No feces in my garbage can
With all due respect to the Environmental Protection Administration, I find it illogical and unhealthy to dispose of toilet paper smeared with feces in a garbage can (“EPA flushes Tainan’s loo paper disposal campaign,” July 10, page 2).
I happen to be a person with a particularly sensitive digestive system and anything that can go in a garbage can can be accessed by flies. In a tropical country like Taiwan, there are lots of flies and they have facilitated access to the interiors of restaurants. You can see what I am trying to say here.
To make a long story less long, I believe that Taiwan has the resources and means to improve its sanitation systems and sewage treatment plants, as well as its plumbing and water dispersal and disposal methods. To fail to do so, or to disregard and delegitimize any attempt at such change, is to be naive.
Geoff Cohen
Nangang, Taipei City
Jesse Helms: misguided
It is hard to imagine how, and more importantly why, anyone would characterize US Senator Jesse Helms as a “hero” and a “champion” (“Jesse Helms: a hero and champion,” July 8, page 8). In doing so, Cao Changqing (曹長青) made gross miscalculations by overlooking some very fundamental issues.
To suggest that Helms “fought for freedom all his life” is ludicrous. Surely you know, Mr Cao, that Helms is probably best known for his opposition to the [US] Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed segregation in schools, public places and employment, and protected the rights of women, African Americans and other minorities. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that had Helms and like-minded people prevailed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, you, sir, would not be enjoying the freedoms that you take for granted in the US today.
You also suggested that Helms should be applauded because he “opposed the Martin Luther King Day bill in 1983, saying that King had two associates with communist ties.” With respect, sir, this statement is not only baseless, but quite juvenile. We no longer live in a time when the mere utterance of the word “communism” fills people with fear for what might become of their livelihoods. That era dates back over half a century to the time of senator Joseph McCarthy, a man whom I’m sure you know history does not look favorably upon.
In today’s age of globalization, one would have to be living in a bubble not have any “associates with ties to communism,” as loose a phrase as that is.
That Helms supported Taiwan and the security of the Taiwanese people may be true. But in focusing so narrowly on this issue, Mr Cao, you have blinded yourself to the true nature of a man who opposed and repeatedly voted against the rights of women, homosexuals and minorities. To characterize such a man as someone who “fought for freedom” is misguided.
Konraad Kordula
Muzha, Taipei City
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