Letters to the Editor 3-28-13

VFW recruitment
Editor: No one does more for our Veterans than the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW).
We stand up, speak out, and take action when others do not. We have been a force of change through the last century by establishing the VA and National Cemetery system and we continuously advocate on Veterans’ behalf. By testifying at committee hearings and interacting with congressional members, the VFW has played an instrumental role in nearly every piece of Veterans legislation passed in the 20th century as well as bills developed in the 21st.
The VFW builds Veteran memorials across the nation and fights for benefits for Agent Orange exposure, traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder and more. We also fight for veteran employment and we are instrumental in passing landmark legislation for employment opportunities. We continue to fight drastic cuts in veteran programs, such as education and healthcare. Our mission is just getting started and we will not rest until every veteran is protected.
This can only be accomplished by us, our members, as we must be sure our elected officials know that we are alive and well. This cannot be accomplished if we do not continue to recruit and retain our unpaid members.
If you have had foreign service, you may be eligible to join. We need your help to carry out this mission.
For information on joining or to renew your membership, please contact our membership chairman, Herbert L. Hillaker, at 829-1486, or by e-mail at hi***@co*****.net.
Herbert L. Hillaker
Department of California,
Assistant Chief of Staff North
District 16 Membership Chairman
Post 3913 Adjutant,
Membership Chairman
Thank you Occupy
Editor: I would like to send out a sincere thank you to the members of Occupy Sebastopol and to Vice Mayor Robert Jacob for bringing a peaceful completion of Occupy Sebastopol’s tent effort in the Plaza. This marks a new beginning of efforts to bring attention to the fact that the 1 percent of the population continues to exploit and control the world’s resources.
In many cities across the country, Occupy participants were attacked by city governments and their police departments. Not here in Sebastopol. Here, we accommodated an informational tent to show that free speech is in fact a fundamental right, and one to be protected. I feel honored that our city and Occupy Sebastopol have completed this chapter and are continuing to spread the message loud and clear that we can and must stand up for everyday working people.
And act we must. According to the Congressional Budget Office in its 2007 report, “the top 1 percent of Americans control 34.6 percent of the resources, the next 19 percent of Americans own 50.5 percent of the resources, and the bottom 80 percent of Americans own 15 percent of the resources.”
Essentially, the majority of Americans are fighting for scraps.
Further, continuing through this Great Recession, our government continues to give tax breaks to the nation’s wealthiest while our poorest go hungrier every day.
Simply take a look here in Sonoma County. The Redwood Empire Food Bank, the County’s largest food distribution effort, distributes food every month to 78,000 children, seniors and working families. This amounts to one out of six county residents, and this is only one food bank.
We can and must address income inequality and help those in most need. Again, I commend the City of Sebastopol and especially Vice Mayor Jacob, and the Occupy Sebastopol movement for working cooperatively to bring the message of income disparity to more people. Thank you for supporting free speech.
Craig Litwin
Former Sebastopol Mayor and Councilmember
Stop flouridation
Editor: As a hopeful corrective to the Board of Supervisors’ rush to fluoridate our water, I offer these quotations from the successful effort a while back to oppose an attempt by the state legislature to mandate statewide fluoridation:
• Fluoridation does not reduce tooth decay. Studies show no reduction for fluoridated cities compared to non fluoridated. — Dr. Anthony Volpe, Worldwide Dental Director of Colgate Palmolive.
• Fluoride causes more human cancer death, and causes it faster, than any other chemical. — Dr. Dean Burk, former Chief Chemist, U.S. National Cancer Institute.
• Hip fractures are higher in people residing in fluoridated communities. — four articles in the journal of the American Medical Association since 1990.
• Half the amount of fluoride used to fluoridate public water supplies causes a sizeable and significant increase in genetic damage. — Research results from Procter and Gamble, the makers of Crest.
• Fluoride causes genetic damage in cell cultures. — The U.S. National Institute of Environmental Sciences.
• Fluoridation causes dental fluorosis, a permanent disfigurement. — The United States National Research Council.
• A family-sized tube of fluoride toothpaste contains enough fluoride to kill a small child. — Procter and Gamble, the makers of Crest.
Will Riggan
Sebastopol