Letters to the Editor

Medicare: A

moral obligation

To the Editor:

Over the past year, I've met with thousands of folks in all 19 counties of the 8th district, and the message was clear: Congress is not listening to Hoosiers. Hoosiers are angry that during these tough economic times, Congressman Bucshon would vote to end the Medicare guarantee, while giving more tax cuts to multimillionaires and companies that ship our jobs overseas.

After a lifetime of paying into Medicare, we have a moral responsibility to ensure that the program is preserved for current and future retirees. It's a matter of moral imperative and sound policy. Medicare ensures that seniors have access to affordable health coverage, provides seniors with financial security, and eases the burden of skyrocketing health care costs.

I am equally concerned about the impact President Obama's health care law will have on Medicare. The new law places a tremendous amount of power in the hands of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel of appointed officials who will have the power to make changes to Medicare. Because voters won't be able to hold this board accountable, it poses a serious risk to Medicare's future, and I believe IPAB should be eliminated. And I absolutely oppose the provision of the law that takes $500 billion away from Medicare. This aspect of the law must be changed.

Everybody in Indiana knows that times are tough and we must make sacrifices. We have to cut spending and balance the budget, but seniors and the middle-class shouldn't always be on the losing end in Washington's budget decisions. Programs that protect our nation's seniors and the middle class shouldn't be the first items on the chopping block.

Congressman Bucshon has a different view. He wants seniors to pay over $6,000 more each year for the same health benefits and give more tax cuts to multimillionaires. This approach is irresponsible, and Congressman Bucshon must be held accountable.

What I've learned traveling the district and listening to residents is that Hoosiers simply want someone who shares their values and who has their back in the face of a broken Washington. Unfortunately, that's not the type of representative we have today.

Hoosiers deserve better, and I'm running for Congress to stand up for our seniors, and to make sure hard-working Hoosiers have someone fighting for them.

Dave Crooks

Washington, Ind.

Keeping an eye

on the weather

To the Editor:

From earliest times, man stood in awe and wonderment as weather unfolded before his eyes. His records like pebbles were collected into chronologies that provide a glimpse of bygone weather.

Sometimes rare events were described as surreal images. In China, tornadoes and waterspouts were often seen as battles between dragons. The tail of the dragon (tornado funnel) was visible, while the dragons fought hidden in the clouds. Then in an instant with a great roar, the dragon would swoop down with its mighty claws and splinter trees or pull them out by the roots, destroy building and scoop up men and cattle into the sky where they were never seen from again.

Early American Indians were more afraid of "pogonip" than rattlesnakes. "Pogonip" translates to "white death." It is a mist of frozen vapors, microscopic particles of ice, called diamond dust. These particles are so fine that when breathed in, they can perforate the lungs and cause death within a day.

History records hailstones so large that they killed men, horses and cattle. Sometimes storms deposited hailstones to a depth of 10-feet. Extremely rare events describe large slabs of ice falling from the sky, such as in France in 823.

Dust and rain storms collide to create mudstorms that rain down thick mud.

There are historical accounts of "Snow Rollers," snowballs rolled by strong winds like a jellyroll to form large cylinder of snow, generally in flat fields. A few years back, I was amazed to see a field of snow rollers in Bloomfield.

There were winters so severe that wild animals and birds could be approached and picked up by hand. When packs of wolves were driven into the villages and cities in search for food, even human prey. Weather caused famines so severe that the consequences, I don't even want to speak about. The scale of some of these natural events are breathtaking and the disasters they wrought inconceivable.

I have collected and combined the information from many chronologies into a grand chronology titled "A Chronological Listing of Early Weather Events." It covers the years 1 A.D. to 1900 A.D. The book is now in its sixth edition and over 1,100 pages long and still it only scratches the surface. It is available free on the Internet at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Weather.pdf . But be forewarned, this 15.4 MB file may take a little time to download.

James A. Marusek

Bloomfield

Thank you for birthday wishes

To the Editor:

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday cards, flowers and gifts. Also, thank you for the two surprise birthday parties.

It was awesome and made my 90th birthday very special. I love you all.

God bless.

Sue Brown Puckett

Linton