Care at Siskin exceeded expectations
My family and I wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire patient care team at Siskin West second floor for the excellent care provided to our mother during her recovery from a fractured pelvis and a broken right hip.
As a daughter and as a registered nurse, I have been in and out of more facilities than I can count over the last 25-plus years, and I have never witnessed the quality care as delivered at your facility. The entire team from security, housekeeping, dietary, CNAs, therapists, nurses and doctors, were not only professional in their care for her but did so with great kindness and patience.
A genuine thank you to Director of Nursing Shana Longshor and Scott Hill, physician assistant.
Thank you for caring for our mother as a unique individual and for curtailing the care plan interventions to maximize her chances for achieving as good a recovery as possible.
Karen M. Ryland
Reject freedom; go public option
I've listened to experiences of people with private health insurance companies. Before Obamacare, one paid 80 percent of annual income in premiums, services and deductibles. Another had a $6,500 eye procedure (diabetic, not cosmetic) rejected as "experimental." Another with cancer history had a $9,000 procedure rejected.
The U.S. pays twice the cost of health services with fewer benefits than countries with public health insurance. If you are in Great Britain, the sure way to lose an election is to oppose the National Health Service.
From first-hand experience, I know even a trained lawyer has trouble understanding the intricacies of insurance law. Surveys show public dissatisfaction with private insurance increases the more people get sick.
In a recent speech, Hillary Clinton proposed a public option be available. If you love your "freedom," by all means, choose a private company. Just be sure to set aside a cash allowance for attorney fees.
A public option would help alleviate the soaring cost of private insurance, encouraging economic growth by reducing employee health costs. Private insurance has proven costly, abusive and inefficient. I'm with Hillary.
John F. Eary
Ringgold, Ga.
Civics education sorely lacking
Seriously? The typical naturalized citizen is required to have at least a basic understanding of U.S. civics and demonstrate some knowledge, but the state of Tennessee students just have to show up for a "CliffNotes" version and demonstrate no competence, right?
Just another great example of our "participation trophy" education culture!
Tom Colley
Ooltewah
Mr. Trump: Get on top of things
Dear Mr. Trump: What are you doing? You have been given an extraordinary and monumental honor, and you are flitting it away with empty, often irritating and alienating remarks.
Where's the meat? Where are your specifics and concrete plans? Your behavior suggests that this is merely another deal you think you can win - another personal gratification.
As a fellow who is disgusted with "the establishment," who feels betrayed by it and had hoped you might be the one to bring change to Washington, I am beyond disappointed.
Hillary Clinton is the manifestation of what is so poisonous in Washington, and you (at least started to) represent the best chance of a follow-through to the message the electorate has given - that we are fed up with business as usual in our capitol. Both parties have worked hard to suppress this message.
There is so much at stake, please pull your head out of your ego and get on topic. Otherwise, you are on track to becoming the century's largest buffoon.
Stephen Rutledge
Harrison
'Gun nuts,' accept sensible controls
I would like to take issue with the letter writer who recently said guns locked in a room pose no threat. When that room is compromised, the stolen guns are taken elsewhere and sold on the black market. That's when guns kill people.
Also, for the 10 years the Brady bill was in effect, I doubt any wild game survived because of the ban on assault-type weapons. Now, add up the carnage caused by these weapons since the bill was allowed to expire under the Bush administration.
The semi vs. fully automatic argument is weak, too. Semi-automatic means the shooter can re-aim between trigger pulls, causing more death and destruction without wasting so many rounds.
We ask for the Brady bill to go back into effect, that gun show loopholes be closed and waiting periods for purchases mandated while background checks are completed.
A recent report says young folks increasingly want to curb gun violence. You gun nuts can help us and yourselves by accepting sensible control, or take your chances when these young people realize how much power they wield at the ballot box.
Allan Baggett
Trion, Ga.
Hold your nose; vote for Trump
"Crybaby, cry, put your finger in your eye." Mother Goose had to be thinking of the RINO (Republican In Name Only) Republicans who are not backing the party nominee for president. They are whining about Donald Trump, threatening to stay home on election day, to vote for the Clinton machine, to vote for a third party. They claim Trump is too abrasive, that their ethics won't permit a Trump vote and more.
Put on your big person pants! A non-vote for Trump is a vote for Clinton. Not only is the Oval Office at stake but three to five Supreme Court seats and an unknown number of federal judge seats. These will be filled with far left progressive liberals, who will gut the Second Amendment to the Constitution. You can kiss your guns goodbye.
You won't have to worry about illegal aliens taking your jobs, just about when. Border Patrol agents will become de facto Welcome Wagon hosts. Costs to educate, medicate and feed these potential Democratic voters will explode. Republicans, hold your nose. Vote for Trump.
Horton Herrin
Dalton, Ga.
'Demagogue' not always negative
Demagogue has not always had a negative connotation. It was only when Robert South, an English churchman known for his combative preaching, used it negatively in 1716 that it became perceived as a harmful method of leadership.
Robert South was near the end of his life and desperate to remain relevant. He was relatively quiet throughout the reign of Queen Anne, which began in 1702, and he refused the bishopric of Rochester and deanery of Westminster in 1713.
He died July 8, 1716. Ever since, the negative connotation has overwhelmed the true meaning - "people leading." To use the word in this way promotes a prejudice at the very birth of our two-party system. This misuse serves no better purpose than to divide a nation, demonstrated by the lack of a "clear-cut" choice of political candidates, leading people instead to decide between the lesser of two evils.
Gary Pinkley
Not wild about her, but not crazy
I have known all along that I would not want Trump at the helm in the event of a crisis. This was reinforced after watching "American Experience" on PBS and seeing what JFK faced with the Cuban missile crisis.
I do not want a person who flies off the handle, does not listen to advisers and is unprepared to be the one making decisions during a crisis with a hostile foreign power.
To my mind, Trump has the potential to do a lot more damage than Clinton. I'm not crazy about Hillary, but I'm not crazy.
Nancy Bishop
Birchwood, Tenn.