Why Corridor K with low funds?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Why Corridor K with low funds?

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) seems bent on doing some sort of construction regarding Corridor K near the Ocoee Gorge. This project, for reasons only TDOT could conjure up, is scheduled to begin in 2013, though federal, state and local governments are running on monetary fumes and schools are desperately low on funding.

How the DOT always seems to have money when no one else does is well beyond my knowledge. If TDOT does actually build Corridor K, they should only use option 2 and build a system of viaducts similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway's Linville Viaduct, around the sharper curves. That way there won't be a need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to blast the scenery apart for a new route and the experience of traveling along the existing route could be enhanced.

Still, I sincerely don't know how our society justifies any highway construction, priced in the hundreds of millions of dollars, when the government is broke, schools are financially crippled, and the ensuing gas taxes used to pay for the project will only raise our gas prices even more.

TDOT should really wait until the economy improves before it considers proceeding any further.

WILL LANCE

American lives are not politics

I am also against America once again getting our nose in another country's problems. Where were these people who now are outspoken with our involvement in Libya when we invaded two sovereign countries 11 years ago with now 5,000-plus American deaths and thousands of casualties and broken families?

Back then, when people spoke up against the invasion of Iraq, they were called un-American and unpatriotic. We were told that Iraq had WMDs but we had spy planes since 1991 that watched every move that Iraq had about weapons movement.

The more important point is, even if they indeed had these weapons, they were no threat to us.

Unfortunately we cannot change past tragedies, but we can all speak up to get all our Americans home from around the world to protect Americans instead of other world problems.

We are not unpatriotic if we want our sons and daughters out of harm's way from other countries' problems. I think all Americans need to realize we need to take care of our own first.

It is sad if we are of a certain political party, it is OK to send our sons and daughters to war. American lives are not politics.

JACK PINE

Dunlap, Tenn.

Fundraiser helps preserve park

Re : The Tri-County Jamboree, at The David Campbell Memorial Park in the Old Washington Community.

I would like to thank all the people who came out to help raise money for our park here in Old Washington.

With no budget, or funding from our county, we have this festival as a fundraiser to raise funds to help make improvements and additions to our park.

We would like to thank the city of Dayton for its continued interest and support for our park. Even though we are in the county and use utilities of Dayton, I believe the city's officials know how important the park is to our community.

I wished that all residents of our county would stop taking our beautiful county for granted and believing it will always be here or remain the same forever.

Without you, the residents of Rhea County, our past will slowly disappear. Once it's gone, we will never get it back.

MARTY REVIS

Manager

The David Campbell

Memorial Park

Coalition in Libya had no strategy

Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said, "There is no substitute for victory." You cannot kill a venomous snake by clubbing it on its tail. But that's exactly what we did in Libya.

With no strategy, a coalition was formed with allies in the region, who would benefit far more from killing the reptile than we would.

We called it a contingency operation as to make it not to appear anything like a war.

Now the United States pulls out hoping that the snake disappears so we can begin pouring millions of dollars in there to restore its lair.

CAREY CROUCH

People in D.C. need brains

While the people in D.C. are fighting among themselves about what to do, what to cut and fix, they need to stop giving millions to all those nations overseas who hate America.

The people and our nation should come first.

There is no reason to tag Medicare or Social Security and take away from the retired people who worked all their lives hoping to be able to relax and enjoy the rest of their lives. But we didn't get a raise for the last two years.

It didn't stop them from getting their raises.

Everything is sky high, but the people who get Social Security have to make do with less. Does that seem fair?

It's time we got some people in D.C. who have brains to fix our problems.

IRENE ROSE

Hixson

Who is hateful in the Mideast?

A reader wrote regarding the number of Palestinian children who have been killed vs. the number of Israeli children who have been killed in the conflict between the two, the reader saying these deaths were due to the violence and hatred of Israel.

Are you kidding me?

How many times has Israel shot rockets into Palestine without being shot at first? Answer: None.

Who wants to blow Israel off the face of the earth?

Now, who is violent and hateful? I think this reader may want to think twice before making a statement like he did.

TOM FRICKE

Spring City, Tenn.

Freedom of speech isn't a reality

When in London, my favorite pastime was to go to Hyde Park and listen to the "soap boxers."

All through the park, soap boxes were available for anyone who wanted to express themselves about anything.

I recently read about a mad-man who was shot down in front of our White House for waving a knife around. Despite mega-billions of taxpayers' money going for Tasers, net-guns, glue-guns, the police chose to kill him.

If the "criminal" had a soap box available to vent from then maybe he would still be alive.

Do we really have "freedom of speech" in our country? Will we ever have a "soap box" in Coolidge Park?

Don't hold your breath.

ROBERT LEE BROWN

Missionary Ridge

Time to move to 'real world'

As one of the seniors in the upcoming UTC thesis exhibitions, it is both a relief and a bit of a distress to see my work up in the gallery. The show will be amazing. That I am confident of.

However, it is a moment of realization that my time at UTC is almost up. The faculty in the art department is so supportive of exploration and finding one's own style, and every student I see coming out of the program has improved exponentially from where they started (including myself). Now we have to take those skills we've learned out into the "real world" to design, sculpt, paint, and draw the world we see around us.

It is exciting to be a part of this new wave of creative people. Who knows, maybe one of us will be the next artist or designer to make a difference in Chattanooga.

JARED THOMPSON

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