This article mentions some very important statistics, which “should” alarm anyone who insists on texting while driving, however, I think one question is being missed, “how do you feel about spending time in prison”? I believe this question needs to be directed towards our young people in particular.

As an American Citizen formerly from Iran , I am pleased that John McCain and other Senators are so sympathetic to Iranian people that they have adopted legislation to help them access the News Media in this country (The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act). However, the big question in my mind is why they don’t introduce legislation for “The Victims of Single Payer Censorship ACT” in the United States . Do our Senators really love Iranian people more? Or are they able to pass this legislation because their financial supporters, the private insurance companies and Pharma, do not have any vested interest in Iran ? A former student of mine died for lack of health care in this country and according to the Institute of Medicine , 23,000 people are dying every year for the same reason. Now health care reform is stalled because we “can’t afford it”. Analyses done for 13 states, including Colorado , ( http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_system_cost.php?page=3 ) have shown that comprehensive health care reform utilizing a single payer financing mechanism would provide comprehensive health care coverage to every person in those states and reduce overall spending.

Many of our leaders and the media perpetuate the myth that there is no way to provide health care to everyone without increasing costs, but single payer financing of privately delivered health care would allow both comprehensive health care for all and cost savings. Still, they remain silent, under the influence of big-money lobbies.

I am offended when our leaders are able to see the brutality of other nations and not our own. Is there any difference between Congress and Ahmadie Nejad? Ahmadie Nejad kills people by force and Congress kills 23,000 people annually by neglect. It is possible to be both fiscally responsible and provide health care (not health insurance) to everyone with a single payer system.

Peace–Roya Brown, Denver , Colorado

“Washington DC – Last night, the Senate voted unanimously to adopt legislation that aims to aid the ability of the Iranian people to access news and information by overcoming the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian government.

The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act was introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Robert Casey (D-PA) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.”

The issue of growing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Boulder County has become extremely polarized with misinformation coming from both sides of the argument as Steve Demos noted in his editorial.

I was born in Boulder in 1960 and lived and schooled here through college. In 1987 I migrated to Sydney Australia. Your reader was correct in saying that Australia has a first class health system.

Two front-page headlines in the Camera stick an ironic finger in the eye of Ron Stewart, his Parks and Open Space staff and the Advisory Committee for their decision to recommend Roundup Ready sugar beets to the County Commissioners. Friday touts a big win for Big Ag: “GMO beets recommended.” Then Sunday’s reads “Farmers turning to niche gardens: Large-scale traditional crop production dwindling.”

The car in front of me sped up and – after a single flash of turn signal – cut right, across the sidewalk and double bike lane, into the parking lot. The two cyclists in the bike lane had seen it coming and nearly stopped, so they *didn’t* get run over.

In an attempt to make a snide comment regarding Pepsi’s Aquafina bottled water, (”Clear on water” – Open Forum, 7/29/09) Ms. Stuzman implies that simple tap water is “…what is in those ubiquitous bottles.”

The Camera recently ran an article highlighting all the wonderful opportunities we have in Boulder County to keep our youth’s minds actively engaged over the summer. I’d like to highlight another program – Boulder County 4-H. For most people 4-H conjures up the vision of kids showing off their livestock at the local County Fair. We’ve learned that 4-H is much more than that, plus it’s a great bargain! During the school year members choose projects to complete for the County Fair. There are an amazing choice of projects ranging from livestock to STEM-related activities (Science Technology Engineering Math) to creative arts, such as canning, photography, sewing and shooting sports (visit http://www.colorado4h.org/project_resources/index.shtml for a full list of projects). A project consists of a demonstration and an E-Record book that gets judged at the County Fair.

Downtown Boulder, Inc. asks that question every election cycle, in regard to putting some “controls” on development downtown.

I voted for Jarrod Polis because I thought he was the most passionate candidate in opposing our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. I certainly did not vote for him to put up roadblocks to reform of the health care system. Along with many others, I voted Democratic in the belief that the party represented the interests of the public over the Republican championship of corporations and the wealthy. Thus far, the populist-progressive push that turned Colorado from a red to a blue state in the past two elections has gotten only meagre, “trickle-down” promises from the candidates we elected.

The Camera published an editorial by Dale McFetters “A close call for civil rights” in which he complained about Bush considering the use of US troops to arrest 6 alleged terrorists in Lackawanna, New York.

In a recent editorial, Irving Greenbaum wrote: “small business” became a euphemism for “wealthy people.” These politicians could not very well rise to defend “wealthy people,” so they proclaimed themselves champions of “small business” instead. Rep. Polis and his family are “wealthy people.”

Please vote NO on HR 2749. Support my choice to buy organic foods and provide better health for my family. Protect our small organic farmers from irresponsible regulations and political manipulations, such as warrantless searches of their business records, oppressive annual registrations fees, regulations of how crops are raised and harvested, severe criminal and civil penalties, the alarming provision to quarantine a geographic area and allow the FDA the power to halt all movement of all food in a geographic area.

I hope you sent a reporter to the Food and Agriculture Board meeting tonight. The courthouse was overflowing with citizens who oppose GMO sugar beets being grown on our open spaces. In fact, there were over 100 people signed up to speak. I do not wish to get into the issue of the dangers of GMOs as this subject has already been well covered. It seems to me that an equally important issue is the fact that this is public land paid for with our tax dollars. Why then are farmers that use this land not required to grow crops that nourish us in some way and not just pad their pocketbooks?

The advocates of universal government-paid health care say that medical care is a fundamental right that belongs to everyone. But is it? Our Constitution names the rights to life, liberty and property as fundamental. Yes, property is a human right. Just as we own our own bodies, we own the products of our mental and physical labor. This is why we rightly condemn slavery.

Thanks to the Camera for the article on texting while driving (7/30/09). Pretty scary that a peson texting can have their eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds and if going 55 mph can travel the distance of a football field. Wonder what it would be a 65 or 75 mph. How does that make you feel about your highway safety?

Our forefathers and mothers in Boulder County purchased thousands of acres of open space beginning in 1967, to preserve the beauty and nature for generations to come. Not a sound economic decision then or now, but thank goodness they had foresight.

Oliver Wendall Holmes said “I Iike paying taxes. With it I buy civilization.” Either a quote from the father, physician and poet, or the son, lawyer and Supreme Court Justice.

Recently, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist, because he has exposed himself as a person with a hatred for white people or the “white culture.”

In his guest opinion of July 25 regarding his vote against the House committee bill on Healthcare Reform, Representative Polis writes, “…it required more revenue-generating measures to pay for providing coverage including a new surcharge on many small businesses.” He also writes about his success in recruiting twenty freshman House Democrats to co-sign a letter to Speaker Pelosi to bring to her attention their concern about the impact of the surtax on small business.