “carbon neutral,” when in fact global capitalism is the modern economy.
Will the fox that attacked the henhouse last night become today’s vegetarian guard dog? Forgive my doubt. And can money measure anything when everything is in mortal peril? The most disheartening thought in the article comes from a quote in the final lines: “‘I’m just trying to humble myself, to get by, because we’re not God. …We can’t change the weather.’”
But we changed it – and giving up doesn’t help at all!
Bob Weeden
Salt Spring Island, British Columbia
Can guns ever be safe?
In the Aug. 21 Weekly article “In Tennessee Churches, a New Message: Gun Safety,” a Monitor source describes it as a “complex topic.”
In fact, it couldn’t be simpler. Gun safety is an oxymoron. You can have guns or you can have security, but you certainly can’t have both. Guns kill people exactly as they are designed to do.
As long as people insist on retaining the Second Amendment, America will have to accept the consequences of gun use. I understand that this will seem judgmental to you, and we Canadians are certainly not perfect on the issue either, but perhaps we need to take a different look to see the problem in perspective.
Jim Lane
Toronto
Pride in the face of challenges
From a Portland resident: The Sept. 11-18 cover story, “Oregon’s Bold Drug Policy Isn’t Working Yet,” brought me to tears of pride and affection for my city in difficulty. You have my gratitude for the time and consideration you have given to examining Portland’s history and approaching our current situation from all angles. I particularly loved the thoughtful photographs of thoughtful stakeholders and real, everyday people wearing “sensible glasses and sensible shoes” trying to understand and solve our challenges here. I wish everyone in America would read this article.
Mary K. Hayden
Portland, Oregon
The pitfalls of compassion
Compassion is a good thing — and the loving way they’re trying to combat drug addiction in Portland, as described in the Sept. 11-18 cover story, ” Oregon’s Bold New Drug Policy does not work yet”, must be welcomed. . What is not considered are the commercial interests that depend on spreading drug addiction and ensuring that their consumers do not recover from it.
Decriminalizing drug use may be compassionate to victims, but it also appears to enable the success of those who supply these drugs.
Linda Foreman Rolfes
Plano, TX
The joy of spelling
Thank you for the Home Forum essay “’Skrzypce’ to ‘syzygy’, falling in love with spelling” in the weekly of September 4. My family loves spelling, and it hasn’t hindered writing poetry or prose (as mentioned in this essay) since we’ve seen how correctness encourages creative effort rather than stifling it.
Additionally, in the August 28 Weekly In Pictures article, “When the Journey Becomes the Destination,” the authors stated that they “gained a sense of strength not by relying on a source of energy or our devices – but by traveling to the cardinal points. on a map. » It was a pleasure to read. I learned to read maps as a child and find them as an accurate way to find and remember places.
Robin Prior
Eugene, Oregon
