Clean up fraud in medical spending
As an older person having worked over 40 years, paid debts and taxes, I now hear that only counseling would be paid for end-of-life care. I believe that is already in place, determined by my faith, family, doctors and me, and I do not need government to tell me how to die.
My grandfather often wept at seeing "Old Glory." Now for the first time in my adult life I fear for my country. We need not pattern Canada or England. Amazingly children with terrible disfigurements, conjoined twins, even Anwar Sadat came here for treatment. Medicare and Medicaid are government programs, and fraud and mismanagement need cleaning-up to determine what money is actually available before proceeding.
There is always room for improvement, and Americans are compassionate people. My grandmother would say "Charity begins at home." If non-essential spending were curtailed and reduced to the rest of the world we could care for our own.
I pray for the healing of our country, not the destroying of its integrity and honor.
JEAN HOLT
Don't blame all for actions of few
I've been so fortunate of having friends and great neighbors who are Muslims and have taught me about the beauty of their culture and religion which is far, very far, from what the media is constantly portraying.
It's extremely irresponsible and absurd to label and judge all Muslims for the actions of one person at Fort Hood, Texas, and it's unconstitutional to even think of a discriminatory policy to keep people out of jobs based in their religious beliefs.
It didn't happen because the suspect was a Muslim; it happened because he was sick, and mental illness occurs in people from many different religions, nationalities and cultures.
We can talk about this topic with the list of many people who call themselves "good Christians" and committed atrocities against those who didn't support their beliefs, bombing abortion clinics and killing people in the name of "Jesus." Would it be fair to say "all Christians are full of hate" based on the action of some sadly disturbed people? Of course not. It's not fair to insinuate that all Muslims are terrorists and want to destroy America when the vast majority just want to live a happy, productive life like any other human being on earth.
MARTHA PRICE
Get tools to fight pancreatic cancer
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths. This year, 42,000 people will be diagnosed with this terrible disease and 75 percent will die within the year.
The Chattanooga Affiliate of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is very active in the surrounding area and recently held its second successful Purplestride Chattanooga, a walk to raise awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research. We are very grateful for the support we received from this great city.
All of the five leading cancers have early detection methods except pancreatic cancer. Less than 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute's budget goes to pancreatic cancer research. This is not acceptable to those of us who have lost loved ones to this dreadful disease.
During November, our campaign is "Know it. Fight it. End it." This can be accomplished by increased federal and private funding. Please join us in working for early diagnostic tools and more effective treatment options.
Pancreatic cancer patients' lives matter as much as any other patients diagnosed with other forms of cancer.
For more information, go to www.pancan.org or call 423-894-2744.
BETTE MALONE
Media Coordinator
Pancreatic Cancer
Action Network
Chattanooga Affiliate
US debt is low compared to assets
Saturday's Free Press editorial about government debt and deficits was the same tiresome rant we've seen so many times before. It's the standard lecture about "responsibility" and the "staggering $11.9 trillion -- yes, trillion -- national debt."
It's the Free Press that is irresponsible. You're presenting a financial statement that includes only liabilities. What about our assets? What is the value of all of the assets owned by the federal, state and local governments in this country? Think about the vast areas of the country's land owned by government, and our territorial waters, and the natural resources we hold. And the military equipment we own, the bases around the world, the ships and jets and rockets and satellites. What about the airports, seaports, bridges, dams, sewer systems and water supplies and nuclear power plants, all of the roads and highways in the country? The nation's infrastructure! Public schools, and public colleges and universities, and public buildings everywhere, an enormous fleet of cars and trucks, and countless computers. And much, much more.
So, lighten up. All of these things belong to us, and their value is so gigantic that our government debt isn't "staggering" at all. In fact, it seems ridiculously tiny.
ROBERT L. FAST
Politicians override wishes of people
Abuse of power is a moral outrage here in Hamilton County, starting with the inflation of property values beyond the fair market values, annexing properties against the wishes of the residents and not enacting the property freeze for seniors which the voters mandated by 85 percent as well.
How dare these politicians override the wishes of the voters. They are supposed to represent us. We are aware and will not forget. If nothing else, there is always the ballot box!
CAROL WILLIAMS
Ooltewah
'Separation' not in amendment
To the "Rantor" that ranted Sunday (Nov. 15) that "separation of church and state is the first statement of the First Amendment to the Constitution, I would agree, "read before you rant."
The first statement of the First Amendment is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
If separation of church and state is in this statement, I sure missed it!
