The Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo are the first institutions in the United States to receive humane certification and merited appreciation from wildlife experts of the American Humane Association. They have been rightfully commended for their compassionate treatment and care for the many terrestrial and aquatic species that thrive under their benevolent guardianship. Their commitment to endangered species preservation and to the breeding of threatened creatures has also been acknowledged. It’s encouraging that the first two nationally renowned zoos and aquariums in America lauded for ensuring the paramount well-being of priceless animal species are based in the Chicago area.
Brien Comerford, Glenview
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Remake political party system
It is obvious to sane Americans that our nation’s two-party system is badly broken, with none of the willingness to compromise that this country was built on. It is time to construct a system in which elected officials vote their conscience, not strictly along party lines. It is time to eliminate special-interest lobbying, which has become bribery plain and simple. It is time for term limits for all elected officials. Until “we the people” finally assert ourselves, bought-and-sold elections will keep our country in the downward spiral.
Ken Karlson Wheaton
McCain’s confused crystal ball
Sometimes Vietnam war hero John McCain spouts off as if he’s lost it. Last week, he laid the blame for the lone-wolf Orlando massacre on President Obama because ISIS has not been defeated using our military might. Then McCain walked back that assertion. Maybe his staff persuaded him to do so to save face?
Instead, McCain should criticize his own party for upsetting the uneasy balances of power in the Middle-East, starting with launching the Iraq War on bogus evidence. That set in motion the ongoing turmoil, including ISIS.
If nothing else, Arab tyrants seem better able to keep a lid on ancient enmities. The Arab Spring that promised a regional renaissance has gone sour except in Algeria.
In the past, McCain himself has characterized our military action over there as pointless “whack-a-mole” activity, resolving nothing. Can’t he make up his mind?
Ted Z. Manuel, Hyde Park
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