To the Editor:

Denying facts because they conflict with a belief is a survival tactic for the human race. We all do it. But now it seems a lot easier for everyone to have their own “facts.” On the Internet you can find “facts” to justify any opinion. Of course, observable, provable, documented facts are out there, but we must be smart enough and honest enough to pick them out of the sea of fake facts .

Here is a good example. In a recent letter defending the Obama administration, I claimed that, “Illegal immigration is currently net zero.” That means that there are just as many illegal aliens leaving the country as are entering. If true it would call into question the fear that the country is being overrun by illegals. This number can be quantified and documented and thus can be a real fact. So how do you determine that it is a real fact and not something made up because someone wants it to be true?

Go to Google and put in “immigration is net zero.” On the first three pages there are 30 links, every link except one  agrees with the net zero “fact.” Google “Immigration is NOT net Zero” and you get the same 30 links.

Almost all the links quote from the same source, the “Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero — and Perhaps Less,” a Pew Research Center report dated Aug. 6, 2012 (www.pewresearch.org ). Numerous sites have reviewed the data from Pew Research and have found it to be valid. They include Reuters, Politifact, The National Journal, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and the National Journal. In fact, highly respected fivethirtyeight.com reviewed the data in July and found it to be accurate.

So who disagrees? It is NEWSMAX, and who is NEWSMAX? It is like Fox News on steroids. You will notice I did not list any obviously left wing or progressive site in the above list. One would be hard put to call the Christian Science Monitor a left wing propaganda outlet.  

So is “immigration is net zero" a real fact, or is it fake fact? You decide.

Louis Vitale

Franklin

QUESTION: I have high blood pressure and have been told to cut down on salt and sodium. What should I be looking at on the label?

Answer:  One of the key recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is: "Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300milligrams (mg) and further reduce intake to 1,500 mg among persons who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease."

By Burt Kornegay • Contributing writer

It was around 10:30 p.m., just as we were going to bed, when my wife Becky and I heard strange sounds outside our home in Cullowhee. I walked out on the porch and first heard the low, measured hoots of a great horned owl coming up faintly from the valley below, but then came these sharper, louder, impetuous cries from the woods right above our house — hoarse squeals and high-pitched whistles and low clucks.

Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City celebrated the Christmas season with a generous donation to Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to support the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Smokies Ridgerunner program.

U.S. Forest Service employees in North Carolina recently received a handful of awards for their work in 2014, including a community engagement award for the forest planning process in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. 

A six-session program aimed at female skiers and snowboarders will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley.

A new conservation easement in Jackson County will provide a critical wildlife corridor, connecting three other easements and located less than 2 miles from Panthertown Valley. 

Seasonal road closures are starting to kick in for the U.S. Forest Service. 

In the Appalachian Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest, 2.9 miles of Longarm Road, FSR-287, will close from its intersection with Blackgum Gap — FSR-288 — March 17 to Aug. 18, 2015. 

Two Western Carolina University faculty members assisted on a recently released award-winning film that chronicles efforts to revitalize the Cherokee language in Western North Carolina.

Hartwell Francis, director of WCU’s Cherokee language program, and Tom Belt, coordinator of the program and a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, were interviewed and credited as associate producers for “First Language – The Race to Save Cherokee.”

Superstar comedian Jeff Foxworthy will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at Harrah’s Cherokee.

Foxworthy is one of the most respected and successful comedians in the country. He is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy Award nominee and best selling author of 11 books.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist “Mean Mary” James will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, at The Classic Wine Seller in Waynesville.

Known internationally for lightning-fast fingers, haunting vocals, and intricate story songs, James explores the genres of folk-rock, bluegrass, and blues with banjo, fiddle, and guitar.

Dr. Donna Glee Williams, author and fellow at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, recently paid a visit to a World Literature class at Pisgah High School to talk about writing.

A Christmas card drive on the campus of Western Carolina University netted more than 4,000 cards for soldiers stationed overseas.

Tables were set up across campus during various times this fall for students to sign cards for deployed soldiers or veterans spending the holidays in VA hospitals.

QUESTION: I have noticed you have a gluten-free section and tag items that are gluten-free – why not a sugar-free section for diabetics?

The good news is that unlike those who need gluten-free products for celiac disease or other medical conditions, someone with diabetes, whether it is Type 1 or Type 2, can virtually buy products throughout the store – as long as they are reading labels! Carbohydrate counting is the method that the American Diabetes Association recommends (www.diabetes.org) for diabetes dietary management of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. 

What sort of training or degrees do you have?

I have two undergraduate degrees, a B.A. in Speech Communications from West Chester University and a B.S in Human Nutrition from the University of Maryland and I have done some work towards a Master's in Marketing.

A $10,000 grant will go toward building up food banks in Western North Carolina in partnership with agribusiness. 

