To the makers of holiday magic

To the editor:

As the magic of the holiday season ends, our thoughts turn to our neighbors who were in need of assistance this holiday season. We wish to express our appreciation for all those special people who adopted families and to those who made generous donations to the St. Francis Xavier Outreach Program, Narrowsburg Ecumenical Food Pantry and Toys for Tots.

We also want to send a special thank you to The River Reporter staff for all the publicity during the holiday season. If it weren’t for them, these programs would not have been so successful.

We would like to wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year.

Miracle-makers make Christmas Bureau possible

To the editor:

Occasionally in our lifetime, if we’re lucky, we have the privilege to work with a group of people who are givers, the kind who give unselfishly, lending support with a heart-warming smile, silently and anonymously. It is they who know and understand the meaning of true happiness. These are the people who make the Wayne County Children’s Christmas Bureau our county’s own miracle.

To the individuals, families and groups that gave up their time and energy for the Adopt-a-Family Program: what a beautiful gift to give your neighbors! And to all of you who annually send checks, drop off cash-stuffed envelopes, push bills into our hands for the kids: what a generous gift to share with your neighbors!

To the Wayne County Volunteer Program volunteers, the shoppers in WalMart and KMart, scouring the shelves and racks, the sorters at the armory: thanks for your gifts of time and thoughtful concern. The amazing local businesses and banks who loaded our shopping tables with toys and games, Highlights for Children educational materials and books, the Senior Sewing Groups from Wallenpaupack, Equinunk, Hamlin and Hawley, and the youth groups and families who carefully selected good clothing and gift donations to share with others on Distribution Day must also be thanked for their gifts of sharing and compassion.

We also got great support from local media—WDNH and Sunny 105 radio stations, Wayne Independent, Weekly Almanac, News Eagle newspapers—and from other businesses and benefactors.

Please, remember us during the year when money is not a crunch for Christmas. Checks may be made payable to The Wayne County Children’s Christmas Bureau, Honesdale Jaycees, P.O. Box 583, Honesdale, PA 18431.

We’d be the losers

To the editor:

Due to its natural beauty, its wonderful people, and the care that has been taken throughout the years to preserve our friendly, small-town character, Sullivan County, NY, offers a quality of life that is unmistakably positive and desirable.

It is to our benefit that during his term in office former Governor George Pataki held off signing a gambling compact with the St. Regis Mohawks that would have enabled Empire Resorts to build a huge Las Vegas-style casino on a site connected to the Monticello Gaming and Raceway facility.

This matter now rests with some chiefs of the St. Regis Mohawks, who want Governor Elliot Spitzer to sign their gambling compact at once. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has informed both the governor’s office and the leaders of the St. Regis Mohawks that the tide is turning and that federal support for off-reservation casino development is waning. (Was it ever legal, in principle, to begin with?)

It is to be hoped that Governor Spitzer will not sign agreements with any of the Native American nations that seek off-reservation compacts for the building of casinos. Once they have been signed, and the U.S. Department of the Interior allows this land to be held in trust, the process is irreversible. The foreseeable problems still far outweigh the benefits. Let’s not make the mistake of supporting an ill-informed move by the governor, which would ultimately bring economic ruin to many of our people, certainly to our communities, and most definitely to our county. Please take the time to think it over, do the math and take the time to wait.

It is still a beautiful new year—let’s not spoil the future by rushing to close a dubious deal. In gambling, someone always loses. Let us not become losers in 2007 or any other year. Life is much too good here for us to be taken in by the allure of what is, at its core, an extraction industry. Casino gambling on any scale will destroy much of that which makes living here such a joy.

We could be leaders, not the last in line

To the editor:

It is hard to fathom in just what world or what view of reality the people who have so greedily pushed for casinos here in Sullivan County live.

We have the looming disaster of global warming—haven’t they heard about it or its causes? Or, do they really believe the end of our world is swiftly coming upon us and so they want to party to the end? Or, if all of the massive traffic heading up Route 17 would be made up of hybrid cars, trucks, and busses, would that be an out that would mitigate the problems created by casinos?

That possibility seems years away, at the speed this country is moving. And, what of the line that casinos will bring prosperity and jobs? Everyone knows it’s not so—look at Atlantic City and Buffalo.

Why can’t there be an intelligent solution to the economic problems here? Why aren’t there serious attempts at attracting green industries here that would give the young, particularly, something to build with for the future?

We should ask our “leaders,” why not be ahead of the pack this time, not the last in line? It is a kind of insanity to deny the truth. We need thoughtful leaders here. We, the humanity on this planet, have a huge and almost overwhelming task ahead of us that must be addressed now and not in some distant year.

The elephant in the room

To the editor:

Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” program on WJFF radio recently did a segment about the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations, which include the recommendation to privatize the Iraqi oil fields, the second largest in the world. This requires an amendment to the Iraqi Constitution, and the passage of a law that would allow multinational oil companies to develop said oil fields. This is not a popular law in Iraq, and as far as I know, it has not been passed.

As I listen to thousands of words about the occupation of Iraq, and the study group’s recommendations, and now the American Enterprise Institute’s contribution, why is there not one word about the oil? Not a word about how Iraq is receiving this proposed appropriation of their primary national resource, or the Iraqi labor unions’ opposition, or about the way in which the monies that come in will be divided among the different factions in Iraq.

Not a word... unless you go online. There you can find detailed information, mostly from overseas media, though some from the United States. Even as our media relentlessly tells us about “sectarian” violence, they don’t mention the trillions of dollars at stake in oil revenue. There are many different and complex conflicts in Iraq, but surely trillions of dollars and power over the country’s primary resource are contributing to the violence. This is a very big elephant in the room.

Remember how wonderful it was when Iraq came up with a constitution? Too bad, we don’t like it, with its inconvenient rule that the oil belongs to the Iraqi people. We aren’t leaving until they change it and give Western oil companies control of the oil. This was the “mission” supposedly accomplished a long time ago, for which our young people and innocent Iraqi civilians are dying even as we speak.

Go to Google and type in “Privatization of Iraqi Oil Reserves.” Get the facts. The elephant is really not hard to find, except in American media.

Susan Sullivan

Bruno should step aside

To the editor:

The New York State 42nd Senatorial District, comprising all of Sullivan and Delaware Counties, plus parts of Orange and Ulster Counties, is fortunate to have John Bonacic as our representative. Senator Bonacic is to be applauded for his honesty and integrity for the stance he has taken regarding Senator Bruno’s leadership role. Senator Bonacic is correct in requesting that Senator Bruno step aside until the clouds of uncertainty are lifted. The New York Senate and the people of New York State deserve nothing less than 100 percent confidence in their leadership.

Governor Spitzer is also to be applauded for taking such a strong position on reforming Albany politics. Many of the same issues relating to government reform that helped to overwhelmingly elect Governor Spitzer are issues that Senator Bonacic has always espoused. New York State government has been described as dysfunctional. The cost of doing business is among the highest in the nation, while spending is out of control and confidence in our leadership, in both the senate and assembly, is probably at an all-time low. If Governor Spitzer is to achieve the groundbreaking measures he included in his recent state address, it will be necessary to depend upon bi-partisan support. I suggest he start with Senator Bonacic, who is a true representative of all the people.

Bob Kunis