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Today's Opinions

  • GUEST OPINION: Put a face to faith to stop war madness

    By CHARLES C. HAYNES
    First Amendment Center
    No quick fix — diplomatic or military — will dissolve the centuries of distrust and rivalry that fuel the sectarian conflict in Syria, where Alawites and Shiites are pitted against Sunnis, with Christians caught in the crossfire.

    The same can be said of the many other religious and ethnic wars raging around the globe.

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  • Americans are tired of useless Middle East wars

    Republican Sens. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona did not approve of Chuck Hagel, criticized his selection as secretary of defense, and now have been invited to the White House to counsel the President.

    I imagine there will be cigars, brandy and maybe a bawdy joke or two will be told but little else will be accomplished. The two “tough guys” will return to their respective constituencies with another chevron on their sleeves for having been to the seat of power and actually making it all the way into the Oval Office.

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  • More rehab, not bigger jails, will help addiction

    I saw on TV and read in the newspapers about the rehabilitation program at Brushy Mountain.

    If the cities and county court system had this program, these people might not be in prison. Addicts to drugs and alcohol are put in jail and have to pay bail and court costs. If they can’t, they are stuck in jail and can’t get jobs.

    Bigger jails are not the answer. These addicts need rehab to productively return to society.

    Lives might be changed or saved.

    Mary Boseley
    Harriman
     

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  • OUR OPINION: We applaud Sen. Alexander’s efforts to lead

    We were glad that Roane County’s Tea Party was not formally listed among other Tea Party groups who declared their intentions this summer to oust U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee from office in next year’s Republican primary.

    In these divided, divisive times, Alexander — a Republican — has shown leadership and courage by attempting to reaching across party lines and actually serve the people. Apparently, that’s where many Tea Partyers draw the line.

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  • GUEST OPINION: Equal rights, decent jobs still issues today

    By GENE POLICINSKI
    First Amendment Center

    Labor Day weekend this year was just a few days past the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed “I have a Dream” speech.

    On Aug. 28, 1963, King’s speech closed out the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”

    It set out a historic milepost in civil rights movement.

    But King and other speakers — including Walter Reuther, long-time president of the United Auto Workers — also called for equal opportunity in employment.

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  • U.S. EPA needs to take over ash spill handling

    I was shocked to learn about a federal lawsuit filed against  Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., a company employed by TVA to remediate the ash spill site in Roane County.  

    The allegations set forth in the suit are serious.

    Early on in the spill aftermath, I raised concern about the impact on the health of the Roane County residents due to the toxic constituents in the coal ash.  

    We were told time and again by the TVA that the ash was harmless.  

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  • You can benefit from supporting Dunn Center

    Do you realize how fortunate you are to live in Roane County?  

    Not only do our citizens have the benefit of a new, first-class hospital to treat people with a multitude of illnesses, but we also have the Michael Dunn Center to care for people with a multitude of disabilities.  

    The Michael Dunn Center provides services for more than 300 people each day, and is one of the largest employers of trained personnel in Roane County.

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  • Too much focus on sports, too little on studies

    Allow me briefly to respond to the most erudite column of the honorable Gerald Largen in your paper of Aug. 9.

    I consider Mr. Largen to be a friend for whom I was permitted to write historical columns, from about 1993 to the phasing out of The Standard in late 1996.

    It was a great learning experience for me for which I will always be grateful to him.

    Mr. Largen is a wordsmith without peer and well versed in many fields of endeavor of which sports is an exception.

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