Queen Elizabeth has left us but leaves leadership behind

Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth has left us. She can finally get the rest that eluded her in life. She was Britain’s most popular brand. It was her duty to appear at events whether she wanted to or not until her death at nearly 100 years old. She never had the option of making decisions concerning her private life without her role as Queen in mind. She literally never retired. I imagined her spending the last years of her life in seclusion at a country estate, where she could finally live a life of daily peace and quiet.

Queen Elizabeth and her grandson Prince Harry have something in common. They both married the loves of their lives. I believe that is the reason William and Harry are estranged. I think William feels resentment towards Harry for following his heart and choosing love over loyalty. William put loyalty over love as monarchs are expected to do. Were William and Kate ever truly in love with each other? For some reason, I feel they were not. Harry is living his life free to do as he chooses, while William and Kate are expected to forever live their lives according to very stringent standards.

Yolanda Averette, Lexington

Being Gentlepersons

The major thing that I learned from my introvert father is how to be a real gentleman. He taught me that in four lessons.

Lesson 1: my opinion is just that, MY OPINION. It is one among 9 billion opinions in the world. It is not the only true path in the world of opinions.

Lesson 2: Learn to listen more than talk. Let in new ideas and then determine how they can fit into your gained knowledge through your life experiences. Be open to compromise so that problems in your life experience can be solved.

Lesson 3: Love makes you a better person. Hate can not only destroy the object of your hate, but also destroy your life and happiness. You need to take a long hard look at the reason that you hate. Is it race, religion, or intolerance of different ideas? If you learn to love your supposed enemy, it ends up making your life much better. Love can also mean respect the person as a human being. If you take this lesson to heart, there is no reason to hate.

Lesson 4: Kindness!!! Do not judge any person, show them respect and kindness.

Tom Sweeney, Lexington

Streaming games

I am a lifelong University of Kentucky sports fan and also a retiree. While I understand UK is getting some of the proceeds from using a streaming service to broadcast games and that more income is good for the bottom line of your department, I feel this is unfair to many of the fans who support your programs.

ESPN+ would cost me $9.99 a month, on top of other services I use. As a retiree, I have to draw the line somewhere to maintain a reasonable budget, and adding another monthly charge to watch a ballgame played by a team from a state-supported university isn’t a step I feel I can take.

Many UK fans are on limited incomes and it seems like access to ballgames is becoming more and more inaccessible for many of them.

Karen Combs, Lexington

Eradicate mold

Surely the Bourbon industry is sophisticated enough to be aware of well-established emission control technology, particularly in the petrochemical industry. They apparently have ignored this technology in order to maintain the tradition of the big black leaky storage barns that dot the countryside.

What an expensive tradition! Especially, considering the lost opportunity to reduce fire hazards, improve the environment, and recover 30 percent of their product lost to the Angels.

Bob Garvin, Carlisle

Youth participation

I see hope… for the survival of our nation’s democracy… from heretofore unlikely sources: our young people and, interestingly, sports.

Watching sports around Labor Day, I centered on the faces of young people, thinking/wishing they had as much energy, enthusiasm for voting, and taking part in the governance of our country.

During the U.S. Open Tennis games, change was taking place as Serena decided to “evolve” (a term I’ll adopt). Youngsters in their 20s, even a teenager, transitioned into champions of the sport, making clear they are taking their place as the “now” generation.

In WNBA playoffs, a scarcely-covered sport, young women played their hearts out as notables such as Sue Bird retired.

Polls indicate that younger people are planning to vote during mid-terms, incensed about military assault weapons mowing them down, abortion bans taking away their rights, and buoyed by some relief from college debt.

Please. We older citizens want the future to be yours, hope/believe you are more inclusive, diverse, truthful than we. But don’t be kept from our histories and herstories that we, as generations of young citizens, struggled so that you can assume your leadership responsibilities.

Ramona Rush, Lexington

Medicare cuts

I appreciate what a difficult job doctors have - especially in the age of COVID-19, economic uncertainty and rising inflation. But practicing medicine will be even more difficult if Medicare enacts its proposed cut of 4.2 percent to physician services. These cuts come on top of years of cumulative cuts - making it harder to provide care.

Now, when many patients who avoided regular health screenings due to COVID-19 are returning to getting care, is the wrong time for cuts. With lower reimbursement for Medicare services, radiologists and other practices will be under pressure to cut back on the number of Medicare patients, limit services, or reduce investment in new innovative technologies. Screening helps save lives, but if access is cut and diagnoses are delayed, more Americans will face unnecessary suffering.

Medicare must mitigate these cuts for doctors and work with Congress on policies that will ensure stability for physicians.

Matthew Hall, Lexington

Destructive celebration

Is Lexington vying to recreate “Dumb and Dumber” without the comedic aspect?

First, there are all of the senseless shootings which are seemingly becoming common occurrences.

Then under the “dumbest” category is the extensive destruction of property by presumably degree-seeking students for what reason?

The football team won a game, something it has been doing on a fairly regular basis in the last few years. It is hard to imagine worse behavior from less educated, less intelligent persons.

Shame. Shame.

Mike Daugherty, Vero Beach, Fla.

Paul record

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul voted against the PACT act. He voted against a bill that ensures that veterans exposed to burn pits will have access to health care. Exposure to burn pits can create very serious health problems.

It’s because of our veterans that we have our freedoms. It’s because of our veterans that that Kentuckians can run for the U.S Senate. Our veterans sacrificed so much. It is in my humble opinion that Paul should be voted out of office. If he can’t bring himself to vote in favor of talking care of our veterans then he has no business taking care of Kentuckians.

Andy Miller, Eureka, Cal.

Cultivated Meat

If U.S. Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell (both Republican) have any compassion, they should help reduce the suffering of God’s creatures by supporting increased federal funding for cultivated-meat research. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. We can start the work of building the peaceable kingdom.

Unfortunately, production costs for cultivated meat remain too high for it to truly compete with slaughtered meat. We can lower these with more government money for cellular-agriculture development. Our legislators should support this for the sake of other animals who carry a divine spark within them just as humans do. We can put the long era of killing behind us.

Jon Hochschartner, Granby, CT