Letters to the editor for Sunday, May 14, 2017

Open letter to Rep. Mark Amodei

I am an RN with over 30 years experience, supporting and caring for people through birth, hospitalizations, preventative care and now end of life care in hospice. After researching the content of the recent Trumpcare bill you signed, I am saddened by its cruelty. It shows a disturbing indifference to human compassion and suffering. I have the space to mention only a few of its many devastating realities.

No change to the prior Congressional Budget Office estimation of 24 million people who will loose health insurance.

Drastic cuts to Medicaid funding, a lifeline to poor seniors, children and adults with disabilities. Medicaid is also a source of funding for hospice benefits, as well as more than 60 percent of nursing home residents that have spent down their savings.

It allows states to change the 10 “Essential Health Benefits” that insurance providers are currently required to provide to all (basic benefits such as pediatric, maternity care, lab and RX coverage, etc).

The protection of people with pre-existing conditions is weakened, with a return to high risk pools. This could make millions of Americans uninsurable or their coverage unaffordable.

Huge premium increases for older citizens.

Perhaps most odious are the tax cuts provided to the very wealthy, with no attempt to reign in the exorbitant medication prices by the pharmaceutical companies.

Shame on you, Mr. Amodei

Ellen O’Malley Eng

Carson City

Trump’s malignant narcissism is out of hand

Psychologist John Gartner, who taught at John Hopkins University School of Medicine for 28 years, wrote an article in the USA Today edition on May 5 entitled “Diagnosis: Malignant Narcissims,” referencing President Trump. I urge you to read it online using Google.

Gartner references other professional sources including psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg who defined the term “malignant narcissism” as having four components: “narcissism, paranoia, anti-social personality and sadism.”

Gartner goes onto show how Trump fits these attributes in spades. He has founded a movement called “Duty to Warn” stating that President Trump is too mentally ill to competently serve and should be removed under the 25th Amendment to our Constitution.

A multi-city March for Sanity is planned for Oct. 7 “to make America Sane Again.”

As an educated layperson, I’ve long felt that there is something mentally unbalanced about Trump and have concluded we are all in danger from a man who has access to our nuclear trigger.

Many years ago I had reason to research this subject of what was then called, broadly speaking, a psychopathic personality disorder authored by a preeminent psychiatrist named Hervey Cleckley entitled “The Mask of Sanity.” He describes a constellation of symptoms for this condition through which I recognize Trump for who he really is.

Pray for the safety of all us and join the movement referenced above — a “”March for Sanity” on Oct. 7.

John H. Garvin

Minden

Gun rights are secure, but others are not

Every time I hear someone having a panic attack that their guns are going to be taken away, I want to reassure them that it would be almost impossible to get Congress to repeal the Second Amendment without the consent of 80 percent of our state legislators and the agreement of the Supreme Court. Since we cannot get Congress to agree on anything, let alone the removal of guns, rest assured your guns are safe with you.

On second thought, maybe they might consider the ban of assault rifles, but then those are designed for military use in order to kill large numbers of people rather than for hunting or defending yourself against home invasion.

In the meantime, gun sales are soaring and membership in the National Rifle Association is growing.

While these rumors continue to spread, what Congress can do is cut Social Security, Medicare, eliminate the Affordable Care Act and take away veterans benefits. Those are the things we really need to worry about.

Both the NRA and AARP give you a magazine and promise to fight for your rights. Gun rights are secure. Unfortunately, we need more than AARP to fight for seniors’ rights.

We need people to pay attention to what is really happening and not let the smoke and mirrors distract them.

Jeanne Larson

Wellington

Nevada’s predatory wildlife needs to be protected

I would like to urge Nevadans to stop the senseless slaughter of predatory wildlife such as mountain lions, bobcats, black bears, of which AB 101, currently being reviewed by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, is an active example.

Predators are an essential part of healthy ecology and serve as a necessary control on rodent populations which include deer mice, vectors for hantavirus, for example.

Beavers may also require control if their numbers and proclivity to dam up creeks cause excessive and perhaps hazardous water accumulations.

These factors should be weighed against the relatively few cattle that may be taken down here and there.

Vladimir Hrycenko

Kensington, Calif.