The River Reporter Online - Letters to the Editor

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The River Reporter welcomes letters on all subjects from its readers. They must be signed and include the correspondent's phone number. The correspondent's name and town will appear at the bottom of each letter; titles and affiliations will not, unless the correspondent is writing on behalf of a group.

Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

The River Reporter and David Hulse are to be commended for their excellent coverage on a complicated issue—protection of Delaware River flows. In the June 6-12, 2002 issue Hulse did an excellent job of covering the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) meeting held at Grey Towers.

The importance of press coverage cannot be over emphasized. Political pressure is developed through the press. Yet in the four-plus years that I have attended DRBC meetings in Trenton, I cannot recall even one reporter being present at any of the meetings when very important information is covered that influences millions of people in the Delaware watershed.

Where are the New Jersey and Pennsylvania papers? Is the information too complicated for the large papers?

Someday New York City will lose its strangle hold on our watershed but not until the press wakes up to their responsibility of involvement.

The Manchester Township Supervisors wish to express their appreciation to the countless volunteers who helped us through a difficult emergency following the tornado of May 31, especially the Equinunk Volunteer Fire Company. These volunteers logged over 500 man-hours in the four-day period, more than 80 percent of that in immediate response to the clean up on Friday night and Saturday early morning. The men and women who provide us with this protection do so daily and as volunteers. We are fortunate to have them as our neighbors and hope they know how we appreciate them! Of course, they were not the only ones who volunteered. Fire companies from Callicoon, Jeffersonville, Hancock and Lake Huntington also responded, as did numerous local folks who came out with chain saws, or with water, or sandwiches, and assisted in the clean up mission. To all of you who gave of your time and energy to our township, we thank you!

Manchester has also extended the Emergency Declaration, which resulted from the tornado, until at least June 14. There is much more clean up to do and the River Road is still closed to all but local traffic.

Hurrah to the Town of Lumberland Cultural Series and many thanks to its Director, Frank V. Schwarz, for giving us the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful concert on Sunday, June 2, 2002, presented by the Hudson Harmony Chorus of Sweet Adeline’s International.

Although I am not musical critic, I wish to express my great satisfaction and joy of the above concert. It was “a musical sweet delight for all.”

The performance was truly outstanding and a veritable gift to the audience, conveyed with a light and humorous touch. The members of the chorus were remarkable and they captivated the audience from the outset with their vocal power and passion. The program was noteworthy for the simplicity of the presentation. It was a pleasure for everyone to listen to the performance of this choir. I wholeheartedly wish them every further success. On the part of the audience there was an evidence of the enjoyment, as well as appreciation and acknowledgment of the outstanding great musical art.

After the final performance, the conductor and the entire cast were given a standing ovation. And rightly so!

At least six judges have ruled that casino agreements by Governors Cuomo and Pataki, made without legislative approval with various tribes in New York State, are illegal. Why then do our elected officials continue to try to promote an industry founded upon illegal deals? Serious and peer reviewed studies have revealed that for every dollar casinos bring in, two dollars go out to social and other costs. How will this help our economy? Not to speak of the moral issues. Addictive gamblers represent a substantial percentage of those who frequent casinos and contribute well over 50 percent of the revenues. Whatever happened to the rule of law and the privilege of citizens to vote on this issue? Don’t they trust the people to decide?

Think! All we have to do is threaten the enemy: he will do the rest. We very successfully threatened New York City during their Memorial Day Weekend. The city spent large sums of money to protect their facilities, money that could have been spent on schools and museums. New York City lost tourist trade too. So, we won a big money war there.

The enemy will celebrate many more holidays between now and their idolatrous Christmas: Flag Day, The Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving. All we have to do is threaten one major city on these days. The enemy will lose fortunes trying to protect them!

Also, we have an unforeseen ally: the Democratic Party! For the first time in the enemy’s wartime, the credibility of the President of the United States has been undermined from within! The Democrats are working hard to encourage Americans to lose confidence in their president. What luck! Be sure to contribute funds to that party in the upcoming November election.

All we have to do is threaten and wait. America will spend much of its resources in defense of threatened cities. The stock market will fall because Americans will lose confidence in their government.

Best of all: America will be unable to provide Israel with necessary armaments for the conduct of their war. Israel will fall into our lap like an over-ripened fruit. Rejoice brothers in Terror. Allah be praised.—Osama bin Laden