Humane Society’s ‘indoor’ pet rule flawed

My wife and I were shopping at Honey Creek Mall earlier this month when we noticed the Terre Haute Humane Society was trying to find some homes for some of their dogs. I saw a dog on Saturday that  interested  me.  We called on Sunday before we went back home to see if the dog was still available. They said the dog was still at the mall.

When we arrived at the mall, the dog was not there. I was informed the dog had an application for adoption by someone else. We agreed to fill out an application in case the dog’s adoption did not occur. To adopt an animal from the Humane society, you are required to fill out a three-page application, pay a $125 fee and agree to their inspecting your home.

After completing the application, they asked where the dog would be staying. My wife and I said he would stay outside in our kennel with our other dog. The individual with the Humane Shelter said, “Would you put your kids outside?” My wife said he is a dog. Then I told the individual that I had raised cattle and other animals all my life. I worked with an organization called PALS out of Sullivan about 20 years ago when I was running my kennel. I made sure they were properly cared for (especially in extreme temperatures).

They said they would get back with me the next week. I received a call informing me that my application had been turned down because I said “I was not going to keep the dog inside my house.” I was shocked that they would turn down an application because an animal was going to be kept outside. The person on the phone also informed me that all their animals “would only be adopted if they were going to stay inside.”

I thought the Humane Shelter was supposed to save animals lives? Now they might have just put one to death because the dog would have been living outside. For the record, the dog I was going to adopt was a stray found on the street … an outside dog.

— Russell Vail

Bloomington

Pay issue one of fairness, justice

The series about Title IX was excellent. What it has done for the women athletes and fans is to be commended. There is, however, an even broader social justice issue that got very little attention in the press.

On June 5, the Senate voted on the Paycheck Fairness Act. Every Republican voted against it, including Indiana senators, Richard Lugar and Dan Coats. The amendment did not pass. Equal pay for equal work is only fair and just.

Indiana women make 72 cents for every dollar their Indiana male counterparts make, “5 cents wider than the nationwide wage gap of 77 cents.”

Perhaps it is time to pass the Equal Rights Amendment … or at least send people to Congress who will listen to their constituents. And it would be nice to have more coverage in the Tribune-Star of how our legislators vote on issues.

— Kathy Hackleman

Terre Haute

Sorting out the tax-cut dispute

Frankly, I am sick of the Obama administration’s position on having the rich pay their fair share. This is simply another “sound bite” from the Democrats that fails to address any specific data. The fundamental question remains, “Who are the so-called rich and what is their fair share, and who should determine the answer to these most important questions?”

Would 50, 60, 70 or even 80 percent of their annual income be adequate? It would be helpful to know how much each of these aforementioned figures could generate in terms of additional federal taxes. Moreover, it would be beneficial for the Congressional Budget Office to make these calculations and publicly announce its findings to show what the true financial impact would be on the federal budget, especially on the U.S. debt and deficit. My initial feeling is that this course of action would not come close to putting a dent in the federal debt, not to mention the devastating impact any such measures would have on job creation across the U. S. economy.

Absent these metrics, simply stating that the rich must pay their fair share is truly a meaningless diatribe that is designed to infuriate the American people, especially taxpayers.

I would like to point out that the Democrats have a very good argument regarding the Bush tax cuts, which are expected to expire this year. The Republican position to support the continuation of these tax cuts states that these “tax breaks” provide incentives for business and industry (small, medium and large) to hire new workers.

However, most Americans know that “not all” millionaires have plans to create new jobs in the U.S. workplace, yet all are entitled to accept these tax reductions.  It’s like applying the proverbial “panty hose philosophy — one size fits all” to resolve this very complicated and far-reaching conundrum.

Consequently, I would recommend that extensions of the Bush tax cuts should only be authorized for businesses, industries and/or individuals who actually create new or additive jobs in the U.S. workplace. Further, they must not be relegated to mere minimum-wage positions, but living-wage full-time jobs, and each eligible business or industry should submit a jobs program to the U.S. Congress and Department of Labor that details a specific hiring plan complete with positions, hourly rates, 40 hours work week, and benefits to include specific time-tables that detail start dates and duration of employment, etc.

My point is that the central theme in capitalism is that rewards or incentives are usually directly tied to performance; conversely, these Bush tax cuts have degenerated into a welfare program for the very wealthy. In short, these “automatic tax reductions” fail to provide any incentive for successful businesses to produce real job growth in the U.S. economy.