CANDICE MCCALLIE
Lookout Mountain
Early presidents met requirement
Rep. Nathan Deal is not questioning the citizenship of the president; only whether or not he meets the "natural born" citizenship requirement in the Constitution.
Although the early presidents were not born in the U.S., because there was no U.S. when they were born, each still met the constitutional requirement that he was "... a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution..." (Article II, Section 1, sixth paragraph of the U.S. Constitution.)
A wise policy would be to read the Constitution before making comments about constitutional requirements.
GLENN L. SWYGART
Sewanee, Tenn.
Martha Price:
Let us not also forget all of the other things that have occured in the name of God.
Salem Witch Trials The Crusades The Inquisition Wars of Religion Taiping Rebellion
More deaths have been committed in the name of God than for any other reason (And in this case I include Allah, as that name translates as God, and if one would read the Koran they would know Allah is the God of Moses in that writing)
One of my best friends in my recent life is a Muslim. He is one of the finest gentlemen I know to this day, and one who would I feel give his left arm to aid me if I needed it.
I agree with you, to accuse all Muslims based on the actions of Hasan is bigotry at its finest.
If one includes all those who murdered in the name of God or a religion you would have to count all those who believe in Atheism, Communism and Marxism. Then include those who murdered, using God as an excuse but were not practicing Christians (those during the Witch trials, the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc). Exusiai has been taught a rather truncated, whitewashed version of history if his/her post is to be understood. We could go down the list and rebut each statement, yet suffice it to say Mao's regime murdered more folks than any of the aforementioned instances in history. Regarding the Islamic issue, the politically-wrong seem to omit those facts every time.
Most of us know someone who is Muslim who is a fantastic person. That's not only simplistic in this case, it's not addressing the problems the world is having with Islamic Terrorists. There are no Presbyterian, Buddhist, Evangelical, Catholic or Jewish homicide bombers going around cities, towns, villages and Army bases, jumping on tables or on buses, yelling "Allahu Ahkbar" and then blowing up or shooting or beheading innocent civilians. The very fact our Gov't and Military brass are attempting to minimize this is very telling. They are afraid to shout out the truth. We are not. The Emperor has no clothes Mama.
Islam is an ideology that expects its adherents to convert or kill all infidels, to infiltrate their countries. To impose Sharia Law. Or else. The sooner the blind and the ignorant in this country get a dose of reality in their own backyards, the sooner they may wake up. If this were Sudan, Egypt, the UAE, Indonesia or a host of other, Muslim countries, all Christians and Jews, homosexuals and Buddhists would be toast by now for even daring to speak the truth. In Iran right now the mullahs are ordering their own people imprisoned and executed for speaking out against the regime. Our own Gov't here is turning a blind eye to these atrocities.
Man, these letters, where do people get their knowledge? These are pathetic times when one says, "So, lighten up. All of these things belong to us, and their value is so gigantic that our government debt isn't "staggering" at all. In fact, it seems ridiculously tiny."
This is why we will continue to suffer 'for lack of a vision' and for being so blind in this country. Someone better tell the poor man who wrote that letter that we own nothing now, our resources and commodities can be taken over by those who OWN our huge debt in a heartbeat. There's nothing tiny about that scenario either. "Don't worry, be happy", curse that song and the radio stations that played it night and day ad infinitum >:[
Ms. McCallie,
While the clause "separation of church and state" is not found in the constitution, it is found in many of the controlling Supreme Court decisions regarding both the establishment clause and the free exercise clause. The law as it currently stands does provide for separation between church and state, as laid out in Everson v. Board of Education.
That's the whole point griffin, at least until this administration, we still had a Constitution. There were laws in place from inception, yet liberal courts including the Supreme Court decided to change and interpret law contrary to constitutional law. Their job is supposed to be to uphold the law, not make new ones. Technically, Roe vs Wade and many other "judgements" could be thrown out.
Now we have chaos and a type of anarchistic court system. Both Houses are run by gangs of fools, so there you have it.
canaryinthecoalmine:
Those were merely examples.
"There are no Presbyterian, Buddhist, Evangelical, Catholic or Jewish homicide bombers going around cities, towns, villages and Army bases, jumping on tables or on buses, yelling "Allahu Ahkbar" and then blowing up or shooting or beheading innocent civilians."
