Israel, Gwaltney, illegals, Johnson and global warming

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: July 10, 2008

The enemy at their gates

To the editor:

I would please like to draw your attention to the third annual Christians United for Israel (http://www.cufi.org) summit in Washington later this month. Last year, 4,500 Christians from all 50 states showed their support of God’s chosen people in our nation’s capital.

Israel is portrayed in the news media as the proverbial “bad guy” for simply attempting to take measures to protect itself and its citizens — closing borders in an attempt to keep crazed bulldozer drivers and the like from killing innocent Jews. Her leaders are doing nothing more than America or any other nation would do under the circumstances.

I find myself even more aghast that anyone would buy the latest rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I heard him with my own ears threaten to wipe out Israel — and worse. He’s just biding time and averting our attention while enriching uranium for his evil purposes.

I wish for the sake of Israel that I was someone who wielded some type of political clout or power.

I know that what the nations of the world are attempting to force Israel to do is sheer idiocy and utter suicide — to give up yet more land and leave themselves totally vulnerable to missile attack from all sides.

No other nation of the world would give up land to appease terrorists. They will not be appeased, no matter what Israel does.

The Arabs have between them 5.3 million square miles. After the Arabs acquired land designated to them through perfidious arrangements with the British and after cutting off four-fifths of “Palestine” to a previously non-existing kingdom, the Jewish homeland was reduced to a sparsely populated 10,801 square miles!

You do the math — there is no room for two viable states in this amount of property. The point, I surmise, is to squeeze Israel out all together if Ahmadinejad doesn’t strike first.

This is about conquest, not an attempt at peace. These people wish to conquer the entire world with one-world religion and government. If the Arabs were allowed to build a “Palestinian” state on what meager land Israel has left, Israel itself will no longer be viable, with no defensive borders in the east, further reduced in size and surrounded by her enemies and their sponsors. Every Israeli city, town and village would be subjected to bombardment by every type of missile!

So I ask you, what would you do if you were Israel? Would you not take whatever steps necessary to protect your scattered people?

SUSAN ARTHUR RAKES

To the editor:

Concerning retired City Manager Jerry Gwaltney’s vacation pay, every civil servant — from city level to federal — is entitled to some defined amount of paid vacation and leave.

If they choose to accumulate considerably more than what is stipulated in their contract, that says to me that they are not managing well. No one is so indispensable that they can’t take their allowable vacation time. Nor should anyone be compensated for more than what is in the contract.

Part of what a good manager does is to train and mentor his/her subordinates so that when the boss leaves, the team keeps the momentum going. That’s the first thing they taught me in Army leadership!

LAURIE TILLETT

To the editor:

Has America lost control over the number of immigrants coming into this country? What seems to have happened is there isn’t any controls whatsoever. No person can be blamed for trying to find a better life for themselves, and no doubt that is what these illegals are trying to do.

But these people would not be able to succeed without the help of certain employers. How do these employers carry these workers on their books? They must know that these illegals do not have the Social Security number that everyone is supposed to have. Are these employers breaking the law? How do they get away with it?

I am an immigrant myself, but I had to have a sponsor. My sponsor sent me an American Sunday newspaper full of job ads. I also had to appear in front of a consul in Liverpool.

I wrote to a company in New Jersey about a job. I was a skilled brick mason, having served a six-year apprenticeship. I was told there would be a job waiting for me.

I told the consul I had a job in Newark, N.J. The consul told me not to find a job in this country until I got here. The consul said he was going to forget what I said about already having a job. He gave me my papers and said good luck. I breathed a sigh of relief.

In those days, one had to have a chest X-ray, a character reference from a banker or minister and someone to sponsor you in America. I had to send for my wife and two daughters later.

A funny thing happened to me when I was going through customs. I had to open my bags for the customs inspector. I used to have a great taste for rhubarb pie. My father-in-law had taken some of the rhubarb roots out of his garden. The inspector looked at me kind of funny and said, “What is this?” I said, “You grow it.” He said, “Then what do you do with it?” I said, “You eat it.” The inspector looked at me like he thought I was nuts, and threw it in the trash can. This adventure happened to me 58 years ago.

I arrived in Danville with $20.52 to my name, got a job in two days and have been paying taxes ever since.

Today the big problem are illegals, employers and drugs. Wake up, America. Don’t forget the giving away of American jobs. One day we could be at war with the countries that you lost the jobs to.

HARRY WARD

To the editor:

President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed during his administration that the United States would become the “Great Society.” Well, we are fast approaching a different society, but possibly not the one Johnson envisioned.

No one is hip these days unless they have a cell phone in their ear.

Our young women now wear pants and dress their hair so as to cover one eye. Some TV celebrities constantly jerk their heads in order to clear that hair-covered eye.

The modern day young men wear pants that are six inches too long, enabling them to walk on the lower extremity. They wear robes that droop down to their knees rather than shirts. They also wear their belts around their butts rather than their waists.

If President Johnson were alive today, I wonder if he would judge the present society as grate or great.

JOHN J. RICHARDSON

To the editor:

I am glad we have some representatives who can see the other side of this global warming mess.

What is this religion? We are supposed to pay our tithes and offerings to GAIA (the goddess of the Earth?) so she won’t put global warming, hurricanes and floods on us? What sin have we done to her? And why is our government making laws for her in the name of science? Why are these new-age religions like the environmental movement making its way into laws that other religions are banned from? What stupid rituals do we have to go through to purify ourselves and keep the Earth from destroying our homes from floods and tornadoes? Raise the prices of our goods? Pay for a carbon tax? Who gets to spend all that money?

I would like to know who these charlatans are, forcing us to be in bondage under this religion (yes, it is a religion) in direct violation of the government our Founding Fathers had set up. This is a hoax. Fossilized tropical plants can be found in this area — and even Antarctica. According to NASA, there is global warming on Mars and Jupiter. This was a natural event from the sun.

My God made the Earth and everything else and is in control. As for this strange belief that we can sanctify our existence (by paying a carbon tax) under the guilt of our too-many blessings is absurd. I’ll pay my tithes to the ministries that I choose. Jesus can calm the winds and the seas. Luke 10:19 says: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

I think I know where I want to put my carbon footprint down.

GRANT HEARN

Chatham