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Letters Marriage
| The
Terrifying DSS | After
the Attack | '5
Girls' | Guns
and Protection Marriage
Needs Legal Protection
Thomas
Jefferson wrote, "Can the liberties of our nation be thought
secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction
in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God?
That they are not to be violated, but with His wrath? I indeed tremble
for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice
cannot sleep forever." Jefferson's meaning is most appropriate
now. We are witnessing an assault against one of God's most holy
institutions - the joining together of a man and a woman in the
holy state of matrimony. -
Edward Shallow Marriage
About Inheritance, Not Children
Your
comment, "It [marriage] has always been to protect children
and their mothers," is not true. The original purpose of marriage
was to keep property within the family so that a man's inheritance
would go to his kids and not some other guy's offspring. It is assumed
in law that the children of a marriage are the husband's offspring.
If they separate and the wife has a child with another man before
the divorce is final, even if the other guy admits paternity, the
husband still has to go through legal procedures to ensure that
he does not have to pay child support for a child he did not sire.
Relatedly,
the story of Onan in the Bible (Genesis 38) and the law it refers
to in Deuteronomy (25:5) show that a brother has the obligation
to impregnate his brother's widow in order to continue his brother's
family. Many arranged marriages were for economic benefits to the
families involved; children had value either as labor or bargaining
chips in future alliances. -
Jean A. Berman Editor's
Comment: You radical feminists are seeking to eliminate marriage.
Therefore, you keep telling us that the Protection of Marriage Amendment
is 1) religious in nature and 2) shows hatred of homosexuals. Neither
of those are true. You
are trying to push the "religious" button. An intelligent
response is that, of course religious people see marriage as a "religious"
issue. These religious people also see stealing, lying and killing
others as "religious" issues. Does that mean we are promoting
"religious" issues when we punish stealing, lying and
killing? Nobody would be that silly. Your argument is just as silly.
There is no question that there are many secular reasons to forbid
murder, just as there are many secular reasons to encourage marriage. But
the radical feminists don't want us to realize that. If
you want to discuss marriage from a Judeo/Christian viewpoint, the
first thing you must do is to start at the beginning. The Bible
says in Genesis 2:21-24 that God created one woman as a companion
to Adam, and said, "Therefore, shall a man leave his father
and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be
one flesh." The Bible does not say that God created two or
three women. Only one. The
other thing that you must realize is that the Bible is a history
of the failings of man and the failure to obey the teachings of
God. Anyone can cite example after example of the failings of men,
as related in the Bible. You
will then counter with the question, "How can anyone possibly
believe that silly stuff from the Bible?" You can certainly
make that argument, but not when you are the one who is raising
the religious issues. (Please
see the Editorial in this paper for more comment on this subject.) Gov't
and Morals Don't Mix
You
claim, in the preface to an article on why you've become "sidetracked"
onto moral issues, that your libertarian ideals have become almost
irrelevant. This statement saddened me. It
is never irrelevant to point out that government has no business
educating our children. Please
don't take your eye off the ball: small government. Most of the
complaints your piece listed could be helped substantially if government
got out of those areas. MassNews
could gain credibility by sticking to discussions about the disease
(big government), instead of focusing the various symptoms caused
by it. We
must start electing people who will use government only for its
very few legitimate purposes: basically, only things that protect
individual liberty and property. We
must not allow politicians to dictate morals in any way because
we see where that leads! This means opposing Bryan Rudnick's attempt
to use government coercion against homosexuals. Two wrongs don't
make a right. We must get government out of all our personal affairs,
or else none of us will be safe from others' interference. After
all, the Creator did not bestow us with (unalienable) liberty so
that mere men could take it away. -
Rich Aucoin Editor's
Comment: It also saddened me that I had to write what I did. When
I see the excellent work of the Cato Institute in Washington, I
wonder why we don't see any of that libertarian spirit here in Massachusetts.
Instead, we see many libertarians in our state consumed with encouraging
more children to smoke marijuana. If these people were to question
the validity of the drug war, that is a logical argument. But many
go way beyond that. And
some are consumed with promoting gay marriage, which makes no sense
at all. If they want to eliminate any approval of marriage by the
state, that would be logical (but not wise). But why do they want
to give government benefits to heterosexual couples who do not want
the responsibilities of marriage (and eventually to bigamists and
many others) and to homosexuals? Do
they realize that the domestic partner bill that was passed by the
state Senate will cost the taxpayers in Massachusetts at least $15
million in the first year alone? Do
they realize that if the state begins to raise the children instead
of having the parents do it, we will have reached the opposite of
what libertarians believe because that can only be done in a socialist
state. I
give no apology for the fact that I believe the protection of our
children must be our paramount concern. And there is no question
that we are bruising many of them badly in Massachusetts because
of the abuse by the state. You
may also wish to look at the new book, Love & Economics: Why
the Laissez-Faire Family Doesn't Work, by the libertarian author,
Jennifer Roback Morse. She says that survival of our free-market
economy depends upon loving families and we must replace the feminist
thinking which teaches that child-rearing is an inferior activity
to be shunned by anyone of moderate intelligence. Marriage
Argument Contradictory
Your
column about gay marriage uses a contradictory argument: if two
men can marry, then next thing you know, five men will marry each
other. In
that case, if a man and a woman can marry, then ten men and 12 women
can all marry each other! Where
will all of the heterosexual deviancy end? -
Name Withheld Editor's
Comment: You are very cute, but not very swift. If we change the
basic concept of marriage (as we have always known it), we will
have opened Pandora's box. After that, there will be multiple proposals
to allow all sorts of "marriages." As a lawyer who has
read the Vermont decision very carefully, I can assure you that
you will not be able to stop the onslaught that will occur. The
Vermont judges themselves made that very clear in their opinion.
