Letters to the editor: Vulgarity, shooting, vaccines, Interfaith Sanctuary, dam breaching

Vulgarity

There is a reason the “F” word is not printed in the Statesman and most other sensible publications.

It is a crass and extremely vulgar word. Those who use it on publicly displayed political flags and signs seem to me to be immature and unable to articulate any intelligent ideas.

Freedom of speech, like other freedoms, can be abused by the ignorant and thoughtless as this country seems to be headed to the gutter.

Don Lojek, Boise

Unthinkable

Gov. Brad Little said the shooting at the Boise mall was “unthinkable.” That happens to be the NRA’s position also: Don’t think about it.

Scott Thomas, Eagle

Mall shooting

Yes, the mall shooting was “unimaginable,” just as Sen. Jim Risch said. Who’d ever think such a thing could happen in an anti-gun state like Idaho? That’s why the Boise first responders have never trained to deal with something like that. Same as for other unimaginable things like Boise tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and stinking beached whales in Ann Morrison Park. Wait, what, they have trained expressly for a mass shooting at Boise Towne Square mall and even at public schools? So it was imaginable? OK, never mind. Anyway, thoughts and prayers.

Responsibilities go with rights, right? So how about gun responsibility? Let’s have Senator Risch, et al., pass a law that says if a gun causes injury, every present and prior possessor (parent/guardian for minors and incompetents) of the gun after the last owner who transferred it following his/her transferee’s “passed” background check, can be sued for money damages by the persons injured. No exceptions for intra-family gift, inheritance, theft, careless storage, or otherwise. Not likely? Well, “thoughts and prayers” will have to do, I guess.

James Runsvold, Caldwell

Interfaith Sanctuary

Thank you, Interfaith Sanctuary, for supporting the Boise community for all these years; for continuing to expand and grow the services and effectiveness of your programs for some of the most vulnerable in our community; for the work and contributions of your staff and volunteers. Thank you for the meticulous planning that has gone into the expanded State Street facility and the well leveraged use of scarce resources.

Thanks, also, to the city of Boise for the investment in community conversation and education that the Shelter Better Task Force process provided. (For any who missed the process and the education on best practices for shelter facilities, the recordings are still available on the city website.)

The Boise/Ada County Homeless Coalition is a collaboration of unhoused and at-large community members, service providers, schools and faith communities who work together as experts in our fields to share information and advocate for better housing opportunities for us all and the safety and well-being of those with housing emergencies. We hope Boise will join us in endorsing and saluting Interfaith Sanctuary and their new/improved facility on State Street. It could not be more essential at this time.

Denise Caruzzi, Boise, president and on behalf of the Boise/Ada County Homeless Coalition

Vaccine refusal

Vaccine refusal reasons no one talks about:

1.) Failure of the American family to thrive. Distrust of authority in the family leads to mistrust of authority in society.

2.) Lack of science education. Microscopes matter.

3.) Lack of civics education. Everyone must participate in a democracy, whether they like the majority’s public health policies or not.

4.) Lack of history instruction. Vaccines have a long and successful history (250 years in Europe and the U.S.)

5.) Decline of democracy brought on by political monopolists in both the Republican and Democrat parties. Each party subverts the other party’s policies no matter how good they are.

Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah

We need a hero

A scary event is forthcoming; the Idaho Legislature is reconvening. Meeting to castigate a misbehaving member and address restrictive mandated vaccinations, the Legislature is in desperate need of a COVID-19 hero. One who asks not how COVID chaos can be used for political gain. One who asks not what is convenient for some individuals. But one who asks what are the best controls for the virus SARS-CoV-2 as it affects the entire Idaho population.

The common good for all Idahoans must supersede the higher-risk, population-endangering decisions made by some individuals. While concerning effects exist for individuals, the Idaho Legislature is the only organization that can effectively consider the risk of the vaccine mandates to the entire population.

Both mRNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are a remarkable 90%-plus effective, which is a significant governing statistic from an epidemiological population perspective. Small percentages of vaccinated individuals still remain susceptible, so cases of vaccinated individuals getting COVID-19 are expected. However, the unvaccinated are much more susceptible and die at significantly higher rates than vaccinated.

From an Idaho population perspective, it makes sense to get vaccinated. Idaho heroes, please step up, free all citizens from COVID-19, not just a few from vaccines!

Thomas G. Hallam, Sr., Garden City

Dam breaching

Wow! The lower Snake River dam breaching goal is again in the news. Fact! Those projects are essential players in the successful inclusion of wind and solar in our electricity supply mix. I am talking about energy storage! Removal of those hydroelectric facilities will ultimately require an incredible amount of additional storage batteries to shape the energy produced from the solar and wind projects, batteries that would not be required if those facilities were allowed to remain. Reservoirs like these provide the cleanest and most efficient energy storage possible, and they already exist!

In addition, much of their energy will likely wind up being replaced by new conventional and combined cycle combustion turbine installations that operate on natural gas. Unfortunately, as clean as it may look to be, natural gas is not a “green” electric energy resource.

We can only pray that those in a position to make the ultimate decisions truly consider the values and the costs associated with their decisions and their impacts on the ultimate goals of society! Once you research and understand the facts, you will find that the removal of those dams is definitely not in the overall best interest of the huge majority of society.

Jim Voyles, Garden City