The award, given to the Western North Carolina Food Policy Council, comes from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

A 12-week permaculture school in Asheville will launch in 2015, teaching students how to create landscapes that maintain the health and resilience of natural systems while also providing food, water, energy, shelter, income and spiritual fulfillment. 

A series of three public hearings in January will take public input on the future of protection for the reintroduced red wolf and continuation of coyote hunting in the five-county area in northeastern North Carolina where the wolf was reintroduced. 

Five summer internship positions are available for undergraduates looking to get involved with Discover Life in America’s mission to learn as much as possible about the species inhabiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park through the Mary Raoul Fitzpatrick Photography and Natural Science Internship.

Just after putting the final touches on the Chimney Tops Trail this month, the Trails Forever program in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will begin restoration on the popular Alum Cave Trail in 2015.

The National Parks System could see its largest expansion in decades after bipartisan legislation in Washington, D.C. was introduced proposing a significant national parks package.

For the first time, gill lice have been found in brook trout in the Southern Appalachians. The parasitic crustaceans are common in the northern states but had never been found this far south. 

The opening of the Swain County Visitor Center in downtown Bryson City this year represented the culmination of a $3.46 million investment from the Great Smoky Mountains Association on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

By Steve Ellis • Guest Columnist

As we leave this political season, which has been nasty, brutal and long, I’d like to offer some thoughts. If you doubt my description of nasty, brutal and long, I remind you of our recent controversy here in Haywood County over the newly elected tax collector.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will open its new state-of-the-art, $26 million Cherokee Justice Center on Dec. 17 following two years of construction. 

Folkmoot USA was recently named a Top Ten Festival by USA Today, the only festival in the state of North Carolina to receive such recognition.

The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority will launch its new website that will support its “Play On” branding campaign at 1 p.m. on Dec. 17 in the auditorium of the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee.

A bomb threat was received by the Jackson County 911 office shortly before the beginning of Western Carolina University’s fall commencement ceremony, scheduled to be held in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center on Saturday, Dec. 13, prompting university officials to move the event outdoors.

Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Wood instructor Brian Wurst and students recently finished a project for the U.S. Forest Service to build and install a reception desk for the visitor’s center at their headquarters on the National Mall in Washington D.C. 

The Webster Historical Society will present its 4th annual “John Parris’ Christmas” at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Webster Methodist Church.

Curtis and Janice Monteith Blanton will both read the Christmas stories of Parris and the second original Christmas story that Curtis, a Jackson County writer and storyteller, has written just for the event.

Carolina Brass will feature a variety of holiday and classical songs at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the Waynesville First United Methodist Church.

On Dec. 6, acclaimed bluegrass group Balsam Range began it Winter Concert series with The Molly Tuttle Trio at The Colonial Theatre in Canton. 

Along with the concert was a fundraising event to honor, recognize and celebrate the Haywood County Meals on Wheels program. Event sponsors contributed over $12,000 to help reduce the number of Haywood County residents on the waiting list. 

Western Carolina University’s Harrill Residence Hall has become the university’s second building to be LEED-certified for its comprehensive energy-efficient and environmentally friendly features.

Friends of the Smokies raised more than $18,000 for Great Smoky Mountains National Park on GivingTuesday, far more than its $4,500 goal. 

For the first time since Dale Ditmanson retired in January 2014, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a permanent superintendent. A string of three acting superintendents have served in the post over the past year.

Ten high school students from the Haywood Community Learning Center recently armed themselves with colorful spray paint to mark the storm drains of Hazelwood with a message: “Don’t Dump … Drains To Pigeon River.” 

Tuscola High School students dominated Future Farmers of America’s Land Judging competition this year.

The competition tests students’ ability to identify different types of soil and, based on the soil’s position in the landscape, develop recommendations for various uses. 

Appalachian Trail license plate funds are helping to make the woods a little safer for the volunteers who maintain the trail. Using the plate money, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy funds Wilderness First Aid certification courses, taught by Cullowhee-based Landmark Learning, for those who volunteer with various trail groups.

To the Editor:

 I certainly hope Santa brings Bob Wilson a “Connect the Dots” book — he could use the practice. His meandering letters are clearly out of touch with verifiable fact, but then his goal is plainly to give additional ink to some of the most flawed far-right messaging.  

To be clear, I do not fault papers for printing this tripe as it is, after all, submitted to the Opinion section. These are his opinions. Note: his opinion. I usually won’t bother to read these as they’re so clearly the conclusions of a very strange mind. I also do not usually call out letter writers by name, and will only refute the premise of their printed opinions.  

However, this person repeatedly shows his flawed and circuitous thinking with variations on quotes from what we all recognize as those notoriously twisted “urban legends” or, even worse, he offers his own invented “facts.” In short, these are in not facts.

