A different mix of LTE's today, with one TB* rant to leaven that mix.
*TB = True Believer
Three points
PATTI PENLAND PHELPS
Ennice
Inexcusable
Thirty American servicemen died in a helicopter crash Saturday. I can understand why it did not make the Saturday, Aug. 6 edition of the Journal, given the time difference, however I find it inexcusable that it was not in the Sunday, Aug. 7 edition.
When and where did the Journal decide to share this information with their readers? Monday, Aug. 8, below the fold. Shameful!
WILL KELLY
Bethania
Six Republican myths:
LARRY ROTH
Germanton
Our complicity
The Journal article ("Fla. official named to head health department," Aug. 4) that said that Dr. Timothy Monroe "often waded into controversy" reminds me of the value and integrity of our former Forsyth County Health Department director. This very style generated Monroe's invitation to Knollwood Baptist Church. His style also made a difference in Forsyth County.
A few years ago, Dr. Monroe led a three-Sunday seminar at Knollwood Baptist. His topic addressed the question, "Should all people have access to healthcare?" Dr. Monroe skillfully guided us into the hard facts. These facts included infant-mortality rates as they related to local matters of poverty and race.
As people of faith, we owned up to our complicity in this mortality matter. This complicity caused an examination of health-care access and quality both as a systemic and personal matter.
Sometimes the hard facts and realities get blamed on the messenger. We can only hope that the replacement director, Marlon Hunter, will face the same facts and realities with the same proactive (confrontational) insight.
THE REV. KENNETH J. MEYERS
KNOLLWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH
Winston-Salem
I read with interest that there is a movement to replace mechanized euthanasia with injections for animals in the Davidson County Animal Shelter. I was once an animal control officer and have three points to consider:
- Many animals are put down each day in every public shelter in the country. The requirement of using injections will have a huge impact on the people who work in the animal shelter. Most animal control officers genuinely care about animals and spend their days rescuing and saving stray and abandoned animals. They don't want to destroy any animal, but realize that there are too many abandoned animals in our society and many have to be destroyed.
- Machines used to euthanize animals allow animal control officers to have some emotional distance from this unfortunate part of their job. Using injections is up close and personal and no one who cares about animals can do this on a daily basis. In addition, it is very difficult to destroy puppies and small animals with injections.
- The use of authorized machines has been studied by humane societies for years and has been found to be painless for the animals.
- The cost for injections would be much higher and the money would be much better used for sterilization programs or education programs.
Before making a decision, I hope the Davidson County commissioners will talk with their employees and research this issue more thoroughly.
PATTI PENLAND PHELPS
Ennice
Thirty American servicemen died in a helicopter crash Saturday. I can understand why it did not make the Saturday, Aug. 6 edition of the Journal, given the time difference, however I find it inexcusable that it was not in the Sunday, Aug. 7 edition.
WILL KELLY
Bethania
The story was scheduled to go in the Sunday Journal and was left out by accident. — Carol Hanner, Journal managing editor
- Tax cuts for the rich create jobs: The Bush administration engineered tax cuts for the wealthy. When President Bush left office, the United States was losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every month.
- Shrinking government creates jobs in the private sector: Republicans at all levels of government have slashed budgets, terminating the employment of more than half a million police, firefighters, teachers and others. The private sector has not picked up the slack. Companies are hoarding cash, not hiring Americans.
- Deregulation benefits the economy: The Bush administration deregulated bankers, and Wall Street greed tanked the economy. The world was so close to another Great Depression that President Bush had to beg Congress to bail out the banks.
- Democratic Party rule is bad for business: If so, why are many American companies reporting record profits since President Obama turned things around? Why has the stock market rebounded from the Bush recession lows?
- The Iraq war was a good investment of billions of borrowed dollars: More than 4,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were killed, more than 8 million Iraqis displaced. These sacrifices brought about a government that now turns toward Iran and China.
- Republicans care about working people: Not so. They want to bust unions, privatize Social Security, slash Medicare, deprive more than 30 million Americans of health insurance, and shift tax burdens from the rich to the middle class.
LARRY ROTH
Germanton
The Journal article ("Fla. official named to head health department," Aug. 4) that said that Dr. Timothy Monroe "often waded into controversy" reminds me of the value and integrity of our former Forsyth County Health Department director. This very style generated Monroe's invitation to Knollwood Baptist Church. His style also made a difference in Forsyth County.
