Senators, take note of crisis at our CDC
The CDC evolved over decades to become the world’s foremost research institute for infectious diseases — their causes, prevention and therapy. CDC was supported by Republican and Democratic administrations from its founding in 1946.
It is now under unremitting attack by the Trump administration, led by HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. He has neither the background nor understanding of science and holds views on vaccination that were discredited years ago.
In addition to slashing funding for the CDC, Kennedy was complicit in the firing of the head of CDC. She was fired because of her objections to Kennedy’s vaccine nonsense.
The health of millions of Americans will be jeopardized if Kennedy is allowed to gut the CDC. Do our Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty care about this crisis?
Dr. Clif Cleaveland
Character education is needed in schools
The state of Tennessee passed a law requiring public schools to have a gun education class.
Better still is to have a course on character education. Start in elementary to teach manners and how to respect their elders, their teachers, the police, etc. Teach them the sanctity of life. To understand that there are rules we all must abide by and let them know the consequences if they don’t follow these rules.
Place emphasis on students whose home life is not strong.
The worst thing that has been done was when prayer was taken out of our schools. The tracking shows that disruption increased year after year in our schools and on our streets.
Russell Bean
Thanks, South Korea; sorry for treatment
To the Republic of South Korea on behalf of all the Vietnam War veterans, I want to thank you for the troops you sent to fight in Vietnam. The soldiers fought hard and bravely.
I am sorry that the plant you were building in Georgia was raided by ICE, and your citizens were arrested. I did not agree with this decision. I would understand if that made you think long and hard before investing like that again in this country.
Joel Blake
Things to remember about Israel, Gaza
A few inconvenient facts pro-Zionist zealots omit from the conversation:
Fact: Oct. 7 did not happen in a vacuum. Since 1948, Israel has been a brutal occupying force that has cruelly ejected the rightful inhabitants from their homes and land, with increasing hostility towards Palestinians. What happened Oct. 7 was not a random terrorist attack. It was retribution against ongoing Israeli terrorism.
Fact: The pro-Zionists rage about the 200 Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas. For years, Israel has been imprisoning Palestinians by the thousands, mostly for minor or fabricated crimes. They have been held indefinitely and treated cruelly. Thousands are in Israeli prisons to this day.
Fact: Zionism is not Judaism. Anyone of even modest intelligence should know the difference.
Fact: Over 60,000 Palestinians (a very conservative estimate) are dead, most of them babies, children, women and civilians. Number of Israelis dead? Less than 2,000. That is not a war of self-defense. That. Is. Genocide.
There is no moral or rational way to continue justifying what is and has been all along the worst genocide since the Holocaust. What manner of sanctimoniousness is it that blinds Israel apologists to the horrors of what Americans and the rest of the world have been witnessing and decrying for so long?
Rick Armstrong
Monteagle