More weekends during this July
Hey - guess what is unique about July 2011.
July has five Fridays, five Saturdays and five Sundays. Pundits say this happens once every 823 years!
How about that?
GENE JONES
Signal Mountain
The show shines without guest star
A title in Sunday's edition, "Dancing without the star," couldn't have been more wrong. The stars were there in force, both in our local celebrities and our professionals.
No, Maks didn't make it, but the show itself was amazing. I especially appreciated the Fred Astaire Dance Studio stepping up to showcase dances since Chmerkovskiy was not there.
And a huge congratulations to Irene Sewell and Kyle Barels on their engagement.
I await the final tally of how much the Partnership was able to raise this year. Listening to how much Fan Favorite Robin Derryberry and Dancing With the Stars winner Tahnika Rodriguez raised, I am sure it was remarkable.
I look forward to next year's fundraiser and seeing who will step up to take the challenge.
SEDARA BOND
Be real, make the right decisions
President Obama was elected on a promise to return the tax rate on those making over $250,000 to the Reagan levels. A majority of Americans agreed then and still do. After two wars and a near depression, our country is in great need of that revenue. Those making $250,000 are not experiencing a recession.
But Republicans held the middle class hostage by saying "raise taxes on everyone or no one." In the name of bipartisanship, Obama relented and gave the GOP and their wealthy friends what they demanded. In return they demand he make huge spending cuts. First, revamp Medicare, putting the problem onto those already hurting.
Another was to eliminate the EPA, our environmental protectors.
Obama's intent is to invest in our future and begin a transfer of energy production from fossil fuels to cleaner methods, creating new jobs in doing so. Fossil fuels can't be in our future. Alarmist I am not, but I must be a realist. Our recent extreme weather is beginning to show the signs we have been warned of.
Our great-grandchildren will either curse us or thank us for the decisions we make today. Let's pray those decisions will be the right ones.
ROGER SHIPLEY
Ringgold, Ga.