With Mad Cow Disease, err on side of safety

My husband of 29 years died of CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) aka Mad Cow Disease in 1995.

We had no idea where and how he contracted CJD. We traveled in Europe during the time when there was a small epidemic of the disease in the country we visited.

He had also been given growth hormones during his childhood. Either one of those occurrences could have been the cause. The disease can be dormant for many years. For a long time I was concerned that if he was exposed in Europe, I too could have been infected, since we shared bites of the same food of unknown origin.

In reference to Ms. Wright’s letter, my husband’s blood relatives were not allowed to donate blood. It took doctors awhile to determine that his CJD was not filial, i.e. he did not inherit the disease.

I don’t know what advances were made since 1995, so I can’t comment on current knowledge, but I would rather err on the side of safety in this case than take even the most minimal chance of infecting someone. There is no cure and it is a horrible, horrible death.

We couldn’t muster an acquittal for Arizona’s Good Samaritan?

I am disappointed with the “hung jury” verdict in the Scott Warren case. I was truly hoping for a “not guilty” verdict.

What have we come to?

Do these people deserve to die in our desert because they crossed our border illegally?

Are we going to become more like North Korea and set gun placements along the border wall?

Have we lost all compassion for our fellow man?

What we are becoming is very sad.

Government salary database gives insights on overtime pay

Thank you for publishing your data base on public employee salaries. What strikes me is how much overtime pay public-safety personnel are paid. Surely, for that amount of money full-time positions can be created?

I won’t even start in about the pension fiasco.

No contradiction in being liberal and God-fearing and patriotic

While I agree with the overall sentiment of Amy Walker’s letter to the editor pointing out the hypocrisy of the religious right’s support of Trump, I have one small quibble with it. She started out with the following, “To be honest, I lean to the left. But I love God and my country.”

The “but” is out of place, and should be replaced with “and.” Using the word “but” makes it seem that her two statements are incongruent. They are not. One can be liberal or progressive and still be religious or love God. And one can certainly love this country.

The “but” feeds into a narrative that the right has been cultivating for decades. They claim sole ownership of patriotism and religion, but they own neither. They suggest that there is some weird correlation between conservatism and patriotism.

I’ve always felt that it is a great demonstration of patriotism to fight for the little guy. To want to see everyone in this great country happy and fulfilled is about as patriotic a belief as I can imagine. And, by the way, our various places of worship are filled with liberal and progressive thinkers as well.

I love this country. It’s exactly why I’m a progressive.