An exercise in community

To the Editors,

A draft of Sen. Bennett’s Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act is currently available for comment at http://bennet.senate.gov/hermosacreek/. The proposed legislation is a result of public meetings of a diverse group of citizens devoting 18 months to considering the protection of existing multiple uses and the preservation of natural resources. The monthly meetings were open to all, were consistently well-organized and well-attended, and each issue discussed in length. The Senator’s draft legislation is based upon the compromises that were reached through a consensus-building process. The issues of livestock grazing, hunting, resource extraction or protection, recreation uses and opportunities, water quality and water use protection were identified, and methods were agreed to in which protection of their values could best be attained. Don’t take my word for it; you can access all the information, meeting summaries and identify steering committee members found on the web at http://ocs.fortlewis.edu/riverprotection/. I think you’ll find that even if you were unable to attend, your interests were well represented by these hard-working folks and other participants in our community. Whereas diverse interests so often lead to polarization of positions, this example of an open community collaboration has been instrumental in arriving at solutions that, if not perfect, may be acceptable to all.  

– Bill Simon, Coordinator, Animas River Stakeholders Group

Compassion for a world in crisis

Dear Editors,

A common definition of compassion is recognizing the suffering of another and wanting the other to be well. We all experience compassion. Most experience it with loved ones and friends, many experience it with strangers, in-laws, or rez dogs; and some even experienceit with their enemies.

The Buddhist philosophy of dependent origination basically teaches us that we are always practicing. The qualities and intentions we carry in any given moment is the practice of who we will become in the next moment, and the next.

The habitual and mindless practice of greed, hatred and delusion is synonymous with suffering. Suffering of the mind recapitulates in the body and the living earth. If we want to heal the Earth but do not heal our own minds, the Earth cannot be healed. According to these teachings mind and nature are not two. They exist only in relationship.  

Healing, integration and wholeness of mind are synonymous with the cultivation of wholesome mind moments, or “mental factors” as they are described in ancient Buddhist texts. These wholesome mental factors are sometimes called the “Beautiful Factors,” because when they are present, life is pretty much beautiful. Compassion is not just one of these beautiful mental factors, but in a higher order of these wholesome factors called the “immeasurables.” Cultivating these “immeasurables” is certainly one of our most precious opportunities.

If it is true that the well-being of all our relations is interdependent with the quality of whoever we are practicing to be, then we must inspect our very own mind, for the well-being of all our relations depends upon it. Join us for the Ideas Festival in Telluride on July 8-10 as we explore “Compassion for a World in Crisis” – panel discussions, interviews and keynote addresses by Tibetan monks, medicine men and women, neuroscientists, biologists, and scholars.

For more information and tickets go to www.tellurideinstitute.org, or contact compassionfestival@tellurideinstitute.org  Hope to see you there!

– Jonathan Barfield, Telluride Institute.

The pedaling police

Telegraph,

While riding on the bike path last week, in about an hour, I encountered exactly six of “Durango’s Finest” in different groups,  policemen on bikes “looking for crime” on the Animas River Trail at around 11 a.m. With the first one I joked, and he did too, “You call this work?” Then I started fuming after I saw so many more cops out there enjoying a gorgeous summer day while getting paid. I asked two of them about their “patrolling,” and they said the problems were with drunks and transients. At 11 a.m. in the morning? Can the City provide detailed information about all the crimes that have been stopped by these patrolling actions? What a waste of taxpayer money! Durango seems to have a hugely high number of cops per person as it is, and this adds to the absurdity of the situation. Tell them to take a furlough day if that is all they have to do. Please stop wasting our money accomplishing nothing!

– Julie Meadows, Durango

Going postal

To the Editors:

In response to declining revenues, the U.S. Postal Service has proposed another round of post office closures, overlooking other potential cost savings. There is little doubt the Postal Service needs to restructure, but care must be taken not to leave rural communities without services crucial to businesses, news delivery, and, in some communities, a link to prescription drugs and other services.

We should maintain rural Americans’ ability to send and receive goods and connect with others by keeping service locations open and by increasing remote service options. The cost to serve rural communities can be reduced by keeping a full-service window open within another local business like a grocery store or bank, eliminating the cost of maintaining a separate office.

Moreover, the Postal Service can offer more remote service options than ordering stamps by mail. Equipping postal carriers to process packages and even make in-person stops at businesses would help preserve services in areas where brick-and-mortar offices cannot be maintained.

We should also increase public investment in rural broadband internet access. The digital revolution is the root cause of declining mail volume, but quality and affordable broadband service is still badly lacking in much of rural America. It is important to ensure rural people are not left without access to both the internet and postal services.

Innovative strategies such as these could make it possible for the Postal Service to adjust to a new reality of reduced revenues while maintaining quality service for rural people.

