(The following is just a trickle of some of the many comments, observations, claims, and suggestions received by Santa Barbara Current. To enhance your reading enjoyment, please follow the Comment thread that appears immediately after each column. If you’d like to contribute a letter to the editor, please add your city/town in your comment.)
The Never-Ending Witch Hunt
Brent Zepke’s “Legally Speaking” column touched off a great deal of give-and-take and back-and-forth, so I invite readers to go on our sbcurrent.com website to enjoy the voluminous conversations between readers and Mr. Zepke; what follows is a smattering of those letters, with some comments by yours truly. – J.B.)
A Witch Hunt indeed!
Using the judicial system to weaponize innocent people, employees, and consultants of the U.S.president, reminds me of the Soviet Union, Communist China, North Korea Dictatorship, Nazi Germany in WWII, just to mention a few failed and tyrannical governments. Excellent recap, Brent, of the truth of what is happening here in good ol' USA, in 2024. Any party (Dems or Republicans) willing to be a part of this sham, should be prosecuted. If these lies continue, I fear how this will all end, and it won't be well...
Elyse Rossler
Santa Barbara
(Editor’s note: It already hasn’t ended well, but if Mr. Trump is re-elected (and I sincerely hope he is), there will probably be more prosecutions, but I hope there won’t be many. Just as President Jimmy Carter pardoned all of America’s draft dodgers to put an end to a tempestuous era, and Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon to do the same, President Trump should pardon everyone involved in this sordid affair, including Joe Biden and his crackhead son. They both should, however, admit their guilt – Hunter Biden, by paying his taxes, even those that have escaped the statute of limitations, and Joe Biden by fessing up to his life-long political grift. Then, we can move forward. Otherwise, we’ll suffer many more years of acrimony and conflict in a failedand divided nation. – J.B.)
All the Earmarks of the Truth
The Department of Justice has just belatedly revealed that the Hunter Biden laptop really is his. Who knew?
Anyone with a brain not addled by TDS knew it was legit. The Deep State has evidently abandoned Crooked Joe, by having the DOJ announce this. Who will the Dems run in place of this demented crook? This is going to be an interesting year. Buckle up.
Paul Aijian MD
Santa Barbara
A Boxing Analogy
The Hagler-Hearns fight of 1985 for Marvin Hagler'sMiddleweight title, considered to be three of the most brutal rounds in history. Long into short, Tommy Hearns was one of the most terrifying punchers in history, and the shorter Hagler with a reach disadvantage had no choice but to get inside and trade punches, but by the end of the first round, Hearns had broken his hand on Hagler's jaw, and it was all downhill after that for Hearns.
However we feel about Biden or Trump (I don't plan to vote for either), the Democrats are looking more and more like Hearns in the latter half of the fight.
Bill Clausen
Santa Barbara
(Editor’s note: Sorry to hear you are not voting for either candidate. I don’t understand how anyone watching such a fight can’t pick a favorite. After watching the entire governmental apparatus pile on against one man – Donald Trump – I hope you’ll come down on the side of the underdog. There’s still time, and if the match gets too one-sided or too ugly, you may find yourself rooting for Trump. – J.B.)
An Eye for an Eye
The Democrats’ campaign strategy for 2024: go after Trump and his supporters with every phony charge possible to contaminate the candidates and the election. As Mr. Zepke mentioned, “…their employment negatively affected, their families suffer the humiliation and expense of paying for lawyers as their credit may be frozen…” etc.
There’s only one way to deal with these morons:recognize that politics is a dirty game and do it better than they do. What the GOP’s ‘high-ground’ head, Ronna McDaniel, talks about is a waste of time. What we need is a streetwise ass-kicker who knows how to fight fire with fire. Instead of always being on the defensive, we need to let accusers know that the phony legal problems they create will generate overwhelming retaliation.
Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willisis a perfect example. We need to dig so deep into her past that we find out if she cheated on a third-grade test, and expose every illegal, immoral, and unethical thing she’s done since then. They all have skeletons in their closets; we need to let them know that if they attempt their illegal shenanigans on us, they’ll regret it big time. They’ll think twice about initiating their phony legal attacks if they know their past sins will be exposed in lawsuits as phony as the ones they’re subjecting Trump to!
Earl Brown
Santa Barbara
(I like your attitude, Mr. Brown. It’s the kind of attitude that brought Mr. Trump his victory in the first place. He was the first Republican candidate since, well certainly since Ronald Reagan, willing to stand up, take the punches… and to fight back. – J.B.)
Re: “Vitamin D: An Opportunity Lost.”
First, Vitamin D is not a vitamin and the scientific and medical profession need to stop calling it that. It’s a Seco-Steroidal Pro Hormone.
Second, depending on which part of the world someone is from, for example, I'm Indian and grew up in Mumbai at 19 degrees latitude above the equator, you need much, much, more vitamin D.
Third, vitamin D3 has co-factors beyond vitamin K2. You need magnesium (preferably transdermal, as skin and feet soaked in magnesium chloride flakes absorb 98% as opposed to 10% absorption orally), then you need zinc, boron, and the beta carotene form of vitamin A.
These co-factors need to be taken, as they get depleted when you start supplementing only vitamin D3 with K2. Also, the threshold ranges of 30 to 70 ng/mL are a joke. The levels of vitamin D3 need to be north of 100 ng/mL for bullet proof health, and 150 ng/mL and above if you want to get rid of cancers and auto immune diseases.
Yes, at higher thresholds of 150 ng/mL, vitamin d3 gets rid of cancers and auto immune diseases. There is some excellent research on this from Dr. Cicero GalliCoimbra [who developed what’s called] the Coimbra protocol from Brazil. 5000 iu of vitamin D3 does not do much; one needs to take a minimum of 10,000 iu to start with, along with co-factors mentioned above. Scientists and doctors not doing any valuable and real research has caused a travesty and massive deficiencies in the public. Vitamin D3 is also a potent tissue remodeler and remodels bone and other connective tissue. This is why when you take 10,000 iu and above, the aches and pains stop in their tracks. You can thank me later for all this information.
Ms. Poornima Wagh
Clinical lab scientist
(Some interesting ideas. Not calling D a “vitamin” is a reasonable observation. Call it what you want, just take it! And try to remember that fat soluble vitamins D, E, A, and K, have the potential for toxicity. 5,000 units is a lot more than the RDA (around 800 units).
This just shows that people need to do this under the supervision of someone who knows medicine. – Paul Aijian MD)