Big thank you for USS LST appearance
Thank you Mickey McCamish, the Southeast Tennessee Veterans Coalition and all of the volunteers who made it possible to bring the USS LST 325, a living piece of history, to Chattanooga.
A special thank you to all the service people who ever served on this ship and to all of the men and women who have ever served or currently serve and protect this wonderful country.
Beverly Desjardins, Hixson
Democrats better get to the polls
The voters elected President Obama to two terms. He is not on the November ballot, but his enemies want voters to give them complete control of Congress to continue obstruction of putting Congress back in working order during our president's last two years in office. Where are the voters who want to rise above the lying, the negative tactics and negative strategies of these publicly declared enemies of people who want to elect Democratic candidates on Nov. 4 to take back the U.S. House of Representatives while holding on to the U.S. Senate?
Carl Brackin, Georgetown, Tenn.
Uncongregate our way of thinking
In Kevin Hardy's article, "New Poll: Religion's Influence Waning," minister Todd Gaddis was quoted as saying, "The 18-to-35 crowd -- they're more doers. ... They might want to gather in town and do something for somebody -- ministry in action." The establishing of religious groups separates the religious gang (and all its members) from the rest of the local community, as well as from the rest of the world. For centuries now, groups have adopted and promoted themselves with a doctrine of separation. However, it is discovered this command is directed to the individual and is applicable when one comes to know Jesus, and obey his will. It appears the younger generation is seeking leadership and guidance in returning to the 1st-century pattern of reaching the world. Lord, help us pay attention to the children and uncongregate our way of thinking.
George Carlisle Dalton, Ga.
Baby lives, unless mommy says no
The Misses Maya ("Every Baby Deserves a Chance" commentary in last Tuesday's Metro section) deserve both applause and our full support. Their study and work clearly shows that education in proper prenatal care is essential to prevent the loss of beautiful little lives. I hope that they continue their work and meet with great success. It is impossible to miss the irony of the dedication of these two young women to saving new life, while others work equally hard to assure that any mother may freely terminate that same innocent life. Every baby deserves a chance -- unless mommy decides otherwise.
Bill Laudeman, Red Bank
Support library role-model leader
The library has been transformed from one of the worst in the country to one of the best. If you want change and you hire a person to get the job done, then support that person. Travel to professional meetings to learn how to improve things is essential. And if that person is successful enough to be asked to speak at those meetings, and if you find that some of the best libraries in the country are now asking you how to do it, then increase your travel budget. It's good for the library and good for Chattanooga.
Eleanor M. Cooper
Defeat Amend. 3 to fix tax system
Please permit me to urge Tennessee's citizens to defeat Amendment 3, which seeks to forbid a state income tax. The issue is an old one. The best analysis I have seen resulted when Republican Gov. Winfield Dunn appointed a Tax Modernization and Reform Commission of the State of Tennessee. His own commissioner of revenue was on the commission, as was Ray Albright, a Republican state senator from Chattanooga. The commissioners' report is dated March 1, 1974. Chairman Edward Boling asserts that the commission found Tennessee's tax structure to be "overly regressive." The report states, "Taxes are high on low-income families and low on high-income families when compared with surrounding states and with all states. This is another instance of unfairness in the Tennessee system." The first of the commission's 30 recommendations is the enactment of "a Moderate Broad-based Personal Income Tax." The report is so persuasive that we should defeat Amendment 3 and, instead, amend our state Constitution to make unambiguous the legality of a graduated personal income tax for Tennessee. The "unfairness in the Tennessee system," which the commission found 40 years ago, is still there. We should change the system.
Bill Cushman
Signal-Land Trust deal not answer
Like town council member Annette Allen's committee, I support preserving our Signal Mountain park lands and green spaces and applaud the committee's time and attention to their mission. But a conservation easement with The Land Trust for Tennessee is not the answer. What bothers me most is the arrogance that possibly three council members are wiser and more knowledgeable about the town's future than my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and those who come long after they are gone. A simple majority would hijack our kids' responsibility to be faithful stewards of what we taught them to appreciate about the town. With a vote from three council members, the town could give away millions of dollars of unappraised, unsurveyed tracts of our citizens' land to a third party forever for nothing. I encourage everyone who supports the future of our town and is against giving away precious assets to a third-party to speak for three minutes at the next council meeting on Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Bill Wallace, Signal Mountain
We failed to learn from colonialists
Conventional wisdom tells us Islam and democracy are incompatible. But isn't there something more involved here than Islam itself? Indonesia and Pakistan, the world's fourth and sixth most populous nations, and Turkey, a developed country, are self-governing Muslim republics. Notably, Pakistan and Turkey have insignificant Arab populations, and Indonesia has virtually none. In fact, one-third of the world's Muslim countries are democratic. Male-dominated societies with high birth rates, disproportionately large male populations, extreme distributions of wealth, weak secular institutions and few traditions of self-government tend to be autocratic. These attributes prevail in most Arab countries. While much of the rest of the 20th-century world was democratizing, Arab societies were growing more authoritarian. Britain and France were forced out of the Arab world after World War II but are better off for it today. When European colonialist powers controlled the Arab Middle East, they did so through calculated alliances, manipulating the balance of power and strategically deploying air and sea forces, not by putting their own large armies on the ground. Apparently we learned nothing from them.
George B. Reed, Rossville