US doubt on climate change
The facts put forward by Suzanne Goldenberg, in Obama defies Republicans as he pushes climate plans (8 January), combined with the torrent of scientific information about climate change that your paper has so rightly published, lead to bewilderment and even despair.
Canada has just got rid of a government that was determined to stifle or deny any factual evidence that would threaten the credibility of its ideas. Such a government in the US would be disastrous. How can so many people in so “exceptional” a country consider voting Republican, let alone for Donald Trump? Even a billionaire of average intelligence ought to be able to see that this would not be in his own best interest.
Is there anything we can do about it, and if so, what? Or do we just have to trust the American people to see reason through the haze of money-generated lies to which they are exposed?
Jenny Carter
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Limits of the stethoscope
What struck me in the debate over whether to make the familiar doctor’s stethoscope a relic of the past (Time to check the pulse of an icon, 15 January) is the revelation that overworked medical residents apparently have little time to use them. But from a layman’s perspective, a doctor with a stethoscope hanging conveniently around their neck, who spots someone in distress showing recognisable signs of a heart attack, can tell by just touching the metal disk to the patient’s chest whether he or she has, for one example, a burst aorta. This should take the doctor just seconds, a lot less time than it would take to pull out, switch on and read the screen of a newfangled, handheld ultrasound device, thereby leaving them more time to summon the necessary help. Moreover, stethoscopes are cheaper than portable ultrasound devices, and require only one hand to operate.
Richard Orlando
Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• Lenny Bernstein’s article on the redundancy of the stethoscope is too generic. The stethoscope remains a valuable tool for differential cardiac diagnosis, as well as respiratory and abdominal exams for doctors, nurses and midwives.
Bernstein suggests its redundancy damages the unique trusting relationship between patient and physician. What rubbish. It is replaced by the echocardiogram, which is even more hands on.
The trusting relationship is damaged by a professional misconduct, by not having time to listen, and lack of empathy, often caused by burnout. Recent Guardian articles explore robots, which neither touch nor care, replacing traditional caregivers, such as junior doctors who staged a strike against burnout-inducing conditions. Blame societal greed or human failings, but not the limitations of the stethoscope.
Henrietta Sushames
Wellington, New Zealand
• Some 50 years ago, while living in Rome, I consulted a physician who listened to my lungs with a stethoscope that was carved out of hard wood. The results were quite satisfactory.
Jordan Bishop
Ottawa, Canada
New models for humanity
Having scoured my ageing memory for answers to Annie March’s search for a new mythology to better serve as a paradigm for humanity, I have come up empty (Reply, 8 January). In all the mythological systems I know heroes (and heroines) will be brutal, competitive, exploitative and self-serving (eg Homer’s Achilles). I fear there is no unalloyed Golden Age without depredation.
Idyllic representations in literature are misrepresentations. The Little House on the Prairie books (a silly exemplum, but one quite popular in US for its idealisation of family life) were – we discover – bowdlerised of cruelty (to whites) and sadness; this is subsequently revealed by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiography, wherein she fills in the dark gaps: having to walk on eggshells for fear of Pa’s quick temper, his periodic imbibing of spirits and the family’s nocturnal house-moves because of penury.
A more planet-centred, holistic system might be construed from Native American or Aboriginal stories and animistic belief – without the arrogance of human hegemony – but I suspect there is much blood and senseless waste of life there as well. At least they may hold it up (natural harmony) as an ideal.
Edenic stories remain to be found or written anew – a supremely worthy quest. Perhaps a genesis with a Lilith and an Adam who get on nicely.
R M Fransson
Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
Real trees are the best
The answer to your article headline Could artificial trees help against climate change? (15 January) is a resounding no. Real trees are unbeatable: unlike some artificial ones they are completely solar-powered, they reproduce themselves at essentially zero cost, and the carbon they remove from the atmosphere is converted into useful forms like wood, nuts and oils.
I notice that your source for the strange idea that there are not enough trees in the world comes from Arizona, a state that would indeed be improved by a few more trees, even artificial ones. Anyone with a clever idea about what to do with CO2 does not need to expend huge amounts of energy separating it from the atmosphere or flue gases. All the pure CO2 they could want is available free as a waste product from the production of fuel ethanol and alcoholic drinks. Every ton of ethanol produced by fermentation is accompanied by roughly a ton of CO2, which, due to some bizarre oversight by regulatory agencies, is currently vented straight to the atmosphere.
Graham Andrews
Spokane, Washington, US
Teens and screens
Why does Bob Granleese allow his 15-year-old son to have his smart phone in his bedroom after midnight (15 January)? It seems to me that, like Pontius Pilate, he is trying to absolve himself of any personal responsibility. Not that I wish to vilify the author of this piece, as I have every sympathy with his dilemma.
The greatest source of conflict between my 14-year-old daughter and me is the screen; it is a huge societal problem. I no longer allow her to have Wi-Fi in her bedroom, so the worst she can be caught doing after her 9:30 bedtime is to continue reading a real book and she falls asleep long before the witching hour.
Granleese only quotes part of Action for Children’s advice: “Practice what you preach: when your children are having screen-free time, turn off your devices too. Don’t waste the opportunity!” Families should turn the Wi-Fi off and do things together, but this wouldn’t stop Granleese’s post-10.30 Twitter, as his son should be asleep in a screen-free bedroom by that time.
My daughter tells me that many of her friends are online until the wee hours; this must have a terrible impact on school work. Yet schools are part of the problem by not issuing textbooks and by assigning internet-based homework. Tellingly, many Silicon Valley-based parents choose a Steiner education.
I am not immune either; I discovered my daughter had watched seven series of Skins (aimed at older teens) when ostensibly doing her homework and writing her novel, concealing her wickedness by switching screens every time she heard my approach.
The internet is horribly addictive; it is a constant battle to monitor it and create a healthy balance.
Angela Smith
Norwich, UK
Rickman remembered
Thanks to Michael Billington for the lovely words about Alan Rickman and drawing attention to his love of theatre (15 January). Rickman was a talented actor, a decent and kind human being, but also had a keen social conscience and was politically active. He gave his time, energy and money campaigning for human rights, refugees and other causes.
Recently, Rickman lent his voice to a video of a tortoise eating a strawberry, to help raise money for the charities Save the Children and the Refugee Council.
He was also a supporter of the Palestinian people’s rights. For me he will be fondly remembered for the play he co-edited [with Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner] and directed, the award-winning My Name is Rachel Corrie. Corrie was an American student and peace activist. She was killed by an Israeli armoured bulldozer while protesting against the destruction of a Palestinian house in the Gaza Strip.
Rickman did make a difference. He left behind a legacy of a life well lived. Though his wonderful film and theatre roles, caring efforts and projects, he lives on.
Steven Katsineris
Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia
Briefly
• The 8 January Discovery article Irish identity originated in Middle East finally gives the true answer to that old conundrum, “Why do the Arabs have all the oil and the Irish all the potatoes?” The Irish did have first choice in the Fertile Crescent, but being farmers at heart in those nomadic days, naturally chose to try their activities further afield. The Arabs are fortunate parvenus.
Anthony Walter
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
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