VASHON FASHION
Praise for article on Granny’s
Aspen Anderson’s November 21 feature on the state and fate of donations to Granny’s Attic was well-written, well-organized and very informative. It was a big surprise to learn that some of the synthetic-mix clothing I’ve dropped off over the years is potentially in our landfill or polluting countries overseas.
The good news: Seattle is a “slow fashion” area, and I imagine Vashon is even more so. My husband and I tend to keep wearing our clothes until people start looking at us funny, and will now continue the custom with pride!
Cindy Hoyt
PALESTINE AND ISRAEL
Call our senators out on Bernie’s bill
Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders brought a historic set of resolutions to the floor to stop $20 billion in arms sales to Israel. Even though it had the backing of 18 other Democrat Senators, it failed.
Appallingly, 2 of the Senators who voted against it were our very own Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. I am disheartened that they voted this way. Here we are living in what is deemed a “blue state,” with supposedly progressive/ humanitarian ideals, yet our two most powerful elected officials made the decision to look the other way and continue to support the Netanyahu war machine at the cost of the lives of almost 100,000 people and the mass starvation of the Palestinian people.
As many of you know, after the vote, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for using starvation as a weapon of war as well as “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
As a longtime Vashon resident, a Jew, and supporter of both senators throughout their election history, I call on anyone of good conscience to call out our senator’s lack of moral character and let them know how you feel about their “inaction” to stand up for human rights. You might also let them know that you don’t plan on voting for them again unless they step up and do what is just — not what their AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) funders tell them to do.
You can reach Patty Murray at 202-224-2621 or murray.senate.gov/write-to-patty.
You can reach Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441 or cantwell.senate.gov/contact/email/form.
Bill Jarcho
Giving thanks amid war crimes
Sitting down with family and friends to celebrate a bountiful table and the many blessings bestowed upon us by God, Nature, and America’s abundant opportunity, there is a lingering lump in my throat and guilt in my soul.
As we acknowledge these gifts, we also offer up prayers for the less fortunate. But thousands of miles away, our so-called “friends” and “best allies” have been formally accused of horrific acts by the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Just last week the ICC issued warrants for the arrests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant “for the war crime of (employing) starvation as a method of warfare” as well as “the crime against humanity of persecution” for depriving “a significant portion of the civilian population in Gaza of their fundamental rights, including the rights to life and health…”
Behind the hugs and assurances of President Joe Biden and the pandering of Secretary of State Antony Blinken are a chorus of administration officials who have watched an unending string of atrocities unfold in Gaza for more than a year, just as we have on our own televisions. There is literally too much blood, smoke, rubble and misery to catalog. Yet our own leaders continue to draw beige lines in the dust and assure us they are doing everything they can to stop “our friends” in Israel from using the billions of dollars’ worth of planes, tanks, rockets, bombs and bullets we provide them to commit war crimes.
In May, President Biden called the ICC investigation of Israeli war crimes “outrageous.” Last week, The White House said it “fundamentally rejects” the warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant. (Unlike 124 other nations, the United States did not sign the Rome Statute establishing the court in 1998.)
Netanyahu has called the warrants “antisemitic” and assured the world “Israel will not recognize” their validity.
Netanyahu and Gallant are now international fugitives of the highest order. Do they deserve a prayer at your table this Thanksgiving? I’ll be praying for their arrest. As for Biden, he’s on his own.
John van Amerongen
ISLAND HEALTHCARE
Transparency at the Health Care District
Have you been paying attention to the Vashon Health Care District (VHCD)?
They don’t record their Zoom meetings. Why is that? The district has said this is to “ensure integrity of records vs minimal public interest value.” What does that mean? That is an injustice to the citizens. Less than a handful of residents usually attend the meetings. They should, as elected officials, record their meetings so the public can understand what they are doing.
VHCD paid Sea Mar a subsidy to keep them on the island. They haven’t done that for over a year. Now your VHCD taxes pay for a two-year contract for service provided by a for-profit, DispatchHealth, to the tune of $1.1 million dollars, which may go up. DispatchHealth charges $375 to come to your home. If you don’t have insurance, VHCD plans to pay that bill.
The HCD has written plans to raise $5 million to possibly buy the building that Sea Mar plans to build on the Spinnaker property, if Sea Mar leaves. The district puts that price tag at $8 million, but that number is only a guess. The money comes from your taxes and would be funded in part by a bond, they say. This is all speculation on the district’s part. The district also owns an empty lot in town on which they considered building a clinic before SeaMar bought the Spinnaker building. Why?
Vashon Island Fire & Rescue has had Mobile Integrated Health since March with great success. No out of pocket money is owed for this service. VIFR presented to VHCD in August an option for MIH to expand to a more robust urgent care model at a significant lower price than DH. That would keep your tax dollars on the island. The health care district decided to fund DispatchHealth instead.
Now citizens and The Beachcomber can’t go back and look at these meetings because VHCD thinks there isn’t enough public interest to do that. It’s your tax dollars. The Vashon Health Care District should record the meetings and be transparent to the citizens of Vashon.
Ron Smothermon
THE ELECTION
Not everyone is a victim
I am responding to a letter written by Ann Palmer, Board President of Vashon Youth & Family Services. (The Beachcomber, Nov. 14: “VYFS in a post-election world.”) This letter is meant to drum up counseling services for VYFS. It spreads discord, polarization, victimization and fear.
I would never negate the need for effective mental health counseling. However, what this letter purports to do is make victims of anyone who is “different.” Isn’t the whole essence of being human to recognize that we are all different and that is okay, as it should be!
Ann Palmer seems to insinuate that if a person is not white, cisgender, straight, U.S. born, or affluent, that they are at more risk from the effects of the incoming administration. I would not challenge that statement, as any political perspective affects one class or category of people more than other categories.
However, offering therapy is not panacea. Any therapy that offers new symptoms or makes existing symptoms worse is bad therapy, as explained by author Abigail Shrier. Not everyone is a victim of our society or helpless in their response to societal norms. Not everyone needs therapy for every blip on life’s radar screen, or needs VYFS’s paid-for or vouchered services by the Vashon Health Care District.
As Ms. Palmer states, you should qualify for the counseling services if, in a “post-election world” you are a member of the “underserved community” who may be a “confused student, anxious parent, frightened immigrant family, or a person struggling with high levels of anxiety because of the recent election.” It is a slap in the face to these groups to assume that they cannot even handle an election.
This is the democracy that we have and will have to address for the near future. I get confused, anxious, frightened, and depressed about grocery prices, but I need to handle that by myself. Each of us needs to handle some issues independently, and we shouldn’t always blame someone else for all our difficulties in life, or feel we can’t make a change because we are always victims oppressed by the nebulous system.
Steve Nourse
