Voice of the People - January 13, 2009
Palestinians responsible for Gaza Strip conflict
In response to Mary Keenan's recent letter, what sand dune is her head buried in? Where is her condemnation of the rocket attacks on Israeli cities? Maybe she would like to visit the biblical city of Beersheba where in the last seven years it has been hit with 10,000 rockets, or S'derot, which has been struck 5,000 times since April 2001. Beersheba is the sixth-largest city of Israel with a population of 200,000 and the heart of the Negev desert with a hospital, a university that has a medical school -- which, by the way, a Palestinian woman attempted to blow up a few years back after receiving excellent medical care.
Consider that Spain is sending $1.5 million aid to the Palestinians, as well as the United States sending $85 million. China offered $1 million. Result? In London, they burned the Israeli flag, and in Chicago, they firebombed a synagogue. Sounds like a peaceable group to whom?
Can you imagine the result of missiles and rockets being fired from Tijuana into San Diego? Would these bleeding hearts cry more for those responsible than their own citizens? I think not. As usual, these ill-informed peaceniks quote Palestinian casualties while making sure there is no mention of Israeli losses, without considering that without Hamas aggression, there would be no Palestinian casualties.
I would ask that Mary Keenan sleep in Beersheba, going to bed with the knowledge that there may be a rocket with her name on it. Would a proportional response to this atrocity be to fire 15,000 rockets in the next few years into the Gaza strip? I can hear those do-nothings at the U.N. now.
Conrad Bacon
York
What can you see at 60 mph?
A few years ago, our elected officials, both county and city, said we needed no more billboards on I-77 in our county. They said we needed to have open spaces so folks could enjoy our scenery as they whiz through our part of the state. Never mind the businesses that were coming to that area and needed customers to survive.
Now, trees are going to be cut down so drivers can see what they just passed. Think about it, folks. If you are driving at 60 mph and come up on the Dave Lyle exit, what are you going to see just because a few trees have been cut down? By the time you realize what you almost saw, you will be at the next exit. Oops, I had better turn around. Maybe some of our leaders and decision makers need to get off at the next exit, which is common sense.
Henry Grantham
Rock Hill
Is college only for the wealthy?
While I agree that there are indeed inefficiencies in our education system, I directly relate them to our leaders from Columbia. In the past several weeks, Gov. Sanford has used scare tactics to make a point. Instead of finding and providing resolutions to fix South Carolina's economic drought, our governor shows hollow leadership proposing a budget that could devastate the city of Lancaster.
It is very obvious that he cares for only those who "need" instead of those in need. Every year, our state ranks toward the bottom in education, and the only solution our so-called leader can come up with to "save the state" is close a public university in a city where jobs are scarce. What does this tell our children? The only message this is sending is that a college education is a luxury and should only be for those chosen.
This is absurd, and this community should not stand for this. We are a state with a government, not a government with a state.
Eddie L. Black Jr., Pharm.D.
Rock Hill
Bush left nation in a real mess
In reply to Don Potts' letter: The truth really hurts doesn't it? Terry Plumb didn't miss the boat; he hit the nail on the head. Our country is in a terrible mess because of the Bush administration. I don't care who you voted for; a blind man can see this.
Linda Thomas
Clover
This story was originally published January 13, 2009 at 12:52 AM with the headline "Voice of the People - January 13, 2009."