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To the editor: Recently I received a Make A Wish Foundation request to send businesses cards to Craig Sheppard and sent the letter out to solicit the help of other businesses. Thankfully, The River Reporter was one of the 20 companies to whom I sent a letter. I was shocked and horrified to be told by Laurie Stuart that this is a hoax! What sort of human being would do such a thing? I promptly phoned my patient, who innocently sent me this letter, only to have her have the same reaction as I had. Naturally, we contacted the other 19 people and informed them of the hoax. Please be forewarned to ignore this correspondence. Lorraine Spinard To the editor: We agree, as Americans and citizens of the world, it is important to stand united:
“I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.”— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Suzanne Abeloff, Hurleyville, NY To the editor: This past weekend, January 26, 2003, I watched a film “Hidden Wars of Desert Storm” sponsored by WaynePeace, along with 50 other people at the Grace Episcopal Church Parish House. I learned a lot. Here are two things I need to share with your readers. About depleted uranium—read “nuclear waste”—during the first Gulf War, our military recycled its nuclear waste in the form of ammunition. Apparently it is very effective... “goes through tanks like butter”... only problem is our military personnel, along with the Iraqi population, has been (and is still being) exposed to it. And, according to the film, soldiers were not told the risks and were in fact allowed to camp for two months on contaminated ground. The destroyed tanks, planes and buildings, all contaminated, are still there. About what happened to those who served in the first Gulf War—of the over 600,000 who served, 189,000 have filed for medical disability, and 9,500 have died since the year 2000. The film was referred to by The New York Times as “an uncommonly sober, well-researched film.” As of this writing, (January 27, 2003) news reports are saying the UN commission discovered no evidence of nuclear weapons in Iraq. So, it seems the nuclear threat is to our own service men and women, and their unborn children, and their families. This is a tragedy that does not have to happen. Write to your Congressional representative today. For more information on WaynePeace, call 570/251-3637 or go to their website, www.waynepeace.org, or sullivanpeace.org. Susan Sullivan To the editor: Doesn’t Van Fuller read his own letters? He disagrees about the claim made by some that it is all about oil. His words, “Do you peace people really believe that? Really? Come On.” Someone wrote and I pass it on to Mr. Fuller: “Do you think that if Iraq produced peanuts we’d be going to war?” Mr. Fuller, in the same letter, goes on to proclaim, that if left alone, Saddam would “control the market price of oil around the world, he would control the economy of the entire world, including the United States.” Too bad they don’t grow peanuts. Try substituting the word “peanuts” for “oil,” Mr. Fuller. So, Mr. Fuller argues against himself and still finds ways to blame Bill Clinton. By the way, Mr. Fuller, isn’t it Clinton’s military that Secretary Rumsfeld said he could fight and win, not one, but two wars? Oh, that’s right, only the bad stuff is Clinton’s fault. Mr. Fuller wants the United States to become an isolationist country. By doing so he acknowledges this Administration’s short comings in a complicated world. His answer seems wrapped up in that Texas Ranger mentality (the law enforcement agency, Mr. Fuller, not the baseball team), “Wanted dead or alive” and “shoot first and ask questions later.” “Yer either with us or agin’ us.” This mentality along with the most dangerous of all, “my country right or wrong” is what has made Mr. Fuller and his ilk so scary. How many dead are acceptable this time, Mr. Fuller. 50,000 plus like Vietnam? How ‘bout it, Cowboy? Bruce Schor To the editor: Cass Collins, while vacationing in America-hating Europe, writes in her column River Muse, “a roaring jet punctured the still air and brought back flashes of destruction in both our minds. It may have been a military jet from one of the American bases near here, or a passenger jet flying low, but its sound recalled fear.” Fear? Hearing an American military jet fly overhead should not cause fear in any American. It should comfort an American. It should comfort a European. To me, an American military jet flying overhead is a sign of safety, of peace, of security of our nation. Do not fear that American military jet, Ms. Collins. For it is that very American military jet flying overhead that allowed you to travel to America-hating Europe and back in safety. It is that very American military jet that allows you to write your column every week with the guarantee of freedom of speech and the press. It is that very American military jet that keeps your family safe while you travel around the world to countries where the people hate America. So do not fear that American military jet flying overhead. Love it, respect it, and most of all, thank God for the brave American flying it. Van Fuller To the editor: Listening lately to the radio discussions, we hear plenty of the individual opinions and polls regarding the conflict in the Middle East, and especially in Iraq. The polls and human sentiments are not necessarily the conclusive judgments or the final resolution. Not