That is precisely what you want, but most of us do not. The Terrifying DSS Nev
Moore Inspires Confidence
When
I read the article about the baby and the baby's mother, I was appalled.
I
just wrote to U.S. Attorney General Ashcroft about it and sent him
the article. Somehow I have a little more confidence in Ted Kennedy's
state because of your brave Nev Moore, the President of Justice
for Families. -
Elva Decker DSS
Employee Witnessed Unwise Push for Adoptions
I
was an employee of the Department of Social Services for 141/2 years.
However, I opted to leave a little over a year ago, because the
agency has been heading in a direction that I did not care for.
I
became a social worker in order to help families. But I left because
I saw an unjust situation, where a supervisor with a personal dislike
of a client, for reasons that were totally unrelated to her ability
to take care of her children, was able to almost railroad the case
onto the adoption track. I did what I could to derail the runaway
train. The management of the area office was more concerned about
whether or not I had shared the information with the client than
with doing the right thing. I
don't agree that a social worker cannot be a good commissioner,
but it has to be one that believes that the first rule is "First,
Do No Harm!" DSS should not destroy the family in order to
"save" it, and some of their workers need to find another
line of work. Good social work can be summarized as follows: Be
friendly. Be firm. But most important, be fair! -
Marie Levesque Husband
Salutes Nev Moore
I
write this open letter to MassNews and my wife of many years. I
sometimes sit in amazement of Nev as I see how important the DSS
issue has become to her and Justice for Families. She is a tireless
worker when it pertains to families in need. She has helped so many
families in their battle with an agency that was started to help
families with everyday problems, poverty, homelessness, home aids,
etc, etc. But somehow DSS has stopped caring about those issues.
Now it's about the almighty dollar, $700 million to be exact. We
cannot ignore the $5,000 bonus the Dept. of Social Services gets
when a child is adopted out. What
happened to family preservation and keeping the family intact as
the foundation of our community? Both my wife and myself believe
there has to be a DSS, for there are people out there that just
can't be good parents. But, most of the parents (95%) we come across
want to be good parents; they just need a little helping hand. There
is a need for a place like a DSS to lend a hand but not the way
it is handled by this agency. It is in dire need of help and it
is we the people that can change it. With the help of people like
the Nev Moores, the Ed Pawlicks, the Justice for Families, the Mass
News, and, I must include, the Stacie Heveners, we can overcome! So,
to my wife: I love you and thank you for everything you have tried
to do. -
Thomas J. Moore Commissioner
Aims to Give DSS More Power
God
bless Nev Moore and her tireless crusade for the innocent children
being destroyed in Massachusetts by DSS. The
commissioner has a proposal on the table about what to do with runaways
at DSS. It has become a serious problem. He is looking for approval
from our government to keep them restrained. Just
think, in this way their statistics for runaways go down. No one
will see the harm being done, and still they will be unaccountable. Let's
hope molesters/rapists aren't on their payroll taking care of children.
But then, who would know? The
cases in juvenile court are confidential, so no one can be a witness
to what goes on. Across the country, more than 70% of our juvenile
justice system is currently filled with children who came through
state foster care. What an endorsement for the system! DSS
and the courts can hide behind confidentiality and have no accountability
but it's only lives we're talking about here. They're not our kids,
right? They're only the ones who will be in the park, on the highways,
in the stores with our kids/grandkids someday with so much anger
from a lifetime of abuse that they take it out on whomever they
come in contact with. Still think we can afford to ignore it? I
think not! Help them now. -
Kathleen Bruens Playgrounds,
Not Foster Homes
I
agree with Nev Moore: it's time to change DSS. They have way too
much power and money. Some of their supervisors, social workers
and therapists don't have the educational background to make life-changing
decisions for families. Parents need more accessibility and cooperation
from this state-run service. Maybe
DSS should build more playgrounds instead of foster homes. After the Attack Media
Embracing God
As
I listen to the media, I have heard the name "God" spoken
in a respectful fashion more times than I have ever heard it spoken
before, and I have heard prayer alluded to time and time again.
This has impressed upon me, once again, the reality that there is
within the soul of every human being a need to believe in God. In
a time of crisis, fear and anxiety, people who probably never think
about God begin thinking seriously about Him. My prayer is that
this will not be a "flash in the pan," but rather that
this tragedy will result in large numbers turning to God for answers
and, more importantly, for salvation through Jesus Christ. Furthermore,
as the media seeks to do its part to bring comfort to the nation,
I have noticed that it has sought to interview a number of clergymen
from various religious traditions. However, I have not seen one
interview with a leading figure of the skeptical or atheistic community.
