Star-Ledger letters to the editor

What matters more to you, the Jersey Shore or your right to vote?

Great as the shore is, I hope you answered “your right to vote.” Voting is precious, and not everyone in the world gets to do it, or, if they do, it’s at gunpoint.

Take China. Its dictator, Xi Jinping, just gave himself five more years of rule in a bogus ceremony. Did the Chinese people get to vote for him versus some other option? Nope.

Or how about the people in occupied Ukraine who “voted” to be annexed by Russia? They cast their vote for the only choice they had while facing the barrel of a Kalashnikov rifle.

Here in New Jersey, we can vote as we please. Or not. In last year’s gubernatorial election, only 40% of registered voters turned out. And, in the 2018 midterm elections, only 55% turned out. That’s millions of our neighbors who just couldn’t be bothered.

These midterms matter. The right to vote is at stake. Freedom of choice is at stake. Truth is at stake.

Hey, it’s a little chilly right now to head down the shore. You bothered to register, right? So please take the time to cast your precious vote.

Saving water is a hot-button issue

I read the article “Spouting off tips to avoid water waste” in the Star-Ledger’s Oct. 23 Real Estate section. It covered the usual advice such as lowering your hot water temperature, taking shorter showers, etc.

I am always surprised that two potential major ways to save water are rarely mentioned in this kind of article. They could save billions of gallons of water every day with relatively simple modifications to residential hot water systems.

The first is to install an under-the-sink, instantaneous hot water heater. This is an electric device that is connected directly to your hot water pipe under the sink. When the faucet is turned on, the heater is activated and hot water is available instantly.

The second change, which is more involved and more adaptable to new construction, is to install a circulating pump and additional piping to create a hot water loop. This also results in hot water being available instantly at each faucet.

One small example of waste in a traditional system: In the average home, especially one with a hot water heater in the basement and a bathroom on the second floor, at least a gallon is wasted and goes down the drain before the water coming from that second-floor faucet is hot.

The Colorado River serves some 10 million households with water. That equates to about 10 million gallons of water wasted every time a hot water faucet is turned on, every day, 365 days per year. And that’s only the Colorado River.

What about all the other rivers and reservoirs throughout the country? We’re talking billions of gallons of water each and every day.

As an aside, these systems also save energy, so your utility bills are reduced.

Pass law to reduce drug testing on animals

Kudos to U.S. Rep.Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist., for cosponsoring the FDA Modernization Act of 2021. The Senate recently passed its version of the legislation, led in part by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., without dissent.

This legislation encourages alternatives to animal testing by allowing the use of 21st-century test methods for new drugs, and is one more superb act of leadership on animal welfare by Senator Booker.

Data show that animal tests are unreliable predictors of the human response to drugs. Between 90 and 95 percent of drugs found safe in non-clinical tests fail during human clinical trials, since some toxicities are not predicted by traditional animal tests, or because the drugs lack efficacy in humans.

Human-relevant assays, organs-on-a-chip, microphysiological systems and computer modeling can predict human response more accurately. This could the cut time to market in half and reduce research and development costs for an effective drug, while sparing countless animals.

Six New Jersey lawmakers are cosponsors of this bill to reduce needless animal testing. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-6th Dist., chairs the Energy and Commerce committee and has supported the legislation when it was attached to a larger FDA policy package.

I urge Pallone to see this legislation over the finish line, and bring the Senate-passed bill to the House floor in a stand-alone vote.

Three’s a crowd in this decision

I was aghast upon reading in this week’s “Friendly Fire” feature Democrat strategist Julie Roginsky’s description of Dr. Mehmet Oz’s position — citing comments from last week’s Senate debate in Pennsylvania — that the decision to terminate a pregnancy should involve “…a woman [yes], her doctor [yes] and local political leaders… [WHAT!!!??]”.

I can’t imagine why anyone would invite an unrelated third party to be part of such a personal process. Do I ask the mayor or town council, or the reigning political machine to weigh in on whether I should have an abortion — or any other procedure — that is necessary to save my life?

Since when do “local political leaders” have the medical expertise to help women make these decisions or, more broadly, to make decisions about anyone having a lifesaving medical procedure.

More importantly, who gave them the right to insert themselves into private lives in such an intrusive manner?

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