I was happy to learn one of my favorite actors, Leonardo DiCaprio, has invested in two cultured-meat companies — Mosa Meat in the Netherlands and Aleph Farms in Israel. For those who don’t know, cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughter. It’s better for the environment, public health and animal welfare. “Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to satisfy the world’s demand for beef, while solving some of the most pressing issues of current industrial beef production,” DiCaprio said. “I’m very pleased to join them as an adviser and investor, as they prepare to introduce cultivated beef to consumers.”
As excited as I was by DiCaprio’s investment, federal funding for open-access research into cellular agriculture is necessary for the industry to truly take off. I hope legislators will support this for the sake of our planet, our wellness and our fellow creatures. It’s the right thing to do.
— Jon Hochschartner, Granby, Connecticut
A little Trump music
It’s been reported that Max Miller, former White House aide, would play Broadway show tunes to President Donald Trump whenever he showed signs of distress and agitation.
If true, wouldn’t we all like to know what he was humming on Jan. 6 when insurrectionists stormed the Capitol Building and our democracy was in peril? While something out of “Les Miserables” would seem most appropriate, is it possible that Miller tragically chose “Send In the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music” instead?
— Bob Ory, Elgin
Shame on Obama
Regarding the Obama Presidential Center, “the inconvenient truth” is that now that the ground has been broken and the trees cut down, what will be left will be an ugly monument to an insatiable ego and an environmental disaster. I cannot believe that President Barack Obama, the great champion of the environment, would sanction chopping down generations-old trees and destroying Frederick Law Olmsted’s masterpiece for the sake of installing nothing more than a basketball court and a few display cases for Michelle’s party dresses. The loss to the city is tremendous as the public parkland was not Obama’s to confiscate.
Shame on the city for knuckling under to the Obama Foundation’s demands and shame on the Obamas for refusing to consider the fact that there would have been many other parcels of vacant lots where he could have stuck his monolith, but that of course, would have meant actually paying for the property.
— Margarete Gross, Elmhurst
No more debt
Over years, generations now, our government has put our nation further and further into debt. We are currently more than $28 trillion in debt. I say we because this is our, the American people’s, debt. We may not have spent the money, but we elected those who did, and we keep allowing them to do it again, every year.
I for one am a little tired of it. I don’t make a budget for my household planning to go further into debt. I don’t think most Americans do either. However, this is exactly what our elected leaders are doing. They plan a budget that requires them to go further into debt each year.
Right now, they are trying to remove the debt limit, so they can spend whatever they like without having to worry about how much further in debt they put us all. I work for the Department of Agriculture and do not want our government to shut down, but if that is what it takes to stop the debt ceiling from being removed, I will happily go on furlough, until they can find a way to fund the government without going further into debt.
We, the people of this country need to stand up and speak out. We need to tell our elected leaders, “We don’t like being in debt and we want the government to stop.”
— Jeffery D. Collins, Mayfield, Kentucky
Vaccines not tyranny
I see a teacher in St. Charles is saying they’re committing tyranny by requiring her to get a vaccine shot. No, they’re giving you a choice. Get a shot, or not. If you get the shot you can continue to teach in school. If not, you can’t. Choices have consequences. They always have. Tyranny would be if they forcibly had you bend over and give you a shot in your gluteus maximus.
— Bill Burns, Elgin
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