Letters to the Editor

Getting medical assistance is not what it used to be

How come in years past, about 1950 to 1965 doctors actually spent time with patients and actually cured them? Yet today’s doctors aren’t able to spend time with us and seem to find ways to refer us to a specialist that our primary doctors think is the one specializing in our problems.

The referral will usually be one to three months down the road, if that soon. So that means whatever our problems are, they get that much time to get worse.

There is something wrong with the way the health field is progressing don’t you think?

Today’s medical practitioners nearly always must refer one to a “specialist” for almost anything you go to them for..

Then the specialist needs to have tests done, X-rays, blood, etc. By the time one gets in to be seen, it’s been so long you are really sick or expired.

It seems that with all the information available, our primary doctors should be able to diagnose and correct most health problems on your first visit but it doesn’t happen. (Or at least not that I am aware of.) With government health care it’s only going to get worse, per some foreign country visitors.

A very close friend has been in pain and sick for approximately 10 or 12 years with the same problems and has seen multiple doctors, specialists, taken multiple CTs, X-rays, blood tests, usually the same ones over and over without any definite results. I’ve even had some of the same without results myself. When I was just in my early childhood, when I had a problem it was resolved, sometimes even in my own home.

Maybe some of the old-time practitioners are needed again. It might alleviate long periods between illness and appointments like today’s health care.

Henry Hurlbut

ID is needed for almost everything, including voting

I guess if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it. One such lie is that there was no corruption in the November election. I happened to listen to about 80 hours of testimony of observed corruption on television, all with affidavits that if were lies would be punishable by incarceration. Of course many of the TV stations refused to listen to these hearings, but the attorney general of Texas says they have over 800 cases of fraud in the election that are being brought to court just in the state of Texas.

Another lie, that many do not want you to know, is that the law the Democrats are promoting in Congress and the Senate, is that the election will be racist if we require identification. We need identification to do almost anything, fly, drive, etc. I do not understand how anyone could think that would be OK to not require identification.

Most of the nations of the world require identification to vote. Without identification, people could vote as many times as they want and not allow one vote to one citizen.

Judy Pendleton

Reader takes offense at letter on gun ownership

While it would never occur to Mr. Ferrell, he is actually the one stirring up hate with his vitriol concerning Fox News, issues relating to guns, and basically having his inane letters printed for everyone to see.

Gushing on Biden’s and Feinstein’s attempts to make sure guns are sold only to responsible people, he, like every other liberal, lies through omission: There are already more than enough laws in effect that make it a crime to sell or transfer a gun to a minor, a felon, or any number of not-responsible persons.

And, wanting to show his ability to regurgitate the mainstream media’s pabulum, he misleadingly denigrates Fox News (they must be doing something right to incur his ire) by saying Fox News cannot call themselves a news organization in Canada. Not only is this fake news but even if it was true, who cares what Canada does to limit what people have to say? I suppose Mr. Fakenews would like censorship here as he must believe the average American cannot discern fact (Fox) from fiction (All the rest).

Let’s not even discuss his inane admission that he will be the responsible person who should not have a gun if the government suspends the Second Amendment, since I am sure he means himself when he writes, “Law or no law, citizens as a whole, will keep their guns for protection.” That is a valid assumption (follow me here, Mr. Ferrell) since he previously stated “I am a Democrat and I have guns in my home for protection … . .”.

So, yes it is all right to read Mr. Ferrell’s diatribes (quoting Mr. Ferrell) “for laughs, but beyond that they serve society in a negative way.”

Luckily I still have recourse to point out liberal blather when it rears its ugly head, even though I am sure when I point out that the emperor is naked, I am the real problem.

David Perlman

Most Democrats have views like Groucho Marx, not Karl Marx

Today’s “conservative-Republicans” have done a masterful job of brainwashing and hoodwinking many Americans into believing that the national Democrats are now some kind of “socialists.”

We now have a #1 best-seller on the non-fiction list titled “American Marxism” (written by Mark Levin) with a picture of a hammer and a sickle on the cover. This would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic. Because with respect to their political and economic views, most of my fellow Democrats have views that are closer to those of Groucho Marx than they are to Karl Marx.

Please read the article titled “Bernie Sanders Isn’t A Socialist” by Paul Krugman which you can find online.

It appeared in the February 13, 2020 issue of the New York Times. Krugman won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, so it is safe to say that what he says about this is much more credible and believable than what a right-wing “Fox News” fanatic and extremist like Mark Levin says.

Sincerely,

Stewart B. Epstein

Most politicians leave the public sector much richer

Mr. Ferrell’s letter to the PVT, on July 14 was fairly long on words but short on useful information, sounding as if fully embracing the U.S. Constitution while glossing over things that logically are in opposition of it and many of its principles.

I fully understand how powerful long-held and deeply invested emotions can overshadow real facts and justify one’s beliefs, it is difficult for logic to dominate emotion, to the point that they become detrimental, or as Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things”. That’s the area our flawed Founding Fathers impressed me the most, understanding human nature and particularly how emotions can override all reason. They certainly had blind spots, but made every human attempt to create barriers and safeguards against humans’ susceptibility to their emotions taking charge of those in positions of power.

These barriers have been subjected to assaults since the beginning (sometimes even with good intentions), and cracks are now visible. Think about all the recent political figures that have spent their lives in public office or made political connections to become lobbyists, advisers, the media, high tech, finance, etc. that have become quite lucrative, on both sides of the aisle.