Why not? Because they have no comfort to offer, only further despair.
Theirs is a religion of despair. Finally,
as I think about our political representatives singing "God
Bless America" (which they all probably learned in school),
I am not only saddened and angered at some of their hypocrisy, but
I am saddened that our children (even if they knew the song) would
not be allowed to sing it in school. For, thanks to the godless
ACLU, God is hardly mentioned in the schools, much less sung about. -
Kieran Murphy 'Grow
Up,' Meehan and Neal!
After
their comments [Meehan, Neal raised doubts about the leadership
of President Bush], they should not be allowed to serve in any office.
If someone like Hillary Clinton can take a step back and stop attacking
President Bush during this time, why can't two-bit Congressmen like
Meehan and Neal keep their mouths shut? They need to grow up. -
Vincent A. J. Errichetti Rep.
Neal Acting Like a Child
I
just called Congressman Neal's office. I read an email where Congressmen
are complaining about George Bush's delivery style. In the middle
of this fiasco, these Congressmen are criticizing the President's
delivery style? Maybe they think that in the middle of this mess,
Bush should take a course in speech delivery. How is this sort of
shallowness supposed to elevate our President in the eyes of the
world? Can't they go to his face and complain, and keep this foolishness
out of the media? Many
have said in this day and age of television, glitz and fast-moving
images, we are supposed to have a smooth talking, slick, used car
salesman type President. It sounds good on the surface, but what
about the character of the person? I prefer honorable character
to shallow, devious, surface appearances. It has been said that
Abraham Lincoln would never have been elected with the current expectations
of super-personality. I doubt Washington, Adams, Jefferson, etc.
would pass Neal's scrutiny. Neal's
comments are just a diversion by one of many long-term legislators
who have avoided their responsibility, as legislators, to assure
Americans are safe. Neal and others have not yelled to the rooftops
that our intelligence or military should not be dismantled. He didn't
have the foresight to know there was a bigger enemy looming, much
more secretive and frightening than what we experienced in the cold
war. Many people have warned our congressmen about the danger of
ignoring or trivializing intelligence, but our legislators have
ignored the warnings. Neal is guilty. Col.
Hackworth, Casper Weinberger and many other like-minded people have
warned us about what Neal, Kennedy and others are doing to this
country by their neglect. Gary Aldrich wrote a book about the past
administration and how they didn't ensure that security checks were
in place in the White House. The White House is accused of ignoring
FBI procedures. And
Neal complains about the delivery style of BUSH? A child would do
this sort of thing - complain about some dumb thing to get the attention
for himself. It's just a diversion from his guilt. -
Judy Tetu Meehan,
Neal Comments 'Pathetic'
In
the last couple of days since the terrible act of war and atrocity
committed against the United States of America, some of this state's
'illustrious' congressmen, more specifically, House representatives,
have made frankly-treasonous statements. Marty Meehan quips his
overtly political and completely partisan rhetoric because he doesn't
have the sense to realize he needs to behave more respectfully than
that at this hour of need and crisis. Richie
Neal decides to start in with the pathetic, "We can't kill
women and children or we are no better than them" rhetoric
- lies and foolish garbage that weakens our nation. Frankly, in
my opinion, they need to step down and resign. What
do we do with a rogue bear, or even a rogue dog that has killed
a child? We destroy it so that it won't happen again. Frankly, right
now we need to not destroy our own freedoms and liberties due to
the ungodly atrocities of those that care nothing about a free and
righteous world, but instead, such cowards strike at those who wish
freedom and goodness for everyone. God
helps those that help themselves. To lie down and take it helps
no one! -
Jim McCullough Canadians
Pray for Americans
I
am writing to you to give my deepest regrets to all the families
that have been touched by the horrific events of September 11. My
wife Edith, my grown children and I are saddened by all the devastation
and injuries and deaths that have occurred. My interest in this
horrible murder (that is what it is) is that, while I was in the
workforce, I was a motor coach operator working out of Victoria
and Vancouver, Canada. It was my pleasure to take people on tour
into the Canadian Rockies, and I met a lot of wonderful people from
your area. So it is with a deep heart that I write this letter to
you and to ask that you let people know that our prayers are with
everyone and that soon the people who are responsible for this horrible
disaster will be caught and punished. God bless you all, and God
bless America. -
Harold and Edith Thickett Canadian
Praises Americans' Kindness
When
I retired, despite sending out hundreds and hundreds of resumes
to Canadian companies, the only interviews I received were with
U.S. companies. I accepted the gracious offer of a company in Atlanta.