However I'm going to have to disagree with you on this, and point out to you the following:
The KKK commited most of their acts of racism, and murder in the name of the Christian God. the Catholics lead the Crusades and the Inquisition in the name of God. Prespeterians led the Witch trials. No they didn't send suicide bombers into cities, they just broke into peoples houses in the middle of the night, had some phoney trial, and then murdered them .
Just observations. I've not been taught a "truncated" version of history, I just choose to open my eyes to more than the history than what they teach us in school.
Just because this man ran into a room and yelled "Allah Akbar" (Translation: God is greatest) doesn't mean he was a terrorist. Any more than having a Klansman burn a Christian Cross on a man's yard makes him a terrorist.
Misguided by their faith, maybe. In truth we don't even know if Hasan's religion had anything to do with his actions or not. No one will know unless the man wakes up from his coma.
I'm not sure how this administration comes into the discussion in this instance, as Everson was decided in 1947. The rationale for incorporating the concept of "separation of church and state" was accepted by all of the justices, on what was probably the most conservative court since before the new deal, and at least as conservative as the one we have today. The decision itself was 5-4, but only based upon application of the facts to the law.
Exusiai wrote: "The KKK commited most of their acts of racism, and murder in the name of the Christian God. the Catholics lead (sic) the Crusades and the Inquisition in the name of God. Prespeterians (sic) led the Witch trials. No they didn't send suicide bombers into cities, they just broke into peoples houses in the middle of the night, had some phoney trial, and then murdered them .
Your original statements and your subsequent reply belie your professed innocence of harboring any sort of agenda. I (fortunately) was skeptical at an early age by the omission of many facts in history classes and dug alot deeper over the years. I suggest you do the same as your version as to what constitutes "Christian" or "Catholic Crusades" differs from the actual reality.
People ignorant of God and His intentions for their lives have done alot of harm over the years. Most of these, if not all, are definitely not practicing Christ-followers. Just because someone goes to church, temple or mosque does not make them righteous.
The Spanish Conquistadors wiped out many First Nations peoples in the Americas and some of them professed to be Catholic. Good Christians they were not. The history of the Crusades in some versions leaves out the fact that the murderous Spanish Inquisition had nothing to do with Christianity and everything to do with politics, greed and power. (Much the same today in Washington).
Our history books also leave out alot of info about the many good, worthy things our Christ-following forefathers and foremothers have done. Interesting how you folks are quick to point out the evils of Christianity (a la KKK-which is NOT Christian, Salem Presbyterians, etc.) Some of those women and girls tried there BTW, were Christians and falsely accused. The early colonies had extreme hardships, attacks by surrounding tribes and starvation to deal with, among other things going on. I'd hate to postulate as you do when you haven't lived that way here or been there at that time in history.
It really is no surprise that for over 2,000 years Christians have been blamed for alot of evils, and for thousands of years before that, the Jews. The fact is that of all religious peoples TODAY, the Jews and the Christians are the most singled out by far-in many countries-for the express crime of just being who they are. It won't surprise us when another "Hitler" arrives on the scene, maybe soon. There is one already in Iran, just waiting to unleash his dirty deeds on Israel.
Hasan was most definitely a practicing Muslim by his own words, emails, imam's statements, phone calls and by his professed ideology. He is a terrorist by his actions. I'm sure if this was the Timothy McVeigh story or the Dr Tiller story, you'd be right there with the "progressives" raging that he was a "Christian" terrorist of the worst kind.
griffin...I knew you'd have a problem with this. First of all, your version of what constitutes "conservative" is another's version of "liberal to left". Our courts have been mostly "progressive" for a long, long time. Good ole' Justice Roberts, eg, is a Bush "moderate" (read Liberal). When the Court's majority rule according to constitutional law, we all cheer, because it's so rare nowadays.
Second, The WH administration today is working faster and harder than any other in America's history to shred what is left of the Constitution. The shredding has been going on for a very long time. Sorry you cannot open your 'eyes' and 'ears' wide enough to see the facts.
User profile: canaryinthecoalmine
Joined: July 31, 2009
Comments posted: 319
That's about 3 a day. Get a job! Or is this your job?
Tina, I have yet to see you post a substantive, knowledgable contribution to a topic....only snotty shots at ther forum members.
It took a lot more effort to look up carany's post numbers and join date, drag out the calculator, do the math and post a completely useless insult, than it would have to just ingore it and carry on with your life, whatever that is.
canary
"Your original statements and your subsequent reply belie your professed innocence of harboring any sort of agenda."