THE REV. KENNETH J. MEYERS
KNOLLWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH
Winston-Salem
LTE1: Interesting LTE, presenting a side to this issue that I've not seen, that being the mental toll on animal shelter workers. As one who loves his kitties, I can understand the LTE writer's point. At this time, the issue is apparently moot, as the shelter will not be performing injections. Would that fewer euthanizations would be required, regardless of the method.
ReplyDeleteLTE2: The paper indicates it made a mistake in the omission of the report. Mistakes occur. As for placement of the report, there are a number of factors that determine where an item goes, not simply the politics of the layout people. Managed news does exist, but I doubt the "Journal's" handling of the tragedy falls into that category.
LTE3: TB* rant, to which I respond with my own TB rant: unions do not equal workers. Unions are largely political organizations that use workers' dues (without workers' permission) to further the collectivist political agendae of (usually undemocratically appointed) union chieftains. To "bust" unions is to be anti-forced-political-contributions. Bust away, I say. Unions have certainly helped bust a lot of industries while corrupting the political process, as witness the current depredations of President Obama's NLRB.
LTE4: Interesting discussion of health care issues. I wonder if during the examination of infant mortality did the matter of personal responsibility be considered.
In the paper today, there is an article about medical science being able to manufacture regenerative sphincters. I'm glad to hear that, as they will be in high demand as gays are increasingly allowed to marry.
ReplyDeleteIn other news: Not even FoxNews is reporting the story behind the story about the 'Flash Mobs' that are engaging in crime all of the country. Yes, we all know that news reporting is affected by the politically correct world, and even the WS Journal was affected with the disease for approximated 30 years. More on that later...
It seems the dirty little secret behind these 'Flash Mobs' is that the majority of these criminals are young black men that are targeting 'white' victims. Naaah....black people can't commit 'hate' crimes can they?
Well, here's the story:
http://www.pittsreport.com/2011/06/blacks-attacking-whites-is-called-flash-mobs-whites-attacking-blacks-is-called-hate-crimes/
To follow up: If you'll recall, the WS Journal refused to publish the race of a crime for almost 30 years in its news reporting. Why, you ask? Because the majority of the crime was being committed by blacks, and it was politically incorrect to report it. Don't want to make the readers upset, do we?
More on the politically correct world in the future.
Regarding the LTE: I like Mr. Roth's bullet format. He gets to his points succinctly. Unions are not necessary an inherently bad thing. It's when they are used in conjunction with mob tactics that they become a problem. Unions are one the reasons our country is losing jobs at an alarming rate to countries all over the world.
We live in an international market place. You decide, Mr. Roth. Unions or no unions. Jobs or no jobs. That's just a reality.
Good AM, Bucky.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the press has been reticent about reporting the demographics of flash mobs, likewise the rioters in the UK. In this Orwellian news environment, it is racist to report facts, or that fire-eaters like Commissioner Marshall need to address issues in their communities. However, I note that some of the maligned British tabs have been publishing photos of the rioters.
As for unions, this will astonish some folks, but in principle, they are fine. Everyone has a right to have agents represent them in various transactions. Thus, we retain lawyers, realtors, sports agents, purchasers, etc.
The problem with unions is that they do not believe in people freely choosing to join them, and that they function mostly as political organizations rather than bargaining units. They do not acknowledge any accountability. They use coercion to get their way, and subvert the political process. They are also staffed by people whose economic understanding is that of the hoodlums invading London stores this week.
Stab......you are correct. I didn't even realize that the liberal media had racially sanitized the reporting about the riots in the UK until I saw the race of the individuals involved myself.
ReplyDeleteCNN has gone completely off the objective rails with their reporting. If we didn't have Fox, we wouldn't have a clue about what is going on both in the U.S., and internationally. It's unbelievable how the liberals have corrupted and hijacked the mainstream media.
I do not watch the news on TV. Well, I sit with my Dad for a while in the evenings, and he watches the news on one of the local channels, and then NBC. I don't see that much bias in NBC's reporting. Nor do I hear much bias in NPR's in the AM. And I haven't been yelled at by car dealers or that carpet guy promising to come runnin' with fabe-ulous samples.
ReplyDeleteRe the UK riots, this is an old sad song: police shoot a minority person; the Perennially Indignant start their chanting; their constituents start shopping, and redistributing income by looting and redistributing pain by beating, raping, and killing; and liberals start talking about socioeconomic inequality being the root of all the mayhem. Nonsense. It's the total lack of values communicated to the troublemakers because of the Walter Marshalls of the world, along with the Dennis Kuciniches and similar.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: I can well understand the need to remain emotionally detached from that job. I know I couldn't do that job. It's good to hear from hte perspective of somone who actually worked in a shelter.
