‘Doctored’ charts

Some years ago, while visiting my mother, the subject of abortion came up.

She related how our family doctor told her that when a woman has an abortion, a human baby is not killed but only something that looks like a tiny fish inside of her.

What?

Where does that idea come from?

Remember the embryo comparison chart in our science, biology and zoology textbooks?

Zoologist professor Ernst Haeckel, 1834-1919, upon reading Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” began to trumpet Darwin’s ideas in Germany.

The professor drew up large poster-size charts showing embryonic development of different animals and a human and lectured all over Germany.

The top row of the chart shows from left to right a fish, salamander, turtle, chicken, pig, cow, rabbit and human.

That top row shows everything to look like a fish with gill slits and a tail.

As development continues, Haeckel shows the embyros change in a Darwinian sequence: fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal.

He called it the “Biogenetic Law,” which “states that an individual organism in its development (ontogeny) tends to recapitulate the stages passed through by its ancestors (phylogeny).” ...

Haeckel was an excellent artist and purposefully “doctored” his charts to provide evidence for Darwin’s gradualistic idea. ...

Accredited embryologists continually challenged Haeckel on his false charts but he kept on lecturing anyway.

“Since the human embryo never has gills — branchia — the term pharyngeal arches and clefts has been adopted for this book” — Langman, Medical Embrylogy third edition, 1975.

Fritz Kettenburg

Riggins

Do the crime, do the time

Our Asotin County prosecutor made a strong case that we build more jail than we have criminals.

The criminal deterrence factor is as important as the building.

If you do the crime in our county, you will do the time. No exceptions. No catch and release.

Just take a look at the huge increase in drug overdoses and drug-related issues that our emergency services deal with. The drug infiltration in our community is overwhelming.

Our children are inundated with all manner of drugs, even in the form of edibles which are easily mistaken for candy.

This threat needs consequences that are not met with catch and release and/or ankle bracelets.

That was the main reason we needed a new jail to begin with. We are having to deal with drug-related crime on a level never before experienced. Is it possible that we have not done enough to inform the public about these criminal issues? The answer is you can never do enough.

Community awareness and action should be a priority. Those with children can better understand the daily threat they face. A new jail is needed on a scale to discourage criminals who threaten not only our children, but all of us.

It’s easy to say that this doesn’t affect us and is not our problem. It does and it will.

That’s why we can’t give up on serious consequences for criminal behavior.

A new jail that won’t provide a solution is a waste of time and money.

Jack Worle

Clarkston

Responding to Sherwin

In response to the letter titled “Indoctrinating our children,” normally, I enjoy reading the opinion letters written by Dick Sherwin. But his latest submission surprised me.

We are all aware of how contentious the issue of dam breaching is. But using incendiary words such as “infiltrated,” “indoctrinate” and “capture” in the same letter along with the disclosure of a 16-year-old minor’s name is unwarranted.

It did nothing to bolster his argument.

Perhaps the use of discretion in the future would help.

Patrice Yeatter

Kooskia