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Casino theme a tribute?

To The Editor:

The Monday, Aug. 11 Times & Transcript carried front-page story concerning the appropriateness/inappropriateness of a "lighthouse" theme for the new casino proposed for the Magnetic Hill area of Moncton. Was this a Freudian slip?

After all, the purpose of a lighthouse is to warn of dangers hidden just below the surface, or of the certainty of shipwreck on dangerous shores not clearly visible in the fog to the unsuspecting "sailor."

Perhaps a more appropriate logo would be the Magnetic Hill magnet, or, to stick with the railroad imagery, a train on its way out of town!

Personally, I think a lollipop (make that "sucker"), or a vacuum cleaner might be a great logo . . . or even a toilet!

Perhaps there's someone else out there with an even more appropriate suggestion; after all, there's a lot of creative people in our fine city.

R. Thomas,

Moncton

Health care workers praised

To The Editor:

I am a person with a chronic illness and you could say that I am a "frequent flyer" when it comes to our health care system; in particular the services supplied by The Moncton Hospital.

I want to take a minute to thank health care workers, beginning with our paramedics. They have had to pick me up fairly frequently in the past few years and they have always acted with compassion and professionalism.

These men and women give a lot on a personal level to each and every person they deal with on a daily basis.

Thank you to the staff in the emergency room. They never get a respite from the constant barrage of sick people at their door; many with chronic illnesses who are repeat visitors. Most emergency room doctors and nurses know they can only help us in the short term. They do their best to assess the situation and provide relief. I am very grateful for their help and they have carried me through many a crisis.

I have probably spent time in almost every hospital unit. What I see there is scary. Nurses, LPNs, PCAs and support staff who sometimes work an eight- or 12-hour shift, lucky if they get a couple of 15 minute breaks. Many of the units require staff to work way beyond what is reasonable and "healthy." Go figure!

Most staff are pleasant, sympathetic, responsive and even cheerful with their patients. I know that I couldn't do it.

Maybe it isn't perfect but we are very lucky to have our health care system. If I lived in almost any other country in the world, I would be a dead person. I think that we all need to be more active in supporting the front line workers and support staff who are carrying this system for all of us.

Instead of complaining, get involved. They can certainly use more volunteers. You never know when you or a family member will need them!

Connie Tanaka,

Moncton

Seniors should have all services

To The Editor:

This is an open letter to New Brunswick Minister of Health Mike Murphy and Minister of Social Development Mary Schryer:

I write to you with great sadness and disappointment in our provincial health care system in regard to our frail, very ill nursing home residents.

My mother, who has Alzheimer's, has been in a nursing home for the past five years, and recently had a terrible chest cold. She is like a two-year-old; she does not know how to cough up or ring the bell for help. She is a typical Alzheimer's patient.

Her physician prescribed antibiotics, a chest decongestant, and requested Extra Mural services for some respiratory therapy.

Well guess what?

The chest decongestant medication is NOT paid for by the province and apparently Extra Mural respiratory services are NOT available to long-term nursing home residents.

If my mother had been sent to the hospital she would have had any service available, all medication covered under Medicare, and it would have cost our government and taxpayers about $1,000 per day. She remained in the nursing home at a cost of $155 per day.

Hon. Mike Murphy, there is something terribly wrong with this picture.

Nursing home residents should have all medication, treatments and services paid for under our provincial health care plan.

Also, Hon. Mary Schryer, ALL nursing home residents across this province deserve adequate health care and services.

Our seniors in nursing homes are not second rate citizens -- they have built this province.

Our premier, Shawn Graham, must seriously look into this situation.

Our nursing home residents should receive all the care that they require in the last years of their lives.

Our province would not permit neglect to animals; please take immediate action and do not neglect the nursing home residents.

Veronica Ratchford,

Bathurst

Green mania goes too far

To The Editor:

Is there no end to this green madness?

First, a disclaimer: I wholeheartedly approve efforts to "go green." Recycling and cleaning up pollution are great. What I don't accept is mass media, politicians like Stéphane Dion, and the public education system making the slogan the weapon of choice for social indoctrination on disastrous man-made global warming.

How in the world can any thinking person believe that man controls climate? How have we done so far controlling tropical storms, hurricanes, tornados, snowstorms, low pressure systems, high pressure systems, winds, rain, droughts, floods?

The idea that man controls "Mother Nature" is beyond preposterous. Carbon alone is the fourth most common element on earth. Virtually all animals/humans that breathe in oxygen breathe out C02. Plants use CO2 for photosynthesis. In other words C02 is a normal gas found in Earth's atmosphere, albeit in small amounts.

Who hasn't noticed in the past years how just about every commercial, newscast, and show keeps saying green? BP is green. Fredericton is green. Wal-mart is green. Best Western is green. There's even a green TV channel now. And the list grows daily. If this isn't mass brainwashing, I don't know what is.

Not, as I've said, that there's anything wrong with the concept, but tying it in with stopping an imaginary catastrophic climate change is deluding people.

If I hear green, one more time, I'm gonna turn purple.

Thaddée Renault,

Fredericton