LTE 2: Mistakes do happen, but omitting the biggest news story of the day is kind of a big one. You'd think whoever did the final overview of the paper before it went to be printed would have noticed that.
LTE 3: a)overall, there is an effect in that providing more money usually results in more money being spent which leads to the demand for more workers. Today, however, people are paying down debt instead of spending. In this case, lowering taxes will have no effect. b)Govt is part of the GDP, so lowering spending shrinks the GDP and costs jobs. Cuts at the state and fed levels are why many are forcasting another recession c)Too much regulation serves as a barrier to entry and increases expenses. However, too little can result in disastrous consequences that have resulted in entire companies folding (Enron). Indeterminate. d & f) TB rants from both sides e) The war has certainly contributed to our current debt problems
LTE 4: Nice alternative viewpoint on Dr. Monroe. People have a tendency to assign a hero or villain label, but reality is a lot more complicated.
Looks like Obama corruption is not going to end anytime soon. Reports are coming in that a liberal film maker is being given access to classified information in order to make a film about the killing of Osama bin Laden. The film, get this, is set to be released one month before the 2012 presidential elections.
ReplyDeleteI guess it won't be long until Obama opens up Motel White House like Clinton did. After all, he needs to get a lot of campaign money to get himself out of the political hole he's dug for himself.
From yesterday-DCGigi, in her first comment said "I'm also not going to hop on the party-bashing bandwagon.", but in 3 words no less started bashing the Tea Party! I guess the lifetime of her comments is 3 words. Just remember the only plan that would have met the requirements to keep our rating from being downgraded was cut, cap and balance, which was proposed by Tea Party republicans and passed by the House, with some democrat votes.
ReplyDeletedow down some 1800 points in 3 weeks....hows that hope and change going? lots of change but not much hope, that this admin can or will do anything to correct this.
ReplyDeleteHello Roblo58! Good to see you. You have been missed.
ReplyDeleteI think what we are facing is bigger than a single branch of government or a single party. I just hope the members of the branches and parties can understand that and work together. Tea Party members are going to have to understand that the world is not going to be remade in their image. The left essentially gave more than did the right in coming to the debt bill, and we see how that has worked out.
The super committee named today must double the effects of the bill that President Obama signed last week. That means more cuts, yes, but it will mean more revenues, aka taxes. Sorry, that's the way it will have to be.
And the money will have to come from higher income taxpayers, because, as bank robber Willie Sutton supposedly said (but didn't), "That's where the money is."
I heard an interview yesterday AM in which Barney Frank discussed the end of the tax cuts. He said that he didn't see where another 30 dollars out of every thousand dollars of high marginal income would hurt well-to-do taxpayers. It might be an irritant to some, yes, but unemployment is an irritant to others, take your pick. And yes, in the main, Barney is a liberal, and frequently off base, but I agree here. I also agree with eliminating the SS income cap. I agree with raising the fuel tax, and NC shouldn't have let the sales tax drop. So far, I'm not really in pain, so I guess we need to up the gas tax some more.
One last: WW suggested that we should not just fool around with raising rates in the existing tax structure, but revamp the entire tax code. Fine, as long as it raises more dough than less. But that will take longer than it takes to let the tax cuts expire. So, we do both.
I'm against the super committie. That puts the govt in the hands of 13 people, which is unconstitutional. Just because you, or anyone else is not in "pain" shouldnt govern what should be done. If we took all the income(taxed at 100%) from the so called super rich(those who make more than $10M p/yr) it wouldnt raise more than $500B per year, 1/3 of Obamm's deficit. At least thats what the IRS says. If your nor feeling "pain" on your taxes file the 1040 EZ,(w no deductions) there is no law that says we have to take any deductions. Seems we all hear people on the left complaining about the rich not paying enough....while they are are paying accounts to lessen their tax load. When the left quits taking deductions maybe I'll start believing them when they call other to pay their "fair share"
ReplyDeleteRoblo....I agree. I constantly hear liberals like Barbara Streisand say they are not taxed enough, however, I have never heard of them donating extra money to the federal government. In fact, according to studies that have been done, Republicans donate more money to charities than Democrats. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show that liberal Democrats want 'you', the middle class, to pay more. It really doesn't affect them one way or the other.