Prior to leaving the military, I spoke with most of the universities
across Canada regarding possible enrollment. The
responses from Calgary and Saskatoon are representative of the responses
I received from the admissions officers I spoke with. During the
course of my conversation with admissions officers in Calgary and
Saskatoon, I was asked very bluntly, "Were you in the Army?"
and then, "Are you white?" When I responded yes they said,
"I won't send you an application unless you can show that you
were disadvantaged in some way, which I doubt." When
I moved to Atlanta, I had to use the fax machine at our local Kroger
store for several matters. When the staff behind the counter at
Kroger's read the documents and found out that I had served in the
Canadian Army, they reached across the counter to shake my hand
and said, "God bless you. Thank you for serving your country."
I talked with them briefly about how wonderful it was to live in
the U.S. and then I left with tears in my eyes. After over twenty
years in uniform, the Kroger staff was the first ever to thank me
for serving. I was so overwhelmed with grateful emotion and I still
am to this day. In the interest of comparison, when I left the Canadian
Army, an orderly room Corporal pointed to a table where my retirement
scroll was, which I picked up and then left the building. That was
my send-off from the Canadian Army. God
Bless America. -
Bill Tait Liberals
to Blame for Attacks
Here
we are at war again. And, as usual, the left wing liberals and their
friends, the civil liberties nuts, have rendered our government
all but helpless to defend us. The
attacks on New York and Washington would not have been possible
if this country used the kind of precautions that are standard practice
in Europe. But Clinton and his pals spent eight years tearing down
the armed forces, and the lawyers have crippled the police, the
courts and the CIA. If the civil liberties nuts were as zealous
at fighting criminals and terrorists as they are at suppressing
religion, this disaster would never have happened. Now
that we've been attacked and seven thousand innocent Americans murdered,
what are the left-wingers doing? Why, they're holding peace marches,
naturally. Fat lot of good that will do! -
Tom LeClaire Vet
Stresses Policy Over Force
I
enlisted and went to Korea because I believed it was an injustice
for North Korea to invade South Korea. I came back but 53,000 did
not. One cause of the war was the mistake the Truman administration
made when it did not declare South Korea to be an area we would
support. That was all North Korea needed to invade. More
recently, the Bush administration made a mistake when it let Iraq
think we would not oppose an invasion of Kuwait. My
point is that wars can be caused by the mistakes of politicians.
I fully support a just war. But now we are confronted by the failure
of our Middle East foreign policy and few want to see it. Where
there is no justice there can be no peace. Violating the rule of
law is not consistent with justice. Instead
of going to the root of a problem, we want to treat the symptoms
and not the underlying causes.
Failure
to implement UN Resolutions 242 and 338 is against the best interests
of this country and should be rectified. -
Gene DiCostanzo Bin
Laden Bad as McVeigh
I
see some occasional pro-Taliban literature pasted on the walls of
a corridor near my office. There has been at least one major peace
rally and lots of literature blaming U.S. policy for the bombings
or stating that retaliation is wrong because two wrongs don't make
a right. We
executed McVeigh didn't we? No one here protested McVeigh's execution. Why
was McVeigh's act worthy of execution but bin Laden's act to be
forgiven? We
know who the perpetrators are and we have to stop bin Laden or he
will continue killing our citizens. '5
Girls' APA
President Insulting to Fathers
I
haven't had the unpleasant experience of viewing "5 Girls"
on PBS, but look forward to its rebroadcast. The mere fact that
Ms. Norine Johnson, president of the American Psychological Association,
had anything to do with it speaks volumes for the film's poor quality
and bias. To
quote Ms. Johnson, "I'm convinced there's a new girl in America,"
and "... it's like she snuck up on us." Sorry to inform
you, Ms. Johnson, but the strong independent women of America have
always been there, and some of the well-balanced ones have had both
parents equally share in their human growth and development. Abigail
Adams, Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt are just a few resilient,
scholarly leaders that may jog your memory. Nothing
shined brighter in the articles published in The Massachusetts News
and Boston Herald television review with regards to "5 Girls"
than the fact that you, Norine Johnson, wouldn't recognize the fathers
of today who want to be a part of the physical, emotional, spiritual,
and professional growth of their young ladies. I think you owe women
and fathers everywhere an apology. -
Richard Livingston Fathers
Must 'Hang Together'
At
a time when men are needed most in our nation, they are confronted
with an issue of paramount concern - the assault on the institution
of fatherhood. Fathers
are losing their children. There is widespread discrimination against
men in the courts, and judicial disdain for the concept of joint
custody. A sole custody, winner-takes-all regime is firmly entrenched.
Essentially, if it is left for the state to decide, divorced and
unwed fathers end up with little or no meaningful access to their
children. Additionally,
men are subject to random arrest based on "she says" accusations
without corroborating evidence. Rampant restraining order abuse
deprives them of their property and children, and support orders
can be so high that many fathers border on, or live in, poverty.
