Boater raises concerns
I recently visited your beautiful city and had to find overnight parking while staying on a friend's boat docked at your magnificent waterfront facilities. I had been advised by the privately owned business folks who manage the city docking facilities to park in the lots located on the waterfront. This is what I discovered: There are no useful signs to direct visitors such as myself to safe overnight parking nor is there enough information provided to make appropriate decisions. The waterfront parking facilities are all controlled by computer devices that are both confusing and lacking in information with no alternative offered (at least on weekends and after normal working hours) to the hapless auto owner who simply wishes to pay a fee and park his car overnight.
BILL FLECK, Charlevoix, Mich.
What we learn from past wars
Jane Fonda's cameo appearance in the movie "The Butler" opened an old wound with a reader of the paper who called her a "traitor" because of her antiwar activities in Vietnam. She subsequently apologized for seeming to blame our soldiers for the horror; whereas the real guilt and treachery was by Johnson and Nixon who ordered the debacle. They were traitors to American ideals of being a peaceful, noble nation. I attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1971 for a very tense, informative week. The information provided by the North Vietnamese and Provisional Revolutionary Government turned out to be valid as contrasted to the American delegation. McGovern was right, but right before the majority caught on. The secretary of defense, McNamara, was called "the architect of the Vietnam War" much later admitted, "we were wrong, terribly wrong." We could have saved thousands of lives and millions of dollars if our government had paid attention to citizens who were brave enough to cite facts. Iraq and Afghanistan were Bush's and Obama's Vietnam. If our government had listened to the better informed protesters, the Vietnamese could have been making Nike shoes for us 30 years sooner.
FRED H. WRIGHT, Ph.D.
Tips for better health
With 59.3 percent of the Chattanooga population being women, it is time for them to understand what is happening to their knees. Women are at a high risk for runner's knee, cartilage degeneration, and ACL ruptures. Because of this, active women need to know how to protect their knees in this scenic and hilly city. The first step to avoiding injury is to know why it happens. Knee injuries often occur because women have wide pelvic bones that cause unnatural twisting of the knee. The easiest way to prevent damage is for active women to improve their diet. Simply adding a balanced amount of protein and fat to their diet will prevent muscle degeneration and protect the knee. The most important goal, however, should be to improve their overall strength. An increase in strength builds the quadriceps and hamstrings, which takes pressure off of the knee as well as improves bone strength, posture and confidence. Women of Chattanooga, learn how to protect your knees so that you may continue to enjoy the many hiking trails, the 13-mile Riverwalk, and the 41 fitness complexes that the Chattanooga area has to offer.
CHELSEA LEONARD