1 week Ago
Next pandemicExperts have warned for years that bird flu could spark the next global health crisis. Now, it’s spreading fast — killing millions of birds, infecting mammals and even taking human lives. And yet, what’s dominating headlines? Egg prices.
This is the disturbing reality of our food system. We confine birds by the thousands in cramped, unsanitary sheds — conditions that practically invite disease to flourish. And when outbreaks occur, we don’t stop to rethink the system.
We panic over breakfast and continue as usual.Did we learn nothing from COVID-19? Animal agriculture isn’t just cruel — it’s a public health threat, a taxpayer-funded burden, a climate catastrophe and a machine of mass suffering. Still, we prop it up with government subsidies and denial, ignoring red flags as they multiply around us.
It doesn’t have to be this way. A plant-based food system offers a safer, more sustainable path — one free from pandemics, cruelty and environmental destruction. In 2025, with plant-based options widely available, why are we still investing in a system that harms us all?Let’s be honest: Tofu has never triggered a pandemic, or clogged an artery.
We can’t keep treating disasters as an acceptable trade-off for cheap animal products. The cost is far greater than a few extra cents at the checkout. If we stay on this path, it won’t just be animals paying the price — it’ll be us.
Mallory Phillips, Life With Pigs Farm Animal Sanctuary, WilliamsburgFalse nobilityRe “Amid federal layoffs, Youngkin models thoughtful leadership” (Other Views, April 3): In his column, James Schenck praises Gov. Glenn Youngkin for his program “Virginia Has Jobs” as an answer to the President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s layoffs of federal employees. What appears to be a noble action on the part of the governor I would label as “false nobility.
”The more noble action on Youngkin’s part would be to stand up publicly to the underlying problem, which is a cruel indiscriminate job termination policy. Being able to stay on the ship until it gets to port beats the lifeboat. Federal government jobs might need to be decreased but not in this random thoughtless manner.
Michael Bohan, PortsmouthTrump’s challengeThe burdens passed on from the previous administration are heavy. The disastrous open border policy of the Democratic Party and former President Joe Biden will cost the American taxpayers upwards of a trillion dollars. This needless waste, along with countless casualties from physical violence and drug-related deaths, was easily preventable.
While the above is just one example of past administrative mishandlings, perhaps even more critical is the disregard for the national debt ignored by both political parties, which continues to metastasize.If the U.S.
defaults on its debt payments, our credit worthiness will suffer and the ability to raise capital through debt instruments will diminish. Inevitably, we will not be able to pay for vitally needed domestic programs, let alone throw money at many of the nonsensical follies recently unearthed.A possible offshoot of our declining credit is that the dollar could cease to be the world’s currency standard.
The Department of Government Efficiency is just one way to attack our monetary problems; it is not the sole answer, but it is a start. When private firms become bloated, they must cut excesses or fail. Same is true for our government.
The mainstream media mainly proffer negative slants against President Donald Trump’s constructive efforts.Trump may be the only individual who is willing to take the heat for doing what most elected officials won’t, and that is to tackle the hard issues. By relentlessly criticizing his commonsense policies, the left is thwarting real solutions for America’s problems.
Thomas Dingle, SuffolkSign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter.
