I’m writing in response to editorial by The Baltimore Sun, “It’s time for backlash against the anti-vaxers: Debunked autism link debunked again as measles cases spike,” published March 11.
Drug companies spend more money on marketing and lobbying than either the fossil-fuel or the defense industry. Conveniently, vaccine mandates serve their interests at the public’s expense. Medical doctors also disagree about their safety and efficacy (see nephrologist Dr. Suzanne Humphries). The media should address those complexities rather than fear-mongering about a few hundred cases (in a nation of multiple millions) of childhood diseases like measles that are hardly life-threatening to begin with.
Nowhere did the editorial acknowledge that those who are vaccinated can become asymptomatic carriers of disease who then infect others unwittingly.
Nowhere did the editorial acknowledge the known government data on vaccine injuries reported via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, or the fact that the childhood vaccination schedule has skyrocketed since the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act granted drug companies immunity from product liability related to vaccines. What other industry escapes all product liability while the government mandates use of its products?
Nowhere did the editorial mention that vaccines contain neurotoxins like mercury and aluminum, together with known contaminants like formaldehyde that are either downright toxic or seriously disruptive to bodily functions. Nor did it acknowledge that vaccine research is routinely skewed in favor of the industry (see Dr. Brian Hooker, researcher and father of a vaccine-injured child). It dismissed out of hand the blatant conflict of interest exemplified by CDC members’ stakes in vaccine patents and Julie Gerberding’s move from directing the CDC to becoming president of Merck’s vaccine division.
Whatever our personal stance on this issue, we cannot allow vaccines to be imposed on those who decline to have them. As with all medical procedures, it’s essential to protect the internationally recognized human right to freedom of choice via informed consent (see Article 6 of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights).
DEB HAWTHORN
South Woodstock
Laconia Daily Sun editor Roger Carroll’s story in the Feb. 24 Sunday Valley News, “Shining light on darkness,” was so appreciated for its honesty and its stunning reinforcement that mental illness can be part of anyone’s family. And it probably is. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five adults will experience an episode in any given year.
The stigma attached to mental illness has kept any number of people from seeking help, and their families from finding support.
Mental illness is never anyone’s fault. We don’t cause it and we can’t change anyone who has it. We can only love them. Medication and therapy help some people, but there is not enough of it, the delivery system is broken and care is not always affordable. As a nation and a society, we need to do better on all counts.
As a family member and a NAMI volunteer, I encourage individuals and their families to contact NAMI in their state. NAMI offers peer support groups and educational programs, and helps family members to learn to advocate for loved ones and to better understand the illness.
Thank you, Roger Carroll, for sharing your difficult journey, and for encouraging others to ask for help.
PAT WHITNEY
Sunapee
Thank you for the March 3 editorial “As the Bramble Cay melomys go, so go we: Human-caused climate change reportedly claims its first mammal victim.” The final lines were a clear invitation to act: “The bell tolls not only for the humble Bramble Cay melomys; it tolls for thee, and thy kids down to the last generation.”
Those poor rodents had no voice, no vote and no volition to alter their destiny. Their food disappeared. They were stuck in the habitat they knew. They died.
We, however, have volition, the power to vote and the capacity to make choices, for good or ill, every day. That is why I am inspired to lead a group of Upper Valley residents in the Drawdown Ecochallenge organized by the Northwest Earth Institute.
Between April 3 and April 24, teams across the country and around the world will take action on the 100 most substantive solutions to climate change. It’s an opportunity to stretch your limits, earn points and compete for prizes — like a video call with a Drawdown leader for the winning team.
I don’t know about you, but I know a lot of competitive conservationists. Wouldn’t it be fun to harness this energy together? We are a region with “Ready for 100” clean energy towns, solarize and weatherize communities, and more. If we can’t do this, who can?
Please participate in this fun and social challenge and see how three weeks of action add up to a lifetime of change for you and the planet. To join the UVDrawdown team, go to drawdown.ecochallenge.org and click “Join.” Once in, search for UVDrawdown. Invite your family and friends. Let’s see what we can accomplish and celebrate our shared success on Earth Day 2019.
EVELYN R. SWETT
Hanover
Japanese knotweed is spreading steadily along roads and wetlands in the lower East Wheelock Street area in Hanover. A neighborhood approach to this invasive plant makes good sense. If you live in Hanover’s Girl Brook watershed, please attend a session at the Howe Library on Thursday, at 10 a.m., to discuss control measures. Two experts and representatives from Hanover and Dartmouth College will be there to share information and help explore options and possible actions for knotweed control.
CAROL WEINGEIST
Hanover
I was alarmed, although not terribly surprised, to see the column “In America, talk turns to the unthinkable — civil war” in the March 3 Sunday Valley News. Even if such talk is metaphor or hyperbole, this country is becoming so divisive that friendships ending and family relationships becoming strained over politics are apparently at a high.
Things are bad enough as they are, and we must not allow them to get to the point of physical battles.
And there is something we can do. In times like this we need people who can communicate peacefully with those who have different points of view. We need people who can help bridge the apparent divides among us by remaining calm and receptive while in challenging discussions. I hope I can be one of those people, and look forward to attending a course offered by Hilary Mullins on nondefensive communication at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Springfield, Vt., in the future. (Contact uuspringfieldvt@gmail.com to get on the list for updates.)
Another resource for gaining composure in the midst of change, crises or conflict is the Center for Transformational Practice in White River Junction (www.transformationalpractice.org).
DEBBIE DIEGOLI
Weathersfield Bow