Letters: August 24 & 31, 2009

'In Search of Aliens'
Before the U.S. tries to find aliens in outer space, can we just find Osama bin Laden here on Earth?
Tracy Leverton, Vienna, Virginia

Given the mathematical probabilities, it seems likely that life, some of it intelligent, exists elsewhere in the universe. Hopes have been much increased by recent discoveries of many planetary systems around other stars. But as you note, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project has been trying for almost half a century to locate artificial radio sources in space, and so far has drawn a blank. Does normal human curiosity and a need to know what's over the next horizon motivate us? Do we lust for the knowledge and power we may gain from contact with advanced nonhuman societies? Or does the sense of isolation in the vast cosmic darkness prompt us to search for friends? Whatever our reasons, we'll no doubt keep looking.
M. G. Sherlock, Colwyn Bay, Wales

'Attack! The Truth About Obamacare'
To those who say that health care is not a right, I ask if they can look into the eyes of a woman who can't afford chemotherapy and tell her that she should die because she didn't budget for it. I am an emergency-room nurse and see the faces of the uninsured. They are not abstractions to be debated at town-hall meetings. I thought Americans were better than that.
Carol Bryant, R.N., Centennial, Colorado

'The Critics Can "Go To Hell"
It is with regret that I read the comment (The Last Word, Aug. 3) from CEO Christophe de Margerie of the French oil giant Total telling NEWSWEEK readers that critics of his company's operations in military-ruled Burma can "go to hell." He claimed in the interview that he is proud of his company's presence in Burma, noting that it provides electricity to neighboring Bangkok. Since 1994, I've documented the human-rights impacts of Total's Yadana pipeline in Burma. Ongoing effects of the project include forced labor, rape, torture, and extrajudicial killings committed by the Burmese Army, which provides security for the companies and the project. These abuses have been the subject of numerous lawsuits against Total and its corporate partners in U.S. and European courts, filed by villagers who find no access to justice in their home country. My organization represented some of these villagers in court and has released numerous publications detailing the abuses connected to the Yadana project. Total has repeatedly misrepresented its efforts in Burma, publicly claiming to have "eradicated" forced labor in the area of its project, and that the International Labor Organization certifies the claim. The ILO has made no such statements, and recently it publicly disavowed the claim as untrue and unrealistic, stating that "it would be unfair and inaccurate to say that the pipeline area is forced-labor-free."
Ka Hsaw Wa, Executive Director, Earthrights International, Chiang Mai, Thailand