Opinions and Letters to the Editor
Civil union story
provides pleasure
To the editor:
Your article and the pictures of two men who love and care for each other being recognized in a somewhat formal way gave me pleasure.
Love and caring are such great gifts that we should treasure and applaud them whether between male and female, male and male, woman and woman, or any two human beings.
I am proud that New Jersey is among the first states to recognize the need for equal rights for all who declare long term commitment to each other.
Betty L. Kletter
Monroe
Time for change
in Monroe
To the editor:
It’s time for a change in Monroe. There are seven people running for three open seats on the Board of Education. The incumbents have brought us a $36 million shortfall for the new high school that isn’t being built, a new tax increase and nothing but infighting.
The Board of Education meetings are a disgrace.
Vote out the incumbents. Vote in three dads who seem to care and at least have children in the school system.
Vote for Ira Tessler, Ken Chiarella and Russell Boyd. Please help me send the message to the board that they have to be responsive to our needs.
Where is our school? Why are they worrying more about destroying fellow board members than working for our children?
Remember T.C.B on April 17. Taking Care of Business. Tessler, Chiarella, Boyd for the Board of Education. Maybe I should apply to be their campaign manager.
Pat Diccianni
Monroe
Making America
a prisoner of war
To the editor:
I would like to express my outrage at a government that has made the American people POWs. The electorate spoke and elected Congress members who opposed the illegal war in Iraq. We expected our troops to be brought home already, instead they have given the president more money for his deadly "surge" and now with a threatened veto there is still no end in sight.
Dr. Hans Blix whose U.N. team showed that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction spoke at a Coalition For Peace Action dinner in Princeton on Sunday night. He descried the arrogance of power of our leaders who are ill informed and insulated. "The only solution is diplomacy," he said.
On Saturday, the Rev. Howard of Newark at the People’s Rally For Peace and Justice asked the participants:
"1. How do we force a set of circumstances to bring our troops home now?
"2. How do we help the country we destroyed?"
On Wednesday morning, Coalition For Peace Action of Monroe Township heard Ward Wilson, a noted author and authority on nuclear weapons proliferation, say that nuclear weapons are not deterrents to ending wars. His premise is that it took Japan four days after Hiroshima to surrender and they only did so because the Soviets were coming into their country from the north and the Americans from the south. He said that these weapons kill innocent people not armies and no war in the history of civilization has ever been won by destroying cities.
We must have a genuine peace through diplomacy. Please join us at the next Coalition for Peace Action meeting on April 18 to hear what you can do to make a difference.
Ellen Norman
Monroe
Pro-life Democrats
are taking action
To the editor:
As a pro-life Democrat, I was heartened by the results of last year’s Congressional elections. Pro-life Democrat Bob Casey Jr. was elected junior senator from Pennsylvania, and several pro-life Democrats were elected to the House of Representatives, including former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler (D- N.C.).
While New Jersey’s Democratic delegation remains solidly pro-choice, I’m optimistic that the national trend signifies that the voices of pro-life Democrats will not be ignored.
Now, pro-life Democrats in Congress are taking action to reduce the number of abortions by sponsoring the Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act (H.R. 1074). This bill would help "reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents."
By providing support to pregnant women, H.R. 1074 would help them avoid the traumatic and tragic choice of abortion.
I urge anyone concerned about the number of abortions to contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to support H,R, 1074. I also suggest that pro-life Democrats visit the Democrats for Life web site at www.democratsforlife.org to learn how they can support members of their party who more closely share their beliefs.
Eddie Konczal
Monroe
Support
for Chiarella
To the editor:
I am writing because I want to ask you to vote for my great grand-nephew, Ken Chiarella.
He’s a good boy and will work hard for you.
I’m 88 years old and he takes good care of me. I know he takes good care of his kids and he really loves Monroe.
Kenny lives on a piece of my father’s farm that he bought several years ago. He loves that land like it is one of his kids.
Kenny is very involved and wants to be elected to the Board of Education because he wants to build the high school that we paid for four years ago and he wants to make sure that we get what we paid for.
There is a bunch of other stuff that he says he wants to do but I can’t remember all of it. I just know that what he told me sounded pretty good.
I’m retired and only make so much money from Social Security and my late-husband’s pension. I can’t afford this kind of delay. I voted for the last referendum.
I would like to see us get to work on building that school before it costs us $100 million more.
I know my nephew will do it. He’s a nice boy, but he’ll get tough if he has to, and he always does what he says. I know he cares about seniors and children. We need someone with that sort of outlook.
I told him he better fix this Board of Education of ours or I’m going to spank him.
Nicky Bevacqua
Monroe