 A friend labeled this kind of thinking as, and I quote: “off-the-shelf pundits, tend to construct these far-fetched analogies to fit presuppositions without rigorous analysis.” I agree. I don’t think any “rigor” is involved in any of Mr. Wilson’s rants.

Let’s all ask Santa to do him a favor and gift him with a new children’s “Connect the Dots” book in hopes of improving his thought processes and promote reasonable, rational and truly factual future remarks.

Shirl Ches

Franklin

To the Editor:

The letter “Democrats hurting African Americans” (SMN, December 3) confuses race with economics. The implication that Democrats have re-enslaved African Americans with social programs that rob them of the incentive to work and be productive is both tired and untrue.  

At the same time, the writer takes a whack at our public school system, referring to some as “horrible.”

But at the crossroads of these two ideas — race and schools — lies an inescapable truth that the writer unknowingly hits. He mentions that about four times the number of African American students from New York Catholic schools go to college compared to their public school counterparts.  

What’s the real difference here? Economics. Catholic schools require tuition, and the parents of students in them are wealthy enough to pay to have their kids attend; the majority of parents of students in public schools are less likely to be wealthy. This economic gap brings opportunity, privilege, travel, books, computers — even food — to kids of well-to-do parents that are denied those of low-income families. Also, kids of well-to-do families often grow up with an unspoken understanding that they will go to college; not so for ghetto kids.

What the writer needs to remember is that Democrats have a history of trying to improve the lives of people, particularly those that need help. Are we always successful? No, because democracy is an ever-changing thing, more art than science. And do some take advantage of public assistance? Yes. But trying is better than assuming that the rich will help the poor or that those in need should be left to starve.  

Democrats have a long tradition of working to benefit a broad spectrum of people, without specific consideration of race or gender. Here are a few examples: child labor laws, the work of Woodrow Wilson; Social Security and Aid to Dependent Children, Franklin Roosevelt; Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, and Civil Rights, Lyndon Johnson … and the list goes on.  

All these acts have a single, color-blind purpose — to stabilize the lives of citizens and eventually free them of the yoke of poverty. Race has nothing to do with it.  

In any case, if we are going to confront the real problems that face the nation, we must relearn tolerance of each other. Our economy and industries need rebuilding. We cannot do it if we spend time quarreling among ourselves. It can only get done if we reason together.

Rick Bryson

Bryson City         

To the Editor:

It’s amusing to hear Republicans and other reactionaries describe Democrats and the Democratic Party. Contrary to their fiction-based descriptions, Democrats are not intent on keeping minorities dependent on the government nor do they any longer support segregation. Those who supported segregation after Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights legislation became conservative Republicans.

The Democratic Party still champions the working middle class, human rights and the work ethic. Democrats value individual effort and hard work. If you favor child labor laws, having a five-day workweek, and universally available public education, you might be a Democrat.

The Republican Party, on the other hand, has morphed into an ultra reactionary plutocratic party hardly recognizable to what it was. Ronald Reagan would not be nominated by Tea Party Republicans to be dog catcher, much less president.

If you think unions are evil and should be eliminated, you might be a Republican. If you believe that education should be for those who can afford private schools and that teachers are villains who teach kids liberal ideas, you are probably a Republican.

Middle-class Tea Partiers have been duped by the very wealthy plutocrats, such as the Koch brothers, via Karl Rove, Caritas, and others to believe that the rich will be better than the government. Plutocrats want to get rid of government so that they can have total control over the country and everyone in it. They want to go back to the time that three men determined that Garfield would be president.

Norman G. Hoffmann, Ph.D.

Waynesville

Dr. Graeme Potter • Guest Columnist

As one of the practicing, board-certified OB/GYNs in the community who provide prenatal care, I’ve been honored to care for more than 800 babies born in Western North Carolina. When I moved here in 2007, I was first associated with a larger practice, and since 2008 most of these babies were delivered with my private practice, Dogwood Women’s Health, and more recently Dogwood Wellness. For much of this time, I delivered babies and did surgical procedures at Harris Regional Hospital.

The Western Carolina University Board of Trustees approved a schedule of tuition and fees for the 2015-16 academic year that includes a 3 percent increase in tuition for students from North Carolina.

The proposal, unanimously approved by the board at its regular quarterly meeting Dec. 5, would mean a $110 annual increase in tuition for in-state undergraduate students.

Southwestern Community College has inadvertently released students’ social security numbers to a private research company. The college is reporting that all confidential student information has been confirmed as secure, and that steps have been taken to prevent future data breaches.

Western Carolina University’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education will hold its 10th annual Mountain Dulcimer Winter Weekend Jan. 8-11 in the Lambuth Inn at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. 

A “Blue Ridge Christmas” with Sheila Kay Adams and Michael Reno Harrell will be at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. 

Works by painter Jeannie Welch will be displayed throughout December and January in the Meeting Room of the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.