Views in brief
Their coal will hurt us
IN RESPONSE to "Risks of their coal terminal": Proponents of the terminal are spending thousands on TV ads touting its environmental safeguards. They claim that the coal dust will be controlled by wetting it.
Yet studies show that 80 percent of coal dust from trains drops out of the bottom of cars, and there is little if any way to limit this. The terminal developer, Carrix/SSA Marine, was caught in the summer of 2011--before environmental impact statements were completed--destroying wetlands to begin construction before getting required permits.
Unfortunately, labor is divided on the issue. A number of unions and labor groups, including the Maritime Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, the Washington State Labor Council and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Puget Sound District Council, among others, have endorsed the Gateway Pacific Terminal, according to the project's website.
Their rationale is the 200 permanent union jobs the project is expected to create. Proponents claim that the construction of the terminal will create 2,000 temporary jobs as well.
However, a study by an independent nonprofit agency, Community Wise Bellingham, claims that the negative impact on businesses in Bellingham, in the short- and long-term, would destroy as many jobs as the terminal creates.
Wallace Johnson, from the Internet
It's my body, not theirs
IN RESPONSE to "Women's rights on the line in Texas": I disagree with making abortion illegal to women in Texas. As a woman who resides in Texas, I deserve the right to decide whether or not I want to keep a pregnancy.
This is a personal matter and not a public concern for the entire state. As an American citizen I have, and should have, the right to do as I please with my body and decide what is best for myself regarding abortion decisions.
"IT'S MY BODY, NOT YOURS": These words should be heard all over the world to stop the idiots that are trying to make decisions for women. Nobody should dictate what's best for us.
Lidia Del Real, Texas
Driving Palestinians off their land
IN RESPONSE to "A Jewish-only Jerusalem?": This is a nice article in that the writer actually talks to the people who are affected, but I wish it had gone further.
Saying that building permits are notoriously difficult to obtain for Palestinians in East Jerusalem might lead people to believe they are possible to obtain, perhaps through perseverance. Later in the article it says 95 percent of permit applications are denied. I'd say that's closer to impossible than to notoriously difficult.
Also, Israel has put many land use restrictions in place in East Jerusalem. Large areas are designated as "green zones" or reserved for Israeli settlements, or roads or infrastructure, or haven't been designated as anything so can't be built on. Only 10 percent of land in East Jerusalem is even designated such that Palestinians can build there, if they could get a permit.
Also, I'd like to see all articles like this include the context, for the benefit of the many people who don't know the story of Palestine. Because people don't know, they don't know why the Palestinians even struggle, or why the article was even written. And because they don't know, Israel has been able to establish a false narrative.
Why are Palestinians having to ask for permission to build on their own land? The answer to that question is the context.
Frank Conway, Albuquerque, N.M.
What Big Brown takes from us
IN RESPONSE to "UPS Teamsters should say no": How generous of Box Corp and such misleading International Brotherhood of Teamsters propaganda.
In my 10 years as a part-time UPS laborer, I make $17 an hour after years of these raises. I have never increased my yearly income because of the speed-up in production and shorter shifts that eclipse the raises.
The two-tiered UPS pay system is a deal with the devil. The company claims they pay well, but it is only the scouts in uniform who bring you your box. The inside workers are a device for massive turnover to benefit the company with low wages, and the union with initiation fees and pension contributions to bolster its fund.
It seems that only SocialistWorker.org and Teamsters for a Democratic Union want to look under the Brown paint.
Stakhanov, San Francisco
