Love Letters/Hate Mail

Eat, Love, Praise

Dear Editor:

(In response to "Delivering the Goods" in the Nov. 11-17 issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly.)

My husband and I eat at Cafe Samana every Friday night and have NEVER been disappointed. Everyone who works there is delightful and the variety between the menu and specials sometimes make it difficult to order - because we want it all!! Great article. I am so grateful to have a healthy restaurant available to us in Tulsa. Way to go Tracy!

-Kathy D

Daylight Savings Every Day, All The Time

Dear Editor:

I believe that the state of Oklahoma should keep Daylight Saving Time all year round and I have created a petition to send to the Oklahoma legislature. The benefits of doing this are numerous, the negatives are few (if any).

The arguments against DST are largely irrelevant to extending DST into the winter, because they focus either on too much daylight in the evening or not enough daylight before work. In the winter, the daylight will not extend into the evening or before work regardless of whether DST is in effect.

The main reason DST is opposed is because of the farmers. But farmers set their work schedules by the sun, not by the clock. So, opposition on behalf of farmers is without merit. It's true that during the winter months we would be on a different time than other states in our time zone, but the same is true with Arizona and Hawaii and it works okay for them.

Since most Oklahomans work indoors, DST is needed even more in the winter than the summer. So why end it when we need it the most? Daylight Saving Time should continue all year long.

Positives to keeping DST year-round:

1. There will still be daylight when people get home from 9-5 jobs.

2. More exposure to sunlight during the week will help prevent depression and possibly even suicide.

3. Lack of sunlight in the winter months has been linked to the sharp increase in cases of influenza. Vitamin D has been shown to prevent the flu, and we get Vitamin D from exposure to the sun.

4. More afternoon sunlight has been shown to reduce the number of automobile accidents.

5. More afternoon sunlight has been shown to benefit retailers and any outdoors-related businesses, as people are more motivated to go shopping and do activities after work.

6. No more confusion with having to change the clock back/forward twice a year.

7. Changing the clocks on and off DST during the year has been shown to increase work-related accidents.

8. Seasonal Affective Disorder, which occurs in the winter, will be significantly reduced among those who work 9-5 jobs.

9. Clock changes affect the circadian rhythm so much that frequency of heart attacks rise "significantly" during the first 3 workdays following the spring clock change. Having no clock changes will prevent this.

10. Clock changes have been shown to result in adverse effects from medical devices that can harm patients.

11. More sunlight exposure reduces some mental illnesses.

12. More afternoon sunlight leads to more exercise which improves health.

13. More sunlight exposure can help decrease the risk of at least 13 different types of cancer.

14. Lack of sunlight may also be linked to autism, Alzheimer's disease, osteoarthritis, parkinson's disease, arthritis, rickets, and cystic fibrosis.

15. Sunlight helps maintain adequate levels of insulin in type 2 diabetics.

16. Sunlight exposure helps increase survival in patients with cardiovascular disease and may decrease the risk of stroke.

Because of these benefits and lack of significant negative consequences, I believe DST should be observed all year round in Oklahoma. If anyone would like to sign the petition, they can go to http://petol.org/DSTOK.

-Jonathan Grant

Another Convert

Dear Editor:

(In response to "The Obama Postmortem" in the Nov. 11-17 issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly.)

Wow!! As a first time reader of the Rant'n'Rall I was very impressed with your opening arguments. You were correct that the time for change was 2009. President Obama had the mandate of the election with both Houses of Congress to work the magic hope machine. The gear teeth of the mechanizations, however, began to shear in early 2009 when the populous found out what Obama really meant by "Change".

You may remember the boisterous Town Hall meetings nationwide. It was then that the people removed the Obama mandate and informed their elected officials where the real power resides, with the people.

We "simple folk" know when a politician is blowing smoke, it tickles the taint. The Obama/Pelosi claim that Americans were spending too much on Health Care (14 percent GDP) and we needed this bill to balance the budget was simply a lie. Everyone who paid for Health Insurance before the bill now has to pay more for less coverage. Those who did not have Health Insurance before passage still do not have it. What was the real purpose. We all know, and yes Ted, my taint is tickling. The citizenry does NOT prefer a socialist economic system as you stated. I hope you can pull your head out of the deep, dark warm place it has been stored. BTW, if Obama was doing this as a Republican (i.e. McCain) the Tea Party would still exist and would still be "Right Wing".

It's called Liberty Ted. Get used to it because more is on the way.

-bikeric