All Letters to the Editor
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Readers Write: Obamacare should keep religious exemption narrow. What has Obama done for Palestinians?
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of Dec. 31, 2012: The religious exemption to Obamacare's contraceptive mandate should remain narrow, so few groups have the right to deny employees insurance coverage for contraception. President Obama should stop support for Israel's West Bank takeover and bring US foreign policy in line with American democratic principles.
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Readers Write: Should Obamacare honor the rights of individuals or institutions?
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of December 24, 2012: Government shouldn't privilege the teachings of one religion over another on any part of health-care access. And equating women's access to health care with an impingement on religious liberty is a distraction.
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Readers Write: Democracy needs better media; Israel's right to defend itself
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of December 17, 2012: The media needs to do a better job providing citizens with dependable, unbiased information. Regarding the latest conflict in Gaza, Israel only decided to fight back after Hamas attacks became unbearable.
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Readers Write: Preserve local news; Japan's nuclear dilemma is an energy dilemma
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of December 10, 2012: Local news gives citizens the information to get involved and affect their immediate environment and the political decisions that shape it. Japan's problem is that is has no viable energy options other than nuclear power.
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Readers Write: Environmental misconceptions
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of December 3, 2012: Inconsistency and outside influence have been prevalent ever since Congress passed the Wilderness Preservation Act 25 years ago. Paper protections rarely bring with them consistent and adequate enforcement.
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Readers Write: Affirmative action is still needed in the US
Letters to the Editor for the November 19, 2012 weekly print issue: Affirmative action helps eliminate the ignorance of racial bigotry and animosity. It is needed as much today as it was in 1968. The notion that the races are fighting over a scarce number of places is a shallow argument.
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Readers Write: US-NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan is complicated; Quran must be better understood
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of November 11, 2012: The US military entered Afghanistan in 2001 in order to bring democracy, gender equality, and security to that nation, but many would argue that they have failed on all counts; The Quran must be discussed with reason and intelligence, as an International Quranic Studies Association would hopefully accomplish.
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Readers Write: The real definition and drivers of poverty
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of November 5, 2012: Poverty is American hardly compares to poverty in Africa – in attitude and in hardship. The real cause of poverty in the US is job-killing free trade and oligarchic rule that widens the gap between rich and poor.
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Readers Write: How to fight voter-ID disenfranchisement; What US must do about Iran
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of October 29, 2012: In response to voter ID laws (blatant attempts at disenfranchisement) communities should band together and pull off the greatest voter registration drive in history. The US and its allies should step up support for legitimate democracy movements in Iran with the goal of destabilizing and replacing the regime.
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Readers Write: Praise for 'the sharing economy'
Letters to the Editor for the October 22, 2012 weekly print issue: Instead of spending toward depletion and scarcity, collaborative consumption adds value to our lives. It allows us to work and live in harmony, without competition and struggle.
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Readers Write: More advocates needed for foster children; Empower women with family planning to end world hunger
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of October 15, 2012: More volunteers – especially men – are need to serve as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and guardians ad litem (GAL) for foster children. One of the best ways to fight world hunger is to combat population growth through empowering women with family planning and contraception resources.
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Readers Write: Can we teach robots to think ethically?
Letters to the Editor for the October 8, 2012 weekly print issue: When we create artificial intelligence, will we create artificial 'ethicators,' too? The potential for 'cognitive decision-making skills' in computers is both challenging and exciting.
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Readers Write: Labor unions deserve our thanks; Alcohol is deadliest drug
Letters to the Editor for the October 1, 2012 weekly print issue: Only 12 percent of workers are in unions now, but we should remember how unions have improved our lives and thank the many laborers around us today. In driving accidents, alcohol – not marijuana – is the deadliest drug.
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Readers Write: Grading teachers isn't enough; Teachers deserve useful evaluation and support.
Letters for the Editor for the September 24 weekly print issue: When done with teacher buy-in, multiple measures, and meaningful professional development, teacher evaluation benefits entires school systems. Should teachers be graded? Yes. And so should parents, administrators, school boards, communities, and students. Evaluation shouldn't begin and end with teachers.
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Readers Write: Test scores can't measure teachers; Poor civics education threatens US democracy
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of September 17, 2012: Many schools no longer teach civics – or even much history – leaving students without the lessons that create informed, engaged citizens. A teacher's goals – shaping human lives, as well as imparting specific knowledge and skills in the process – can't fully be measured by numbers on a year-end test.
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Readers Write: The perils of allowing women in combat
Letters to the Editor for the September 10, 2012 weekly print issue: The policy decision to allow women to serve in infantry combat should only be made after diligent consideration of the long-term effects – on women, the military, and the country.
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Readers Write: Congress must take unpopular stands, not compromise; Mike McQuery is no victim in Sandusky scandal
Letters to the Editor for the September 3, 2012 weekly print issue: Since when are leaders expected to only do what is easy in the short term? It's a tremendous reach to try and justify what amounts to Mike McQueary's cowardly act by calling him a victim of male culture.
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Readers Write: Lamar Smith is wrong. Obama's immigration policy isn't amnesty.
Letters to the Editor for the August 13, 2012 weekly print issue: Rep. Lamar Smith (R) of Texas mischaracterizes President Obama's recent decision to put a low priority on the deportation of some young illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children. His op-ed is misleading.
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Readers Write: Family dinners are good investment; Both GOP and Dems lean right
Letters to the Editor for the August 6, 2012 weekly print issue: Family dinners at home cost less, are more nutritious, teach children verbal skills, and build connections. American political parties aren't governing from the extremes; they're both governing from the right.
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Readers Write: How to eliminate tax breaks (and the deficit); Wake up, 99 percent
Letters to the Editor for the July 30, 2012 weekly print issue: Look at effective tax rates, cap deductions, put an expiration date on tax breaks; With the US meritocracy now based on nepotism and cronyism, the '99 percent' had better wake up and demand better.
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