Letters to the Editor: Disappointment, tattoos and the cost of the war with Iran

EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

Disappointed in local bakery

I was disappointed by a photograph posted to Facebook from our local bakery proclaiming that June was “America Month” celebrating “Veterans, Church Pastors, Policemen, Firemen, Truckers, Road Workers, Farmers, etc!”

The author of the problematic Facebook post went on to “like” any comment in support and either did not respond or replied with an American flag emoji to anyone who asked for clarification of the author’s intent.

By all means, we should celebrate America. But for this post to be the first post from the bakery dedicating a month to anyone or anything (there was no mention of Black History Month in February nor Women’s History Month in March) to come on the first day of Pride is particularly disheartening. 

June is Pride Month — a celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and community that began as a commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. Today, communities throughout West Michigan and the world gather to celebrate the progress made in LGBTQ+ inclusion and recognize the ongoing battles — Muskegon, Grand Haven, Holland and Hudsonville all host colorful, fun events to raise awareness.

Visibility and acceptance are important to our community health: According to the Trevor Project, 60% of LGBTQ+ youth report symptoms of anxiety and 40% struggle with depression, more than 2.5 times the cis heterosexual rate. When these youth live in accepting communities, they attempt suicide at less than half the rate. That’s my hope for the LGBTQ+ community here in Zeeland — a place where people are truly safe, loved and valued. 

We claim that freedom is one of America’s defining values. Shouldn’t that apply to everyone? It doesn’t take much to be a good human — maybe just the realization that not all people share the same taste in donuts. 

Avril Wiers
Zeeland

Why?

I recently read the article “Tattoos and Cancer” by Bill Dalton, and I just feel like I need to put my 2 cents in.

I wish that a more qualified person would respond to the article, like a doctor or nurse but, in lieu of that, I will submit what I have found out about this subject.

I turned to the Internet to verify various aspects of this subject. Let me state that the Internet and the Bible have one thing in common: They are both like a human being in that, if you torture them long enough, you can get them to say anything you want. I don’t remember anything in the Bible specifically about cancer, or even that anybody knew a lymph node existed, so onto the Internet we go.

First, look at the observational research study that “drew on information from a database of more than 5,900 twins, along with cancer records, to compare cancer prevalence among people with tattoos versus those without.” That means the database had 5,900 sets of twins in it, not that 5,900 sets of twins shared a cancer diagnosis. The study narrows it down to 14 sets of twins, one of which had a tattoo and lymphoma. My guess is that they never sat down and talked to these twins, but just observed the information in the database.

Second, Bill writes, “It’s also interesting that U.S. data show breast cancer incidence in women under 50 is rising faster than in older women. It’s up 15 percent over the past decade among younger women, a rate some consider alarming. What’s worse, women under 40 are nearly 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than older women.” This is basically true, according to the American Cancer Society, but not because of tattoos.

The biggest reasons are:

• Shifting reproductive patterns, which means women are having fewer children and/or having children later in life.
• Lifestyle habits, which means heavy alcohol use, sedentary behavior, and/or childhood obesity.
• Environmental exposure to microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which are things like sunscreen textiles, anti-bacterial soaps, and microwave popcorn bags. Really!? I think we should all be taking a close look at this one.
• Lastly, tattoo ink does travel to the lymph nodes, but breast cancer forms in the breast for various reasons, and once it forms, cancerous cells can break off and are metastasized through the body by the lymphatic system.

Bill does state that “the biggest caveat with such studies is that there’s no proof that getting tattooed is a direct cause of any increased cancer risk. There could be other factors.”

So why write the article at all?

Bill Fey
Holland

The cost of the Iranian war

Now that the governments of America and Iran have come to an agreement to cease hostilities and negotiate for the next 60 days, it is time to evaluate the costs of this war against the benefits. 

Here are the costs: We have spent billions on this war, accelerating the national debt. We have depleted our supply of weapons. We have lifted sanctions on Iran, which will be a boon to its economy, and Iran may very well use that oil money for its own supply of weapons and that of the terrorist organizations Iran has been funding. Plus, Iran might get its frozen assets, amounting to billions, and there is also talk of a fund of $300 billion to rebuild Iran. 

This makes you wonder: Who really won this war? We have killed thousands of civilians, and the murder of those 150 girls in that school that was bombed on the first day of the war will be a lasting image of this war, forever staining Trump's war of choice with the blood of those little girls. Shipping will resume to where it was before the war, but at the cost of 13 American lives. Plus, Iran now knows it can close the straits any time it wants.

Iran will still have missiles and an ample supply of deadly drones. The world economy has been disrupted, which has been especially devastating for poor nations, and has cost Americans billions of dollars due to higher gas prices and inflation, especially at the grocery store.

There was no real regime change, just a change in its cast of characters. Iran still has enriched uranium. America's stature in world opinion has been greatly diminished. What are the benefits? We damaged Iran's war machine and its economy. But Iran has brought Trump to his knees with drones, making him desperate for a deal. We now have a deal of sorts. 

Was the war worth it? I would argue it was not worth it and will go down in history as one of the biggest mistakes ever made by a president of the United States.

Henry Idema
Grand Haven

Help call attention to worsening food security crisis

Many of us are feeling the affordability crisis, but low-income households are feeling it the most. So, efforts to address the affordability crisis should give particular attention to these households.  

To this end, I am raising two issues that have likely flown under the radar for most readers. The following is based on information provided by Bread for the World:

First, the July 2025 "One Bill Beautiful Bill Act" includes $186 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over 10 years. One means of achieving this reduction is to transfer $64 billion in SNAP costs to the states. Most of this transfer is scheduled for fiscal year 2028, which begins in October 2027.

Michigan’s SNAP costs are projected to increase by more than threefold: from $192 billion to $629 billion. Most of the increase will be based on a measure of errors made by the state in administering the complicated rules for determining household SNAP benefits. Michigan is working hard to reduce its error rate. Still, this cost transfer is likely to lead to reductions in other state services or reductions in SNAP benefits, as is already happening in some states. Please ask members of Congress to at least delay this massive transfer of SNAP costs, so that the states have time to prepare.

Second, for 30 years, the USDA has issued an annual U.S. Household Food Security Report. This report, which costs a modest $1 million, has provided key data to guide decisions about domestic nutrition programs. However, last September, the USDA stated that it would no longer provide the report, claiming that other sources can provide similar information.

Sadly, in the nine months since that announcement, those other sources have not been identified. Please ask members of Congress to mandate that the USDA go back to working with the Census Bureau to collect, analyze and report data on U.S. household food security.

Members of Congress can be contacted via their websites: huizenga.house.gov/contact, scholten.house.gov/services/contact, slotkin.senate.gov/contact, and peters.senate.gov/contact/email-gary.

Mary Johnson
Holland

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