‘The state’s policy is to encourage gas drilling’

To the editor:

With regard to your editorial of June 26, I have direct experience with this issue of “trust,” having spent over an hour talking with a staff person at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) about one month ago, who stated that “the state’s policy is to encourage gas drilling, and the DEC supports that policy. If you don’t like the policy, talk to your reps.”

I asked him how nine inspectors were going to cover the tens of thousands of wells planned for New York State. He showed little concern.

I live 18 blocks from Ground Zero. I remember Whitman’s assurances about air quality.

I have zero confidence in any government environmental regulator—regardless of whether the administration is Democratic or Republican—to protect the public where gas drilling is concerned. A10526 is a DEC bill. It says nothing about protecting the environment. It was fast-tracked through Albany, even as Sheldon Silver’s office assured me the bill was going nowhere. That speaks for itself. I assure you I will be doing what I can to help get Sheldon fast-tracked into retirement two years from now.

Love is the answer to gangs

To the editor:

I have been concerned about gangs in my community. Gang violence is a serious issue. My best friend in college is an African American whose dad left, never to return, when he was a boy. His mother struggled as a result. She raised the children in church, and white and black men from that congregation helped out and even mentored him. He, in turn, grew up respecting God and people, became a rehab director and married a young woman, who had a child out of wedlock and took that boy in as his own. Unfortunately, all his older brothers did not follow the path he did and are in prison.

I believe faith and hope are the starting point to reach gangs and the only way to win this gang war is love.

Yes, Jesus is the answer. However, God works through people. But people have to step up and deny themselves and pick up their cross to help others like those men did.

Some people think the Bible is just fairy tales. Not so. The life and times of Jesus Christ have been documented in other historical writings and verified by archeology. Furthermore, the Dead Sea Scrolls are proof that the Old Testament has been preserved accurately. Although no complete original New Testament manuscripts have been found, there are more manuscripts available today dating back to 300 AD and forward than any other ancient pieces of literature. However, it is prophecy fulfillment that makes the Bible the most unique book in the history of the world.

Please check out the movie “The Cross and the Switchblade” and reformed New York City gang member Nicky Cruz’s ministry Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE).