海角大神

Porn as a public health crisis
Regarding the Feb. 22 One Week article 鈥�Is porn a public health crisis?鈥�: Hurray for Utah 鈥� its lawmakers and citizens 鈥� for being the first state to declare pornography a public health crisis! Like alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and gambling, it does more harm than good. Who needs research when observation and common sense prove the point? Hopefully this will make us think deeper about what we should and shouldn鈥檛 be doing to raise the standard of living wherever we live.
Steven Price
San Rafael, Calif.

Politicians on the hook in Flint
Regarding the March 8 online article 鈥�Flint families seek financial compensation for lead crisis鈥� (CSMonitor.com): Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton filled their March 6 debate in Flint, Mich., with full-throated empathy and calls for a substantial amount of money to fix our nation鈥檚 crumbling infrastructure. One fact they forgot to point out is that the poisoning of Flint鈥檚 water system was the direct result of the Republicans wanting to 鈥渞un government like a business.鈥� It was cheaper to get the water from the Flint River than from the Detroit water system, especially when anti-corrosion purification processes were omitted. People will suffer a lifetime because of that Republican way of thinking. And who profits? Government fills the needs that a profit-driven market system cannot fulfill.
Bruce Joffe
Piedmont, Calif.

Regarding the Feb. 22 Monitor鈥檚 View 鈥�Fixing Flint鈥檚 water pipes 鈥� and the 鈥榯rust deficit鈥� 鈥�: The editorial states that the people in Flint, Mich., 鈥渁re now starting to turn their accusing fingers at themselves鈥� rather than at their elected officials. Really? As citizens, we do the best we can to elect honest, responsible public officials. It鈥檚 not easy. But whether someone likes it or not, those politicians are accountable to us for their actions and decisions and are not off the hook because we voted for someone who later proved undeserving.
Ellen T. White
Blue Ridge, Ga.