Abraham Entin expounds about the pernicious pharmaceutical industry, but his real goal is to defend the anti-vaxxers (Letters, Sept. 11). Big Pharma, which I despise, makes virtually nothing on vaccines. “Of course vaccines work in the short run.” Abe old chap, you know any polio victims? I did. My mother contracted polio in 1954 in a hospital giving birth to my little sis. She survived, wearing a leg brace and paralyzed on one side, until she passed due to post-polio complications at age 65. Tell ME about side effects. You don’t want to vaccinate your kids? Fine—but keep them away from my kids.

—Peter Prunuske

Occidental

Russia Hoax

The article by Chris Rooney (“Divisive Data,” Sept. 11) suggested that Russia, through “RT America,” was trying to sow division in the U.S. by casting doubts about the safety of 5G technology. Besides getting several paragraphs in the text, you chose to add a subtitle that featured “reports of health risks associated with 5G linked to Russians.”

It may just be my aging memory, but in my five years or so of following RT on a more-than-daily basis I cannot recall ever reading a negative article about 5G. In fact, since the U.S. has been trying to ban sales of Huawei’s 5G technology internationally, and given Russia’s general support of all things Chinese, RT tends to have articles slanted in favor of 5G.

I use the RT android app on my cell phone and look at it several times a day, finding it a refreshing antidote to the spin of sites such as The Guardian, NPR and Democracy Now. As far as their coverage of the U.S. goes, they seem to favor Republicans more than Democrats, I think not because of a plan to sow dissent but because they tend to favor what they think of as

“traditional Western values.” I sometimes find that annoying, but, since my news otherwise comes from Democracy Now and other KPFA programs, as well as NPR and Bill Maher, I like to hear the “other side” also, and I very much enjoy their great coverage of international news, which gets short shrift in most American news.

—Fred Wolters

Guerneville

I was amused by the Chris Rooney article on 5G. He correctly cites that the 10,000-plus studies, including the gold-standard, $30 million, tax-dollar-funded NTP study done recently, apparently aren’t good enough in the eyes of the FDA, FCC or many courts, though it’s curious that the richest cities like Hillsborough, Belvedere, Los Altos, etc., seem to be able to sidestep Uncle Sham’s plans for more and more wireless coverage. Apparently, we’re in a race with the Chinese. . . .

There are over 100 cell-tower sites under contract for installation in Santa Rosa. Want to do something about having a cell phone tower planted in front of your house, or your child’s school? Contact your lawmakers before it’s too late. Sonoma County for Responsible Technology has a list of current and future cell tower installations. https://www.facebook.com/groups/431787887408649/

—Tom Thedoor

Via Bohemian.com

Write to us at le*****@******an.com.

The pharmaceutical industry has been exposed as a conspiracy of drug pushers. It was not just Johnson & Johnson on trial. Every company used addiction as a primary marketing tool. This is no metaphor. These are criminal entities, and the individuals who run them are criminals. They are overwhelmingly rich, white men, making jail time less likely but no less deserved.

There are a small number of people in our country who think that injecting their very young children with products made and marketed by these companies may not be a good idea. They may prefer botanical medicine to pharmaceuticals, or have another basis for their choice. This is a very personal matter regarding one’s own personal health. Or so one might think. When it comes to vaccinations, we are being told, it does not matter what we think—we must do as we are told.

We as a country have mightily resisted doing anything about the presence of violence in our society. Not just the number of children who are slaughtered, but the emotional and psychological trauma done to the children growing up thinking they might be killed at any time. Our leaders cannot or will not do anything about this imminent and exigent threat to our children. But they sure can get an anti-anti-VAXX bill through real quick. That is a no-brainer. It is something that only happens when money is being threatened.

Of course vaccines work in the short run—otherwise no one would use them. But they must have side effects; all drugs do. Anti-vaxxers are a threat to the bottom line of the pharmaceutical industry, not to the other people in our communities.

—Abraham Entin

Santa Rosa

Brexit, Buicks

1) Brexit. What the U.S. owes the UK is almost immeasurable. The prime minister of Britain wants to leave the European Union and have the Continent quake in fear. Didn’t happen, isn’t going to happen. The PM’s skewed vision of reality has left him weakened, confused and compared strikingly to the American president, as well as providing the world with a closer look at incompetent ‘leadership.’ This ridiculous theatre might have already befallen the U.S. were it not for the U.S. being considerably stronger than the UK and, therefore, better able to withstand lowbrow leadership.

Threats and bluster only work if the other side thinks you are as tough as you hope they suppose. The U.S. Congress should look at the Parliamentarian’s response and then look at itself. Congress should realize that immaturity is not an impeachable offense.

2) Auto mileage. The Administration wants California to stop the ‘illegal’ clean car deal.

What this Administration has yet to realize is that Daimler-Benz, Ford and the other three car makers need the fifth largest economy in the world. Moreover, other smaller economies will follow California, making state leadership even more imperative and central to an evolving automotive world. Each of these car makers have already spent millions making their products more efficient. Why would they provide Chinese automakers an opening or otherwise delay presenting the world with a better product? This failing Administration needs to follow California. The rest of the world already is.

—Gary Sciford

Santa Rosa

Write to us at le*****@******an.com.