Our
government endows women with considerable funding and services,
while men are given few resources. One of the main reasons why the
women's movement is so powerful today is that they have learned
to band together. This
nation's people have gone to war for such indignities to their homes
and families. At the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
July 4, 1776, Benjamin Franklin said, "We must indeed all hang
together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
Men and fathers must pay heed to this sentiment and stand together,
or there will most certainly be no change. Guns
and Protection More
Gun Tips from Pistol Instructor
"Practical
Tips for Massachusetts Citizens" was a great idea. There were,
however, a few errors in it. You
do not have to keep your firearms in a safe or locked container
while they are stored in your house. Chapter 180's safe storage
laws, while draconian, also give you the option of "a tamper-resistant
safety device," which could include trigger locks or cable
locks. If
you have a Class A LTC, you may leave a firearm in your automobile
if the firearm is in a locked container. (In this case, a trigger
lock or cable lock would be unacceptable.) Leaving a firearm in
a situation where it could be stolen is never a good idea and would
certainly result in your losing your LTC. While
it is true that only a Class A LTC can allow you to carry a concealed
firearm, it must not be restricted. You could have a Class A LTC
with target or hunting restrictions that would not allow you to
carry concealed. A Class B LTC allows you to own handguns unless
they are "High Capacity" handguns. There is also the possibility
that you could legally own a handgun with a FID card if you also
received a "permit to purchase" from your licensing authority. -
Stephen "Mike" Yarosh Gun
Control Our Own Fault
I
read with some amusement the predicament that current and wannabe
gun owners in Massachusetts are in. I appreciated the author's analysis
of how this predicament developed, but in response I must say you
all did it to yourselves. Your cartoon of the day shows Ted Kennedy
living in his own liberal, disconnected from reality state. Uh,
last I checked, you elected him. If
the federal government were as dedicated to defending this country
(one of the only true powers bestowed to the government in the Constitution),
as Ted Kennedy is in pursuing his liberal agenda, then America might
possibly not be in the situation it is in today. -
Norman Bright Editor's
Comment: Hey Norm, does that allow us to say, "Uh, last I checked,
you elected Bill Clinton?" Cheers
for Izzy MassNews
is 'Honest Press'
Thank
you, Izzy, for the article on the Amherst ultra-leftists. It is
so good to read the truth instead of liberal rhetoric for a change.
Oh, how I long for an honest press that prints news instead of editorializing
it. Not that there wasn't editorializing in your article, it is
just that it was intelligent common sense editorializing for a welcome
change. -
Jeff Mario Smith Lyman
'Misrepresents' Amherst Flags
I
often agree with Isabel Lyman, I really do. I have for years. As
an Amherst town employee, this has not always been a 'mainstream'
move on my part. But Isabel often makes sense. Still,
in her latest editorial about the foolishness in Amherst, she misrepresents
several things to the point where they are no longer true. That
requires a response. First
and foremost, the Amherst Select Board did not "coldly"
tell "a room full of veterans 'no' when these soldiers asked
to fly American flags in their downtown." Those
29 commemorative flags were bought with the Select Board's support.
The original proposal was to fly them on selected holidays and events,
like almost every other community. During a trial period to see
how the flags looked, the local Veterans' Services Director and
some others decided to propose flying the flags for 2-3 month periods
in the late spring and the early fall. Other
people in the community, including numerous veterans, disagreed.
Some of those disagreeing, but only the usual noisy few, did so
in the obnoxious and stupid ways that Isabel describes. The rest
were thoughtful, calm and patriotic about it. Some believed the
constant presence of the flags would diminish their impact, to the
point where people would no longer even notice them - they would
no longer be special, but just part of the background. When
the Select Board made its decision, the room was full of lots of
people. The veterans there were by no means speaking with one voice.
Several veterans opposed the "2-3 month continuous fly"
proposal. The Select Board was careful, deliberate and listened
to everybody, as they always do (in Amherst, you don't really have
much choice). They opted to go with the original proposal. Big whoop. Second,
the U.N. flag so provocatively displayed ("See! We told you!")
in Isabel's article flies on a medium-sized pole on a lower section
of the Amherst Town Common. Uphill from it, on a taller pole bearing
an historical Civil War plaque, flies Amherst's much larger U.S.
flag and the black MIA/POW flag that accompanies it every day. They
occupy the place of pride, right up on the main drag. Third,
and lastly, Select Board Chair (and Navy veteran) Carl Seppala was
right on when he said that we cannot advocate democracy for the
world while being intolerant of others next door. I have no problem
with calling stupidity by its name when I see it. But there's a
difference between being angrily honest and encouraging the knuckle-dragging
droolers out there who have been beating up or killing Indian Sikhs
and "others who have felt unsafe" (Really? I wonder why.).
If you speak in public, you assume responsibility for your words,
or you're an irresponsible jerk. If you edit someone else's words
for public consumption, the same holds true, even if your purpose
is partisan entertainment rather than news. Amherst's
politics are often exquisitely foolish. There is no need to paint
them with untruths in order to make that point. Your readers should
expect better. -
Jonathan Tucker Izzy
Lyman's Comment: Mr. Tucker, Does your job as "Town Planner"
now include editing and vetting the opinions of those who are published?
If so, I am concerned that your letter was nearly incomprehensible
due to your mixing of soapboxisms alongside your opinion of my column.
In
any case, I stand by my version of public events. I nitpick the
following:
If
the Select Board was so agreeable to the 29 flags being purchased,
then why did the Town Manager, who oversees the SB, order the flags
be removed without a debate and without a mandate to do so?
