In response to editorial on ceasefire
I read today’s paper while visiting my in-laws in Lowell and your recent editorial called for a permanent Gaza ceasefire, did not include hostage release.
First, Hamas repeatedly declared its intention to carry out multiple Oct 7ths and called for Oct 13th as a day to kill Jews a globally. Hamas broke the ceasefire on Oct 7th and again when captives were released. If Hamas isn’t destroyed, prior to a ceasefire, the safety of Jews around the world and Israel’s are at risk.
Second, you continue using Hamas / Gaza Health Ministry numbers. Since there is no free press, only news they want is released.
Third, humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to the UN World Food Program math, 4,287 tons of food is needed to feed 2.2 million Gazans 1 week. 234,000 tons entered means enough to feed Gazans for 54.5 weeks. Of course Hamas is stealing 80% and selling it in markets at exorbitant prices.
Last, according to a report in Ami magazine, March 13, 2024, p. 147-150, which mainstream social media hasn’t picked up, the Feb 29th slaughter of people getting aid, was planned by Hamas with Russia, who is also training Hamas in propaganda campaigns.
• The normal drivers were replaced, last minute, by contractors
• The 4:30 a.m. route was to be secret, but “leaked”
• several Hamas militants were stationed by the ambush site, as well as in the midst of the mele.
• Russia doesn’t want the hostages released
The article’s author, John Loftus, was a DOJ special investigator and co-author of “The Secret War Against the Jews” and “The Unholy Trinity.”
Glenn Berman,
Southampton, PA
Help a neighbor, welcome a newcomer, and uplift society
Thomas Paine, one of the Revolutionary War’s foremost thinkers, once decried “sunshine patriots,” those who embrace love for their country when it is thriving. And certainly one can grasp the human preference for cheering on democracy when its benefits seem tangible and its flaws distant. At such times, we rejoice in our form of government and pity those less endowed.
Yet a democracy, even one with a long venerable history like ours, can suffer decline as well as ascendance. For like any institution, it consists of individuals and is susceptible to all human frailties including greed and incompetence. And I am convinced the only real corrective is citizen engagement.
At the end of her remarkable novel, Middlemarch, writer George Eliot, a woman, seemed to suggest our present crisis when she wrote: “For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” Back then, when social stability was more a given, perhaps just being decent was enough. Now, however, every brave and civil act that upholds democracy or assists a neighbor or newcomer should be celebrated from the hilltops. (I graduated from Fitchburg’s St. Bernards in 1969)
R. Jay Allain
Orleans, MA
More funding needed for mental health support
Massachusetts’ mental health crisis is a ticking time bomb, threatening to devastate families and communities already on the brink. The system fails those who need it most: children struggling in school, veterans fighting PTSD, and loved ones lost to suicide. We can’t afford to wait – every day means more suffering.
The numbers are stark: 47th in funding, 12-day wait times, and 60% without treatment. But it’s not just numbers – it’s a mother unable to find care for her anxious child, a veteran forced to wait months for therapy, a friend lost to suicide. We need bold reform, increased funding, and expanded access now.
Contact your representatives and demand change. Support the Mental Health Reform Act and help us build a system that heals, rather than harms. Let’s bring hope to those who need it most.
Ron Beaty
West Barnstable, MA
Biden will take climate change seriously
For every presidential election, there are always a multitude of issues voters must consider when deciding who to vote for. To me, there’s one issue that rises above all others this year: climate change. According to the UN Climate Chief, we have two years to save the planet. Two years to stop burning fossil fuels. Two years to fully transition to a clean energy economy. Two years to curb fossil fuel pollution.
This poll shows that nearly half of Americans thought Trump’s presidency hurt us on climate change. We are already living through the impacts of global warming: erratic weather patterns, wildfires, floods, loss of biodiversity, and ongoing pollution. Climate change is no longer some distant threat, but a current crisis. Unlike Trump, Biden’s administration supports policies prioritizing the climate crisis, supporting the transition to clean energy, rejoining the Paris accord, and targeting net zero emissions.
These shouldn’t be footnotes, they should be headlines. The long-term cost of ignoring climate change will outweigh any short-term economic or political turmoil we currently face. This year’s election is a binary choice and Joe Biden is the only one who will take action on climate change seriously.
Debora Hoffman
Belmont, MA
Health care needs to focus on disease prevention
With the COVID vaccine, a new malaria vaccine, and a tuberculosis vaccine in development, we are seeing a renaissance in disease prevention. But we squander their lifesaving power if the vaccines never reach communities that need them most. The situation is especially urgent for the more than 10 million children worldwide who’ve never received a single dose of critical childhood vaccines. In 2022, 4.9 million children under the age of 5 died due mostly to preventable health problems like diarrhea, pneumonia, and measles.
But there is proven strategy available that has already saved the lives of over 17.3 million children. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is an international partnership that provides essential supports for locally-led vaccine programs worldwide.
World leaders are coming together to reinvest in Gavi this year. I urge Congress and the Biden Administration to help set the tone for the global community with a bold, multiyear funding pledge. Let’s make sure our medical innovations are actually put to work preventing the diseases they aim to end.
William Deignan
Medford, MA
Council only cares about welfare of poor people
The Shelter is close to Lowell Community Health Center. It is also close to two churches which provide services for the homeless. No one is going to want it in there back yard. Let’s talk to the Council about moving it to Belvedere or The Highlands. Lol That would be a good place for it. I would like to know who’s complaining about it besides Rita Mercier. So maybe we should move it next to her house! Maybe one of Lowell’s big developers has their eye on it for more $600,000 condos. For the rich lawyers and judges up the street. The Council’s last concern seems to be the welfare of these poor people, who put the roofs on their houses, dug their swimming pools, painted their houses, and vets that can’t walk.
Len Whitney
Lowell, MA
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