It would certainly be great for the administration, Congress and the media to pursue answers to these most crucial issues that affect the lives of nearly 20 million American citizens who are currently unemployed, underemployed or have simply stopped looking for a job. For once, it would truly be refreshing, if the current administration, members of Congress and media were to cooperate in this effort to give the American people the “whole truth” about this most critical issue that is crushing our overall economy.

— William Hanna

Terre Haute

Flawed rhetoric from the liberals

The ill-informed have been busy. Let’s begin with Ms. Davis and her flawed rhetoric on the Keystone pipeline. First, take a look at a map of U.S. crude pipelines (www.theodora.com/pipelines/united_states_pipelines_map.jpg). Thousands and thousands of miles of pipeline already exist running through the same areas as the proposed pipeline. The only reason this one is different is it provides a direct link with Canadian Oil Sands.

Environmentalists who cannot affect the removal of this oil in Canada want to stop its flow from the other end. The result will be the oil being pumped to the coast and shipped overseas, neither safer nor helpful to this country. As for the “pristine boreal forest,” the same arguments were made 40 years ago opposing the Alaskan Pipeline. It is still in use and the caribou use heat from the pipeline to survive the cold. It should also be noted that one of the other reasons for holding up the transportation bill was: “We’re at a point where we’re at the ‘searching under the couch cushions’ portion of finding transportation funding.” That is partially due to the billions in horrendous wastes of taxpayer dollars on “green energy solutions”  such as Solyndra, Beacon, Ener1, Abound Solar, A123 systems and hundreds of others, all bankrupt or flailing on their way down.

On the bright side, at least the Obama supporters running those companies got to keep their money and not go to jail like Enron officials did.  

The next glaring display of ignorance — or is it propaganda? —  comes from of all things an assistant political science professor, who, in his hurry to urge Democrats to jump to the imaginary Republican “war on women” theme, missed some truly important parts of Wisconsin Gov. Walker’s victory in the recall election and threw out an obligatory false piece of dogma.

Since there have been nearly no successes for the current administration and Obama wants to claim that “saving the auto industry” was his doing, one of the major lines has been “a loan that was ultimately paid back with interest.” This was given three Pinocchios by no less than the Washington Post, not a publication known for supporting Republicans. It was neither paid back nor solely his doing.

Unfortunately, Bush was the first to throw away that taxpayer money. The only thing accomplished with that taxpayer money was to allow Obama and his cohorts to manipulate the process. This included shutting down successful dealerships that were Republican donors, while leaving unsuccessful Democratic activist-owned ones in business. It also allowed the administration to see that the unions were taken care of while investors (any of your 401k invested in the auto industry?) got 10 cents on the dollar.

This was the main affect of a public bailout, not the end result. Regardless of that blurb of assistant professor Bergbower, the real story in the Walker re-election was the fact his reforms and those of Gov. Daniels allowed both these states to remain fiscally stable (in Walker’s case going from $3B in the red to a surplus) while their more liberal neighbors (Illinois, anyone?) are drowning in red ink.

The other significant part of the story is that the public has learned that public unions, not pipefitters, coal miners, carpenters, electricians, or any other private union, public unions are a direct slush fund for the Democratic Party. It is an incestuous relationship where politicians are elected by those whose pockets they line and eventually it becomes a financial whirlpool where all are dragged to the bottom.

That is why Democratic icon FDR opposed public unions.  He knew they would bankrupt his “social society.” Still, I have to applaud the assistant professor. If he wants to have all Democrats to hide from their records and run on the platform of “saving women” from the imaginary Republican “war on women,” I am all for it. Personally, I do not think the majority of independents or Democrats are foolish enough to buy into that desperate attempt, but go for it, Matt, I am 100 percent behind you.

— Michael C. Sherrill

Marshall, Ill.

State trauma care needs to improve

Traumatic injuries are the No. 1 killer of Hoosiers under the age of 45. Motor vehicle accidents, falls and farm accidents are just a few of the things that often result in traumatic injuries that kill young people in the prime of their lives. These deaths come at a price: health costs, lost productivity and emotional distress.

Indiana has emergency medical services providers, trauma centers and a trauma registry to track these most severe of injuries, but we are one of only nine states that do not have an integrated statewide trauma system. The Wabash Valley Chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association and the state health department are working together to change that.

Trauma systems correctly identify patients who need trauma care, anticipate needed resources for trauma treatment, route patients to the correct facility and improve care through a quality improvement process. Where trauma systems are in place, they are shown to save lives. When trauma patients are transported, by ground or by air, to trauma centers, the preventable death rates drop by 15 to 30 percent.

