Oh So Frosty

It is easy to take current modern urban standards of mothering and label those who do not measure up as "nuts" ("From the Mom Files," Open Mic, Sept. 17). We survived the era where the advice was not to coddle the child and to place the bottle on a pillow when feeding, to the era where it's a mortal sin not to breastfeed. We have gone from Dr. Spock to Dr. Phil. Somehow, I fear, strictly following either one was not all it was cracked up to be.

I may strongly disagree with Sarah Palin's politics, but give her some room on parenting. Writer Penelope Trunk and others should broaden their view of people's capacity and sensibilities. Robert Frost gives us a glimpse of what now seems harsh and uncaring in the early rural 1900s with two of his poems, "Out, Out" and "Home Burial." From the media glimpses I have gotten of Palin, I could see her able to exchange roles in "Home Burial" with the husband. What is wrong with that? After you have reread each poem, see if you don't agree.

She may not be nominated for "Mother of the Year" by Planned Parenthood, but that's not what's she's running for.

Tom J. Mariani

Santa Rosa

Familial Influence

It must not have been easy for Penelope Trunk to write her "uncool" article about Sarah Palin, but I am glad she did. I, too, am a bread-winning mom and support all others alike, but running a business and running a country are very different. If John McCain wins the election, something in Palin's life will suffer. Will it be her family or ours?

Leslie Zumwalt

Camp Meeker

Russian, Yes, but it ain't Chernobyl

I would like to comment on Holland Franklin's Open Mic article, "Body Electric" (Sept. 10). Franklin put down the lovely town of Sebastopol that I live in because of the new cell-phone tower located downtown. He continues to say how he had symptoms resulting from the EMR exposure from the tower, would have loved to move to Sebastopol, but now will not. I noticed that at the end of the article it notes that Franklin lives in Santa Barbara. I don't think he is aware that Santa Barbara has a tower also. Franklin must be deathly ill living there. I am surprised that he didn't even comment about the many oil rigs in the Pacific that are only eight miles off the coast and make the water unswimmable to most. Even if he thinks moving farther north to the redwoods will save him, it won't. There are towers everywhere. Many are unseen and take the shapes of trees and other forms to make the views more attractive. Franklin would find a great place to move to if he did a Google search to find where the towers don't exist. He should move there and not make the great town of Sebastopol sound like Chernobyl.

Charlotte Hampton-Trombley

Sebastopol

For the Mammals

I am writing to thank you very much for publishing the commentary by Holland Franklin. I live in Santa Cruz and have also learned, through some nightmarish experiences, that I have electrosensitivity. The Swedes recognize this as an official medical condition and give people disability payments. I purchased a new home, spent tens of thousands of dollars fixing it up and then when I moved in, was unable to sleep past 4am in the morning there, ever. It turns out it was near a large cell tower. Even the limited amount of sleep I got was of poor quality. I developed high blood pressure, heart palpitations and could barely do my job. I would often collapse at my desk in the afternoons asleep on my folded arms. I did all sorts of shielding but to no avail. I searched for two years and finally found a different home, farther out in the country where the levels of non-ionizing radiation or "RF" from sources such as cell towers, radio and TV towers is very low.

I now sleep seven to eight hours a night on average and am so glad I sold that home. Any further attention this newspaper can pay to this issue is greatly appreciated by us electrosensitives, and also by all the mammals who cannot speak for themselves, such as children, the disabled and wildlife who are affected but who have no voice. Thank you for your good work!

Rebecca Elder

Watsonville

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