No wonderland at bottom of the doughnut hole

No wonderland at bottomof the doughnut hole
EDITOR:
Step lightly. There is a big hole in the middle of Medicare Part D.
After you spend $2,250, you drop into the doughnut hole and you are on your own till you reach $5,100. If you don't get out of the hole and you are still alive, the "Part D" will kick in again in 2007.
Had the politicians wanted Part D to work for us, wouldn't they have made it more practical? All these plans have complex trade-offs, such as deductibles, co-pays and premiums. You can call their hot line for "HELP" and listen to a recording.
How can I pick the best plan when I can't foretell the future? I can predict that doughnut hole. It is big and wide.
Part D is a gamble and no one would have made it so confusing without doing so intentionally. It is too bad we couldn't have leaders creating a drug program like the ones who created Medicare in 1965.
Why not a drug plan where everyone gets the same coverage for the same price? This Part D can botch the original Medicare by pushing you toward managed care.
This gobbledygook is intended as a welfare system for the pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
JAN NANCE
CAROL CREWS RANDLES
Diamond
What are people doing to Christmas in our country?
EDITOR:
A few weeks ago, I went to bed a proud American, snuggled in the comfort of home of the brave, land of the free, one nation under God -- and I arose to such a clatter that I jumped out of my bed to see what was the matter. To my amazement, my Christmas tree became a "holiday tree" and my beautiful Nativity scene became a "holiday display." People were saying things like "happy holiday" and "winter break" instead of "merry Christmas" and "Christmas vacation."
I checked and double checked the household calendars to make sure that Dec. 25 still really was Christmas, and sure enough they verified what I knew to be true. To confirm this, I went to Webster's New World Dictionary for the definition of Christmas and it stated that, in fact, Dec. 25 was the day celebrating the birth of Jesus. This day has been celebrated for over 2,000 years and now it is not politically correct to say "merry Christmas" because, once again, we might offend someone and we don't want to leave anyone out.
Well, who's offended? Not any of my nonChristian friends. Could those offended be people who do not believe in God? Maybe they want the presents? Presents go under the tree, and are reminiscent of gift giving by the Three Kings to Baby Jesus. This season is not meant to encompass everyone. It is a Christian day.
Our country was founded on Christian beliefs and we have always welcomed and supported those of other faith commitments, but now I am the one who is offended. Where will it all stop? If it were not for Christians and Christmas, many retail stores would be out of business because Christmas accounts for over a third of their total sales for the year.
This madness has to stop. We say Happy Hanukkah when it's Hanukkah. We say we're celebrating Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 15 and even happy Ground Hog Day. It's Christmas, folks, so just say it. I personally see this as a full blown discrimination against Christians. The pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction, some of us hardly recognize this country.
My suggestion to the no prayer people, the holiday tree people, the people who want all references of God taken out of our pledge, off our money, out of our courthouses and public places -- you can voice your piece, but if you're that unhappy about all this, then go find another country to live in.
Personally, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed new year.
JOANNE BROWN
Poland
Let's all just take a breathbefore we say anything
EDITOR
The more I hear people harumphing over this reheated stew of a debate, the more I think we need a celebration of forgiveness in which we study ways of being less thin-skinned and look for ways in which to just relax and get over ourselves. From about Thanksgiving to January each year, the same argument is wrenched from its little hideaway amid the tinsel and cr & egrave;ches, and it is throstled and thrust up people's noses by bullies dead-set on making the whole season miserable while foisting the blame on others.
Whether store staff say "merry Christmas" or "happy holidays" is immaterial to me -- they are extending a courtesy, and I will not carp over the words when the intent is simply an expression of good will and common civility. It is, at best, ridiculously self-absorbed to respond to such an expression with a snide critique, no matter what religious viewpoint is at either end of the transaction. Is anyone's faith really so shaky that it will be harmed by not saying -- or hearing -- & quot;merry Christmas" accompany the blip-bleep-blip of the cash registers? In fact, rather than getting worked up that store staff are told to say "happy holidays," why not think about the subsuming of the message of Christmas by the merchandisers? The experience of strategic shopping for the Furbee or the nano-pod or the wide-screen digital TV seems to me unlikely to be corrupted beyond retrieval by a generic holiday greeting. However, the strategic shopping aspect certainly seems to have corrupted celebration of the Christ Mass. This has become more and more a secular holiday not because of the influence of other religions, but because of commercial influences maximizing sales by playing on people's pride, gluttony, envy, lust, anger, greed and sloth. Instead of joining the argument we should be remembering what the words of Christ meant to humanity in a time and place that was full of bloodshed and vengeance.
These are more and more dangerous times we live in if we are so easily roused to fighting temper. And the anger and resentment being stirred by people (who are paid very nice salaries to stir up controversy) seems to me to be pointedly unChristian. I will say "merry Christmas," "happy holidays" or whatever pops into my head to break the monotony of expressing the same thought over and over and over, because I mean to wish people well, and to do so with feeling. And I will graciously accept others' good will in any form they choose.
May you all have a very warm and merry Christmas.
VIRGINIA ELSER
Youngstown
Lessons of America are not taught at School of Americas
EDITOR:
Two months ago, my two friends and I made our annual pilgrimage to Atlanta, Ga., to protest the SOA, School of the Americas, in particular and our military's involvement in Latin America in general. Many people cannot understand why three middle aged, professional women would spend some of their precious free time away from their families to attend a protest that never gets much media attention. The reason is that the three of us believe in local justice, not only for the citizens of this great nation but for the citizens of the world.
Currently the United States government is an active contributor to the war in Columbia. This is happening with little public knowledge. Columbia has the worst human rights record in all of the Americas. At the SOA, recently renamed WHINSEC, our military has been involved in training Latin American soldiers for civilian-targeted warfare, which includes harassment, threats, torture and killing of religious, labor and human rights activists. The three of us only hope that our attendance at this annual protest, along with 20,000 other country-loving people of all ages, will inspire others to look into their government's activities in Latin American and around the world.
We go, every year, to stand in the sun or rain in solidarity with the people of Latin American, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent. We stand for economic and social justice and our only hope is that anyone reading this will at least look into what is happening in Latin America today.
REGINA REYNOLDS
Struthers