Letters, faxes, and e-mail

Only Congress should declare war:

It is time for Congress to reassert its authority and stop the Bush administration from putting this country into an extremely perilous position. No country is invulnerable. And when a country weakens itself enough, it allows an opportunity for those strong countries sitting on the sidelines to take quick and effective action. Moving this country into a three-front war is enormously foolish and dangerous.

It is time Congress reassert its constitutional rights to declare and not declare wars. If any authority has been given, no matter how murkily written, it should be rescinded, and Congress needs to speak very clearly that only it has the right to declare war.

We have been very fortunate to not have wars fought on our territory in this generation, and we also have been left with a legacy of power that has intimidated even the worst and most powerful countries from launching any conflict on our soil. These foolish wars we have entered into have made us vulnerable, but still not an appealing target. Any third conflict in which we find ourselves may very well change that.

This nonsense must stop now.

Albert Ritchey Jr.

Vestavia Hills

Retired generals just don't get it:

Six retired generals have called for Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld to resign, accusing him of mishandling the Iraq war, ignoring the advice of field commanders and having an arrogant management style. These retired generals don't seem to fathom they are more of a terrorist target than active-duty generals on the front lines of Iraq.

One would expect these retired, seasoned generals to understand the tactics, the target and goal of terrorists' psychological operations warfare, and that they might have come to realize six targeted, retired generals would be a heavily prized target of al-Qaida.

There must be a tremendous terrorist victory party in Iraq today, celebrating their successful tactics in the defeat of the six generals, a goal which could not have been accomplished with even the most advanced military weaponry. It's still a major victory, even considering only six of thousands of U.S. generals suffered defeat.

As seasoned U.S. generals should well know, this defeat defines psychological operations. I hope before additional U.S. generals fall to defeat they will recall the words of Napoleon Bonaparte, who said, "There are but two powers in the world: the sword and the mind. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the mind."

Armond "Si" Simmons

Pell City

Consider pros, cons of nursing care:

The article "New concept for growing old" addresses new ideology for nursing-home care. While I applaud the proposal, I can't help but comment on the other side of the issue.

By law, licensed nursing-home facilities are required to retain and maintain certain licensed professionals (registered nurses and licensed practical nurses) to be on staff around the clock inside the facilities - not on call like physicians.

The article stated: "A central change with the Green House concept is turning the reins over to the certified nursing assistant, who delivers the bulk of the daily care. Nurses are `honored guests' in the Green House who come to dispense medicine and deliver clinical treatment, but they do not stay." This runs counter to standards-of-care staffing guidelines of licensing organizations like Medicare and Medicaid (private-pay patients fall under these guidelines, too).

Nursing assistants, though vital members of the health-care team, have six months or less of health-care training. Based on the medical acuity (degree of illness), mental and cognitive levels of the patients inside these facilities, staff with this degree of training cannot care for them 24 hours around the clock and be supervised by "page or radio." An urgent or emergent scenario could hinge on critical seconds, and the licensed staff's nanosecond assessments and evaluations cannot be maintained and/or used by this kind of off-site communication.

Family members and caregivers should throughly research this "Green House" concept's pros and cons and closely examine all sides before abandoning traditional long-term nursing-home facilities.

Sonya Wright

Southside

The News shares some good news:

One of life's greatest pleasures for me is a standing date with sunrise, freshly brewed coffee and my daily newspaper. As a lifelong teacher and educator, I have benefited greatly from The News throughout my career.

Of course, reading about students and their achievements is always the most enjoyable of all. The recent front-page photo of Wenonah High School's culinary arts students learning their craft, along with the accompanying article on the hospitality industry, is one of several positive reports I have seen recently in The News.

Thanks and congratulations on a superbly written and presented story.

Fred Braswell

Homewood