News
Email
Print
School loyalty
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 16, 2009
Parents of Cook Elementary School students aren't the only folks who feel strong school loyalty ("No Attraction to This Magnet," Nov. 8). Our son has attended Brunson Elementary School, our neighborhood school, since kindergarten and is now in the highly academically gifted program. Having visited other schools in our county, we realize how special Brunson is and how lucky we are. The staff and administration are exceptional and the student population is wonderfully diverse. A school is about so much more than a building.
BROOK DAVIS
Winston-Salem
Freedom to choose health care
In the Nov. 10 letter "Is it a joke?" I find it amazing that the writer cannot make the parallel between our government ultimately trying to take our freedom to choose our health care and the Islamic terrorists taking any of our freedoms they can. Rep. Virginia Foxx is one of a number who understands this and I for one have supported her and will continue to do so in the face of a government stepping outside the bounds of our Constitution.
The system is broken, but having government, which produces absolutely no revenue whatsoever, take over one-sixth of our gross national product is totally absurd. Had we not de-industrialized this country mostly through NAFTA, let major companies move overseas to pay workers pennies on the hour with no penalties, and cut foreign aid in half, then perhaps we could afford to make health care available for all who chose to have it. The cornucopia of cash this country has enjoyed in past decades because of the American worker is running dry. And it seems that the administration in power now seems to be trying to squeeze that horn for the last drop.
With that, a massive amount of our individual freedom will be lost to our own country. This is no different from what the terrorists are trying to do.
We elect these people to go to Washington to represent the overall good of the people. They've formed a world of their own. Make no bones about it.
MORRIS W. FLOYD
Winston-Salem
Outspoken
Regarding the Journal's editorial "Foxx, again" (Nov. 6), if Rep. Virginia Foxx's so-called "outrageous comment" about the dangers of the Democrat's solution for health-care reform gets some folks' attention -- good for her.
While Medicare is taking pretty good care of most seniors, it significantly underpays doctors and hospitals for their services, and the Medicare system's costs exceed its tax revenue, causing even more deficit spending. Do we really want our government putting citizens on another government-run health-care system? I hope not.
After attending four years of college in a pre-med program and another four years in medical school, doctors are then faced with four to six years of internship while earning only about $40,000 a year. Most doctors will then begin practice with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. In the future, our brightest students will not be going into medicine if they are faced with working under a government system -- a system that will significantly limit their ability to earn a living that will repay them for their sacrifice and debt.
Sure, she is outspoken, but Virginia Foxx is speaking for all of us who think the government is not the solution to our problems. Let's hope the Democrats will begin to listen to her and the many other Republican ideas that can make the needed improvements in our health-care system without a government takeover.
GEORGE W. DICKSON
Pfafftown
Misnomer
I've never known a misnomer as widely spoken or written as the phrase "human race." Therefore, I hope this little peeve might stick in a few minds, for I'd surmise some English teachers making this error, too.
There is no such thing as the "human race." There's the Chinese race, the African race, the Caucasian race, etc., related to skin color of humans originating in different areas of the world. To differentiate humans from other animals, we should use the term "human species" and not "human race."
WALTER HEAD
Vilas
Politically correct culture
The terrible tragedy of the Fort Hood massacre seems to be compounded by a politically correct culture promoted by the Obama administration, the mainstream media and possibly the U.S. Army. It is becoming painfully obvious that overwhelming evidence suggests that Maj. Nidal Hasan is a terrorist, and worse, the Army knew of his jihadist leanings and did nothing.
Are we not insane to ignore the principal lesson of 9/11: connect the dots? For our government to take us back to the "terrorism is only a crime" mentality risks all our lives. This naive outlook, and the current disastrous economic policies, convince me that this administration is the most incompetent of my lifetime.
PETER T. WILSON
Winston-Salem
Email
Print
