Letters to the editor

Start the day with astronomy photos

Some of my most joyful and magical experiences in life have been with my personal computer like what happened on the morning of Dec. 27.

The first internet page I go to each day is the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). What a way to get up in the morning, by seeing photos of the cosmos and knowing that millions of others around the globe are seeing and sharing that same photo!

On Dec. 25 in Thailand, a photo was taken less than an hour after the Ariane V rocket had taken off from South America with the James Webb Telescope. It showed both the plume of the rocket and the tail of Comet Leonard in the same frame, and both above the beautiful spire of a pagoda in Doi Inthanon National Park as the rocket was leaving Earth carrying humanity’s most powerful telescope.

But I don’t call it the James Webb telescope! I believe in freedom of choice. I think everyone should support FREEDOM OF CHOICE. So, I choose to call it the Urania Telescope, especially after what I read on Wikipedia about Urania, the muse and Goddess of Astronomy, whose symbol is the globe.

Google “Astronomy Picture of the Day,” click on “Archives” and go to Dec. 27, and enjoy both magic and science together! Share the cosmos and nature with others around the globe, even with others who might see heaven, nature and “home” differently from you.

It’s like sharing the sacred redwood forest!

— Orion Moonflower Palomar, Eureka

Why is it so hard to access health care?

AB 1400, California’s Medicare for All bill, failed, joining former attempts at reforming our broken health care system. Why is it so hard in the world’s richest country to provide this basic human necessity?

The answer is clear: Profiteering health and pharmaceutical companies are loath to give up the enormous profits gained by siphoning funds from every health care dollar we cough (no pun intended) up. They use our money to lobby and bribe our legislators to do their bidding. Any legislator who accepts their donation/bribe must also realize that refusing to play ball will mean the money stops and they will use it instead to unseat them at the first opportunity. They are owned.

Democrats in the California Assembly who receive these bribes have no concern for Californians who go bankrupt because of enormous medical bills or homeless and/or die from lack of access to health care — the goal is to stay in power. They must either be made personally aware of the suffering they allow and give up corporate bribes or they must be replaced by popular demand.

We can ALL have comprehensive health care free at the point of service; that means no excessive taxes in the form of copays, deductibles, out-of-network medical bills or wage reductions to pay health insurance corporation fees. History clearly shows that too many of our elected officials will not do this for us. We must come together and do it for the people we love.

— Diane Ryerson, Arcata