I'm sorry, exactly what agenda would that be? I have no agenda, there is no professed innocence. There is no agenda, just my own personal point of view, just as you have yours.
First and foremost your statement implying that I am ignorant of God, and that I am "definitely not practicing Christ-followers" is false, but my personal faith is not a topic for discussion here.
Now on to yoru Statements:
1: "a la KKK-which is NOT Christian"
QUOTE: "Bringing a message of hope and deliverance to white Christian America! A message of love NOT of hate!" - www.kkk.com>
2: "Some of those women and girls tried there BTW, were Christians and falsely accused."
Falsely accused and tried by who? the Salem witch trials were mainly centered around the biblical verse "suffer not a witch to live" Again, the witch trials were ran by the Christian Church of the day. Were they "good Christians" perhaps not, but they professed these trials as affronts to God, and tried these women as possessed by or servants of the devil.
"It really is no surprise that for over 2,000 years Christians have been blamed for alot of evils"
Thats because the CHURCH has been responcible. Or people who claim to be Christians have commited these acts. Go figure that if they do these things they get blamed for them.
"It won't surprise us when another "Hitler" arrives on the scene, maybe soon."
Funny thing there, Hitler proclaimed his mission was a mission of God as well. That the Master Race was choosen by God to rule.
I'm sorry if yoru a Christian and you can't see that the Church has been responsible for these actions in the past. Sadly the turth hurts. The point is, no matter what invisible being you pray to: God, Allah, Budda, Vecna, Cthullu....more Deaths, wars, murders, criminal acts, genocide has been committed in the name of Religion (and sadly in the name of Christian Religion) than any other reason in history.
Exusiai: You have no idea what I said or mean do you? You just proved my points that YOU do not stick to facts. I never said nor implied anything about your faith or lack of. Your replies about the KKK and the witch trials prove my point. No practicing Christian would have done that unless they were ignorant of NT scripture, which most were because they did not read it. (similiar to many today). Who is the "Church" in your mind? If you mean the accepted belief that the Church is the Roman Catholic one then you would be historically wrong. You do not have a very good grasp of historical reality, instead you regurgitate the usual pap found in most colleges and universities today-a stunted form of history that is in reality a political agenda.
Miss Tina: normally I ignore your hysterical rantings. You are the one that desperately needs a life (and some meds). I have 3 jobs in case you need to know, yet I always have some time to speak the truth in my society. Which is more than your fat, lazy mind seems to be able to understand and do yourself. I suspect one of your letters or posts was criticized by moi and you have never gotten over it. Well, get used to it, Miss Perky, just because you prefer to live in a bubble doesn't mean everyone else should. And we'll call you guys on it as it should be.
Hey Hennypenny, You only say these spiteful things because you can hide behind your screen name and remain anonymous. It's easy to be brave when no one knows who you are, isn't it? I have obviously gotten a rise out of you, and I am LMAO.
Hey Lightitup, You guys are so funny! I see that you have 460 posts to this small town paper since 7/9/09. I think you actually have passed birdbrain in being the most opinionated. Do you two compare notes? LMAO
Canary:
Actually I regurgitated a quote from the KKK web sight.
See here is the Point I've been trying to make. All of these Autrocities I've mentioned were made in the name of God. now if god approves of it is a whole different point. But lets take these examples:
Picture yourself as a non Christian. Here comes a man claiming to be a Christian, and he Takes yoru wife, Accuses her of witchcraft, and burns her at the stake.... who do you blame?
Your a man of a different ethnic background, here comes a man, claiming to be a Christian, and he hangs yoru father, and burns a cross on your yard..... who do you blame?
See it doesn't matter who the Church is in my mind, to someone Outside the Church the "church" is anyone who claims to be a part of it.
Priests who molest small boys, they are the Church.
People who profess to be Christians, while they fire bomb Abortion clinics, they are the church.
People who proclaim to be Christians, who commit racially motivated crimes, they are the church.
And the sad part is they can be practicing Christians. Because Every religion has the potential to be twisted and mis read by extreamists.
I do not have a grasp of "Historic reality" I have a grasp of perceived reality, because what you preceive is your reality.
What I'm stating are facts, sad facts, but true facts. These things do happen. People claiming to be Christians commit acts of evil on a almost daily basis. Just as people of other Faiths do, thus the Statement stands. More death has been commited in the name of God than for any other reason. From religious wars, to Charles Manson.
And people who are not Christians, have that perception to go on. So yes in the eyes of the world the Church cna and has performed Evil in the past.
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