Correction: Jane Taylor was mistakenly cited as Jane Smith in A.O. Forbes’ “Seeking Haystacks” column last week.
Measles vaccine
I was a child before the measles vaccine existed. When I was 10, I got sent home from school one day feeling worse than I had ever felt in my life with a headache that I thought was going to make my head explode. I had the measles and I was sicker than I had ever been or have ever been since.
A child has died of measles in the United States, and this child had not been vaccinated against the measles. Evidently, this particular variant of measles has arrived in the United States from Europe. Since measles can make a child blind, I was put in a darkened room for two weeks. I couldn’t watch TV or read or do anything. My wonderful mother read stories to me when I felt well enough to listen. And then my poor little sister, only 22 months old, got measles from me and my mother couldn’t put her down for two weeks. She could only hold her in her arms to comfort her.
I want to encourage parents if they have not yet had their children vaccinated for measles to do so immediately, so that no child suffers and no family suffers when that can be prevented very easily with the MMR vaccine.
There is nothing you can do to prevent measles, including taking vitamins, except to get a vaccine. Measles is one of the most contagious viruses that we have circulating on the planet, far more contagious than COVID or the common cold.
Please don’t be afraid of this vaccine. Use it to protect your family.
Illène Pevec
Carbondale
Facts still matter
We’re reading different headlines, those MAGA supporters and me. They read about violent criminals being rounded up and sent away, I read about Navajos or asylum seekers who followed every step of the law facing immigration enforcement raids. They read about billions in fraud and waste being found and cut. I read about scientific studies abruptly ending and National Park rangers losing their jobs. We can hear of the same event and view it oppositely: They see Trump and Vance demanding respect for America by schooling Zelensky, I see an abandonment of democratic values and allies to cave in to Putin — an enemy of freedom.
What we are lacking today are a common news source people trust and a tendency to follow rules of civility. We no longer agree on basic facts or a belief in the common good. Much of this came about with the demise of local newspapers, the rise of social media and algorithms that give us what we want to hear, and opinions that substitute for news and facts.
But facts do matter, or at least they should. Trump lost the 2020 election. Russia invaded Ukraine. The billions of dollars DOGE is cutting could also come from not extending the tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. I would love to have a civil discussion with anyone who has facts to prove otherwise. Any takers?
Peter Westcott
Missouri Heights
Who to trust for news
I read with great alarm where Russia, China and other autocratic regimes are trying to tilt the results that AI produces by flooding their input channels with disinformation. With AI now being used to overwhelm traditional media sources AND social networks by producing massive amounts of content, how do you know if what you are reading/hearing is the truth? As I stated in an earlier letter to the editor, get your news from a reliable news source such as those ranked by NewsGuard (www.newsguardtech.com), which ranks news sources from both the left and the right. They are rated on a scale of 0 to 100, with100 being the best.
Here are some credible news sources with scores of 85 to 100: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Denver Post, NBC News, ABC News, The National Review, Christian Science Monitor, CBS News, New York Times, The American Conservative.
Some not so reliable news sources of with scores between 65 and 80: New York Post and Fox News.
And some unreliable news sources with scores under 50: MSNBC and Breitbart.
I urge you to unplug from your social media accounts and go to these news sources with scores of at least 80 or better instead. And sample both sides (I regularly read The Washington Post AND The Wall Street Journal).
Jerome Dayton
Carbondale
Listen, Hurd
I heard it over and over again during the 2024 campaign season, how Representative Jeff Hurd was a “reasonable Republican.” I even heard it at a recent town hall in Grand Junction where more than 400 concerned citizens hoped to talk to the congressman.
Surely, I thought, Rep. Hurd would relish the opportunity to hear how worried and, in some cases, terrified many of his constituents are as we witness the dismantling of American democracy. Vital social programs and entire government departments are being slashed, acknowledged Hurd in a recent CPR interview, seeming to understand the danger.
In that same interview, however, Rep. Hurd went on to label that town hall as “political theater” and implied that I, and hundreds of other attendees, were funded by some billionaire. Sadly, Hurd declined to show up and witness the event firsthand.
That’s exactly what former CD-3 Rep. Lauren Boebert would say. Remember her? She’s the gal Hurd told voters was unserious and he’d do better. Now, he’s spewing the same old and tired talking points used by Elon Musk-backed politicians in Congress.
Mr. Hurd, for the record, I don’t have to be paid to stand up to an oligarchy. In fact, it costs me time, gas and sleep.
I resist, and will continue to resist, because this authoritarian takeover could also cost me my country.
JoAnn Kalenak
Hotchkiss
Letters policy: The Sopris Sun welcomes local letters to the editor. Shorter letters stand a better chance of being printed. Letters exclusive to The Sopris Sun (not appearing in other papers) are particularly welcome. Please, no smearing, cite your facts and include your name and place of residence or association. Letters are due to news@soprissun.com by noon on the Monday before we go to print.