Dear Insurance Companies,
It has become increasingly apparent that there are some significant injustices when it comes to treatment coverage for individuals suffering from eating disorders. Though eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, a mortality rate that actually rivals that of some cancers, many of you, the insurance companies, have policies that specifically exclude reimbursement for eating disorders. As someone who has had to obtain treatment for my own eating disorder, and now years later, is working as a professional in an inpatient eating disorders treatment facility, I feel that I can offer a unique and multifaceted view on this managed care issue. Here are some of the main problems that I have noticed with the way that you deal with...
Lifestyle
Dear President Brodhead,
With this letter, we—a group of Duke University’s student leaders—come together in forming the Duke Open Campus Coalition. We seek to invigorate the Duke community’s commitment to supporting an open intellectual climate on campus. During our time here at Duke, we have encountered a community that values identity politics over reasoned discussion and debate when confronting real—and at times misperceived—instances of injustice. Actions taken that emphasize identity politics create a climate of fear on campus whereby people who publicly dissent from the policies being proposed are afraid of being personally attacked and slandered. In this climate, fewer students feel able to speak their mind, and we are concerned that this undermines Duke’s integrity as an...
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Dear Nkosinathi “Dj Blackcoffee” Maphumulo
My name is Teboho Thuswa (22), I’m a Motivated Speaker and not a Motivational Speaker because challenges I encountered at an early age motivated me to speak and rebuild people’s lives with the gift that God gave me. I’m the CEO of the Fishmonger Motivations and also an Actor that plays Moshe on the new drama series Ya Lla on Mzansi Magic.
I was really enthused to write this letter to you by simply one beautiful and inspiring line apart your music journey and success that also evoked my success instincts, it literally triggered me to sit down and honour the legend. The line is from the Ballantines’ TV Commercial. “Anyone can do it, but just do it your way! It’s about pushing boundaries and not following trends“. The uniqueness of the TV...
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Here's to the disorder that goes un-mentioned. I'm writing this letter because I feel like there should be more awareness about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I have been diagnosed for two years and it's been a rough journey. If I had the knowledge now of the disorder, I feel like it would have helped me alittle more get through the rough days knowing I'm not alone.
Truth is unless you have PTSD, you don't truly understand or know how to help someone get through it.
In my words, PTSD Is a disorder where you relive the trauma over and over again, let's just say more times than you would want to see it "continuously" happen. Especially because after all it was traumatic and ALL you want to do is move on with your thoughts, emotions, and life. It definitely holds you back and...
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Dear Mr. Duncan:
I am Principal of Lincoln High School, an alternative “Trauma Sensitive” school in Walla Walla, Washington. Our staff is trained to use compassion to defuse potential violence in our students whose fear-based childhoods put them at-risk. As an Administrator, my concerns include student outcomes, discipline, and decreasing both dropouts and school violence. In June, 2012, journalist Jane Stevens featured Lincoln’s disciplinary model in her Huffington Post article, Suspension Rates at a Washington School Drop 85%: Does Kindness Play a Role? In every day statistics, the 85% decrease meant 800 suspension days dropped to 135, thus for 765 days students attended class rather than roam the streets.
The article received 370,000 responses, the most significant from...
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Dear Dr. McGaw,
Thank you for taking the time to contact me to express your concerns regarding Second Amendment legislation. I appreciate hearing your concerns.
I am saddened to hear that whenever any individual is hurt or killed by the improper use of a firearm; however, ultimately the blame lies solely with the criminal. The solution is not to infringe upon the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens, but instead to hold criminals accountable for their actions, particularly repeat offenders who commit the most violent crimes. Furthermore, like you, I believe Washington and all of America must have a serious debate and honest discussion about what fuels a very small segment of the population to inflict harm and instill fear. This means holding Hollywood accountable for its...
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Dear Sir: I read your statement with dismay and alarm regarding your position on the ongoing civil rights lawsuit regarding the CNMI’s unconstitutional ban on armed self-defense and the outright denial of every CNMI resident’s rights, as protected by our Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I felt dismay at an apparent lack of understanding demonstrated in those statements made pertaining to both the nature and applicability of our natural rights as codified in the U.S. Constitution, and the subject of armed self-defense in general. It was further disappointing to read false assumptions, and conclusions jumped to regarding the nature of this lawsuit and its implications.
Do you remember the oath you took to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives? “I do solemnly...
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Dear Ms. Gandy:
Please consider two hypothetical scenarios: 1) A male employer informs a 25-year-old female employee that she will not be considered for promotion unless she allows him to massage her buttocks. 2) A male school principal informs a 15-year-old schoolgirl that she will be suspended from classes for the next three days, therefore receiving zero grades on all missed tests and assignments, unless she submits to his spanking her on the buttocks with a wooden board. What are the essential differences between these two cases? Which of the two would you consider to be a more egregious violation of a defenseless victim? If you had to choose, which victim is in more urgent need of protection?
Bear in mind that the beating is more painful and more dangerous than the massage,...
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Senator Dianne Feinstein,
I will not register my weapons should this bill be passed, as I do not believe it is the government’s right to know what I own. Nor do I think it prudent to tell you what I own so that it may be taken from me by a group of people who enjoy armed protection yet decry me having the same a crime. You ma’am have overstepped a line that is not your domain. I am a Marine Corps Veteran of 8 years, and I will not have some woman who proclaims the evil of an inanimate object, yet carries one, tell me I may not have one.
I am not your subject. I am the man who keeps you free. I am not your servant. I am the person whom you serve. I am not your peasant. I am the flesh and blood of America.
I am the man who fought for my country. I am the man who learned. I am an...
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Dear Dr. Corlin,
You probably don't remember me, but we met when I attended the California Medical Society lobbying session during my year as Alaska State Medical Society president, a dozen, or so, years ago.
I am a former competitive shooter and gun collector --- a gun nut, if you will. I am also a life member of the NRA (since 1947).
At the beginning of my tour as ASMA president, I reviewed the AMA policy on gun control. It was clear that the authors of those policy items knew nothing of gun issues, but were interested only in maximum restriction of citizen liberties. I decided to try to modify these policies by pointing out the "junk science" characteristics, and pointed out that physicians would not tolerate this sort of thing if it pertained to genuine medical topics. Further, I...
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