Letters the week of 12/28/00

Hate thy government

In response to Wayne Laugesen's article "Each vote counts-and the cops are your friends": I am stunned to learn that police need to be watched (Wayne's Word, Nov. 30-Dec. 6). How could it be that such "honorable" men and women would not use discretion while pulling over drivers to mindlessly ticket them? I just don't believe that they would actually obtain search warrants based on an anonymous snitch. Metermaids are just doing their jobs. And I'm shocked that such power and control could corrupt. Cases before the Supreme Court are never brought against the police! I believe in "Officer Friendly." I really do. Ya right!

Consider what cops do: They are local footsoldiers who use brute force to carry out the will of the people-excuse me, I mean, the will of the politicians and elitists. It doesn't matter that people often disagree with policy; force is still the methodology. One person's right is another person's abomination, regardless of whether anyone is getting hurt. For those photo ID-supporting Boulder residents, this means that the police are the ones who stomp on you when you've done something that someone else doesn't agree with. It is your support of government that propagates it. You'll destroy everything in order to save your damned utopian collective just so long as you feel good about it. So much for loving thy neighbor!

The cure? Freedom. How to get it back? Hatred-a pure hatred of authority and its supporters. They're incapable of shame and they just won't get it. This is the only methodology that will gain you back your freedom. The alternative? Grin and bear it; write it off as a "sign of the times." Allow yourself to be a sacrificial animal because you consider everyone interconnected. Destroy your mind and ethics via dependency. Demonize morality. Believe that "slavery" is too strong of a word to describe your local residency. Be a subject, not an individual. Embarrass socialism over self-interest.

When it comes to your code of living, understand that everyone must choose. Consequently, all government employees and their subsequent supporters deserve to be spat on. Careful though-you might get arrested.

Regrettably, signing this is too dangerous. Paranoia? Smile for the cameras at the intersections. They're watching...and collecting. If you don't like it, tough. The won't leave if they continue to get their way. They always do. Why do you think this is so?

Anonymous/Boulder

Beware of puppy

Thousands of puppies are going to be purchased from pet stores this holiday season. Many will have begun a stressful journey from commercial breeding facilities known as "puppy mills" that mass produce dogs for sale to pet stores. Frequently, the mother dogs spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy cages producing litter after litter with no rest. Puppies frequently have health problems.

When a puppy is purchased at a pet store, it almost always comes with American Kennel Club papers, but these do not guarantee health or quality.

Customers are told that puppy breeders are licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the federal government agency responsible for overseeing puppy mills. According to the USDA, not every facility is inspected every year and licenses of many facilities have been renewed even though they had outstanding violations.

During investigations, the Humane Society has seen dogs with open wounds, suffering from starvation, and forced to eat and sleep in their own excrement. Dead animals have been found as well. Too frequently, profit making is more important than the health of the dogs.

If you want a pet, please choose from the many homeless animals waiting to be adopted at your local animal shelter. The animal shelters screen for disposition, behavioral problems and health. Try to choose a time that is filled with less excitement than the holidays to bring an animal into your home.

People allow puppy mills to be profitable. The next time you are in a pet store, please refrain from purchasing that cute doggie in the window. It comes at a higher price than one can imagine. People can ultimately end the vicious cycle of cruelty.

Susan Wolf/Allenspark

Guinea pigs and food experiments

Did you know that 60-70 percent of the foods on our supermarket shelves contain genetically modified ingredients? Genetically engineered foods have been renounced by consumers from London to Tokyo. They are rejected by the European Union unless clearly labeled. Even the British Medical Association has called for a moratorium on these foods until proven safe. Yet these hazardous and environmentally risky foods are being pushed on U.S. consumers by a president and congress awash in biotech money.

The FDA's internal records reveal that its own experts clearly recognized the potential for gene-splicing to induce production of unpredicted toxins and carcinogens in the resultant food. These same records reveal that these warnings were covered up by FDA political appointees operating under a White House directive to promote the biotech industry. It is unconscionable that the FDA claimed itself unaware of any information showing that bioengineered foods differ from others, when its own files are filled with such information from its scientific staff. And it is unconscionable that it permits such foods to be marketed based on the claim they are recognized as safe by an overwhelming consensus within the scientific community, when it knows such a consensus does not exist.

Support the mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods. Consumers deserve to know what they are eating, rather than being misled by a biotech industry that is more interested in their bottom line profit margin than in the health and well being of the consumer and our environment.

Patrick West/Louisville

Read the label, Mabel

The chemicals in common household cleaning products are among the most potentially harmful substances in the home. Many of these cleaners purport to make our indoor environments less and not more hazardous, but a closer examination suggests that the converse may result.

To raise awareness of the health and environmental effects of several common chemicals found in household cleaning products, Eco-Cycle, Boulder County, and Partners for a Clean Environment (PACE) have teamed up to provide consumers with concise, point-of-sale information in several Boulder County retail stores. The project encourages both reading product labels carefully and choosing less toxic alternatives.

The campaign highlights five common chemicals: ammonia (found in glass and all-purpose cleaners); alkylphenol ethoxylates or "APEs" (found in many detergents and all-purpose cleaners); paradichlorobenzene (found in some toilet bowl deodorizers); petroleum distillates (found in furniture polishes); and sodium hypochlorite (found in bleach-containing products). These chemicals pose a variety of threats to human and environmental health: Ammonia and sodium hypochlorite can irritate the eyes, nose and respiratory system; APEs can cause hormone function disruption in humans and animals; petroleum distillates can cause headache, dizziness and nausea and contribute to air pollution; and paradichlorobenzene, which has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals, may cause cancer in humans as well. The good news, though, is that effective alternatives are available for all of these household cleaners!

Look for the "Read the Label First" shelf-talkers in these Boulder County stores: 30th Street Market; McGuckin Hardware; Target; Safeway; King Soopers; Budget Home Center; Costco; Sam's Club; Wal-Mart; and B & F Superfoods. Eco-Cycle's "Household Toxics: A Safe Environment Begins at Home" booklets will be available at no cost near the shelf-talkers.

We all need to look more closely at all the household chemicals we use-for our sake and for the environment we share. The words "Danger," "Warning" and "Caution" on a product label are clues that we need to pay attention.

Brian Ladd, Eco-Cycle and Anne Kaufman, Boulder County Health Department/Boulder