Seeking working 'Rosies' of WWII and more letters to the editors

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor

Seeking working 'Rosies' of WWII

American Rosie Riveter Association is trying to locate women who worked on the home front during World War II. Thousands worked as riveters, welders, electricians, inspectors in plants, sewers of clothing and parachutes for the military, ordinance workers, bandage rollers, or in clerical, farming or volunteer jobs collecting scrap metals and other materials.

These women have stories of historical value that perhaps have never been told. The association would like to acknowledge them with a certificate and have their stories placed in our archives.

We are a patriotic, nonprofit organization whose purpose is to recognize and preserve the history and legacy of these women. The organization was founded in 1998 and has more than 5,500 members nationwide.

At our annual convention, members get together with old friends and make new friends. The next one will be in Kansas City, Mo., June 9-11. For details, visit www.rosietheriveter.net.

If you are a woman (or descendant of a woman) who worked during WWII, or interested in more information, call 1-888-557-6743 or email americanrosiethe riveter2@yahoo.com

Mabel W. Myrick (a Rosie)

Kimberly, Ala.

More Alzheimer's funding is needed

At a cost of $236 billion a year, Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the nation.

Nearly one in every five Medicare dollars is spent on people with Alzheimer's or another dementia. Those costs will increase as baby boomers age, soaring to more than $1 trillion in 2050.

In Tennessee, more than 110,000 people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It is the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. and the only one among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed.

Today, more than 5.2 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. The federal government must address those challenges and take action to confront this epidemic.

As the Alzheimer's Association volunteer ambassador to Sen. Bob Corker, I have the honor of traveling to Washington, D.C., to advocate on behalf of those who cannot do so.

On March 29, I will meet with him and ask for his support for increased funding for Alzheimer's research, and for support of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act.

Please contact your senators and congresspersons. For more information, contact our local Alzheimer's Association at 800-272-3900.

Melissa Hartung

Alzheimer's Association

Adopt military as universal time

While we are focused on daylight saving time, let us consider how we talk and write about time.

Is 12 noon a.m. or p.m? Logic would dictate that it is a.m., counting forward from midnight, but my computer calendar insists that it is p.m.

Is midnight a.m. or p.m. By the same logic, it is p.m., but it is called a.m. I suspect this confusion has caused many travelers to miss flights scheduled for "12 a.m."

Our military long ago decided they could neither live nor fight with that kind of confusion, so they instituted military time: a 24-hour clock system that should become universal time. The confusing flight time should be "24:00."

When does your plane land? At 02:30, which on the 24-hour clock can only be two and a half hours after midnight. When is the deadline? At 12:00, which can only be noon in universal time.

Most of the rest of the world uses this 24-hour clock. So should we.

Maybe our president, the international business man, can help us by tweeting in 24-hour time.

Finn Bille

Just repair ACA; don't destroy it

I am appalled at the assumption of public stupidity apparently assumed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

The proposed replacement of the Affordable Care Act is a ludicrous offering that will hurt many more people than it helps. The "reality" that health care for our citizens is negotiable is an assumption that can only be made by insensitive individuals. Our collective health as a nation is critical to our democracy and our security.

I am a retired human resources executive who worked with health insurance for most of my career. I consider myself knowledgeable on how benefit plans work. Mr. Ryan's attempt at explaining his plan was not understandable.

The Ryan plan is being sold to a public in need of straight talk, and the sales job is short on how people will be affected. We must stand up to the effort by Republicans to foist a fraud on the public.

Sens. Corker and Alexander, and Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, where are you? You need to stand with your constituents and do the right thing. The ACA needs repair, not destruction!

Irv Ginsburg

Say no to killing on wildlife refuges

It saddens me our Congress is considering legislation that allows the killing of wolf pups and bear cubs and their mothers while in their dens on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

National Wildlife Refuges should be safe places for wildlife. Yes, Alaska is seeking to kill baby animals in their dens, chase down bears from planes and helicopters, use steel-jaw, leg-hold traps and neck snares to catch and kill bears, and allow dumping of baits to habituate bears to an area where they can be more easily killed.

All of those are proposed to occur on 16 National Wildlife Refuges covering 76 million acres in Alaska.

The House of Representatives passed this resolution in February. It has now moved to the U.S. Senate. I hope our senators act responsibly and ethically and vote "No" on S.J. Res. 18. Coyotes are not the problem; we are.

I am a retired Air Force officer. I was born and raised on the high desert between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, Calif. Coyotes were everywhere. They posed no threat to our well-being. They did not eat our pets or children.

The vast area they roamed is now covered with shingled houses in a bedroom community of Orange County. We have driven coyotes from their niche by constantly developing their habitat with homes, apartments and shopping centers.

For a government to establish what is essentially a bounty on coyotes is testimony to the stupidity of those who condemn and hunt creatures driven from their homeplace by them.

Richard Hughes

Cleveland, Tenn.

Republicans, fix it or wave bye-bye

Republicans continue fighting each other. The likes of John McCain and others keep on bad - mouthing the president. Don't fix Obamacare that costs people who actually work and pay more than $1,000 a month for coverage, and their taxes pay for people who won't work or have bad jobs. Don't like your low paying job? Get off your backside, learn a trade or craft; taxpayers will pay your way.

If the borders are not closed to illegals who take our jobs and get housing, food and medical for free, you will have a lame duck president for his last two years.

Democrats will be out in force come mid-term. Republicans, keep being stupid; you will be slaughtered in the mid-term elections.

Herbert Braswell

Health care fix requires scalpel

The House has come up with a health care bill nobody would ever propose as a sane replacement to the Affordable Care Act.

It reduces ACA taxes on those with premium plans and on large businesses. It would drastically change the structure of the Medicaid program with per capita caps. This would have a catastrophic effect on Tennessee's budget, of which 20 percent comes from federal funding of TennCare. Half the children in Tennessee and more than 60 percent of nursing home residents, are on TennCare.

It will change the financial assistance that helps low- and middle-income families cover out-of-pocket insurance premiums. By 2020, an average family of four making $60,000 a year will see its premiums increased by more than $9,000 per year. Note that increasing premiums are a major criticism of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Crafting health-care policy calls for a scalpel, not a meat cleaver. The basic functioning of the health-care system is at stake. So are American lives.

Sandra Rice

Sewanee, Tenn.

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