Dog Chaining

St. Patrick’s Pshaw
I find myself agreeing with Chuck Crowder [“Erin Go Braugh…Humbug” – Life In The Noog] over his disdain for the St. Patrick’s holiday.  Like so many other holidays in this country, it has been utterly warped by the powers of commerce.  At least Christmas and Easter, while heavily commercialized, still are able to remind people their historical and religious purpose.  But how many people know anything about the real Saint Patrick?  Or why the Feast of Saint Patrick, which was a confirmation of the role Christianity played in the history of Ireland, has become perverted into an excuse to drink green beer and wear green clothes? We live in a disposable society where tradition and history get tossed out with yesterday’s garbage.  Is it any wonder why holidays have become so shallow and pointless?
Gregory Peterson

Fifty Great Years
Happy Birthday, Dr. Rick [“Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously” - Shrink Rap]! You have become an invaluable Chattanooga institution, and you help more people each week than anyone I know. Please keep on imparting your words of thoughtful inspiration and gentle guidance. Here’s to the next fifty!
Rev. Bill Wallace

From the Editor
Several members of the Society for Creative Anachronism wrote in questioning the account of how the organization started, specifically the location of the backyard party in Berkeley, California that is widely credited as being the birthplace of the society.  According to the organization’s own official publication, The Known World Handbook¸ the SCA was indeed founded at a party in the backyard of author Diana Paxson, not Marion Zimmer Bradley.  A contemporary of Bradley confirmed that she often delighted in “muddying the historical waters” of the SCA as a way to keep members from getting overly serious about their participation in the society.  Also, we inadvertently misspelled the name of photographer Lesha Patterson in the credits to the cover story on the SCA last week.  We apologize for the error.

The Toll Of AIDS

Officer Teach Obviousness
Obvious is relative, obviously [“A Week in the Obvious”, On The Beat]. I hope you are prepared for more outraged advocates for maligned groups. PETO? People for Ethical Treatment of Outlaws? CHUM? Cetacea’s Humans Used for Meals?  Nothing can compare, of course, with your Neologism of the Year, Electronaut. Keep them coming, Officer Teach. And even though I recently lost a friend to ALS, I laughed a lot at the line on Lou Gehrig’s eponymous disease.
Felix Miller

Need New Police Chief
It’s pretty bad that the Chattanooga Police Department has relieved Officer Carlos Woodruff from duty when he hasn’t been found guilty of the charge [“CPD Officer Relieved Of Duty After Domestic Assault”]. I think this officer needs to sue the Chief of Police and the city for this. He has been with the city for 15 years and it’s always a witch hunt after police officers in this city. It’s time for a new Chief of Police and Mayor.
Mike M.

The letter from J. Nesbitt in last week’s issue regarding the lack of proper traffic control during a accident on Interstate 24 two Sundays ago touched off varied responses on our web site at www.chattanoogapulse.com

Horribly Bungled
I agree 100 percent with J Nesbitt. Whichever agency was responsible for traffic control that Sunday—be it the Chattanooga city police, the state police, or even the Cub Scouts—bungled it horribly.
M.J. Ditzer

Not Officers’ Fault
Instead of saying that the police were not doing their job, maybe tell the Mayor that we need more officers. Soon to be 75 short is not good for a city our size.
“Concerned Citizen”

Hope For Haiti

Where Were The Police?
After a tractor trailer turned over this past Sunday on I-24, many motorists were delayed for two hours or more due not to the accident itself but to the ineptitude of the local police. There was no coordination among law enforcement to help the people that were made to exit the Interstate. What were they thinking? How about some police to direct traffic for a few hours to get people through downtown Chattanooga until the Interstate was reopened? Our taxes at work!
J Nesbitt

Sugar Instead Of Milk
Please explain to me why the Hamilton County School cafeterias provide “Snow Cream” as a milk alternative in our elementary schools? Snow Cream (with the happy snowman on the bright white carton) is High Fructose Corn Syrup disguised as milk. The sad answer is because it is more profitable than milk.
Tom Carrin

Fairmount Avenue Freeze Out

Patton Towers Praise
I am very impressed. I felt like I was actually there and could see, hear, and smell the area [“Inside The Tower Walls”]. Although it’s a rather sad fate that such a beautiful, grand, and historic building should become a rundown project tenement only to be damaged or destroyed by fire, I loved the story.
Jackie Hampton

Poor Taste In Cartoon
While I normally enjoy the work of editorial cartoonist Rick Baldwin, last week’s cartoon featuring the Olympic medalists that included a luge athlete was, I felt, in very bad taste.  The entire Olympic family is still trying to process to loss of Nodar Kumaritashvili, and his death is not something to be used for comedic purposes.
Jessica Fowler

Editor’s Note: Editorial cartoonist Rick Baldwin in no way meant to make light of the death of Kumaritashvili, nor was his cartoon meant to draw humor from his tragic death at the Olympics.

