Letters to the editor for Dec. 16
Expand and balance the Supreme Court
It is critical to our nation’s survival that Americans increase the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to 13, with all four new nominees by President Biden selected to balance the right-wing justices put on the court by Donald Trump and his GOP Senate yes-men.
The Court’s near-certain elimination of women’s right and access to abortion is only its latest accommodation of right-wing fanatics. Still on the books by the court’s tacit consent is the Texas law that authorizes vigilantes to hunt down, sue, and extort cash from anyone remotely perceived to assist a woman obtain an abortion. Armed young fools and right-wing enforcers now own our streets and public places.
Voting, vote-counting and validation have been sabotaged in many states to ensure GOP “winners,” and long-established voting rights themselves have been struck down by recent Court decisions. Sen. Mitch McConnell and his GOP yes-men and women (with Dems Manchin and Sinema) guarantee that it will stay that way. The Supreme Court, once our bastion of impartial, responsible adjudication, is in the hands of America’s GOP enemies.
As America “gets used to” the new oppressive political landscape, other outrages — bans on contraceptives and death with dignity, and pressure on “blue states” — are sure to follow.
Please, good people who value our democracy, diversity, and commitment to voting rights and equality of all citizens, urge Washington’s Senators to move — immediately, urgently — on enlarging the court.
David H. Milne, Lacey
Help plastic manufacturers fund recycling
Regarding the Dec. 2 article in The Olympian “US Must Address Plastic Waste, Scientists Say:” Very little plastic is recycled because there is not much use for recycled plastic, and recycled plastic lumber is expensive. But I believe it could be put to good use and the cost could be lowered..
In our neighborhood we have 3-foot wood fences between our sidewalks and rain gardens. These fences are made of staggered vertical boards attached to top and bottom 2X4 rails. These fences were installed about 10 years ago and are deteriorating. I would like to propose that these fences be replaced with plastic lumber made from recycled plastic. If a contractor could apply for a grant from the Plastic Industry Association so the cost could be lowered to match the cost of wood, plastic lumber could be used. Plastic lumber will outlast wood many times over. The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge used recycled plastic for the decking around its office buildings over 25 years ago and it still looks like new.
The plastic industry does very little to support plastic recycling. Only about 8% of plastic is recycled. Most of the rest ends up in landfills and the ocean and will stay there for hundreds of years. If the plastic industry were to subsidize the cost of plastic lumber. then it would be more widely used. The plastic industry is not taking enough responsibility for recycling.
Rodney Hanson, Lacey
Weird vaccinated holiday
Most of my friends, family and colleagues are vaccinated and boosted. Almost all of us boast college degrees. Almost all of us understand and follow the science of this pandemic. I’m a research librarian and faculty member of a local college.
My niece, who is in her late 20s, and her husband eschew vaccines and will be present at our family gathering over the holidays. While my niece insists her and her spouse’s refusal to vaccinate is not political, I don’t believe her. She’s often referred to social media claims that the COVID vaccine will make her sterile.
Between 7-9% of men are sterile, according to NIH. No research shows that the vaccine results in either male or female sterility.
Meanwhile, a socially active young couple who refuse to be vaccinated will come to my family gathering.
I’ll be wearing a mask and not staying long. I love my niece, but she’s contributing to the spread of a virus that could put her in the hospital, kill her grandmother, and put all the rest of us at risk.
How many of us nationwide are in the same situation? Come January, we’ll know by the hospitalization and death rates.
A friend with COVID is now marking five weeks in the hospital. She’ll be broke if she survives.
Liza R. Rognas, Olympia