Disgusted at attitude of UT coaches
As a UT graduate, former cheerleader and season- ticket holder, I am disgusted with the eight assistant coaches' decisions not to take a pay cut from their over-inflated salary to help the financially strapped athletic program.
We received a letter from Athletic Director Phil Fulmer asking ticket holders to donate their tickets back to the university. We did so.
If these egotistical, overpaid assistants would spend more time on the practice field instead of raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars, we might even beat Kentucky next year!
Clara Childress Register
The power of love will win at border
"Who will record the stories of the separated children today and in the future?" In her book "Separated by the Border," Gena Thomas answers Clif Cleaveland's question. With names, maps and biblical faith, this journey tells the story of the "power of God's abundant love that disregards boundaries and labels."
Gena Thomas moves beyond the cultural fences of politics to reach beyond the Sermon on the Mount with human hope that centers on a mother's love for her child. The story records the trek of Lupe, who bravely struggles against the evils of predatory coyotes that trade in money, bodies and lies to provide for her daughter Julia.
Though the writer records in ink the facts, her tears stand against decisions that ice the heart of government that separates a mother's protective love from violence in Honduras and the broken system of border separation in the United States as we follow evil bartered in treachery through Mexico.
Part parable, part lament, this odyssey celebrates the miracle of love for the stranger and the Samaritan heart beating in every human who breathes.
Beyond the force of economics, climate science and human rights endures the power of love.
Kemmer Anderson
Not clamoring for COVID-19 shot
I am not sure if I will ever take the shot for COVID-19.
1. Not sure the testing has been or will be sufficient before the shots are given. (Reading ads on TV for new drugs' side effects are worse then what they are taken for.)
2. I currently take meds for heart, lungs and sinuses. (I would need to be cleared by doctors first,)
3. I have not taken the flu shot in over 40 years and have not had the flu even once.
Roger Thompson
Tullahoma, Tennessee
Election finally fulfills Scripture
In Daniel 12:4, Scripture proclaims in the last days "knowledge shall be increased." What was Daniel referring to? What is the greatest miracle of all time?
History tells us man has been gaining in knowledge since the Stone Age. Early man discovered fire to warm the body and cook food; killed animals with crude weapons for food and skins; invented the wheel. Any of these the greatest? Nope. As time progressed, societies chose innovation and defined property rights, free exchange and a belief in the individual.
In 1367, German cities formed the Hansa, a form of government that ensures freedom of trade and promotes principles of doing business. Ultimately, America was born with the greatest form of government ever created.
With the individual freedom allowed by the Constitution, knowledge increased faster than ever. So, what was the greatest invention? The automobile? Airplane? Cellphones? Not even close. Was it the 2020 presidential election, where the dead voted in droves? Getting close. The greatest invention is my Uncle Gus. He was 75 when he died - 90 years ago. He voted Republican his entire life, but on Nov. 3, 2020, he voted Democratic. Daniel's prophecy is fulfilled.
Ed Huber
Copperhill, Tennessee
Could Trump reflect on Nov. 11 ceremony?
I wonder if the Nov. 11 ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier might have seeped into the soul of President Trump - might have caused him to reflect on what he is threatening and to consider what actually entitles him to threaten it. Nothing in his background of wealth and shelter from harm entitles him to attack our state's processes of election that the person entombed in front of him gave his body, loves and future to secure.
Lucy Taylor
End the qualified immunity for cops
It seems like our country is nowhere close to leaving this moment of law enforcement reckoning. As we delve deeper into individual cases of police violence, let's not forget to zoom out and see the bigger picture. As in many other professions, the best way to create change is through systems of accountability. Right now, a bad cop can get away with brutal excessive force and even murder. Rarely do these cops ever even see their day in court.
I'm not saying all cops are bad. I am saying that we have created and upheld systems that allow for bad cops to continue doing harm to our communities. We have the power to change this. There are logical and effective reforms that our Congress and representatives at the statehouse could enact today. The most important of these reforms, I believe, is ending qualified immunity - a legal doctrine that prevents victims of excessive force from taking bad cops to court. Let's demand our elected officials finally hold bad cops accountable and start making real change.
Laura Helfman, M.D.
Coalmont, Tennessee
Taxpayers need our library open
I am writing this letter from a computer at the public library. The mayor, who has internet access at home and the office, has decreed that the library, once again, will shut down as far as computer access is concerned. There are people who rely on the library in doing job searches, keeping in touch with family and friends, or research.
The staff at the library has done a magnificent job in maintaining social distance between patrons, and are quick to "disinfect" computers and furniture.
I call upon the mayor to reopen the library to the patrons and taxpayers in general.
Jonn Mulry
We must clean our 'River of Plastic'
On a recent trip to the Tennessee Aquarium, I found out that Chattanooga houses one of the world's largest freshwater aquariums. What an accomplishment and asset to the city! There's just one thing that irks me: The aquarium overlooks one of the most polluted rivers in the United States.
Often referred to as the "River of Plastic," the Tennessee River has some of the highest amounts of microplastics ever measured in freshwater. The juxtaposition of the aquarium and the river leads me to think that there is more that we can do - both Chattanooga residents and all Tennesseans - to keep our river clean. I'm hopeful that one day, we will look out the aquarium windows to see a beautiful, non-polluted river and have something to make the aquarium (and the wildlife) proud.
Sera Thomas
Signal Mountain