Jam Band Brouhaha
The same preconceived notions and extremely angry rants that have just as much to do with the audience than the music only this time the comments prove either a lack of understanding or a deep-seated anger [“Not Just Another Jam Band’]. I am perfectly fine with anyone that does not like creative improvisation, but I have to question these two comments: “Lazy way to play music”—go listen to the jazz and classical influences in the music of Phish. That huge, diverse catalog of music was played note for note at their reunion tour starting. What you call noodling is actually very brave and inspiring improvisation within the bounds of complex, well-written arrangements. “You should have worked out your sound and your songs before I bought my first beer” —are you upset that the band can’t be pigeonholed and cataloged by your receptive ears in the first few minutes of the first song or do you have sympathy for record execs who find it difficult to shrink-wrap and mass produce these songs for pop-culture loving teenagers?
Bo Nash

Author Hellcat responds: Being a devil’s advocate and getting you guys riled up is part of my job. If you would breathe a minute and realize that I’m actually giving this music a chance, where I probably wouldn’t have a few years ago. I liked Moon Taxi. I just don’t like the term “jam band” or what it makes me think of.

Inside The Towers

No New Job Creation
No, Stuart James, the “stimulus” did not create any new jobs [“It’s Jobs (and the Economy), Stupid”, Beyond The Headlines]. It only moved jobs from place to place. If it spent tax dollars, the dollars were taken from somewhere, destroying jobs there. If it spent borrowed money, the money was loaned to Uncle Sam instead of to someone else. If it spent newly printed money, printing the new money reduced the value of existing money. Besides, our President said his stimulus would keep unemployment under 8%, and unemployment is now around 10%.
Andrew Lohr

Kudus To Dr. Rick
Many thanks for that thought provoking column [“It’s Good to Laugh—Because Then You Live Longer”, Shrink Rap]. I try to follow most of those ideas and principles but it is not always easy, of course. It is important to stop and ponder what effects your behavior might have on other individuals as well how it might ultimately affect your own life’s journey. A moment to simply pause and reflect on past situations can be a positive influence on how to avoid future pitfalls or simply to acknowledge how and why events occurred and move forward with a renewed commitment for a happy and healthy life. Keep up the good work and continue help steer all of us who rely on your sage advice.
Robert B. Brumfield

The Fat Lady Still Sings
In reading an article about opera by Stephanie Smith [“Opera-tunity in Chattanooga”], I read her opinion that the days of the fat opera singer are over.  Not true!  I recently watched an opera on television from the Met where both leading singers, male and female, were behemoths.  I have never, ever, seen larger people singing in an opera at the Met and I would venture that Rudolph Bing, who fired any singer who was overweight, such as the great Eleanor Steber, would be turning over in his grave if he saw these two heavyweights on the stage of the Metropolitan. The opera I saw with the two gigantic singers was an  “Aida” production and this opera is so  strenuous that it does call for singers of more heft, but singers with beautiful bodies have also sung these Verdi roles for many years.
Mildred Perry Miller

Editor’s note: Thanks so much for your comments, Ms. Miller. We do just want to point out that the remark about the “days of the fat opera singer are over” was made by chorus master Darrin Hassevoort, and was not writer Stephanie Smith’s personal opinion.

Beck And Tasers

Fairmount Avenue Housing
I think that the role of a housing authority and other government agencies is to compete for funds that the president has made available to create jobs.  Looking at this, I think that the housing authority has done just that; bringing four million plus dollars to Chattanooga is not easy when other agencies are competing for those same funds.  Maybe the city should support this project and find ways to make this work.  Improving the existing Fairmount site would be a plus for the residents.
Thomas Gooden

Rescheduled GOP Debate
The Chattanooga Tea Party and Campaign for Liberty have confirmed a new date for the LiberTea Debate of the six announced Republican candidates for Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for Saturday, February 27, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Woodland Park Baptist Church. The debate will be free and open to the public. The six candidates scheduled to attend the debate are Tommy Crangle, Chuck Fleischmann, Tim Gobble, Van Irion, Arthur Rhodes and Robin Smith. At the conclusion of the debate, citizens will be able to meet each candidate in a spearate room to discuss issues of interest to them.
Mark West
Chattanooga Tea Party

Termination For Teach

Teach “Intriguing”
I find Alex Teach’s columns intriguing and have enjoyed the read and subsequent discussion on traffic cameras from both sides. While I agree traffic cameras have a place in today’s society, I think Teach needs to address one major area of concern; mistaken identity, manipulation, and corruption. It is fine to point out all of the benefits and then provide rebuttal to sections of respondents, however he failed to point out the biggest concern of all; due process, which in turn leads to justice.
Tony Butler

Heavy Metal Love
Welcome to a new world, Hellcat [“It’s Never Too Late”]. You’ll find yourself enjoying it more and more. Metal is deeper than many people think, and you’ll find that there are many, many hidden gems waiting for you to find.
Philip Sterilyte

