Letters for October 24, 2019

Left behind

There are consequences for a president creating foreign policy by the seat of his pants. First, we abandon the one group of fighters who stood with us when we asked and who provided the most important successes in the battles against ISIS. But because of the justifiable outcry by everyone who knows anything about this stuff, our commander in chief now says he's going to leave a small contingent behind to guard oil fields. I really feel for those brave souls who are left behind to try and accomplish this new mission. They're now working in an environment where they're seen as betrayers who cannot be trusted. And they're now more outnumbered than before with more hostility aimed at them than just a few weeks ago. This was completely created by the incompetency of Donald J. Trump. There are minimum qualifications for a commander in chief. The current occupier of the Oval Office has none of them. Elections matter. So do other constitutional options. Lives are at stake.

Michel Rottmann

Virginia City Highlands

Our correspondent

Re “From the driver's seat” (Letters, Oct. 17):

Dear MG Krebs,

You should know that often I write two or three letters to RN&R, depending on how deranged I feel. Since they only print a small fraction, you should be thankful they are protecting you from these objectionable opinions, contrary ideas, and weird writing styles.

And, yes, I will still share my food with you after Collapse.

Craig Bergland

Reno

Some of us learned a few things from the short California black-outs last week.

One is that our grid-tied PV systems won't work when the power's out. So instead of using solar-powered electric clothes dryers, many had to hang out laundry on actual clotheslines. Gasp!

Freezers full of food defrost and rot in a few short days. Generator-powered freezers require a whole lot of gas to operate for any length of time, and most gas stations don't pump fuel without power.

Therefore, clotheslines are cool, melting freezers of food are a great excuse to put on a huge feed for all the neighbors, and true food security is best served by stocking up inexpensive nonperishable items rather than relying on costly grid-dependent machines that fail miserably at the worst times.

MRE's anyone? Rice and beans to fill that empty belly? Sprouts?

Craig Bergland

Reno

Motor running

Re “Joy ride” (Arts&Culture, Oct. 10):

Just want to let you know that Robin Gouty, a.k.a. Giggles, had her Leather and Lace Motorcycle Club chapter OK'd by the Confederation of Clubs quite a few years ago. She moved to Florida but is truly missed.

P.S. Been meaning to give y'all a hard time about the inserts printed on shiny paper … c'mon!

Shelly Mcfarlane

Reno

Therapists out of work

There have already been negative impacts to some of our Skilled Nursing Facilities due to corporate greed and recent Medicare payment changes. It's also anticipated that upcoming changes to Home Health will also have effects on reducing the number of therapies provided to Americans with Medicare. It turns out that an increasing number of large and medium-sized companies have let go 15-25 percent of their therapist workforce in order to increase their profits at the expense of retired Americans. Yes, you read that correctly. The unemployment rate for therapists just took a hit recently.

Retired Americans—our parents, neighbors, friends, and family—that rely on Medicare will now receive less rehabilitative therapy while these skilled nursing companies get richer. How beneficial is Medicare or Medicare for All when it becomes a weakened shell of the promise made to our retired Americans that just want to get stronger and return home? Why are we not protecting our educated, service industry but instead let the quality of health care decrease across the nation?

I would love to see our representatives roll back a portion of the recent changes that have begun and will continue to decrease the amount of rehabilitative therapy provided to our Medicare recipients. And I would love to see that increasing number of recently unemployed therapists put back to work. It's disappointing to allow our retirement health care to regress for Americans that have worked so hard during their lives. Thank you for your time and God bless.

Christopher Lanski

Reno