Letters
12/10/2009
Let’s help
We need to act right now to stop this before we have no more Earth on which to live — we need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases; we need to walk more and get in our cars less. We all need to do whatever we can to help our Earth.
~MICHELLE MARTIN, SANTA MONICA
Fill that doughnut hole
I want to thank Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, for voting for
the Health Care Reform Bill, which will mean better medical care for every Californian if finally enacted
by Congress.
The House plan will help millions of older Americans in Medicare — over
22 percent of Medicare recipients in California — who struggle like me with the high cost of prescription drugs by closing the gap in existing Medicare drug coverage known as the “doughnut hole.” This will give us a full prescription drug benefit for the first time ever if included in the final bill adopted by the Congress.
According to AARP, nearly 20 percent of people in Medicare delay or choose not to fill their prescriptions because of cost. So I am sure my letter speaks for many others.
I am grateful that the House health care bill passed, but I know the fight is not over. I am proud to be one of many AARP members who will continue to work with Rep. Schiff and other members of Congress to make sure any final healthcare bill means people like me, who have worked hard their whole lives, will no longer have to choose between paying for medications or paying for heat, food or housing.
~MICHAEL SCHUTZ, VIA EMAIL
Biting the hand that feeds you
Erica Wayne’s “Turkey smack talk” article in your Nov. 19 issue seems about as fresh and appetizing as last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. I strongly suspect that Ms. Wayne was actually enjoying a long holiday week off and — rather than sitting down and writing a new column that actually belongs in the restaurant review section — yanked out leftovers from five years ago to slap down on your pages in the guise of social commentary.
Ms. Wayne attempted to compare “those turkey ranchers and pumpkin patchers” with “the drug and insurance companies, tea-partiers, birthers, gas-guzzlers and oil producers …” Somehow, she also manages to toss in references to California’s governor, Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean, Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney. Perhaps this was Ms. Wayne’s attempt at social satire, but it missed the mark in so many ways.
Ms. Wayne declares she is boycotting the Thanksgiving holiday “to protest the wrongs that haven’t yet been righted.” She will eschew the traditional turkey dinner and other holiday feasts and encourages her friends to do the same. That means steering clear of restaurants and purveyors of holiday foodstuffs and eating only at ethnic restaurants which she sarcastically labels as being “un-American” establishments. (Do Yujean Kang, El Portal, Sahara, and Bistro 45 consider themselves “un-American”?)
I have to disagree with Ms. Wayne. I think she has much to be thankful for:
• She is a regular contributor to the Pasadena Weekly, whose editors neglected to provide oversight, allowing her recycled political rhetoric to pop up in a food review.
• She has a sweet gig: reviewing restaurants, sampling gourmet foods and beverages and enjoying luxuries — at a time when many folks are struggling just to get food on the table.
• The Pasadena Weekly is obviously supported by very tolerant advertisers, the many restaurants whose ads prop up its existence. While Ms. Wayne calls for a boycott of restaurants serving traditional turkey dinners, ads are running in that very issue from restaurants such as Barn Burner, Villa Sorriso, BarCelona and Minx offering turkey dinners. I am sure these restaurants welcome Ms. Wayne’s call for turkey and holiday abstinence at their expense.
•We both live in a country where we can openly express our opinions.
If we take Ms. Wayne’s “boycott of eating certain foods” as political action to its extended conclusion we should boycott all restaurants serving foods from countries where people’s rights are being trampled. That means no Chinese food for you, Ms. Wayne, since China has an abysmal track record in the area of human rights. You will also need to boycott Thai restaurants. Thailand’s human rights record has not been impressive, and violations of the human rights of refugees and immigrants can be found throughout the country.
You will also need to abstain from eating at Mexican restaurants, since Mexico is experiencing serious human rights issues, including violence surrounding local elections, and the unsolved murders of women in Juarez. I know you will miss eating at Middle Eastern restaurants too, since many of those countries seriously repress the rights of women.
If Ms. Wayne is truly outraged by today’s political and social environment, she needs to put her money where her mouth is. Instead of stamping her foot and whining about all the injustices in this country, I suggest she take the vacation pay she receives for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays and donate those checks to support her causes.
How about raising funds for Union Station or the LA Food Bank? Why not volunteer to support the Pasadena AIDS Service Center or Project Angel Food, an organization that is selling pumpkin pies in order to raise funds to help feed people with life-threatening illnesses?
Ms. Wayne states that “I busted my buns to get Obama elected.” Rather than encouraging a boycott that can further harm the local economy, she should take the president’s words to heart. In a recent address at the Presidential Forum on Service at Texas A&M University, the president stated: “I want to emphasize today: that service isn’t separate from our national priorities or secondary to our national priorities — it is integral to achieving our national priorities. It is how we will meet the challenges of our time.”
Ms. Wayne, you are a privileged woman who lives a privileged life. You are surrounded by a community in desperate need of food, affordable housing, education and access to healthcare. Your insipid cry to forgo celebrating the holidays rings hollow.
Do you truly think that anyone gives a damn that you won’t be eating cranberries and dressing? Do you seriously believe you will bring about social or political change by eating only at certain restaurants? Grow up, and get off your well-fed butt and do something about these injustices instead of wasting ink and paper on empty musings. Be thankful every day that you live in a country where you can speak, write, worship, live freely and have the opportunity to bring about significant change.
~MARY STIFEL, ALTADENA
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT