Opinions: January 31, 2010

Appreciate

specialness of community

Its the smile, and the wave of a stranger’s hand. The genuine friendly greeting from the people on the street. The splendor of the Rylander Theater. The shrimp and fried cheese grits at The Station. Contemplating the Andersonville story and experiencing the National P.O.W. Museum. Fine dining at The Trellis. Sampling peanut butter ice cream in Plains. Attending Sunday School with Jimmy Carter and having a photo taken with the Carters.

All of these experiences factor into our guests’ perception of Americus as a very special place. We appreciate and applaud all of you in the community who have helped us achieve recognition as a "Top 10 Bed and Breakfast" in the United States for four consecutive years and as a Best B&B; in the world for 2010. Thank you.

Kim and Susan Egelseer

Americus





Obama’s monkey plan unnecessary

President Obama is ending NASA’s mission to the moon and turning to private companies to launch astronauts — but there’s another way he could help NASA cut costs.

NASA recently announced a $1.75 million-experiment to irradiate squirrel monkeys to try to understand what might happen to humans on long-term space flights, such as a trip to Mars. This experiment is clearly cruel, and as a physician, I know it will not help us protect humans. Genetic, anatomical and physiological differences between humans and monkeys dramatically limit the conclusions that can be drawn.

In addition to ethical and scientific concerns, this experiment is completely unnecessary. From decades of data on human spaceflight and from ongoing nonanimal studies, we already know long-term space travel is dangerous. And long-term space voyages are highly unlikely given NASA’s new policy and budget considerations. President Obama vowed a line-by-line budget review to eliminate programs that don’t make sense, but this experiment shows that the administration must have skipped a few lines.

Hope Ferdowsian, M.D., M.P.H.

Director of Research Policy

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Washington, D.C.

Text Only