– Brian Depew, Center for Rural Affairs

Political meltdown

To the Editors,

Residents of Colorado may potentially be at risk thanks to the Rocky Flats plant, a nuclear weapons production facility near Denver that operated from 1952 - 1992.

According to an article titled “Radioactive tritium leaks found at 48 U.S. nuke sites,” written by Jeff Donn and published by the AP, “three quarters of all commercial nuclear power sites in the U.S. have experienced radioactive tritium leaks. Many of these leaks are seeping into ground water from corroded underground pipes.”

The article goes on to point out “The number and severity of the leaks has been escalating, even as federal regulators extend the licenses of more and more reactors across the nation.” It then states that “Tritium, which is a radioactive form of hydrogen, has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites, according to U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission records reviewed as part of the AP’s yearlong examination of safety issues at aging nuclear power plants. Leaks from at least 37 of those facilities contained concentrations exceeding the federal drinking water standard – sometimes at hundreds of times the limit.”

According to the article, other powerful radioactive isotopes have shown up in some of these spills. It states, “Cesium-137 turned up with tritium at the Fort Calhoun nuclear unit near Omaha, Neb., in 2007. Strontium-90 was discovered with tritium two years earlier at the Indian Point nuclear power complex, where two reactors operate 25 miles north of New York City.”

According to the National Academy of Sciences, “Any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how slight, boosts cancer risk.”

Based on this latest report, common sense should tell us that while nuclear may be a much cheaper form of energy, it is hardly a safe form of energy. As we continue our push for more green energy sources, why does our government continue to extend the licensing for plants with known tritium leaks? If the underground pipes are known weak spots, why does the government continue to allow the use of difficult-to-check, underground piping. Why, when the government knew that the nuclear power plant in Braidwood, Ill., had leaked over 6 million gallons of tritium-laden water, in repeated leaks dating back to the 1990s, was the public not informed until 2005?

Once again, the tendency of our government to selectively dispense information crucial to the citizens and taxpayers of our country puts us at risk. Every new discovery of this informational control tells us just how little we mean to the politicians we elect. It is clear to me that we are little more than a source of funds for them to spend in their never-ending attempt to buy votes and grab power.

The next time you give your child or grandchild a glass of water, you had better ask yourself one question: “What have our politicians knowingly allowed to enter our ground water and what effect will it have on this young life in my hands?”

Folks, it is time that we come to grips with some obvious and painful facts: (1) In the battle between increased profitability and public safety in government-controlled nuclear power generation in the United States, increased profitability will win out every time. (2) Too many of our politicians will sell your health and that of your children and grandchildren, for campaign contributions. (3) It is long past time to insist upon term limits, controls on campaign contributions and honesty from ALL elected officials.

It seems to me that we, the citizens of the United States, have under-used the “Recall” mechanism as too many elected officials continue to plunder the wealth of our country, endanger the rest of the world and place us in harm’s way even after they have been caught with their hand in the proverbial till.

If this report does not send chills up your spine, it damned well should. Evaluations are being done in locations distant from any nuclear power plant that indicates our environment is changing for the worse. Frogs with extra legs are being found in increasing numbers. Could this be the result of particles carried by the air and winds from these nuclear power plants?

At what point do we draw the line folks? At what point do we get rid of the parasitic politicians who have now reached the point where they gamble with our health to potentially win votes and gain even more power to adversely affect the lives of future generations of the world? In my opinion, those who knowingly allowed the continued licensing of these faulty nuclear power plants should do serious jail time in something other than the white-collar resort facilities reserves for corporate thieves and politicians. Maybe we should relocate half of the population of Attica just to make room for these criminals. Their collars may be white but their hands are clearly very dirty and possibly tinged with the red of citizen’s blood … but, that is just my opinion!

– Respectfully yours, Robert M. Collinsworth, via email

Rally around the flag

Letter to the Editors:

I am compelled to address the desecration of our flag by those who do not comprehend the meaning of the U.S. flag. Our flag is the symbol of freedom and democracy in this country, and around the world. It epitomizes what our military personnel defend and rally around. It is sacred and must not be desecrated.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989 ruled it is legal to desecrate the flag under the First Amendment of our Constitution’s right of free speech.

The U.S. House of Representatives will consider H. J. Res. 13 shortly, which prohibits the physical desecration of the flag. A parallel resolution, S.J. Res. 19, will go before the U.S. Senate in coming months. Two thirds majority votes in the House and Senate are required to put forward a constitutional amendment for ratification by the states.

Please contact your state representatives and senators and ask them to support these resolutions. Over 1.2 million U.S. military personnel have died promoting freedom and democracy in the world, and our flag is the symbol that embodies their sacrifices.

We have to rally around the flag.

– Donald A. Moskowitz, via email