Useless Lawsuit
If the DA’s Office and the IA cleared the Deputies then why did the family think they could sue the Deputies for Wrongful Death [“Jury Clears Deputies In Wrongful Death Suit”]? If Jones would have been at home instead out driving drunk and pulling a knife on deputies who are out protecting us, then Jones wouldn’t have needed to be taken out. If he would act like he did to deputies, then he likely wouldn’t have thought twice about pulling a knife on someone in public. I think when our law enforcement has to deal with people like Jones, and then get dragged into court for doing their job, the officers should be able to sue the family.  That’s when these bulls**t suits will stop.
Michael Crites

Signs A Flop?
I understand that box office success doesn’t equal critical success which is why I also checked its critical success on rottentomatoes.com, where film critics from across the nation were more so positive about the film. While I agree that it certainly doesn’t qualify for the AFI’s top 100, I find it a little harsh to call it a “flop”, and compare it to films like Spider-Man 3 or Transformers 2, which were complete critical failures.
Zach Scheller

The recent news about Memorial Hospital’s decision to no longer hire smokers generated a lot of commentary on our web site and e-mails to our editorial staff.

The problem here is overreaching of the hospital to intrude into people’s life outside of work. Smoking, drinking, eating are legal. The hospital is in effect saying you cannot engage in a legal activity outside of work, like skydiving or motorcycle riding, smoking, drinking, eating etc. This does cross the line into personal freedom.
Thomas Quaranto

It’s nice that someone is finally willing to risk the lawsuits in order to push this issue to the forefront. I can’t recall how many places I’ve worked at where productivity is highly affected by smokers who need more then the allowed breaks to satisfy their cravings. Thankfully there’s no law that makes it illegal to not hire someone because of their drug cravings.
Peter Leroo

Smokers are already the lepers of the 21st century. Yeah, let’s find another way to screw with them. Sure, those usurious sin taxes are making piles of money, but we’re spending most of that on good stuff like bombs and prisons and other pork. And, after all, this is just about busting humps—and we can’t ever have too many ways of doing that!
G. W. Hayduke

Smoking may be their own business outside of work, but I can tell you a sick person cannot stand the smell of cigarette smoke on nurses clothing, hair etc. And those who are allergic to these type smells, including perfumes, it can make that sick person even sicker….keep chemical smells out of a hospital. I pass by people in markets, etc. and hurry out of the way from the horrible smells, old ladies who cover up body odor with baby powder and stinky perfumes, mixed with filthy bodies it’s an unbearable smell.
Ali Osborne

And our List last week about the Top Ten Best-Selling American Beers generated one of our favorite responses of all time.

I do not like Bud or Bud Light.
Please do not place them in my sight.
I will not sip upon a Coors.
It’s not my preference. It’s for curs.
Nor Miller Lite, High Life, or Genuine
Would I serve to friend, foe or anyone.
Nor Busch in any variety.
Change the spelling and we’ll see.
And bring me not a Michelob.
I much prefer an old Latrobe.
Or better yet, serve me my Guinness.
For among all beers, it is the Empress.
I do not like this choice of beer.
I hope I’ve made my preference clear.
I do not like your beery list.
I do not like it, get my gist?
“Homebrew” Dave Martin

Beautiful Column
It took me until today to read Chuck Crowder’s column about Susan [“Remembering Susan Berry Wood”, Life In The Noog]. I could barely get through it without gushing a thousand tears. Thank you for paying homage to a mutual friend of ours who was an outstanding human being. She and I totally got into more trouble than anyone else I can remember in high school. In the words of Billy Joel, “Only the good die young.” Thank you, Chuck.
Christa Mannarino

Big Brother Is Watching
It is very sad this woman died at the hands of one irresponsible citizen [“Remembering Susan Berry Wood”, Life In The Noog]. That being said, there is no reason this one incident should incite the general public to further succumb to Chattanooga’s Big Brother is Watching You, traffic patrol system. Horrible things happen every single day all over the world. More government policing is not the solution. You mention cheap taxis. I think a good solution is even cheaper taxis specifically for drunk people. There are lots and lots and lots of drunk drivers or buzzed drivers in this town. They need a real and more affordable way to get home. Taxis are not really that affordable. It’s almost 15 dollars for a ride from St. Elmo to downtown. If you live on one of the mountains or ridges you can pay over 20 dollars each way. We need better public sober transportation for the slew of drunk morons who gallivant around downtown every weekend.
Cliff Man

Obesity & Earth Fare
Earth Fare sponsored the Chattanooga Market last fall and I got to know the folks. They are all great people with honest goals of providing you with good, healthy food alternatives. If you’re a fan of the Chattanooga Market then you should be a customer of Earth Fare.
Paul Smith
Chattanooga Market