Letters on Clinton health, NFL protests, Lucy, funeral respect
Need follow up on Clinton’s health
Hillary Clinton’s abrupt departure from the 9/11 service and her sudden collapse should be a matter of concern for everyone. Being told that she was diagnosed with pneumonia two days previously and started on antibiotics only raised more questions.
That diagnosis in a woman who is almost 70 years old is potentially serious. This raises more questions about why she was out in a crowd and heat without bottled water. This requires a follow up.
What was the organism causing this potentially serious illness? Why wasn’t she confined to her bed to allow her to recover and to prohibit her from spreading the presumed infection to innocent contacts? What is the follow up to assure that she is well? Why did this illness impair her ability to walk, and who was responsible for not following up on such a potentially serious problem?
The voting public deserves a follow up on this potentially serious medical event, because it speaks to the candidate’s ability to serve out a four-year term as president.
Richard Gilmartin, Wichita
Protest alternative
I wonder if Marcus Peters, Arian Foster and other professional football players would make a more meaningful statement if (during the off-season) they would move into a low-income area, invest some of their millions of dollars in that area, open a grocery or drug store, and help patrol the streets along with a neighborhood watch program.
Nancy O’Harra, Wichita
Why did Lucy die?
“Did Lucy fall from a tree 3.2 million years ago and die?” (Aug. 30 Eagle) was a far-fetched screed to support the premise that our ancestors crawled around in trees.
Lucy is a very fragmented skeleton that has been pieced together with bones discovered in African in 1974. After four decades of intense scrutiny, a University of Texas scientist happened to spot a unique break in Lucy’s upper right arm that, he claims, duplicates fractures that we humans commonly sustain when we fall from trees.
But the Arizona State University scientist who discovered Lucy’s scattered remains and had the honor of naming her asserts that the condition of Lucy’s bones “is undoubtedly the result of geological forces acting on the bones after they are buried during the process of fossilization” – and, therefore, has nothing to do with tumbling from a tree.
For all we know, Lucy may have expired from nothing more eventful than old age.
As perplexing as it is, at this late date, we really have no plausible choice but to accept that, in all probability, we will never know for sure precisely how Lucy met her demise.
David Gudeman, Wichita
Show of respect
My family and I would like to acknowledge and thank the three construction workers who were on Ridge at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday during the funeral procession for our mom. Their show of respect by stopping and standing with their hats off did not go unnoticed by our family.
Lisa Howard, Papillion, Neb.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "Letters on Clinton health, NFL protests, Lucy, funeral respect."