Are we as a country civilized sportsmen or barbarians?
September 2, 2013 7:30PM
Updated: September 3, 2013 2:15AM
It’s clear that football and boxing are violent sports that cause serious long-term injuries to participants. The question is why do we allow it? Any sport can be played with rules and safeguards that allow finesse and talent to define winners and losers, rather than brute force.
We have to decide if we are a civilized country or atavistic barbarians.
Carol Kraines, Deerfield
Love makes a family
I am beyond irate at the ignorance and illogic of the letter from W.S. Murdoch in Friday’s Sun-Times [“Only one thing matters in gay unions”]. I am a married, heterosexual woman. But because of emergency surgery I had to undergo, my husband and I are — to paraphrase Mr. Murdoch — “incapable of bearing children through our sexual union.” Does that mean we shouldn’t be married either? Marriages and civil unions should be based on love; sexual orientation is irrelevant. As a classroom of wise first-graders said recently, it is love that makes a family.
Elizabeth Roberts, River West
PLAs should be celebrated
In a letter to the Sun-Times” [“Union tax unfair to workers,” Aug. 28], Alicia Martin called for the end to the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) while entirely failing to explain what a PLA is.
PLAs are historically proven tools that allow owners to get the biggest bang for their buck. Some of the biggest public works projects in history, like the Hoover Dam, were built with PLAs. Examples in Chicago include the United Center, U.S. Cellular Field and Soldier Field.
Contrary to Martin’s claim, PLAs do not block so-called “merit shop” contractors from bidding on taxpayer-funded projects. A PLA merely lays out an owner’s work force requirements and the terms it will agree to in exchange for securing workers who meet its needs. Terms vary from project to project, but PLAs generally ensure that the customer receives the most skilled, safe and reliable work force available and that workers are paid respectable wages and benefits.
Participation in a federally recognized training program is a key component of most PLAs. Many merit-shop contractors complain that this is unfair because they do not operate education programs for their employees, but if a customer needs to be sure that its work force will be able to get the job done correctly, that customer will demand quantifiable skill and experience. Participation in safety certification courses and drug testing programs is also important on construction projects, and union construction workers can deliver this as well.
Owners are given the assurance that there will be no work stoppages, which when coupled with a skilled work force, has resulted in the efficient completion of hundreds of high-profile construction projects across Illinois.
PLAs should be celebrated for delivering quality, on-time, on-budget results on private and public construction projects, and contractors who do not meet the requirements to participate should use the value of these projects as an incentive to take a closer look at the level of training and compensation they provide their workers.
James M. Sweeney President-business manager International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150
Let’s recall right-wing witch hunts
“Liberal witch hunt”? Is Steve Huntley serious [column, Aug. 24]?
The political right is the witch hunt winner of all time. Let me refresh Mr. Huntley’s recall.
† The Great Obama Birth Certificate Witch Hunt, despite being debunked.
† Then there was the purported IRS witch hunt against right-leaning groups, until it turned out the IRS was scrutinizing liberal groups as well to make sure they all complied with Congress’ guidelines.
† Then came the Great Benghazi Witch Hunt, long kept on life support even after it was clear help could not have arrived in time.
† During the Clinton administration, Kenneth Starr led the Great Whitewater Witch Hunt, which was fruitlessly kept huffing and puffing for months on end, but also fizzled, at a cost of millions in tax dollars.
† Concurrently, there was the Great Vince Foster Witch Hunt, where his suicide was erroneously claimed to be something far more nefarious, with Clinton being the villain.
† “The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” were other than truthful, but right-wing money breathed life into their foul charges that derailed John Kerry’s presidential bid.
Let Mr. Huntley expound on those witch hunts of record while he’s accusing the left of imagined ones of no substance.
Ted Z. Manuel, Hyde Park