A Trauma Listening Session was conducted June 20 and included displays and information by the Indiana State Department of Health’s Division of Trauma and Injury Prevention staff, as well as local stakeholders including hospitals and local EMS providers. The goal was for Hoosiers to learn more about trauma, learn how state and local agencies currently respond to trauma, learn how a trauma system could help the state and, most importantly, gather personal stories of how trauma has affected those in Indiana.

In our eight-county area, trauma killed more than 170 people and hospitalized more than 900 in 2009. With your help and a statewide trauma system, we can save lives, reduce chronic disability and decrease community care costs.

— Kelly Mills, RN, CEN

President

Wabash Valley Chapter 401 Indiana Emergency Nurses Association

What’s next after new smoking law?

This is just to state my opinion, and we all know what they say about opinions. But what is next after the smokers law, coming into our homes to check to see if  we are eating healthy?

Because we all know health care is going crazy. Back to smoking, where do you think these smokers are going to smoke? Outside, you dumb donkeys, where everyone breaths the air. Even animals. Or maybe that is next. No smoking in or out.

It should have been up to the business to be smoke free. Not the government. Really, what comes next? I am a non-smoker.

— Marla Norris

Terre Haute

Thanks to those who gave support

The Silent Men would like to thank all the players who participated in our recent successful golf outing.

We would like to give a special thank you to all the hole sponsors that made this tournament a great success.

— Steve Austin, president

The Silent Men

Terre Haute

Fraternal club launches mission to help fund diabetes research

Everyone knows about the Fraternal Order of Eagles. It is the bar/club we all see in our neighborhood. Most of us don’t know anything else. With your permission, I hope I can tell you about what it is and why it was founded 112 years ago.

The fraternal Order of Eagles, an international nonprofit organization, unites fraternally the spirit of liberty, truth, justice and equality for home, country and God to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and by promoting peace prosperity, gladness and hope. The Eagles fund research in such areas as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and cancer, and raise money for neglected and abused children and the aged, as well as well as work for social and civic change.

Since its inception in 1898, the Fraternal Order of Eagles has prided itself on community service. When the opportunity to partner with the University of Iowa arose in 2008, a dream for the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center was born

Approved unanimously by more than 700 delegates at the International Convention in Louisville, Ky., the Diabetes Research Center campaign opened the next chapter in philanthropy for the fraternal organization. One that will live on forever. The Eagles made a five-year, $25 million commitment in 2008 and presented the university with the second $5 million installment of Oct. 30, 2010,

The quest to find a cure for diabetes represents the typical giving spirit of the organization. With a charity foundation that issues grants for research on several illnesses each year, the Eagles’ reach extends far beyond its membership.

Every state in the union and Canada has made donations. These acts often go unnoticed, but perfectly embody the order’s “People Helping People” spirit. Every dollar donated by the Eagles to the University of Iowa will directly benefit research opportunities at the university.

The Diabetes Research Center will inhabit a floor of the John and Mary PappaJohn Biomedical discovery building currently under construction in the heart of the university’s campus.

Money donated by the Eagles will be used for endowed chairs to help bring world-class researchers to the center. While buildings may come and go, endowment lasts forever, ensuring that as long as diabetes remains a significant hurdle for people around the world, the Eagles will be ready and willing to help find a cure.

To obtain more information or to make a donation, visit www.foe.com or email diabetesresearchcenter@foe.com or get in touch with your local aerie/auxiliary secretary. Donations are accepted electronically from the website or a donation card may be downloaded and completed.

Now you know a little about that bar/club that is in your neighborhood, or its auxiliary, both operating for the betterment of life and our community.

Won’t you join us?

— James R. Sink, secretary

FOE 291

Terre Haute

Great help in finding lost parrot

The Wey family would like to extend sincere gratitude to the numerous individuals and organizations that assisted us in the location of our lost African Grey Parrot Einstein. We successfully located him two days after he flew away here in the Village Quarter.

We would specifically like to thank the following: Bill Heyman with Atlantis Aquatic Gardens, Jean Penry, Hi-99 Radio, WTHI-TV, The Village Quarter, Dobbs Park, the Department of Natural Resources, Craig’s List, The Classifieds, the Tribune-Star, Brian Dorsett, Airport Veterinary Clinic, Sycamore Terrace, Walmart, Terre Haute North Cheerleaders, Spring Creek Stock Farm, Burger King, Louise’s at the Airport, Deming Park and the Humane Shelter.

Many individual citizens also called in expressing their concern and support in finding our bird. We are confident your prayers and kind assistance were instrumental in bringing Einstein home.

Thank you, Terre Haute!

— Joe Wey

Terre Haute