YMCA thanked for Ironman help
I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Chattanooga YMCA for its incredible support during the Ironman Chattanooga triathlon last weekend.
Despite the official cancellation of the swim portion due to Hurricane Helene, the YMCA opened its doors early Sunday morning to accommodate those athletes who were still determined to complete the full triathlon. The staff were incredibly welcoming, helpful and positive, ensuring that everyone had a safe and enjoyable experience. They accommodated as many athletes as they could, from all over the country and world. They organized this all on their own without any contact from the race organizers, and didn’t even charge a dime. Their generosity and dedication to our community are truly inspiring.
The YMCA’s support for Ironman athletes is just one example of its commitment to serving our community. It offers a wide range of programs and services for people of all ages and backgrounds. I encourage everyone to consider supporting the YMCA and all the wonderful work it does.
Patrick O’Hagan
Speed up smoking alternatives approval
Adult smokers in Tennessee and across the country deserve better access to smoke-free alternatives that could improve their health. However, a flawed review and authorization process at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is hindering this possibility.
For the 28 million Americans who continue to smoke, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has failed to review and authorize applications for new smoke-free products in a timely manner.
The center frequently misses its federally mandated, 180-day deadline to review and decide on new pre-market tobacco product applications, with some decisions taking years. As a result, fewer than 50 out of 26 million applications have been authorized since 2009. Meanwhile, U.S. retailers are struggling with a surge of illegal e-cigarettes and vaping products filling the gap in the market.
As a vaper, I urge lawmakers in Congress to work with the FDA to prioritize and expedite the authorization of new smoke-free products that could help reduce the serious health risks associated with smoking, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Members of Congress should advocate for FDA reform to enhance public health and provide adults with the alternatives they deserve.
Tucker Smith
Immigrants just want a better life
Isn’t it funny that when we refer to immigrants in this country, it’s never the white ones, the blond ones and the ones with blue eyes? Is that fair? I might disappear into the background when walking down the street, but I am the child of an immigrant.
Why is it OK for Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Dutch, Belgian or French people to come here and blend in? It’s because they are primarily white.
I find it ironic that people who complain about immigration are themselves immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Why do you think the Irish, Germans or Italians came here to America? They came because of financial or physical hardship, just wanting to give their children a better and safer life. Does this sound familiar?
It’s no coincidence that as an immigrant country, we are still attracting immigrants. Our doors are not closed and never should be. We are the amazing country that we are because of immigrants and what they give and do for this country.
How can we look down on brown or Black people because they don’t look like us, or our ancestors who came here before us? Yes, we need to make the border secure. That goes without saying. However, let’s also support our immigrant businesses, neighbors and extended family members, because it could have been one of us seeking that better life elsewhere.
Dawn E Surridge
Donald Trump is the ‘anger-eater’
In the Appalachian Mountain areas of Tennessee and North Carolina, there was an old tradition known as “the sin-eater.” Sin-eaters were individuals who would partake of a meal designed to take on another person’s sins. Supposedly, this would stop karma from returning bad for one’s bad deeds, or it might gain forgiveness for one’s sins before heading off into the great beyond. Today, it seems, we have an “anger-eater.”
Many Americans are angry today, angry at what they see as some unjust situation, angry at somebody they feel has wronged them, angry over some issue. Donald J. Trump is an angry man who sees himself as being wronged. He sees everything he’s ever done as the best, the greatest, certainly beyond criticism by lesser individuals. Things that go wrong are never his fault, and others are to blame. And now he’s an angry presidential candidate again. At his rallies, MAGA folks transfer what anger they have to him, and they leave feeling better about things again.
Donald J. Trump: the anger-eater.
If elected, the ultimate of anger-eating would be pardons granted to Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters.
Grady S. Burgner
Ooltewah
Middle class will bear brunt of Harris taxes
V.P. Harris states that the foundation of her presidential campaign is to increase taxes on corporations to benefit the middle class. Won’t work. Those corporations will, as part of a free market, pass through to the consumers (i.e., the middle class) the expenses (i.e., those taxes) those corporations pay; it’s a basic economic principle that “the consumer ultimately pays.”
Thus, the middle class (i.e., the consumers) will actually pay an indirect tax (another economic principle), and they will not really receive the benefits V.P. Harris promises. Thus, this additional inflation will ultimately be borne by the middle class. Another example of “if it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t.”
Claudos Spears
Young Harris, Georgia
Whitfield County retirees should step up
I last Sunday’s TFP with great concern for the children and parents in Whitfield County about their children being dropped off in the wrong place or too far from their homes by their school’s buses. This is inexcusable. Before semi-retiring, I volunteered in our city’s local elementary schools for 23 years, including during my lunch hour with the full support of my employer. Now retired, I am in a total of three schools four to five days a week. It has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done.
Retirees of Whitfield County, offer your help to be in place in different locations on the bus routes. Be there to protect your county’s children, to safely deliver them to their homes or shelters. Do something to ensure the children’s safety. Go directly to the administration of the affected schools. Be willing to go through a simple background check. I assure you, you will receive a blessing from God for this simple act.
Pat Taylor
Fort Payne, Alabama