Rights lost with stop-loss policy

With our family name being news, I feel it is necessary to try to explain a very alarming fact our government is forcing upon our veterans.

When you enlist in the Army, you do so for a certain number of years; three or four is the norm of active duty and the same amount of time in the reserves. Remember, these soldiers volunteered for duty.

The American people would not stand for another draft, like there was in the ’70s; recruitment numbers are at an all-time low in the Army; so the government employs a stop-loss policy _ if a vet is supposed to be released after completing his active-duty requirements, and his unit is to be redeployed to Iraq or Afghanistan within a period of time from his separation date from the military, the military doesn’t let him out. Soldiers are sent back overseas for at least another year’s tour of duty, at which time the military tells them, they’re here for a year at least, so why not re-enlist for two years. It offer them a monetary bonus to persuade those 22-year-olds to re-enlist.

How can this possibly be legal? Even volunteer soldiers must have some rights. This policy has been in effect since the end of the Vietnam War, but I do not believe any administration has ever forced it upon its veterans. Just because the government says it’s legal certainly doesn’t make it right. How many more rights will the government take from the American people? How much more will you surrender to the Bush administration for its so-called global war on terrorism?

For me, I’m done. It tries to take anything from me or my family, it can expect a fight. It’s time Americans take back our country. God help us.

Tom Rowe

Oneonta

Rowe is the father of Korey Rowe who is charged with desertion from the Army.

More psych services needed

I left Fox hospital to take a position as a social worker at a local hospice. The function of my new job has me thinking of the closure of these units in terms of loss. This is a loss for the employees, the hospital itself, the immediate community, families, and the region that the hospital units serve. Fox Hospital services four counties _ Delaware, Otsego, Chenango and Schoharie.

I’ve also been thinking of how the world has changed and how that is directly related to the need for an increase, not a decrease, in psychiatric services. We all grapple with questions and fears every day that we never lived with before in regards to terror and the safety of ourselves and our families. Also, our social problems have increased. We see more broken families, more discrimination, more physical illness and more traumas both at the individual and community level.

It is also important to normalize the need for mental-health services. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how much education, what job, or family history. A significant percentage of the patients that I cared for during my 3½-plus years working at Fox did not fall into some overarching description of what a mental patient should be.

The need for these acute services is of the utmost importance due to the changes referenced above. Most of the needs were not chronic or those of individuals persistently ill. Most of the needs were those individuals who found themselves in a crisis state. Crisis often represents opportunity. Those crisis situations often represented an opportunity for an individual to receive intervention, to increase outpatient services, to reach out to a support system, to normalize their symptoms and to decrease hopelessness/isolation.

Sarah Bliss

Burlington Flats

Bad breeders must be closed

Don’t you hate it when you buy a puppy from a dog breeder and it’s sick! And the breeders get away with it! They just keep on breeding dogs and letting dogs die! They are as bad as those people who fight dogs and kill dogs! They should not be getting away with what they are doing. It’s called animal cruelty, people!

There are sick and dying dogs at these so-called "breeders" and we do nothing about it, but turn the other cheek. Would you turn the other cheek if it was your dog who was hurt, sick or dying? I know you wouldn’t, because I’m a dog owner myself. So why let all these other animals at breeders die?

Yes, some breeders do take care of their animals, and I’m proud that they do, but what about those immature ones who don’t care for their animals? They are giving other breeders bad names, and should be shut down for good. No matter how many times you take these cruel puppy breeders to court _ and even if you win _ they are still in business.

Selling a sick puppy is against the law _ so they broke the law and don’t have to pay for it? It’s basically telling people that if your dog is sick and you don’t want to deal with it _ sell it! You’ll get away with it. These dog breeders who don’t know what they are doing should be shut down and banned from breeding dogs. Those breeders who know how to take care of their dogs and are responsible should be the only ones still open!

Amanda Hanford

Davenport