I totally agree that almost all CEO compensation is totally out of control and CEO pay should be based on profit. After reading The Washington Post article about the $5.2 million payment given to the retired head of Genesis HealthCare (“CEO gets millions as nursing homes suffer from virus,” Jan. 24), if I had a loved one who needed to go to a home or rehab, the Lebanon Center Genesis HealthCare facility might be my last stop.
Well, my family and I have had a great deal of experience with Lebanon Center. First came my grandmother. During her stay there, I was blown away by the very dedicated and caring people who were working there at that time. They all helped us make the best of a bad situation.
Today, 37 years later, my mom is there and has been for more than five years. My dad also took two falls and was there after each one of them. All I can say is, wow!
From the director of nursing to the nice person who greets you at the door, the staff at Lebanon Center provides great care, and it shows. Since the virus arrived, the director of nursing has a Zoom call every Friday at noon to keep us all well informed. As of this writing, no one there for rehab or any resident has contracted the virus. What a great record. I think it is unfortunate that the article reflected poorly on the staff working hard to protect our local residents through the pandemic and beyond
My father-in-law went to rehab in northern Vermont. We just could not wait to get him well enough so we could get him out. My aunt is also at a nursing facility, near the Seacoast, though it is more like a prison than a nursing and rehab center.
To all the employees of Lebanon Center, please keep up all the caring and great work. It is sincerely appreciated by the Sharkey family, and I bet we are not the only ones.
ROGER D. SHARKEY
Plainfield
On Dec. 4, 1997, Nelson Mandela addressed a crowd in Pretoria on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” he stated. “It behooves all South Africans, themselves erstwhile beneficiaries of generous international support, to stand up and be counted among those contributing actively to the cause of freedom and justice.”
One of the many heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle, Mandela knew of the struggles and sacrifice needed to stand against imperialism and colonial domination. It is a historical thread that connects Black South Africans, Palestinians, Indigenous people and African Americans in the U.S.
In 1948, Israel was formed from territory that was formerly part of the British Mandate for Palestine. What was glossed over in the Jan. 17 op-ed column by Stuart Richards (“Important context that lengthy column omitted”), is that many of the more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs displaced were forcibly expelled by the Israeli army and paramilitary forces in what is known in Arabic as the Nakba, or “Catastrophe.” Entire villages were erased from history.
Today, millions of Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and beyond are the direct descendants of those who were forced to leave their land. Mohsen Mahdawi’s story, as recounted in the Valley News, is the story of millions. What the U.S., Israel and South Africa share is a legacy of apartheid policies, racism and historical revisionism to justify slavery, Jim Crow, Zionism and other discrimination, and absolve themselves of crimes against humanity.
We unequivocally say no to racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. We reject the rewriting of history to erase the inconvenient “others.” Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, regardless of what the state of Israel insists. We stand together for peace and justice and against white supremacy, which is both racist and anti-Semitic. Our struggle as Jews and Muslims, Palestinians, Indigenous people and African Americans is a shared struggle. We are internationalists, united to build a better world for the many, not the few.
CHRISTOPHER HELALI
Vershire
WAFIC FAOUR
Richmond, Vt.
DAISY GOODMAN
Hanover
KATHY SHAPIRO
Middlesex, Vt.
Christopher Helali and Wafic Faour are members of Vermonters for Justice in Palestine. Daisy Goodman and Kathy Shapiro are members of Jewish Voice for Peace VT/NH.
If Donald Trump had controlled the virus, he could have kept a strong economy, as did a number of countries led by women. Now, he’s left us with fewer jobs than when he started. If he had developed a vaccination program, he would have accomplished his goal of 35 million vaccinated. He left us with only 2 million having received both doses. If he had cared about us, if he had cared about the more than 400,000 Americans who have died unnecessarily, if, if …
He’s left a violent army of supporters in place and he’s talking about starting his own political party. All the more reason for the Senate to convict him of inciting insurrection and ensure he cannot serve in any elected position. Would that the Republicans had upheld their party instead of being cowed by Trump. I used to respect the GOP’s values and principles until, in 2001, Vermont U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords stood up to President George W. Bush’s increasingly conservative party.
Look at the districts where the Republicans assert a stolen election — largely urban districts with majority Black voters — while not demanding a recount in white districts. Can this be any more racist? Any more white nationalist? That’s what the objecting senators and representatives are supporting.
Now, if we can get Congress to sanction its members in both the House and Senate who objected to the 2020 election results and broke their oath to uphold the Constitution. What a good word — “uphold.”
President Joe Biden’s nominations for leadership positions have extensive experience, rather than being big donors. What a relief to have leaders who put country before self, our common good before greed.
May each and every one of us stand up for democracy to uphold the Constitution. Rep. John Lewis comes to mind: “Rioting … is not the way. Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand up. Vote. Be constructive, not destructive. History has proven time and again that non-violent, peaceful protest is the way to achieve the justice and equality that we all deserve.”
ANNE PEYTON
South Strafford