Explosives from city shatter the quiet of the country

Explosives from city shatter the quiet of the country
EDITOR:
Did you listen to the news June 30 about explosives that were found in a home in Youngstown and were disposed of in an undisclosed area?
Well, I am here to tell you it may have been an undisclosed area, but it wasn't an unpopulated area. This is a small community, but we all watch out for each other. They came to the country where they thought the residents were used to all the loud explosions due to the strip mining that is being done for stone. We had no warning or anything as to what was about to rock our lives. I know they can't give a heads up on what they were up to because of the attraction it may bring, but please have some consideration.
The first explosion wasn't too bad, it actually felt and sounded like the normal blasting we hear. However, the second one shook everyone and everything (including the animals) right out of their place of standing. It had elderly residents and animals shook so bad they were wondering what to do next.
Apparently, there was no consideration that this wasn't the place to get rid of the bomb-making paraphernalia. For one thing we all have wells and septic systems. We are not hooked into city water and sewage. Now we have to worry that our wells haven't caved in, not to mention our chimneys that have now shifted due to the shaking that day and mobile homes that are on cement blocks.
I just hope someone reads this who was involved in planning to dispose of the explosives and will consider detonating in a more secluded area. Please, for the sake of my elderly neighbors and their homes, don't come back to our area and get rid of the explosives found in Youngstown or anywhere else.
KELLY GORDON
Petersburg
Pearl Harbor infamy is FDR's
EDITOR:
A letter in the June 25 Vindicator recalled the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in describing the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as "a date which will live in infamy."
Since the Freedom of Information Act, many facts about FDR and the Pearl Harbor attack have become available to the public. In an October campaign speech in Boston, FDR stated, "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again. Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." All the while FDR was working behind the scenes to get the United States into World War II.
The parallels to World War I were striking. Britain, again, was losing the war with Germany. The president now was FDR instead of Woodrow Wilson. The banking industry, led by the Rockefeller group instead of the J.P. Morgan group, was again set to go under because of the billions of dollars loaned to foreign interests. Defeated nations don't pay debts to banks. Congress once again authorized billions of dollars to be sent overseas to assist in the war effort. The billions were sent to the Allies and once again applied to the bankers' debt. The Unites States bankers were served again.
FDR knew that the American people were opposed to war, and once again, there were secret arrangements at the highest levels of government to maneuver the United States into war. It would have been politically disastrous to his administration if the American voters suspected it. However, if the United States could become the innocent victim of an unprovoked first attack, then the American people would respond to patriotic instincts and clamor for war. The only question was how to get the Axis powers to strike first, all the while convincing the American people that their leaders were opposed to war. It was almost an exact repeat of the ploy in World War I with the Lusitania incident.
For many years after World War II, Roosevelt's admirers denied that he or anyone in his administration had prior knowledge about the Pearl Harbor attack, but the evidence now is clear that he even facilitated the attack. No one tries to deny it anymore. The new line of defense is that he was justified in doing so. It was an act of great statesmanship, you see, because otherwise, Europe would have been overrun by Hitler and eventually, even the United States might have been attacked. Furthermore, we had a moral obligation to come to the aid of our British and French brethren.
Anything can be justified by merely claiming it was for the greater good for the greater number (as interpreted by the leaders). After all it was only 2,403 people killed and 1,178 wounded on Dec. 7, 1941.
THOMAS ZURAWICK
Canfield
Looking for change? Think 'L'
EDITOR:
There has been much interest in the Third Party Movement in our country lately. There are many of us who are concerned about the dire state of politics in our counties, our state and our nation. For those of us who live in Mahoning and Trumbull counties we can see the effects of the one-party rule of the Democrats Columbiana County has the same tired politicians continuing in office. The inefficiency of our city and county governments is the stuff of legends. But worse yet is the corruption that comes with the musical chairs played by these politicians. When they aren't wasting our money, they are giving it away. We can't buy cleaning supplies in Trumbull County without corruption. Mahoning County can't supply water to its people without corruption. Columbiana County can't seem to invest its money without corruption.
Maybe we should vote for Republicans to improve our counties? The Republicans have been in control of our state for the past seven years. Let's look at their record in our state. Ohio has one of the highest tax rates of all state governments. Is it used effectively? How are the state roads where you live? Has the unemployment bureau ever found you a good job? State government is expanding with our tax money. Also, millions of dollars were "lost" from the Workers Compensation fund after being entrusted to a Republican coin dealer. Maybe the state government is not a good place to look for leadership.
Let's look at the federal government, also with the Republicans in power. Federal spending is at an all time high. But, maybe they have solved some difficult problems with all this money. How about winning a war against terrorism? In Iraq? Maybe Afghanistan? Against drugs? No, I guess not. Maybe they shored up Social Security? Or Medicare? Or solved the Mexican border problem? Or helped Americans recover from natural disasters? No, I guess not. But, they have increased the national debt, come to rely on immigrant labor, and made illegal wire taps. This doesn't look like a place to look for leadership either.
There is an alternative to these Republican and Democratic career politicians. The Libertarian Party has candidates for many public offices, including the upcoming gubernatorial election. Libertarians believe that you and I have the intelligence to make our own decisions about our own lives. Libertarians would greatly reduce your tax burden. You would keep most of your paycheck. You could spend it to improve your lifestyle according to your plans.
DONALD BUTLER, Secretary
Libertarian Party of the Mahoning Valley
Warren