MANKIND AND GLOBAL WARMING GO HAND IN HAND

In regards to a recent letter "What Snow pack Decline in the West"; I took interest in noting how the writer is eager to throw out evidence that global warming has been 'hyped up' by the media--by telling us how much snow we are getting in the Sierras or in the Cascades--as contrary to the belief that such an impact isn't the result of global warming.

While the writer urges that people get educated, the threat of global warming is an all too real event that can no longer be ignored.

For example, there are reports that Lake Mead may dry up by 2021. A major lake in the Southeast--feeding into Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama--may also be bone dry in the next 5 years. What about the massive drops in the water levels of Lake Michigan? Or how how about the recent study where it shows that man does indeed have an impact on the world's oceans?

Just because we don't see global warming in action, doesn't mean it's not there. All these examples show that we are causing a preliminary shift in the way our planet behaves and operates. And global warming is a direct result of our tampering with the very environment that we've lived in for hundreds of years.

After all, we've been able to change the course of mighty streams and rivers in the past. There is little that Man cannot affect now with the right technologies at hand. And the effects tend to take awhile to catch up with the rest of us.

And when they do...? The results are nothing short of spectacular.

Or devastating.

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX

VOTE SHOULDN'T BE TIED TO PARTY AFFILIATION

What's the deal here, people? We live in a free country, and yet--in the state of Washington--we are supposed to pledge fealty to one party or another; just so we can vote?

Doesn't that just smack of fascism here?

I noticed an article in the Herald which said that 17,000 votes weren't counted in Snohomish because voters failed to identify which party they belong to.

Um...maybe it's because some of us are sick and tired of being tied to a broken 2-party system and we are voting independently?

Has our election officials figured that out yet? Maybe some of us are just tired of all the broken promises and the partisan flame wars which has consumed our seats of government--and are looking for a change in the status quo.

I for one don't care if these election counting nitwits don't count my vote. In my mind, I belong to no party. And when it comes down to voting, I will vote accordingly.

Because my message is clear on that front: Even this vote counts!

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX

RESULTS OF THE LAST 8 YEARS MADE PERFECTLY CLEAR

I fear for the future of my own country as a concerned citizen.

For the last 8 years, we watched as the Republican Party had made it their hallmark signature to demonize their opponents, vilify their critics, and simply call anyone who disagreed with their stance as being "anti-patriotic" and "un-American".

For 8 years, we watched our country's standing do a death spiral down the universal toilet of life--as we adopted many of the same standards as past dictatorships classically embraced as "torture" to the outside world; and nary blink an eye (or a moral fiber) to the unseen consequences belittling our nation as a whole.

For 8 years, we watched as our country's finances get eaten up by massive amounts of debt and tax cuts for the rich--while our infrastructure at home has rapidly deteriorated to extremes that I have only seen in third-world countries on TV, and read about in National Geographic magazines.

And now we have a Republican running for President who promises to keep the same ball rolling for the next four to eight years--without abated breath--if elected President. And to top it all off? McCain claims that he's a morally driven conservative whom seeks the glory days of Ronald Reagan. (Debts, deficits, and recessions.)

So it makes me wonder: Why are so many Republican voters that willing to vote against their best interests each and every time--when they know the end results will damage all of us one way or another?

Why?

The answers are perfectly clear: We did this to ourselves--by letting other people make the decisions for us. And as a result? Our country is worse off than it ever has been.

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX