By: centraljersey.com
Last spring my 9-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare, genetic immune deficiency called CVID (common variable immune deficiency).
In a nutshell, her body makes very few antibodies; and as she gets older, it will make even less. The treatment for this disorder is simple: she receives immunoglobulin (antibody) infusions every week. While the treatment is simple, it is also expensive: about $2,500 per month to keep my child healthy.
Despite the initial shock of this diagnosis, I consider us lucky. We have a treatment that is known to work, and right now we have insurance that covers this treatment.
But if the Republicans in the House get their way, our insurance coverage, and my daughter’s health, will be in jeopardy. The moment the Affordable Care Act is repealed, my daughter will be in danger of being dropped by our insurance company simply because she is ill and is costing them too much money. And when she becomes an adult, she will be labeled as having one of those pesky "pre-existing conditions" that insurance companies love to deny; she may well become one of the many uninsured.
I understand that the Affordable Care Act is not perfect. But to repeal it whole, without any replacement, is unacceptable.
I’m disgusted by politicians and pundits who crunch their own numbers and unilaterally decide that healthcare reform is "too expensive." I would like House Speaker Jim Boehner to look my sweet daughter in the eye and explain to her why her health, and the health of millions of people like her, is not a worthwhile investment.
And I implore everyone to call your own representatives, in the House and the Senate, and tell them that affordable, quality health insurance for everyone is our moral obligation.
Kathy Azaro West Windsor
Rhetoric may be root of Arizona shootings
To the editor:
Before the November 2010 election I was disturbed, indeed horrified, by a Facebook map of our country , targeting members of congress with crosshairs, as if they should be lined up in a rifle site and shot. These were members of our government who Sarah Palin thought should be defeated in the election.
The image and the suggestion disturbed me. I called Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office in Washington, knowing he is the most senior senator in the Republican party. I tried to explain that rhetoric and imagery that was prevailing from the propaganda expressed by the Republican party was dangerous and inflammatory. The person who answered the call informed me that since I am not one of Sen. McConnell’s constituents, my call would have no impact and would not be forwarded on to the senator. It is bad enough that our last president took us to "a war of choice " with no "mission accomplished" and no end in sight. The images of that war are traumatizing enough for all Americans to deal with. Now we have Sarah Palin "targeting" candidates who she thinks should be voted out of office. She places inflammatory images of crosshairs, shows how she lines up a caribou in her rifle sites and kills him in a barbaric manner, she cries out that the health care plan of President Obama has " death panels" for senior citizens. Imagery such as she expresses in her public announcements is , dangerous and inflammatory.
Tragically Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of the dastardly shooting in Arizona allegedly by one Jared Loughner may be a consequence of all the Sarah Palin rhetoric. I am not saying she pulled the trigger, but some of her message may have taken root in the fragile, vulnerable mind of the shooter. If I were Sarah Palin, I would hide, lower the inflammatory rhetoric, and hope that she is not in someone’s " crosshairs."
Howard W. Silbersher Princeton
Thanks for the support of Book Angels program
To the editor:
For the third year in a row Princeton Young Achievers thanks the Princeton community for its generosity and support of our holiday Book Angels program. Once again the former Chicklet Books and Labyrinth Books each hosted a Book Angel tree, filled with PYA students’ book requests. This year, books were purchased and donated by members of the Princeton area community through the bookstores and the Princeton Public Library. A book donation from BlackRock Financial put the total number of books over one hundred. Members of the Trenton Princeton Zeta-Amicae Sorority joined some of our literacy volunteers to wrap all the books, and each child in the program received a new book for the holidays.
The Book Angels program was started three years ago by Randi Katzman, who deserves special thanks. In addition, I thank the Freda family, Princeton Township Affordable Housing, the AmeriCorps/Bonner Foundation, Pamela Elmi, PYA executive director, and Ann Vershbow, PYA education director.
The Book Angels program is one of PYA’s numerous book-giving initiatives, which support our Literacy For Life! program’s mission to foster a love of reading in our students. Our volunteers read aloud one-on-one to students once a week for the academic year. I invite members of the community to visit our centers and get involved with our students as homework helpers or literacy volunteers.
Again, thank you very much for all your support.
Nancy Rubenstein Literacy Coordinator Princeton Young Achievers

