Over the weekend I drove to Fargo-Moorhead for the All-State Band concert held in the auditorium at Concordia College. The negative part was the Interstate 94 speedway and no State Patrol in sight. Vehicles were going 80 to 90 mph. A report also has just been released about the climate crisis we are facing (" 'Code red': UN scientists warn of worsening global warming," StarTribune.com, Aug. 9). If everyone drove the speed limit, fuel savings and emissions would be quite substantial.

Michael Joseph Ginsburg, Hector, Minn.

OLYMPICS

There was something magical about the event, and some saw it

For a brief time this summer, 206 nations came together to compete. Despite the differences in languages and cultures, they came together to show the world the best that they could be. The smiles, the handshakes, the hugs, the tears, the pain, the joy and laughter — that was the common language and culture understood by all. Something to ponder — there are 206 bones that comprise the human body. One body — one world. "Faster, higher, stronger – together."

CJ Floyd, Shoreview

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Like many Americans, we enjoyed watching the Olympics over the past two weeks. We enjoyed the celebrations of Americans who achieved and honored our country. We watched at least 30 hours of coverage without seeing anything disrespectful to our country.

But I am learning from social media and a little bit of online research that some part of America has seen a different Olympics. One filled with woke protests and disrespect for America. This America sees the Olympics as yet another example of America's decline. Our former president has made an all-out effort to pile on this view. The conservative media has seen this as an opportunity to capture an audience that might otherwise spend more time watching the Olympics.

I feel bad for Americans who missed the Olympics that I saw. It has been a great celebration and a time to feel better after 18 months of great sadness.

Michael Emerson, Golden Valley

COVID-19

That was a wayward pitch against vaccine mandates

An Aug. 7 letter writer ("Against vaccine mandates: Here's the pitch") is wrong that the coronavirus "has largely run its course." We are in a fourth wave now, larger than the previous ones. It is not petering out. As an engineer, he should be able to count.

However he is right about the individual freedom to make your own choice about the vaccine. If you choose to stay unvaccinated, that is absolutely your choice, and hopefully it is the right choice for you. And to all who remain unvaccinated, party on. Just don't party with me. Don't shop at my grocery store or my hardware store; don't come to my church; don't come to my neighborhood theater, my neighborhood restaurants, my 6 feet of air that I need to breathe to remain virus-free.

You can take all the chances you want for your own life, but, by God, you don't have a right to take a chance on my life, my family's lives, and the lives of anyone I love. In some circles, that would be called murder.

In the time it took me to write this letter, hundreds of people have died of the virus in this country. Just because you don't know them personally doesn't mean they didn't die. Thousands of hospitalized people are fighting for their lives. More than 90% of them have not received the vaccine. Surely, as an engineer, the letter writer should be able to put two and two together.

Elizabeth Streiff, Minneapolis

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A tenet of structural engineering is that every structural element of a building shall be designed to withstand three times the maximum force it can ever be expected to bear. Engineers must observe this requirement as a condition of licensure and employment. The rule is not in place to inconvenience the engineer, but because lives are at stake. Thus it is also with the M Health Fairview mandate of vaccination as a condition of employment. The same caution that demands the engineer's conservative design applies to health care for the same reason. It is not the health care employees' convenience that is at stake, but rather the lives of those around them. Perhaps this explanation would help the outraged engineer author of the letter "Against vaccine mandates: Here's the pitch" to understand Fairview's vaccine mandate.

Peter Hill, Minnetonka

•••

What a disappointment to read such scolding (Readers Write, Aug. 7) of the writer of the Aug. 6 commentary "I'm vaccine hesitant, and here's why." I say thank you to him. I've wondered why in the world wouldn't someone want to be vaccinated. Now I hear some concerns. We need to know the reasons in order to solve problems. We are doing a terrible job of marketing the vaccine. Why not go to the sources where these people are getting their information and provide the real information? This from a friend: "If people can market sugary unhealthy breakfast foods, why can't we market the vaccine?" Maybe we should listen to people rather than telling them they are ignoramuses.

Kathryn Garner, Minneapolis

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What challenges would you go through to save your life? Would you endure chemo, although the side effects may be extremely difficult or not effective? How important is your survival to you? If you are extremely independent and against vaccinations, would you refuse chemo treatments?

Chemo only affects you and your life. If you refuse chemo, you affect only your life. Refusing a COVID vaccination affects everyone that you are in contact with, including complete strangers and children who can not be vaccinated. Unlike COVID, cancer is not contagious.

I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer a year ago. It is an aggressive, rare breast cancer. My best chance of survival included four months of chemotherapy. The list of side effects from chemo was frightening. Luckily, chemo was effective and I had minimal side effects. My Pfizer vaccine side effect of an uncomfortable arm for a day was like a mosquito bite in comparison to my minimal side effects of chemo.

I have had treatments and surgery for almost a year to save my life. Many cancer patients have low immunity. For many, contact with unvaccinated people could affect their strong fight to survive. How sad that we live in a country where this potentially fatal disease could be avoided by a slight poke in the arm instead of spreading to many, including children and those who have fought so hard to stay alive.

Jean Eulberg-Steffenson, Onamia, Minn.

LANGUAGE

Efforts to blot out 'outdated' terminology are window dressing

In "Rebuilding a Realtor's vocabulary: Many Realtors are no longer using 'master,' 'his-and-hers, and other outdated terms," (Homes section, Aug. 8), we read: "A new real estate terminology is emerging during a time of racial reckoning as many agents drop biased language."

Sanitizing language won't eliminate the hate. It won't even make a noticeable dent. It's just vanity.

Mark Tarnowski, Minneapolis

VICTORIA PLANE CRASH

A tragedy, but a heroic one

On Saturday afternoon, my wife and I witnessed the plane crash in Victoria ("Omaha doctor, 2 others die in plane crash," Aug. 9). We had just entered the western side on Hwy. 5 when the plane went past us, crashing into the empty lot.

I witnessed people running to the accident within seconds, carrying fire extinguishers, grabbing garden hoses, concerned for their neighbors. It became an instant community dealing with a catastrophe until the authorities could get there. They were truly amazing.

It is my fervent belief that the pilot somehow guided his plane into that empty lot, sparing the gas station, the sports restaurant and several houses that were within close proximity to the crash site. Through his efforts, a larger disaster was averted. Some might call it luck. I prefer to think it was the final heroic achievement of a dying pilot.

Joseph Wright, Bloomington

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