what is popular or what is on our mind is proper, we should do what is right for our country and our people. I strongly believe that our fathers, elected of the people, by the people and for the people, are using their best judgment. Their final resolution should be for the good of our country and its people. We live in a historic time, we are part of it. But do not forget that our fathers were sworn to do the best to their ability to serve their (and our) country. Nobody wants a war or unnecessary conflict as much as nobody wants any misunderstanding with our neighbors or family members, but you have to defend the honor of our country as much as your own. So let us trust our elected officials, no matter what party they are. They surely want the best for us. The privilege of the citizen is to speak and write as he or she pleases, but the duty of the citizen is to stand behind our government, so the nation can be unified in this time of crisis. Bohdan Kandiuk To the editor: There are, in our society, certain exclusive systems, typically respected by the public, in which leaders too often mistakenly feel that they are empowered to make decisions beyond their competence. We may now be witnessing an example of this indiscretion in the Middletown Board of Education superintendent situation. We have sadly witnessed it in the crisis in the Catholic Church and, time and again, in “The Blue Wall of Silence.” We see it persistently among politicians who make a hobby of resisting “sunshine” laws, as well as in medicine where doctors are often simply encouraged to move out when wrongdoing is suspected, rather than promptly being turned over to appropriate civil authorities. While these indiscretions occur for a variety of reasons, there appears to be, among members of these diverse groups, a commonality of rigid thinking prominently characterized by an “us and them” mentality. “No outsider can understand our problems as we can.” On many issues they do know best but they are, too often, not content to limit their sense of expertise to what they were trained and educated for. They allow their concern for their own positions or their loyalty to their institutions and/or to their fellows to compromise their judgments and decisions. It is only when the causes of these evidently very human failures of leadership are generally recognized, taken into account, and effectively anticipated, that steps toward productive changes in these high-handed, counter-productive and often illegal behaviors can occur. The Catholic Church has done some painful self-examination and has taken some interesting first steps. It is time other institutions followed suit. Lee Karr To the editor: I had an incident tonight driving home in the evening hours, temperature hovering around zero and a strong wind whipping a light snow to a dangerous mix of cold (wind chills were about 20 degrees below zero) and slippery. I happened upon a broken down car along the old Newburgh Cochecton Turnpike, pulled off to the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing. I slowed down to check, and sure enough there was a young woman inside who was stranded in the dark. I asked if I could help and in a few minutes I had her on her way, but I happened to ask how long she had been stranded. “About 45 minutes,” she replied, “I couldn’t get any service on my cell phone.” I hate to think what might have happened if I didn’t think to check her car. It was already snow covered and it looked abandoned. I’m glad she was all right. But the incident got me thinking, and as I think back I am starting to get angry. Why don’t we have any cell coverage in the river valley? I remember an incident a few years ago when someone wanted to put a cell tower near Callicoon. The uproar over having to see a tower apparently stopped service then, and still we have none. I see this as a huge safety issue. My wife and I both have a cell phone we keep on hand in case of emergency (neither of us is the type to chat and drive), and it does us no good anywhere near our house or her place of work. I get service somewhere on the Monticello side of Fosterdale, but it takes me about 20 minutes to get there. Cell phones can save lives. One might have kept that woman from freezing to death. Joseph Roche To the editor: I recently read an article regarding South Carolina’s attempt to offer a “choose life” license plate. The mere suggestion of such a plate incited a hornet’s nest of controversy. The undertaking resulted in a court case, which forbid the plate. I suppose all that reactionary hoopla was predictable yet I mused: If all the defensive agendas were dropped and consideration was given to the statement—what is the justifiable objection to “Choose Life?” Here we sit on the brink of war—biological warfare looms threateningly as nightly news debates the pros and cons of smallpox vaccine. Prisons are being built at a faster rate and at greater expense than universities—death row in California alone holds over 600 inmates. Teen violence, suicide and depression is near epidemic. Drug and alcohol abuse is a prevalent concern in every community. Child abductions and horrific headlines are commonplace to the point of numbing. The occurrence of “throw away” babies has warranted legislation in some states that assures the mother freedom from any legal ramifications if she would but take her unwanted newborn to an emergency room rather than a dumpster. Elder abuse is a catch phrase for a growing dilemma. Euthanasia is being promoted as a merciful option, but in the Netherlands where it is practiced, 40 per cent of the people euthanized and their families are denied consultation—it’s the doctor’s call. Choose life? Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mother Teresa stated, “The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion.” To put it in trendier terminology, it’s just not “good karma” for a nation to discard more potential citizens than we have lost in total to wars. Perhaps in that garbage heap of unmet potential is the cure for AIDS, cancer, or the common cold. Perhaps symphonies, poems, paintings, plays, laughter and even world peace. Choose life? Presently, I am engaged in my own personal battle against a formidable enemy. Every medical decision I’ve had to face, every option explored is weighed and measured with relevance to a phrase that runs as an endless loop in my spirit... Choose life! As we noted the 30th anniversary of the freedom to choose death, I ask—have we made any real progress in the ways of peace in our families, schools, communities and nation in the last three decades ? Two words could truly change the world as we know it, if each of its inhabitants had those two words emphatically engraved, not on their license plates, but in their hearts. Choose life! Patricia D’Azzo To the editor: Regarding the September 11, 2001 tragic attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and against the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Pastor Lane Jones, of Calkins Union Baptist Church, is quoted in The River Reporter (December 5 - 11, 2002) as having said that the same … “terrorists are applying the Koran literally …” The result of such literal interpretations and “application” thereof is the “…taking… of violent actions.” I argue following against Lane Jones’ unique views: knowledge of Arabic grammar in detail and a literal interpretation of the Qur’an assist the reader of the Qur’an to know in heart, mind and spirit that one must not be violent and that one must know the importance of law and government and subservience to our Lord. To find a greater equivalence, sometimes a number of Quar’an verses in English would preferably be longer than the original verse revealed in the Arabic. Although it is the clear fact that revealed text is of a realm unlike that of other statements, this same language fact might also be interpreted to imply that in some hearings and trials or referendum in which interpreters must “translate” from Arabic into English, a longer English version might more clearly approximate the meanings of the Arabic statements for example of victims and of witnesses. In part due to a lack of synonyms in Qur’an (Koran) Arabic (as I hear it) the English version of some verses preferably would be longer as needed to represent some verbs which in the revealed Arabic are similar to one another but not the same. Within the Surat Abasa in Qur’an that be the 80th Surat, it is indicated that when Allah willeth it, He resurrected, which verse can also be interpreted to mean: when Allah willeth it, he will resurrect. Deborah Faith Sax To the editor: Only “55 injuries” this deer hunting season according to news stories. It depends on who is counting, I guess. We need a tally of the non-hunter injuries to get a real picture of the damage this recent deer-hunting season has caused. As I looked into the eyes of the little bloodied buck lying before me, I felt the numbers of the “injured” this year were much higher. It was after legal hunting hours that the hunter shot at this little guy as he ran away. The panicked young buck bled down a ravine. Morning light revealed the horror of the blood trail. We buried the anger and disgust we felt toward another fellow human being, focusing our energies instead on finding the “injured” animal. Our horror over the blood trail paled in comparison to what we felt as we came upon the small deer that had lain on the freezing ground for over 18 hours. He looked helplessly up at us, his rear leg shattered and his hindquarters mutilated. A wildlife rehabilitator tranquilized the frightened deer and wrapped her body around him to keep him warm. That scene will be forever imprinted in my mind and heart. I now have yet another personal experience that fortifies my hatred of hunting. Every deer-hunting season, I patrol private land because so-called “sportsmen,” emboldened by their buddies and the difficult-to-enforce hunting laws, feel free to ignore posted signs. I stand there powerless as guns constantly go off before and after legal hunting hours. There are hunters who continually break the laws knowing that rarely will they suffer any consequences. Those who do suffer are not only the animals left in the woods with limbs dangling, arrows in their necks or jaws shot off, but also the people who care about their needless misery. This isn’t, as hunters will claim, a “Bambi-lover’s” exaggeration. It’s the dreaded reality that a wildlife rehabilitator must face every deer-hunting season as she gets calls from people who have seen the victims. If so many injured animals are reported in this area where I patrol, how many unfound wounded animals are lying in the woods around the state as I write this letter? How many are suffering the agony of gangrene, peritonitis or starvation from the inability to eat? “55 injured?” Count again. Valerie Will
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