Dear Mr. Simon,
I am a Lehigh alumnus and former Fulbright Scholar in the political science department. I am writing this letter because I want to be proud that I graduated from an institution that is committed to safeguarding students’ futures against irreversible environmental damage. So far, Lehigh University is not playing that role. But, with your new leadership, that can change.
Mr. Simon, please take this letter as a genuine concern from an alumnus who wants to see a safe future for this generation of students and for the next generation that hasn’t been born yet and therefore does not have a say in the type of natural environment we are leaving them. Mr. Simon, as the future leader of an institution of more than 7,000 students, you will not only have the authority to suggest...
Lifestyle
Dear Attorney General Harris and Governor Brown,
Last month, we finally learned the truth from Volkswagen. “Our company was dishonest with the EPA, and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you. We have totally screwed up.”
Volkswagen acted with deliberate fraud and unequivocal intent to poison our air. For the last 15 months they insisted that tests on its light weight diesel cars showing a spike in pollution levels were not the cause of their fraudulence, but instead due to errors in testing conditions. Volkswagen first admitted to breaking emissions laws and recalled 500,000 vehicles in the US. In a matter of days, this number increased to 11-million vehicles spewing dangerously harmful levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx), emissions that have been linked to ozone (smog)...
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Dear Vandana Shiva
Re Oxfam GB's policy position on GM crops
Our friends in Oxfam Canada have passed on to us your open letter. While we are only too happy to discuss these issues with an expert like yourself it might have been useful if you had contacted us directly before sending a letter to so many people.
We think that there is only a minor difference of opinion between yourself and Oxfam GB. In our paper we call for a moratorium on the commercial release of GM crops because of the enormous health, environmental and socio-economic risks to poor farmers, consumers and developing countries. However, before completely shutting the door we believe further research is needed to establish the full risks and potential of genetic modification of crops for poor farmers and for...
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Dear Chipotle,
We are a recently-formed grassroots movement called the March Against Myths about Modification (MAMyths). Our group consists of your target demographic: we care about the sustainability of our food supply, and we want healthy food for our families. Our membership is worldwide and continues to grow every day.
Your “Farewell to GMOs” campaign states that GMOs have negative impacts on animal welfare, farmers, and the environment. Unfortunately, by perpetuating myths about GMOs, you are actually hurting the causes you claim to defend.
You call into question the scientific consensus on GMOs, when in fact every major scientific and medical association in the world agrees GMOs are safe. You claim there haven’t been enough studies done by scientists who do not have an...
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Dear Member of the European Parliament,
Clean air – everywhere – for European citizens!
Next Wednesday you have the unique opportunity to set the European Union on track for clean air and save literally tens of thousands of European lives each year.
Air pollution continues to cause significant damage to health, harms our natural environment, makes it more difficult to protect our cultural heritage and buildings, hampers economic productivity, lessens the quality of life in Europe’s cities, and much more.
It is estimated that the health costs from air pollution alone amount to 330 – 940 billion EUR a year. Over 400,000 people die prematurely each year because of polluted air.
You can change this.
Please follow the recommendations from your colleagues of the...
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Dear Friend,
Over the past two years, I have appreciated the time that many constituents have taken to share with me their strong commitment to protecting and improving the lives of veterans throughout our state and country. I am writing now to ask for your assistance in a matter that is of grave concern to me, the potential closing of two Veterans hospitals: the Vancouver and Walla Walla VA Medical Centers.
In December 2002, Anthony Principi, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, established the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission. The goal of the Commission is to provide recommendations to the Secretary of the VA regarding allocation of capital assets to meet the demand for veteran's health care services over the next several decades. While I agree that...
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Dear Dr. Carson:
As leaders of the nation’s largest veterans organizations, with more than 5 million active members, we vehemently disagree with your dangerous proposal to eliminate the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system for America’s veterans. Eliminating the VA health care system – considering all that it has done in the past and all that it could be in the future – would inevitably endanger the health and well-being of millions of wounded, injured and ill veterans, an outcome that we cannot allow to occur.
...
Dr. Carson, do you really think that veterans would be better off today had VA not existed, or that they would be better cared for in the future in a world without a national VA system dedicated to their unique and often complex needs?...
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Dear Sir,
I know your hearing a lot right now on this issue of the Veterans Administration (VA).
I also know you and the president want to be supportive of former Army General Shinseki, who currently serves as the Secretary of the VA.
While I can understand and appreciate your position, I must point out that people have died under his watch. In Phoenix alone some 40 veterans are alleged to have died while waiting for care after being put on secret wait lists. At the same time thousands of dollars of bonuses were paid out to executives, such as the disgraced Director of the Veterans hospital in Phoenix Sharon Helman, who I understand was placed on administrative leave.
Now this scandal has spread and there are investigations at VA hospitals all across the country. Its so large...
2,417
Dear Mr. President,
Let me address you on behalf of the ACP Board at a time when the cooperation between FIDE and the ACP is bearing important fruits in the World Championship cycle stability, Anti-Cheating effort and other important fields.
I'd like to address you on a topic which is at the very heart of the long life of a chess player.
Many living chess players, in the course of their career, have had a substantial impact on the chess and cultural life of their countries, and continue to be a powerful source of inspiration for the younger generations worldwide long time after they passed their prime.
True chess legends, who maintained the chess glory and tradition throughout the years, often without a significant financial reward. We all grew up on their games, read the...
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Madam President,
Earlier this month, I was delighted to find that there is an Officers’ Spouse Club (OSC) on the Ft. Bragg base. My wife and I have been together for fifteen years as partners, and with the recent repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” are finally legally married.
I emailed a listed contact for the group and eagerly waited to hear back. When I did, I was incredibly disappointed to be told I “do not qualify.”
I respectfully ask that you reconsider my request to join the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses. Although I have only been a legal spouse since November 10th, I have been in a committed relationship with my spouse since 1997. I have been at every promotion ceremony from First Lieutenant through Lieutenant Colonel. I watched with pride when she took her guideon and...
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