Sheesh,
it is not the size of the pole that is a concern, but what is on
it! During the 9/10 flag meeting, the UN, coincidentally, was holding
a racism conference. Those in session were trying to brand the United
States as a "racist" nation while blatantly overlooking
slave trading in the Sudan. It is never right to fly the flag of
an organization that promotes lies about the US and coddles tyrants.
Thanks
for Speaking Out
Thank
you, Izzy Lyman. And thank you, too, Massachusetts News, for printing
the Izzy Lyman response and your response to Jennie Traschen. The
attack of America by liberal professors is incomprehensible to me. The
professors' attacks would be ludicrous if they were not so vitriolic.
Professors live in an environment of safety. Once they have tenure
they have security that hardly anyone else in America has. I wonder
about the hard-working people who spend their hard-earned money
to send their kids to a school where most of the professors don't
believe in the country that supplies the freedom to earn the money
that gives them their jobs. The
flag is a symbol of all that is important about America. Even if
one disagrees with what our country is doing, our flag represents
what gives one the right to disagree. I appreciate people like Izzy
Lyman and papers like The Massachusetts News who, even in a radical
liberal environment, speak out. -
Sandra Gray Amherst
Liberals Use Islam to 'Bash America'
Isabel
Lyman's column on the antics of the warmed over 60's peaceniks in
Amherst perfectly captures the essence of these people. The support
of the "usual suspects" for America's Muslim community
is entirely phony. The lunatic leftists, feminists and Mother Earth
worshippers normally would have nothing in common with Islam and
its rather restricted view of women's rights and religious tolerance.
The "sandalistas" embrace of the Muslim community will
last only as long as they can use the alliance as a vehicle for
America bashing. -
Kenneth Robinson Veteran
Heartbroken by Rallies
I
am heartbroken. As a combat-wounded veteran of the Vietnam War,
my heart simply breaks at the notion that my country can be attacked
and her people slaughtered. Yet there are those who are fortunate
to have been born in America and not in some country where freedom
is but a dream, who dare to decry her as an imperialist nation who
deserves what she gets. My
God. This country, the United States of America, whose borders are
crossed by people seeking refuge daily and by people who risk their
lives in small boats traveling from places like Cuba, was savagely
assaulted. The comfortable well-fed socialist college trash who
never had to fight for so much as a place in a waiting line at Disney
World have the gall to turn against her in her time of sorrow. They
should be deported to those places on the earth where such demonstrations
would bring imprisonment and death. In our nation's earlier conflicts,
there was a name for these people: traitors. I hope that they are
at least thankful that we no longer hang traitors. -
"Doc" Bob Crankshaw Abortion
Don't
Use Euphemisms on Abortion
I
enjoy reading your informative, no-nonsense newspaper. Your coverage
of certain issues, like "Fistgate," has been excellent.
I was happy to see you broach the topic of abortion in the interviews
with the Republican candidates for the upcoming 9th District election. Here are some suggestions for dealing with
this difficult subject so that your coverage resembles the Massachusetts
News more than the Boston Globe. The
candidates were asked: "What's your viewpoint on abortion rights?"
Those
of us who are fighting the holocaust of legalized abortion are not
opposed to anyone's rights. In fact, we are in favor of the most
basic and fundamental right, the right from which all other rights
flow and upon which this country was founded. If we are truly endowed
by our creator with the inalienable right to life, then "abortion
rights" is an oxymoron. The post-Christian mother can kill
her daughter in the womb, just as the pagan father could kill his
infant son, not by any right but through special license granted
to the strong over the weak by an uncaring state. Legalized abortion
is not "abortion rights." State
Senator Jo Ann Sprague states, "I have a record as a pro-choice
legislator." "Pro-choice" is a euphemism used by
the abortion industry to hide the reality of its despicable actions.
"Ethnic cleansing" and "concentration camp"
are examples coined by other cultures to euphemize their mass killing
of innocent human beings. Since there are myriad legitimate choices
available that don't involve suctioning a helpless baby to pieces,
there can be no legitimate reason for a journalist to use the term
"pro-choice" in the headline instead of "pro-abortion." Senator
Sprague actually said in the interview, "As a woman and mother
of three daughters, I will always support a woman's right to choose,"
without eliciting a response from The Massachusetts News. I doubt
you would have accepted this kind of nonsense from a homosexual
advocate. You could have asked Senator Sprague why, despite her
lack of concern for the fate of her own grandchildren, she will
not represent those of us who want to keep the abortionist's bloody
hands off our daughters and unborn granddaughters. Keep
up the hard-hitting journalism. Lose the euphemisms and oxymorons.
Consider the advice of John Paul II, speaking on the same subject:
"Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to
have the courage to look truth in the eye and to call things by
their proper name." -
Michael P. O'Neil Editor's
Comment: We don't usually use "pro-choice" in our newspaper,
but that one did slip by. Glad to have you watching! Thousands
Die Every Day
On
Sept. 11, thousands of Americans were senselessly killed in a nightmarish
scene of spotlights, rubble, body parts and dwindling hope. Tomorrow,
thousands more will die. And the day after that. How do I know?
