Pro-casino group an opportunity for anti-casino activists

To the editor:

The formation of a group to tout the virtues of casinos, like the new “Futures of the Catskills Coalition,” would appear to be a heaven-sent opportunity. Anti-casino activists, both individually and as interested groups, will have the opportunity to respond to the inevitable distortions of this Coalition of the Covetous.

We must take advantage of every opportunity to offer honest responses to their casino-interest-generated propaganda, and we should make a noteworthy public issue of every venue that permits them, while not permitting us.

In the past, they have steadfastly and pusillanimously scuttled away from almost every direct confrontation. For good reason. Given a level playing field we have creamed them each and every time.

Now they have made the tactical blunder of offering us an unparalleled forum. If we respond with vigor, persistence and the facts, they will once again retreat to their forte, buying the cooperation of politicians with political donations financed by their casino-interest-generated resources (which, as we know, have come largely from the pockets of the poor and of the ill.)

Poppy drive one of most successful

To the editor:

Members of Milford Mountain Laurel Post 8612 would like to offer their thanks to all those who contributed so generously to making this year’s Poppy Drive one of the most successful ever. The funds raised by the sale of poppies will be used to help veterans and their families in need.

Many of those who contributed would stop and tell of their family members who were currently in service or to talk proudly of family members who had served in previous wars. Often the discussion would become quite interesting, as they would find that the VFW member to whom they were talking had been in the same combat area as their relative. Others took applications to join our VFW post. Membership is open to all men and women of the armed forces who have served in combat.

A special thanks must also be given to those managers who permitted our members to set up and sell the poppies at their place of business.

For more information call 570/296-9264. Please leave a message on the answering machine.

Abortion is big business

To the editor:

May is the month in which we celebrate motherhood. It is probably a painful month for many would-be mothers who have aborted their babies. Theresa Burke, Ph.D., a psychotherapist working in individual and group therapy sessions since 1986, argues in her book “Forbidden Grief: the Unspoken Pain of Abortion,” that in many cases abortion destroys the psychological health of the women who have had them.

The lie promulgated in the 1960s by the so called “Sexual Revolution,” that anyone could do anything sexually without consequences because “you could protect yourself” has permeated our culture—with tragic results: sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

The 1973 Supreme Court decision in favor of unrestricted abortion turned a so called “right” into a “sentence” for many women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy. Sadly, abortion is a big business in this country. A 1995 Wall Street Journal article said the abortion business was worth $16 billion. The business of business is to get more business. Forget the cost to mothers.