Clueless downtown drivers taken to task
Like an increasing number of Chattanoogans, I was run down by a car recently. I was having a pleasant day returning from the grocery store on my bicycle after completing a few errands when a car driven by an oblivious imbecile carelessly decided that making a U turn out of a parking space was a good idea.
This uncaring soul was attempting to cross six lanes of traffic while coming off of Lookout Street in front of the county courthouse — at lunchtime — to travel in the opposite direction on Georgia Avenue. The motorist loudly proclaimed “there’s no sign that says I can’t.” What the heck?
No, it’s not OK to make a U turn in the middle of any street. Go to the next intersection and do it there if it’s permitted or go around the dang block. The other crazy bad habit the uncaring and uninformed have is parking on the wrong side of the street. This requires driving into oncoming traffic twice. Please start writing tickets for this. This behavior can hurt us or kill us.
John Mathna
Are there hints of GOP movement?
Just finished reading both editorial pages of the June 6 Times Free Press. Although my “purple” political beliefs lean toward the Times editorial viewpoint, I completely agreed with all three commentators (including Cal Thomas) featured on the Free Press opinion page.
Am I moving right or are Republicans taking back control of their party from the MAGAs?
Steve Weinberg
Harrison
Lawmakers just ‘grandstanding’
I recently read the story in the TFP about Gov. Bill Lee’s mental health-based gun law proposal and the legislators who are opposed. I found the whole discussion facile and disappointing.
I believe that Gov. Lee is grandstanding; his proposal will achieve very little.
The only ones putting on a bigger show are our state legislators.
The vast majority of those perpetrators were not diagnosed mental cases, nor did they have a criminal record. They were, by and large, middle-class, Christian, white men with easy access to purchase assault rifles, weapons designed to slaughter people quickly and efficiently. The only clear motive that ties them all together seems to be the wish to draw attention to themselves.
Gov. Lee’s law would not stop the majority of mass murderers.
I find it interesting that the legislators seem more intent on satisfying the agenda of the NRA than they are in protecting the lives of the people of Tennessee in spite of many published polls that show that a majority of Tennesseans want greater control of assault weapons sales and more pervasive background checks. Obviously, the legislators are listening to a specific minority, not to us.
I would suggest we remember this dereliction at the next election.
Katheryn A. Thompson
Pet owners often need our help too
I heard on TV recently that all of the animal shelters are having an influx of animals due to their owners being unable to feed their beloved pets.
This is a tragedy for the pet and their family. It occurred to me (I don’t have a pet) that I would be more than willing to provide another household with their pet food and that would enable the family to keep their pet.
Imagine the tragedy of having to give up an animal that has lived in your home for years. Imagine the trauma to your children to lose a pet or having to decide between feeding your children or the dog or cat.
All we need is a matchmaking service between my household and a pet owner. Also those who have pets could just share their supplies with a needy household without any trouble. I will be contacting shelters but anyone with a computer and a telephone could provide this service. Someone might just set up a website.
Jay Ku
Support carbon fee proposal in D.C.
A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report notes that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has increased at one of the fastest rates ever this past year. The last time the earth’s atmosphere contained this much CO2, scientists pointed out, was during an extremely hot and inhospitable period before human civilizations were established.
Here in the Tennessee Valley, and across the Southeast, the most likely effects of an overheating planet are extreme heat waves, drought and flooding, as well as more frequent and d eadly tornado outbreaks. We are already seeing this start to happen.
To mitigate these extreme weather events, we must phase out burning of coal, oil and natural gas as quickly as possible. One equitable way to do this is through carbon fee and dividend legislation, which charges those with a heavy carbon footprint and pays those with a lighter one.
There is already such a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. I urge my congressional representative, Chuck Fleischmann, to stand with the other 95 House members who have already co-sponsored this bill and help save lives in Tennessee and elsewhere.
L.B. Blackwell
Keep our money and feet on Earth
No one can justify the expenditures of space exploration. We’ve already been to the moon. We got Tang and pens that write upside down.
The whole idea is perpetuated by science fiction movies and novels.
The biggest welfare recipients are NASA scientists. Humans need Earth’s environment. Who wants to be a Martian? Budget negotiators need to look at reality.
Tom Peck
We need to know the truth about UAPs
Today, we stand on the precipice of a disclosure that could forever alter our understanding of our place in the universe.
The crux of this mystery lies in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), formerly known as UFOs.
David Grusch, a former U.S. intelligence official, claims the U.S. government has retrieved intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin. If this is true, we are not just on the brink of a revelation but a global transformation.
Imagine the possibilities that such a disclosure could unlock: advancements in science and technology, revolutionizing energy, transportation, and materials technologies. It could also serve as a basis for international cooperation.
If our government is in possession of such extraordinary materials, it is the right of the American people to be informed.
The time for government transparency is now. The public deserves to know the truth about these phenomena. This is an issue that could determine our future.
Matthew Hine
‘Democracy’ a dirty word to both parties
Do you identify as a capitalist? Do you think that corporations are “people” and that their unlimited money pouring into the campaign coffers of our politicians is “speech” and therefore a good thing?
I ask you to reconsider. What we have today is not your mom-and-pop capitalism. What we have is a second Gilded Age of robber barons. Over the past 40 years, and especially since the Supreme Court ruling of Citizens United, these corporate robber barons have completely taken over our political system and methodically rigged the economy to create the largest transfer of wealth upward in our nation’s history. There is no “invisible hand” prudently guiding the marketplace, there is no “trickle-down” of wealth.
Both parties have sold their souls to these oligarchs and to the military-industrial complex. The only speech our elected representatives are hearing is that of the corporate lobbyists, while the cha-ching of big money filling their campaign coffers drowns out the voices of the people.
I am called a “radical” because I acknowledge how blatantly compromised and corrupt both parties, not to mention our entire mainstream media, are. The term democracy has become a dirty word to Republicans and empty rhetoric for Democrats.
Rick Armstrong
Monteagle