Because it's been going on since 1973. Every day, over 4,000 of
our pre-born neighbors are butchered quietly in "abortuaries"
all over America. The
tragedy in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania is truly a cause
for deep sadness. I pray for the injured and the families of the
missing. I do not wish to minimize the disaster that has taken place,
but to help put it in perspective. Everyone acknowledges that it's
a tragedy that thousands lost their lives in an act of brutal terrorism,
but what about the babies? (For
more pro-life information, please see my website: www.angelfire.com/tv2/letlives). -
Gay Guptill Pot Marijuana:
Legalize It, Regulate It, Tax It
In
your article, "Pot Rally Goes On Despite National Tragedy"
(Ed Oliver, September 17, 2001), you quoted Lea Cox, of Concerned
Citizens for Drug Prevention, as saying, "There is absolutely
no reason to legalize marijuana. It's a very dangerous drug." Fact:
there has never been an overdose death associated with the use of
cannabis. Can you say that about alcohol? Or even aspirin? Of course
not, but cannabis has no toxic level. While there are health issues
associated with inhaling smoke, it is clearly inaccurate to call
cannabis "a very dangerous drug." Lea
might have also said, back in the 20's, that alcohol is a very dangerous
drug and that there was no reason to (re)legalize that either. But
the alternative, during the alcohol prohibition, was the rise of
Al Capone and others who took advantage of ill-conceived government
policies to become some the worst U.S. criminals of the 20th century. Understand
this: the government's "war on drugs" is making cannabis
easier for children to obtain than if it were regulated and legalized.
Ask any 14-year old the question, "What's easiest for you to
get, tobacco, alcohol or marijuana?" and you will always find
that marijuana is the easiest to obtain. Why? Because it's in the
hand of a criminal distribution system that cares not to whom it
sells. Legalize
it, regulate it, tax it. That is the only sane way to approach the
distribution and control of America's #2 favorite drug, right behind
alcohol. -
Bob Doyle Editor's
Comment: An argument can be made - although not necessarily a good
one - that marijuana should be legalized because of the same problems
we saw during Prohibition. But as soon as anyone says it is not
harmful to children, they lose all credibility in my mind. Do they
believe we should worry about the smoking of tobacco, but not marijuana?
It sounds like I'm talking with a pot smoker when I hear that. They
should realize that unlike alcohol, which leaves the bloodstream
in a fairly short time, marijuana stays in the body for a long time.
So that a regular smoker is building a constantly increasing supply
in his body. Legalizing
Pot Would Protect Children
I
find your coverage of the annual Freedom Rally slanted and completely
off base. Why do the people that seem most concerned with kids harm
them the most? Ask any minor and they will tell you it is more difficult
to procure alcohol and tobacco than marijuana. Is this a coincidence?
I think not. It's because alcohol and tobacco are regulated and
marijuana is not. Why
do news reporters like Ed Oliver pretend to care about the kids
yet they do everything in their power to keep the status quo (keeping
illegal drug dealers in business to hook another generation of kids)?
Prohibiting marijuana keeps a profitable black market alive. My
message to Ed Oliver is this: stop acting as a front for illegal
drug dealers. It is time to regulate a recreational drug that is
far less toxic than both cigarettes and tobacco. Stop the madness,
regulate and tax marijuana. -
M.J. Crawford The
'Right' to Use Drugs?
This
country has just endured a tragedy beyond imagining, yet the self-
serving younger members of our society are more concerned with their
so-called "right" to destroy their minds and health. How
callous of them. God
help us. Other
Issues Correction
on Galileo
In
an otherwise excellent piece about the frightening work of Dr. Michael
West, Amy Contrada includes a bit of shaky history when she writes
that Galileo "proved, despite the enormous opposition of the
church, that the earth is not the center of the universe." The
common understanding of Galileo's conflict with the Catholic Church
is based almost entirely on myth. Galileo's scientific work was
supported and even subsidized by the Vatican for years; his troubles
arose only when he insisted on his own interpretation of Scripture.
And Galileo was by no means the first to demonstrate that the earth
revolves around the sun. That discovery had been made by the ancient
Greeks, and was well known in Europe long before Galileo was born. -
Philip F. Lawler Editor's
Comment: Our thanks to Phil Lawler for this insight. However, we
must remind him that it was Dr. West who raised Galileo, not us.
