Letters to veterans impressed this letter writer

Touching letters

Yesterday, I was at the Veterans Park and noticed some letters in zip-lock bags laying on the bench in front of the memorial directory. The first one I opened had a very good drawing of a man and woman in uniform basically saying "Yes You Can" and thanking the veterans for their service.

I then opened another letter and when I finished around an hour or so later, I had opened all of the letters to the Veterans from Pensacola High School. I was very "touched" by these letters.

It is very nice to know that these students cared enough to write these individual letters and express their appreciation to the veterans of the United States.

Students, thank you and thanks to your teachers.

— T. E. (Ted) French

Lillian, Ala.

More paths

I recently came across Kaycee Lagarde's "Bicycle, Pedestrian Pathways Planned for South Santa Rosa" article.

Though I have recently moved to Virginia for school, Santa Rosa County has been my home for many years. A possible benefit of the new bicycle and pedestrian pathways could be cultivating a greater sense of community among the people of Santa Rosa. I think families and friends would be more inclined to walk and exercise along the path, thus, creating a stronger sense of community and increasing the overall wellness of our community.

Plans should be put in place to further implement sidewalks and paths throughout Santa Rosa County. Benefits of fostering a sense of community in Santa Rosa County include an increase in people-to-people interaction and family involvement. In turn, this family-to-family interaction could have other benefits, including a possible decrease in juvenile delinquency because of the time spent with family instead of time spent with other, possibly negative, activities.

Additionally, time spent outside either walking or doing other light exercise could increase a family's overall physical wellness. Providing places for people to gather and meet is vital to increasing our county's sense of community.

— Magi Linscott

Harrisonburg, Va.

Full credit

Rachel Maddow attempted to defend Obama's record when she stated "Take a look at this … Gas under $3 a gallon ... Unemployment under 6 percent ... Stock market breaking records every day."

But do these figures really vindicate Obama's record? When gas prices hit highs in April, we heard again and again that the president does not have control over oil prices, and that oil prices are the product of global economic demand. Want to know who to thank for low oil prices? Thank the American innovators who have created the current domestic oil boom, and who are crippling OPEC's market domination.

Are we to trust Maddow's cited unemployment numbers, and can we thank Obama for any jobs that have been created? Those thanks are due to American business owners who, through amazing resilience, are creating jobs despite Obama's economic meddling, not because of it.

And then the stock market. A rising market correlates to hope toward the future, yet exit polls after Tuesday's election showed a majority of Americans think that America's best days have passed. After six years in office, it is this statistic to which Obama is due full credit.

— Cristov Dosev

Pensacola

Scare tactic

It is unfortunate that Mr. Burke (Nov. 9 letter to the editor) was confused by the letter his wife received, and which he assumed was sent by the Health and Human Services Office of the U.S. government.

According to Mr. Burke's statement, the letter addressed "egregious Medicare cuts" and contained various comments attributed to the secretary of HHS as to the dire consequences seniors would face from these "cuts."

Mr. Burke went on to assume that these alleged changes were all due to the Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare."

In fact, the source of the letter is a Texas-based corporation that uses this scare tactic to acquire senior's personal information which they sell to marketing companies. In fine print, the letter even acknowledges that the company has no connection to the U.S. government. (For verification, Google "Letter from 323 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E. Washington, D.C.) The company is facing legal action from the Texas attorney general's office.

Even more disturbing is the decision of the PNJ editorial department to print a letter which references such commonly known fraudulent content, thus perpetuating the misinformation. One should hope that the PNJ would adhere to a higher journalistic standard.

— Kent Rettig

Pensacola