Thanks for Skip’s dedication

To the editor:

We would like to thank all those that have donated to the Dedication of the Town Highway Barn in honor of Nathaniel “Skip” Feagles. The following people and businesses made this a very special day: Richard and Sandy Jay, Thomas and Debra Reimer, John “Wick” Donahue, Dick Shannon, Bob and Danuata Wiegers, Rich Brautigan (Village Pub), Patrick and Peggy Harrison (Rasmussen’s), Eagle Valley Concrete, Beaver Brook Rod and Gun Club, Herb Bachmann and Pat Soffel, Under the Pines, Carol Fuller, Gus Kerkoulas, George and Marlene Kinch, Steve and Julie Swendson, Cole Construction, Tom Oliver, Ned Lang, the Narrowsburg Inn, Michael and Michele Borsdam, Narrowsburg Motor Sales, Mike Calvet, Rocco Degori, Lewis and Beverly Meckle, Lewis Meckle Construction Corp., Ben and Kathleen Hankins and Tom Prendergast. I apologize if I have forgotten anyone.

I would also like to thank all those from the highway department who helped with setting up and cleaning up, Ben Johnson for seeing to it that all run smoothly, Dick Crandall for his stories of Skip and all those that attended.

Not an academic exercise

To the editor:

During the past 18 months, much has been written about the process of hydraulic fracturing, as used by the natural gas extracting industry. The industry and their puppets claim that this process is wonderful (safe, benign, non-toxic, etc) while others, who aren’t drooling over the anticipated flood of money, are documenting the deadly effects of this activity on all forms of life.

Thanks to the efforts of many dedicated persons, the toxic ingredients of the fluids used to break up rock formations in the bowels of the earth have gradually been exposed. It’s not just white sand and water, folks.

But fracturing is a two-step process, the first of which takes place above ground. Appropriately, its formula is much simpler: ignorance, stupidity, greed and gullibility. The effectiveness of this approach rests on the tried-and-proven principle that a lie, if repeated often enough, becomes truth. And what could be more effective than a lie repeated ad infinitum by authority figures—industry “experts” and persons with degrees who are, for example, “unaware of any incidents of contamination caused by drilling.”

And then along comes a retired college professor who wants to “raise the level of the dialogue,” as if this issue should be treated as an academic exercise in rhetoric. And that’s not enough; he wants us to leave all the thinking to the experts—of his choosing, of course.

Let’s wake up. Or we’ll soon be living—no, dying—in a toxic industrial wasteland just like all the others all across the country.

Worshiping two gods

To the editor:

It’s puzzling, really. On the one hand, conservative Christians insist on the protection of “the infinite preciousness of human life”—but on the other, they are at least as insistent on relying on “market forces” to determine who gets access to effective health care. This seems to me to be a contradiction. For if one makes the

market the final arbiter in such matters, does that not inevitably lead to placing a specific price on each supposedly “priceless” human life?

In this, as in so many other areas of life, I fear that many would-be Christians have fallen prey, instead, to what I call “Mammonism:” an unwarranted and possibly idolatrous faith in (if not actual worship of) the so-called “invisible hand” of the free market and a belief that economic activity is somehow exempt from moral considerations.

Rather, I would suggest that we try thinking about healthcare from the perspective of the Golden Rule: consider what we would each like others to do for us when we become in need of care and then what would be needed to help others receive that same care themselves.

Healther Skelter

To the editor:

We all know: our health care system is broken; the baby boom generation is aging; and our health care system may fail under the boomers’ onslaught.

The fact is the U.S. pays the most for health care. In 2006 our per capita spending on health care was $6,993. Next was Norway at $4,507. Canada spent but $3,696. So what did our outsize expenditure buy us?

In 2006, U.S. life expectancy was 78.1 years. In Norway, it was 80.6 years; in Canada, 80.7 years. That same year the U.S. infant mortality rate was 6.7; Norway’s was 3.2; Canada’s was 5.

Saying we cannot fix this is at best naive and at worst unpatriotic. If there is anything for which America is known, it is rising to a challenge. What to do?

There are two actions we can take immediately. Health care providers should post their fees. This price information will reduce costs as patients seek out low cost providers. Providers must also be rated so that patients have all the information they need to make informed choices.

Absent these steps, reform of our health care system is doomed.

The time for reform is now

To the editor:

Opponents of health reform, riled up by special interest lobbyists and organized by partisan political operatives, have been storming public events, shouting down elected officials and their fellow citizens in an effort to interrupt legitimate conversation about the issues. Sometimes these folks aren’t even from the area where the meetings are held.

As someone who has learned of the many people devastated by health care costs and catastrophic illness, I support health insurance reform. Many individuals believe we have the best health care system in the world, yet we are ranked only 37th on the world list of best health care. We’ve been trying to reform our system since Harry Truman was President, but each time we’ve been overwhelmed by the efforts of insurance companies and other special interests who have spent millions to maintain the status quo. Most recently, opponents of health insurance reform have been using tactics like drawing devil horns on our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy and comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

A lot of the misinformation is being directed to people in my generation, older Americans who benefit from Medicare. They say that reform will cut Medicare benefits and hurt seniors. That’s false. Reform will eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies, returning Medicare to more stable financial ground to ensure its survival. It will also save seniors money by closing the doughnut hole in Medicare Part D.

With 14,000 Americans losing their insurance daily and millions more worrying they might be next, this is no time to remain silent. Reform will hold the insurance companies accountable and make sure they can’t take advantage of people like me with unscrupulous practices.

The special interests have been able to block reform in years past. But now we are closer than ever, and despite the naysayers and the fearmongers, I proudly add my voice to the millions of Americans calling for reform.

Camp Morry says ‘thank you’

To the editor:

Summer camp makes a long-term impact in the lives of children and opens new worlds: learning how to swim, the exhilaration of hiking through the woods, the opportunity to see new plants and animals and making new friends around a campfire. On behalf of the nonprofit Project Morry, we would like to thank all of our amazing neighbors and friends for allowing us to spend another fantastic summer in your community.

Over the past few months, over 400 youngsters from New York and Connecticut left their urban homes for four weeks, free of charge, to enjoy adventures at Morry’s Camp, the residential summer camp with an educational focus and anchor of Project Morry, located in Glen Spey, NY. The camping experience offered youngsters positive core values, increased social skills, enhanced self-esteem and a greater sense of personal responsibility. Project Morry continues this support to our participants by reinforcing the strong values and lessons learned at camp through year-round, monthly meetings.

The inner-city children who attended Morry’s Camp had the opportunity to learn and thrive in the great outdoors. The surrounding streams, woodlands, marshlands and small lake provided Project Morry campers with a much needed break from the crowded streets of city life. The Glen Spey area offered a serene location that allowed campers to explore the world around them and learn more about themselves.

Thank you for sharing the beauty of Glen Spey and the surrounding area with our young campers. Your community enables Project Morry to make a contribution to a child’s future, helping them learn and grow. We look forward to seeing you again next summer.