Readers Write for Tuesday, Dec. 15

Tiger Woods has probably done more to inspire fidelity than either the pope or Dr. Phil. Though most of us don't have multimillion dollar-endorsements to risk, Tiger's predicament does tend to highlight the downside of philandering.

I'm sure being toppled from a pedestal is painful, but the worst punishment might be having everyone laugh at you.

EDDIE RYSHAVY, PLYMOUTH

The writer of the Dec. 14 letter regarding Sarah Palin's commentary on global warming makes an excellent point. Why does the media treat the opinions of scientifically untrained people as valid and worthy of consideration as scientists?

That is where Al Gore comes in. He is not a climate scientist, and his opinion is unimportant. He is, as the writer states, a scientifically untrained and ignorant celebrity.

LARRY A. SORENSON, ARLINGTON, MINN.

I have been homeless, and one of the most complex parts of it is the indignity of being treated as if we're invisible while at the same time being so ashamed we want to be anonymous.

John Petroskas is a righteous man.

BOB BLEDSOE, WOODVILLE, WIS.

The American people are really getting tired of the president talking about how he "inherited" the economic problems of the country.

They started under Jimmy Carter (the Community Reinvestment Act), continued under Bill Clinton (the Banking Modernization Act) and culminated under George W. Bush with no enforcement of banking rules.

Congress today is still just as beholden to lobbyists as in the past. What the president inherited is politics as usual.

History will condemn the United States for creating and perpetuating a society in which tens of millions live without access to affordable and universal health care. The knee-jerk reaction against even the possibility of a small-scale offering of a government-sponsored health care plan is unfortunate and will be viewed as the epitome of selfishness.

How is it possible that people who posit themselves as defenders of values and morality don't see the contradiction in maintaining a system that promotes inequity and injustice? The same arguments that noisily railed against the implementation of Social Security and Medicare are being repeated today. At what point do we become forward-thinking and place value on human lives and dignity instead of fear-mongering for cheap political points?

CRAIG HOLLENBECK, MINNEAPOLIS

While the search continues around Remer, Minn., for Bigfoot, let's expand it to locate the elusive "editor."

The "editor" prevents the placement of foolish hoax stories in the newspaper by credulous reporters and scam artists. Please set up a camera in the Star Tribune newsroom, in case one of these rare and useful creatures still lurks in the recesses of a formerly respectable newspaper.

The emotional Dec. 10 editorial, "Reckless disregard for H1N1's danger," should not have convinced any nonvaccinated public to get the H1N1 vaccine.

Did you know that the leftover vaccine is to be disposed of in a toxic waste dump? Why then would I want to inject that into my bloodstream or that of my children?

There already are a lot of vaccine-damaged folks from the '70s when people got the Hong Kong Flu shot, all traced back to the heavy metals and toxic chemicals in the vaccines.

The Star Tribune even reported last week that this year's seasonal flu outbreak is the mildest in recorded history.

Insulting the messengers and the science behind the messengers, as you did in the editorial, shows the desperation of the medical community.

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I couldn't agree more that people should get H1N1 vaccine, as the Dec. 10 editorial advocated. But do you really think poor attendance at clinics can be blamed entirely on the public?

For example, this week. There are only seven clinics offering vaccine within 10 miles of my home, according to the state of Minnesota website. I gladly stand in line with a few coworkers every year to get the normal flu vaccine, but I'm not sure I would want to wait with hundreds at one of the 10 clinics for H1N1.

Also, in that same newspaper, there was an article that stated that no vaccine will be delivered to clinics because of the cold. Does this mean that the clinics on the state site won't have vaccine? That would have been a good detail to have included.

Finally, where's the list of clinics available in the next two or three days in your newspaper? If the vaccine is in short supply, surely it is newsworthy who has it.