Letters to the editor 5-20

Government not the solution to our issues

The tea party. Well, I attended it and what did I see?

It looked to be about 2,000 people in front of the legislative building in Carson City. Who was there? Basically people who wanted a constitutional republic. Hey, we are not a democracy. There were whites, blacks, Asians, old people, young people, middle-aged people and families " yep, moms, dads and kids.

The attitude was like Ronald Reagan government. Get off our back; allow us to keep our own money. As individuals, we can do a better job of taking care of ourselves far better than Washington, D.C.

It is true. Government at all levels, most of all the federal government, is not the solution to our problems. They are the problem.

Did I vote for Obama? No. Would I vote for a black? You bet, if it were Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell. Would I vote for a woman? You bet, if it were Margaret Thatcher. It is a matter of what they stand for. As for me, I am for the enumerated powers section of the constitution and the 10th amendment.

TONY KLEIN

Minden

Selfish person thanked

for bring joy for brief time

Someone in our fair city recently dumped four kittens into a bush to die.

Along comes a friend of mine and finds them. Then after bottle feeding them a few days, calls me and asks for help. They were so small they fit in the palm of my hand.

What a joy they were just to have them around. To help I took two because I knew I could find them a real good home. A lot better than the one they came from before being dumped. How can anyone do something like that to such innocent little babies when there are adoption programs?

But when you stop and think about it, when all people do is help themselves, how can they be expected to help anything else?

I want to thank that selfish person for the joy they put into my life for a very brief time. The babies are now doing very well.

DONALD PAETZ

Carson City

Study based on dubious

medical, statistical science

The American Academy of Pediatrics Journal report on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder drugs and supposed enhanced academic achievement that appeared in the April 29 Appeal misleads parents and teachers. The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, is based on dubious statistical and medical science.

The subjectivity of an ADHD diagnosis is evident in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the "bible" of the American Psychiatric Association. The criteria for all mental disorders are behavioral, not biological. Frequently claims of a "chemical imbalance" are cited by the APA as justification for diagnosis and drug treatment, but they confess that they "do not have an independent valid test for ADHD and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to brain malfunction."

A study by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, funded by the National Institute of Health, arrived at a different conclusion. As reported in the March 2009 AACAP Journal, ADHD drugs do minimal good for inattention or social functioning and may stunt children's growth. Growth inhibition is but one of a plethora of harmful side-effects of cocaine-like psychostimulants.

Since both studies were funded by agencies of the federal government, which are awash in corrupting pharmaceutical company money " as are the AAP, the APA, and the AACAP " what is the public to believe?

Perhaps it's time to stop pathologizing childhood and let children be children.

SHARON S. KIENTZ

Carson City

Unfortunate carnage that

comes with the times

In response to "a nation of whiners." Because you are a federal retiree, I will respect the fact that you may have no clue as to the suffering of the workers of this country. I can't begin to tell you how your letter must have hurt all the people who have lost their jobs or lost income because of the economic slow down.

I personally have had to lay off half the people working for me. The ones lucky enough to keep their jobs have lost all overtime and raises until things change. I don't think they are whiners. They are the unfortunate carnage that comes with the times.

If you want to pay a few more tax dollars, great. The money came out of the private sector in the first place. I'm sure my employees would have been grateful for a 10 percent cut rather than no job at all, but they didn't have the choice. Those who are left working for me may have to make that choice with a reduced work week.

No whiners here. Just a lot of people hoping to make it through this with something left.

WALT OWENS

Carson City