We reported that on page 20 of the September issue. Nevertheless,
our encyclopedia says that because Galileo supported Copernicus
in the theory that the earth moves around the sun, he was warned
by church officials to abandon that theory. The work of Copernicus
was placed on the index of prohibited books where it remained for
200 years. The reference states that Galileo was called by the Inquisition
in 1632 after he published his "masterpiece" about the
world, A Dialogue on the Two Principal Systems of the World. He
was confined to his home for the last ten years of his life. On
October 31, 1992, the Vatican admitted that it had erred in its
attacks against Galileo. Pope John Paul said that "the underlying
problems of this case concern both the nature of science and the
nature of faith ... one day we may find ourselves in a similar situation,
which will require both sides to have an informed awareness of the
field and the limits of their own competencies." But
like most things in life, it is not simple. There has been a lot
written about the very complex subject and it will be debated by
intellectuals for centuries to come. The debate is on a level far
beyond that of most of us. Whatever
the truth, please don't blame Amy Contrada. That short summary about
Dr. West was written by our editorial staff. Thank
You
Just
want to thank you very much for printing Ruth Schiavone's plea for
help at the death camp. God
bless you for that! -
Name Withheld Keep
It Up
Don't
stop exposing the Globe and what is happening in MA, as it is silently
happening all over America. Keep
up the good work! Keep revealing the truth! That alone will set
us free! -
Name Withheld Subscriber
Takes Stand Against Landmark Cinemas
I
thought MassNews would be interested in this. It is a copy of an
email I sent to the manager of the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge
after my wife and I inadvertently attended a disgusting movie (Our
Lady of the Assassins) in which a pedophile is the protagonist.
I later learned that a second movie (titled appropriately "L.I.E."
and given glowing reviews in local media) is showing there with
a similar theme. I
find it bizarre that people can be prosecuted for possessing or
downloading images of child pornography, but this same stuff can
be screened in a major theater chain. Maybe this is a new push for
even lower standards of morality and restraint, given that the public's
attention is displaced by the war. Please
keep telling the truth. Your newspaper is great. I am a subscriber.
Letter
to Landmark Theatres Oct
3, 2001 My
wife and I have been going to the Kendall Square Theatre for four
or five years now. We read the reviews posted on the Landmark Internet
site and decided to see Our Lady of the Assassins last Saturday
night. Your establishment could have saved us a 35-mile trip (both
ways) and the admission price of two tickets by having a more accurate
description of the movie. Five minutes into it, we got up and went
straight to the box office to demand our money back after we saw
that the movie was about pedophilia. If
you folks really want to start catering to the NAMBLA crowd, then
do the rest of us a favor and tell us in plain language in your
reviews and press releases whenever a particular movie is about
man-boy love. My wife and I were disgusted by the movie, and feel
patronized and insulted by the lack of forthrightness on the part
of whomever was allowed to write such a euphemistic and specious
press release. I am sure there are many more people who feel the
same way we do. -
Name Withheld Lottery
Fraud Too Easy
Lottery
fraud is happening every day. Do you realize that people working
in stores where lottery tickets are sold are scanning tickets before
they are scratched. I know of two big winning tickets in towns close
to where I live that were turned in by workers' relatives after
being scanned by workers. These workers quit their jobs soon afterwards.
The lottery is aware of this problem, but is not telling the public
about it. This is very unfair of the lottery. I contacted the lottery
and they admitted to me that they know of this problem. Their excuse
was that after a store worker scans more then two losing tickets
in a roll, their machine will be shut down for a short time. I
have a good friend who used to work in a store were the workers
were scanning tickets. So I know for a fact that this is happening.
The public has the right to know that they're being cheated. No
way should lottery scratch tickets be sold where these scanning
machines are present and so available to them.
-
David Gouvin Crèche
Not Offensive or Harmful
Your
article about the nativity scene on the Lexington Town Green raises
some important points of law and civics. I am not a churchgoing
man, and I don't care whether there is a crèche on the town green
or not: it does me no harm, it costs me no money and it intends
me no offense. The
people who want to banish the crèche may well have some minor point
of law on their side, and they may yet prevail in court. They move
into town with their big money and their big mouths wide open making
demands and yowling about their "rights." They don't notice
that the people who founded this town and made it an attractive
place to live for them have been holding this observance for decades.
Don't they deserve any consideration? Don't they deserve tolerance
too? Maybe
these protesters will win in court. So what does that accomplish
for anybody? At best, these complainers can derive the mean-spirited
satisfaction that comes from depriving other people of something
that's very important to them. I
say we should allow each religion to make a brief, tasteful display
on the Green during their own holiday season if they wish. If the
complainers want to put up a display for the sun god Ra, let them.
They'll get tired after awhile and forget about it. The crèche will
still be there in the next century. -
JH Globe
Against Bigotry - Selectively
The
Boston Globe has once again shown its contempt for Christians, and
Catholics in particular. On Sunday, September 16, articles in regional
segments of the paper appeared indicating concern for bigotry and
hate that was appearing in certain suburbs of Boston. In stark contrast,
in the same issue there was listed under the title "Sunday
Best," a play by one Dario Fo, a great admirer of Josef Stalin
(a man who killed thirty-million of his own people in the 1930s)
and an enemy of democracy and a notorious anti-Catholic bigot who
perpetuates his views in his plays. The Globe writers of this little
display of bigotry hid behind the designation "Globe Staff."
-
Richard F. Russo MassNews.com
Helpful
I
read your Online Edition every day and generally agree with your
positions and drive to print the truth. Thank you for being here. -
John Zuppe
|
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The Select Board voted "no" during the infamous meeting
of 9/10. This conveys exactly the same message as telling the veterans
"no."