On The Sly

"Let her earn a Congressional Medal of Honor or a Purple Heart or the Nobel Peace Prize, or even a Pulitzer Prize Award. Then I might listen to what Rosie has to say."

Why doesn't that apply to Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly? Free speech for everyone, not just the hacks at Fox News!

Peter

I really don't know this to be fact but a few days ago, I was told that someone who had been in Iraq and has returned said the price of gas was 6 cents a gallon when he left, does that sound even reasonable--they say that the prices are so high here because of Reaganomics, is that true -- we really need to flood our state and federal officials with questions and then really pressure them for answers -- this business of not going to the pumps on certain days is nonsense, we need our vehicles for work and also for pleasure, we should not have to suffer at their hands -- jewel

What should the government do about higher gas prices? Nothing ... get the &ell out of the way. Laissaz faire = a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights. Let the markets work like they do naturally. The oil companies are not thieves - they are doing what they are supposed to do, get us energy. The price of oil is high now due to the instability of the Middle East. We are an oil based economy. What do you drive everday? What does it take to drive that car everyday? We canNOT allow the Iranians to gain control of the Iraqi oil fields - or life as you know it will change dramatically. No BS. The Only alternative energy source is nuclear - the left destroyed the opportunity for us to get off an oil based economy and self-sustain (for energy needs other than cars) in the 1970s & 1980s. There are no rivers in Africa, yet the entire continent of Africa sustains its energy needs from nuclear power plants. And their economies are some of the worst in the world. Shut the TV off and do some reading. And don't say 'what about the Nile?' Africa is a huge continent - no hydroelectric power. We could have been on nuclear power by now, not needing the oil fields like we do. Wakeup America. Stop listening to the dribble.

Foxy;
I always love reading what you write even though I now live a 1000 miles away. I have met you several times as you and I have a friend (and fellow Press-Rep. writer) Kevin Couture. I took care of Kevin both at the nursing homee and then at his home (and my second home) while I was studying at Clinton and PSUNY to become a teacher. What follows I emailed to WPTZ on May 1st and was trying to find a way to share it with the Press.
My name is Larry Waldron, Jr. I am a Saranac native now living in North Carolina. I hold an Associate's Degree from Clinton and a Bachelor's Degree from Plattsburgh SUNY. I now teach in North Carolina. I used to be a Spanish translator in the Marine Corps and lived along the Texas border. I now teach English as a Second Language to Hispanics. I have learned a lot from them. You hear stories in the media all the time about how they come here to join gangs or start a lucrative life of crime. I am not going to say that that doesn't happen, however the numbers show it happens just about as often as any other ethnic group in this country. The majority come here to earn a far better living then they can in Latin America. You also hear a lot about them earning their money and simply sending it back to their homelands. While this is true, they also spend a great deal of money here out of simple necessity. They live here. They have to rent apartments or homes. They have to buy groceries, pay utility bills, etc. They also tend to have very large extended families back home that they come here and work very hard to support and choose to send that money to take care of them. I think that is something we have lost in this country, even though our families are smaller. Few people want to help anyone anymore, including family. My degrees from Clinton and Plattsburgh happen to be in History and History Education. Therefore I can also tell you that this happened several times before in our past. Most early settlers in the 13 original colonies were from North and Western Europe. By the 1850's that had started to change, with more starting to come from South and East Europe and, eventually China. Citizens here started to get worried about all these immigrants. They didn't look like the rest of us, talk like us, act like us , or work like us. They worked harder for less pay (sound familiar). They did jobs most Americans felt they were too good to do (sound familiar). They didn't speak the English like we did and people started to get angry. They demanded English be the official language, that all these people be rounded up and deported, that quotas be put on people from the sections of the world so they would never have large populations here (sound familiar). Most of these people, believe it or not, did eventually learn English, become productive citizens and the antagonist died down. So what I am trying to say is that we have been through this before (and will again). Many of these illegals want to be here legally, but are in such dire straits in their homeland that they have to take the risk of gettting caught if they are to help their families and themselves survive. Many are studying English. I went to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. At DLI, they have five categories of languages (1 being the lowest level and 5 being the highest). There are only two languages in the world that are at category five. One is Mandarin Chinese. The other is not Spanish. It is English (American English is especially hard). What level is Spanish? Level 1. I am just saying it will take time for them to adapt. Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion.

Sincerely,

Lawrence E. Waldron, Jr.

Saranac native, now live in Greenville, NC

Spanish translator, ESL, Spanish, and History Teacher

Let me know what you think.
Larry

Completely agree with you. Ann Coulter was one person you failed to mention. Why the conservative media gives her any airtime baffles me. Who cares what ridiculous things she has to say about the "crazy San Francisco" liberals. The media empowers these individuals by giving them airtime during the news. The news has become the main medium for them to communicate their extreme views.

Hey Foxy just wanted to let you know that the younger generation seconds your thoughts. I had lunch with three of my friends yesterday and all of those topics came up. It's amazing to me that we are still in Iraq. Anybody that thinks we should still be there are in denial...

Foxy; If we all took the time to look around and see the real heroes in our communities! The Dad or Mom who work all night, getting the kids breakfast and taking the children to school. Because the other parent had to be at work on 1st shift. Mortgage, rent, food, car payments and gasoline are making parents struggle to make ends meet! To provide the children with their wants & needs! God Bless The Parents and more so today than ever the Grandparents! How about our Veterans and Seniors! These people are HEROES

Foxy, As you know I love your blog. All points mentioned are valid and worthy of discussion. I just wish we had a direct E Mail to our illustrious leaders in this country. ...Oh yea .. we do, they just don't read them. See you in a couple weeks. Randy

(Foxy's note: Be sure to let us know when you hit the North Country, Randy!)

Foxy, Very well said. It doesn't matter one iota what talk show people say. It doesn't matter what political pundits or self important national agitators (Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Sharpton, Jackson) espouse.
What matters is that grass root forces demand from their government an end to the Bush war, an end of oil tycoons raping the American public for their own financial gains.
What matters is that the American public demand honesty and accountability from their elected officials or oust them either through impeachment or elect those who will vote the will of their constituency.
What matters is that the public take measures that would ensure that democratic process truly works in this country and not cower when some political big wig has His or Her own self promoting agenda.
Thanks Foxy for bringing an important and vital subject for discussion.
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