We can’t just overlook mental illness of King Soopers shooter
Re: “Guilty on 55 counts,” Sept. 24 news story
Insanity and being possessed by demons are antiquated terms for describing “mad” behavior. While the medical world is stressing awareness of mental illness and the availability of treatment, Boulder’s lawyer establishment forged forward to obtain a guilty of murder verdict on a person judged to be mentally ill at the time of the King Soopers shooting but who was then drugged sufficiently to be called sane enough to stand trial.
Schizophrenia can be treated with drugs, but this after-the-fact judgment seems more an act of vengeance than humanely dealing with medical reality. The trial seems more like something out of the Dark Ages, putting the guilty party in the stocks for people to view for two weeks in front of the courthouse. There is nothing pretty about vengeance.
Bob Porath, Boulder
Bear-proof trash cans benefit wildlife
The majority of people in Colorado love our wildlife. As our state’s population is growing, there will be more human-animal contact. Honestly, you would think that bear-proof trash cans wouldn’t be too big a deal.
A few years ago, we finally got a good bear-proof trashcan from Waste Management. It is an easy click on the front to open for a human but nearly impossible for a bear. Even if the bear knocks it over and tries to crush in the side, they still can’t get in.
Most importantly, after a few hard attempts, the bear gets frustrated and moves on. They cannot afford to waste energy on that food source.
When animals like bears and raccoons eat trash with rotting, fermented food and plastic, they get sick. Soon they can become habituated to garbage. They return and cause more problems trying to get food. Ultimately, the bear is tagged a “nuisance bear” and eventually euthanized.
Individual communities should be able to figure this out. If not, it may well come down to a state-wide referendum on bear-proof trash cans. Loving our wildlife requires that we do our best to secure our trash.
Joe Mollica,Glenwood Springs
Birth control is a two-sided responsibility
I am an old woman in my 80s. I continue to be amazed that abortion is still only a women’s issue! I just do not hear any men talking that they have any responsibility in the need for an abortion.
I heard North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson say “you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down” regarding women seeking abortions. I feel like he got only half of the truth right.
Men just need to keep their zippers zipped and start taking responsibility along with women for birth control. Men need to recognize that what they do in a few seconds can start a life and in nine months for a woman to bear a child. Please think about that when you consider making laws restricting what women can do with their own bodies. Let’s start talking real truths and responsibilities.
J.L.Griffin, Denver
Human race needs a unified effort
Those benefiting from the current version of human activity will never be the agents of change, no matter how dysfunctional that version has become. The current version is well known to be unsustainable and always just a push of a button away from ending all current and all future human activity.
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There are no guidebooks available, no experts to consult; we can’t buy a new version or sell this one. No human has ever been where the Earth’s 8 billion existing humans are today. We are on our own, and we are at the precipice of a mass extinction of our own making.
Those benefiting are unable or unwilling to see the obvious; we have to create a new version, a version that is sustainable and conducted without war, and now is not the time to worry about the details; save one.
We cannot create a version of human activity that allows us to live sustainably with the Earth and one another until we agree globally to make it our goal. It may take two or three generations to transition to a sustainable version fully, but only the Earth’s existing humans can start the process.
Bob McCormick, Denver
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