Children's Hospital 'miracles' saluted
A 7-year-old child asked Pope Francis, "If you could do one miracle, what would it be?" The Pope said, "I would heal children. I've never been able to understand why children suffer. It's a mystery to me. I don't have an explanation."
Suffering is not a mystery; it is the miracle of healing in the midst of suffering!
Three-week-old Parker Van Taj was airlifted to T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital at Erlanger and has been there 50-plus days in P.I.C.U. Parker has suffered, but doctors, nurses and staff have become his instrument of healing. His mother sat at his bedside longing to hug and cuddle him. It is not just Parker who has been healed. His mother also found comfort and healing.
Since he has been there, many suffering children have received the miracle of healing and gone home. His family will never be able to thank everyone who participated in this healing enough.
Esther Butler Taj
Ooltewah
Lack of action fueled Flint crisis
Flint (Mich.)'s crisis is not only a failure of the state and local governments but the reflection of a system in which agencies are not designed to protect people.
Today in Flint, the problem is polluted water. The lack of action on serious and also deadly problems all across the U.S. has become all too common. Several major issues in the Flint water crisis that are not getting much attention are: How did the Flint River get so contaminated in the first place? What was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doing to clean it up?
The news media needs to be less shocked by the presidential candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders and look to the country's deeper problems.
An entire American city exposed to poisoned water. How? It is hard to imagine this happening in a city that didn't have Flint's demographic profile - mostly black and disproportionately poor.
How can this all be fixed? The issue is starting to be heard by everyone across the country, and help is arriving.
Jordy Melendez
Credentials suggest vote for Patterson
I spent 26 years as a police officer. During that career, I presented my part of various cases to Boyd Patterson for prosecution. Through that experience, I found Boyd to be concerned with the truth and finding the best resolution for all involved. After his departure from the District Attorney's office to the Gang Task Force, I saw his involvement in the development of methods to track individuals through gang affiliation coupled with the development of programs serving as an alternative to gang involvement. Boyd has addressed areas such as family violence, drug enforcement, truancy and mental health treatment. These actions serve as proof of his dedication to improving our community from all angles. He has also developed methods to improve the efficiency of the courtroom, and I am confident he would continue to implement ways to streamline the cumbersome processes of the system. My relationship with Boyd was always through the professional association between the police department and the District Attorney's office. I encourage all those who do not know Boyd to go to boydpatterson.com and see for yourself the credentials that make him the most qualified candidate for Criminal Court judge in Hamilton County.
Ed Duke
Hixson
Keep Greenholtz on Criminal bench
This is to urge Hamilton County voters to elect Judge Tom Greenholtz to a full term as judge of Division Two of our Criminal Court. He has an exceptional legal mind and talent with a wonderfully respectful demeanor and commitment to justice. I know this from both his reputation and from experience, having been opposed to his position on an important issue which he handled with professional graciousness and excellence (it ended in somewhat of a tie, which was OK).
Our local trial judges are superb, and we have a chance here to continue that tradition. Please don't let this opportunity slip away. Vote for Judge Greenholtz.
Scott N. Brown Jr.
GOP candidates talk war: Beware!
Just in case anyone hasn't noticed, one characteristic common among Republican presidential candidates is their display of bravado about their and our military toughness.
Before you go hooray, you should think of the consequences. Remember, these Republican toughies couldn't last two minutes in a boxing ring with a 150-pound amateur boxer. And you should be aware what you're up against. Are you sure you want to live without electricity for weeks, perhaps months, no gasoline or a lack of food?
How did the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars suit you? So, please be careful about such displays of bravado. Remember Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito's displays of manhood, past appeals to national and personal ego. More than 100 million lives have been lost during the last century over war, far more due to the impoverishment of millions we refuse to see.
John F. Eary
Ringgold, Ga.
Too many woofers per square mile
Readers (and editors) casting as frivolous the City Council's consideration of an ordinance reducing the number of dogs city residents may own must be living in a utopian society where the only pets are cats, turtles and koi.
As someone residing in the real world awash with canines, I applaud Councilman Mitchell's efforts to contain the tormenting noise from dogs and the threats posed to smaller animals by curbing the number of woofers allowed per household.
Whether at home or on a walk-about in my neighborhood, I am assaulted on a daily basis by yipping, yelping, howling dogs. Cerebus, the three-headed hound of Hades, often comes to mind.
Now that the Dartmouth woods near my house are degenerating into a development crammed with 50 houses, I am concerned about the number of dogs city residents may own. Under current law, 350 dogs could be lawfully allowed on the site of the former woods. We need a new ordinance.
Carolyn Mitchell
Full court needed just in case
Republicans want to leave a vacant seat on the Supreme Court until after the election. As we saw in 2000, it is possible for the Supreme Court to be called upon to resolve legal challenges relating to a presidential election. One of this year's candidates has already indicated he may file a legal challenge relating to the eligibility of another candidate. The Supreme Court needs to be at full strength to avoid the possibility of a deadlock.
Greg Gloss
Cleveland, Tenn.
Who will speak for the unborn?
In the movie "Forgiven," Clint Eastwood, after having helped kill two people, stated, "It's a hell of a thing, killing a person. You take away all they have, and all they are ever gonna have."
Our society is greatly concerned, and rightly so, about the lives of those killed by terrorists, mentally disturbed, drug dealers, gangs, automobile and gun accidents. We are overly concerned about political correctness, never saying or doing anything that could possibly offend anyone, anywhere. We wail about inequity in income, education and opportunity. Billions are spent on welfare programs to better the lives of many and billions in research to help us live longer lives. Yet, it seems there is no concern whatsoever for the lives of the unborn child, who are being denied the greatest gift of all - life itself. Why? Is it because they cannot go on Twitter and plead their case, or gather and demonstrate? Or is it strictly political, to gain the vote of women?
I challenge anyone to read Psalm 139 and still not believe the child in the womb is a person. We should be shouting it from the rooftops - abortion is murder.
Robert Lee Rayburn
Detective behind time on training
I was totally appalled when I read about Detective Rodney Burns' testimony in reference to the hearings on the Ooltewah team incident. It was obvious he was trying to downplay the seriousness of what happened. His testimony included the statement: "There was no rape or torture, no screams of anguish." Later he testified it was the young man's screams that alerted the coaches as to what was going on. The officer downplayed the fact three other players were also attacked this way but not to the extent that needed surgery. He also stated the coaches acted correctly and that the case had been blown out of proportion.
My first thought was, "Heaven help anyone who is sexually assaulted in this officer's jurisdiction." I wonder what it would take before he would consider a case to be serious? Apparently the Gatlinburg police department is eons behind the times in regard to training staff about what is considered sexual assault and how it should be handled.
Mary Beth Caddell
Dayton, Tenn.
Trump is political chameleon
Supporters of Donald Trump apparently refuse to hold him accountable for his proposals that would bankrupt this country.
Building a wall across the entire border, which Mexicans will not pay for; replacing the Affordable Health Care Act with a Canadian-style, "universal health care," socialist, single-payer system (his requirement for our country in his book "The America We Deserve"); and deporting more than 11 million illegals, including birthright citizens, would cost far more than the trillion in debt left by the last President Bush.
What is conservative about any of the above in terms of fiscal responsibility is beyond my comprehension.
Trump supporters fail to hold him accountable for his belief expressed in a CNN interview that "the economy does better under the Democrats" and that he was once pro choice and for gay rights.
Between 1989 and 2010, Trump gave $314,310 to Democratic groups and also provided financial support for both Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.
If Trump is not an expedient political chameleon, then there is no such thing.
John Bratton
Sewanee, Tenn.