LETTERS TO THE
E DITOR Thanks for the ‘shout-out’
To the editor: Thank you, Mr. Ross Pattermann, for the “Shout-Out For All Educators” article in your “Musings and Grumblings” in the May 6 newspaper. The title says it all.
As a former educator, coming from an entire family of educators, the article was greatly appreciated. Somewhere along the line as a society, we have lost the respect and appreciation my father had when he was a teacher.
The current times for teachers and students are challenging. Hopefully, there may be a new appreciation for teachers because of how this school year is ending. There should be a new realization of all the time teachers put into their classroom preparations and what they are doing and have done in the past for their students. Yes, educators teach at their grade level or content area, but as Mr. Pattermann stated, they also teach life skills.
I also would like to give a shout-out not only for the teachers, but all the personnel — janitors, food staff, secretaries, teacher aides and support staff — at the schools. One time, I saw a janitor kneel down on the floor to teach a child how to zip his coat.
Once again, thank you for your appreciation. It is rare that educators get a “shout-out.” Thank you for this written acknowledgement and appreciation.
Nina Writz Abbotsford
Lockdown issues
To the editor: There have been lockdowns in most countries except Sweden, where precautions were taken to prevent spreading COVID-19. (They didn’t shut down their economy.) The global economy could shrink by 3 percent in 2020, marking the biggest downturn since the Great Depression. Across South Asia, tens of millions are already “struggling to put food on the table.” The UN World Food Programme states that more than 260 million people will face starvation — double last year’s figures. If global GDP declines by 5 percent, another 147 million people could be plunged into extreme poverty. (International Food Policy Research Institute.) All this because of the lockdowns, not the virus.
However, the media continues its biased “reporting.”
“More than one million COVID-19 cases in the U.S.!” was big news, increasing media ratings by not putting figures in context. (This is 0.3 percent of the population.) They don’t say how many have recovered, or don’t have symptoms. Each COVID-19 death is tragic, but are just over .0002 percent of our population.
Twitter removed retweets of a Project Veritas video detailing how coronavirus death numbers were being padded, labeling people as such even though they never tested positive.
The state of Colorado changed physicians’ determinations to COVID-19 at a Denver nursing home. The Pennsylvania health department was forced to revise their COVID-19 deaths down by 200 after coroners produced different numbers. Even people on hospice have been listed as COVID-19.
The lockdowns have politicians forcibly preventing everyone they don’t deem as “essential” from working, giving us the worst economy since the Great Depression. People and businesses are suffering.
Democrats have been looking for ways to shut down our economy for over two years just to hurt President Trump. Many Democrat governors are now keeping their states shut down, destroying their economies.
COVID-19 is dangerous, but the lockdown may become more catastrophic than the coronavirus.
Tim Kapfhamer
Colby