It is extremely rare to find someone to leave the public sector with less financial worth than they had going in. Sanders spent years telling us “millionaires need to pay more taxes”, then suddenly he found he was a millionaire, so he just moved the goalpost to billionaires.

Our new president has a carefully fabricated persona of being a ‘working class’ politician yet has never held a working-class job for any length of time but has fed in the “public trough” for half a century and also became quite wealthy, with maybe some questionable activities that may not stand up to any real scrutiny. A well-crafted public persona is a proven emotional motivator either positively or negatively depending on where it’s from and how often it’s repeated. Sometimes the one in question hurts or helps that narrative by their mannerisms, again triggers their audience’s emotions. This is one of the biggest reasons I don’t particularly care to listen to any politician speak, I prefer to read what they say, then look at their actions and finally judge the results of those actions.

There are a few undeniable facts that are evident for anyone who cares to see them. First, we know the “Orange Monster” is crude and many find him obnoxious, even with these shortcomings, prior to the Chinese COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. economy was showing great improvements for the nation as a whole, particularly with working people and real spendable income.

Next, for the first time since the 1950s, we were energy independent and actually an energy exporter. Then there were Middle-eastern countries signing agreements with Israel, with more considering to do so (until the administration changed).

Our southern border was becoming better secured and orderly through rules that were being implemented and understood clearly. Even the operation “Warp Speed” was ridiculed and mocked by the very people who are now demanding full compliance and contorting to convenience the nation. The “Orange Monster” had little to do with it and they are the true heroes.

I’m always interested and open to new factual information that would change my mind on important things that are likely to affect me, my family, my friends, and my country, as long as the information is factual or at least can be reasonably verifiable to be true or likely to be true, and not based on conjecture or personal opinion. Second, third, and even fourth opinions, even from experts is a lesson I learned the hard way long ago.

David Jaronik

The country certainly not what it used to be says reader

What is happening to our country? Thinking back to the time that I grew up in, the 1950’s, I hardly recognize it. Back then we had families where the men worked, women raised kids at home. Now kids are handed off to school, day care or a babysitter. Everybody is doing their thing and families spend very little time together.

We worked instead of finding some government to support us. We did not have psychologists inventing things that they had to treat people for. I never heard of PTSD, ADHD or Bipolar and, I never knew anybody that had to have a service animal with them 24/7 to maintain their sanity.

Back then government was not so divided when Ronald Reagan was president, Tip O’Neil was speaker. They were on opposite ends of the political spectrum but would always come to the center and got things done. Now whoever has a majority takes the “my way or the highway” approach. Defund the police, now there’s a great idea, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that less police means more crime, and that’s exactly what’s happening in all cities mostly led by liberal Democrats, that have adopted the defund policy. They now realize their mistake and want to re-fund and re-build their police departments.

The problem is lack of personnel. Officers have resigned or retired and finding new recruits is challenging, police officers are not respected, underpaid and sometimes charged with a crime because someone made a video of them making an arrest that became violent. While less police means less security for all of us, Nancy Pelosi and other politicians are spending taxpayer money for their personal security.

Immigration - I am not anti-immigrant, in fact I am one, born in England, my family applied for a visa to come to America in 1958, after being vetted, vaccinated, and finding a sponsor, the visa was granted. Even back then there were illegals, when caught they were bused back across the border. Fast-forward to the present, we have hundreds of thousands walking in as if the border doesn’t exist. These are not vetted in any way, we know nothing about who they are, what their intentions are or what they’re bringing into the country. Many of those tested have COVID, so the untested probably do too.

So, while American citizens are advised to get vaccinated and wear masks, the illegals can access any part of our country and spread this deadly disease. Our fearless leader, Mr. Biden, made a huge error in judgement when he reversed the Trump policy of keeping them in Mexico until they were vetted.

I may be living in the past, but we had a simpler, less stressful life and didn’t need appointments and reservations to do anything.

George Cross

No excuse for frustrating experience at area DMV says reader

I wish to give a few thoughts on the DMV in Pahrump. I am in total amazement that we have come so far in the computer age and cannot cure the problems of the aforesaid DMV.

You go up there at 7 a.m. and stand in line for an hour before the door opens. Once you get in, unless you are one of the first 10-15 people, you could be there for several hours only to find that you do not have the proper documentation.

You then go home and attempt to obtain the aforesaid documentation and then you start the process over. This can be a two or three times or maybe longer process. You cannot convince me that this cannot be corrected.

When we switched over from chauffeur’s license to CDL (nothing but a money grab) I did my part and went with my current license and all of my paperwork to the DMV in Henderson to switch over. I got there early and stood in line like a good little soldier. What confronted me was a nasty, surly woman who I would not hire as a floor sweeper. I spent 24 hours of being insulted and humiliated at the hands of a person who couldn’t even shift gears in the truck I drove. After finally being approved by this thing that filled in as a DMV clerk, I was issued a license. Needless to say I was not a happy truck driver. As I walked out the door she said at the top of her lungs, “There goes another happy customer”, all the time laughing hysterically.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS. Most of this could be done on the computer. Please people in charge, fix this problem. If I ran for governor on fixing this problem alone, I would probably be elected by a landslide.

In closing, I would like to say thank you for all the people who read my ranting are supporting me. Since my experience with my CDL, I would like to say that the caliber of people at the DMV has improved greatly. Further, the people in the Pahrump DMV are usually very pleasant and it is not their fault. It is the system and its distrust of the public. God bless each and every one of you and God bless America.

Stacy L. Riney