Every week I look forward to reading what my neighbors have to say about what is going on in town and around the world. There are times when I agree and times when I disagree. Some of the opinions here are at times comical, but whether I agree or disagree it is our right and our freedom to say what we want.

Some of the people say things that are right on the nail one-week, then the next week they sound like complete ignorant fools. So much for consistency.

The only reason I decided to write is because, although I think we should be stricter with illegal immigrants, we have to keep in mind they are still people.

Eugene Bernascone says that Americans are not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any longer.

Why is that?

Poor immigrants back in the 1900s had to stand in line a long time to be documented? It must be tougher than crossing a 100-plus-degree desert, with little or no food, to try to get to this great country. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with illegal immigrants, but you can’t blame people for wanting a chance to live better.

Our government has to fix their immigration policies and help the good people that will do the jobs that the spoiled Americans think they are too good to do and won’t do. My father’s family left Europe in the World War II era and went to Central America. My mother’s family comes from South and Central America. I was born in Guatemala, and if you met me that would be the last place you would guess I came from. I came into this country when I was 5 years old. I feel that I am just as Americans as the next man.

I was 25 when my wife and I bought our home here in Clifton. We are raising our three kids and have never received a handout from Welfare or any other government agency. We opened our plumbing company a little over two years ago and have never asked for any grants or government help. I also joined the military a little over a year ago. It wasn’t easy to do having a business to run, kids to raise, and a wife, but I feel that every man in this country should serve his country at one time or another.

Not only that, but even as a parent to two boys, I still think that it should be mandatory to have men serve for a minimum amount of time so we have a strong military. I am waiting for my turn to go overseas and look forward to it.

If you drive in front of my house, you won’t see a Guatemalan flag or a Cuban flag or an Italian flag or German flag or any other for that matter, but the American flag. The same flag that I wear proudly on my uniform when I leave my family to train. You would be surprised to see how many immigrants are in the U.S. military. Men and women fighting to keep this land from becoming a third world or communist country.

As you can see, not all immigrants are so bad. Some of us pay property taxes, serve in the military and aren’t on Welfare. By the way, Welfare is only given to U.S. citizens.

People here of European descent should always keep in mind that their family at one point was not welcomed with open arms. Would I be a different type of immigrant if my family came from Europe straight to the U.S. instead of migrating from Central and South America? No, I don’t believe so. Don’t judge all immigrants and label them as criminals. I’ve accomplished more here than some natural born American citizens and thank God for it.

I think ESL in schools is ridiculous and a waste of our money. I think gang members from this country should be punished harshly and the ones here from other countries shot and killed so that we don’t have to care or them or deport them to have them sneak back in and commit their crimes all over again.

I’m not very liberal but I do respect other peoples’ views and respect all humanity. Let’s work on our policies. Let’s fix our borders. Let’s get tougher on criminals. Let’s bring back the death penalty. Let us work together and fix this great country that God has blessed. I hope I haven’t offended anyone and that this is read with an open mind and without prejudice. God bless America!

Oscar Buonafina

Clifton

All Hallows Eve

In the heart of the haunted forest, the witches gather for their most high sabbath, Samhain, named for the Celtic god of death. Known in our time as All Hallows Eve or Halloween, this sacred festival falls directly in between the fall equinox and winter solstice, and is considered to be the Pagan New Year as well as the final harvest of the autumn season.

Meanwhile, the witches, men and women alike, shed their clothes and dance in an unbridled serpentine fashion around a burning cauldron containing a traditional brew composed largely of intoxicating and hallucinogenic herbs. Their naked bodies glistening in the luminous glow of the moon, the witches now begin to swoon, for this night shall be a spiritual journey as well as a celebration. The witches remember the legend of Mab, the queen of fairies, who, on this night, leads the souls of the recently deceased on one final wild ride through the countryside before departing for the spirit world. Along the route of this ghostly procession, the villagers would leave food and sweets outside of their doors to feed and placate the wandering spirits. Lanterns made of turnips, gourds, and pumpkins were lit in order to light the way back to the nether regions. These archaic practices are actually the historical origins of Halloween traditions such as trick-or-treating and the annual carving of jack-o-lanterns.

Now the witches are working themselves into an ecstatic trance state, as the pounding drums entrain with the rhythm of their own heartbeats and their astral bodies are shaken loose from the mortal shells that bind them to the earthly plane. Into the primordial darkness they take flight. Samhain is a time to acknowledge and embrace the more nocturnal aspects of our being, and of nature herself. This is how ancient peoples prepared for the cold, dark winter ahead whilst facing their deepest, innermost fears. As a matter of fact, the tradition of dressing in Halloween costumes derived from our ancestors' attempts to embody caricatures of that which would ordinarily make them afraid. A very positive side effect of this is that one begins to see beauty and value in things that might be commonly perceived of as macabre. This is also why Halloween is associated with monsters, devils, ghosts, and all things necromantic. The veil between the worlds of the living and the dead, between the physical and metaphysical realms is at its thinnest point at this magical time between times. That is the reason why this holiday is considered such an auspicious time for divination and occult practices of all kinds.

As our witches return from their shamanic flight with gifts of wisdom and power from the enchanted otherworld, the coven now begins to once again ground themselves within their mortal bodies.

With hours remaining until the first light of dawn, when the night's proceedings shall come to an end, the witches engage in a fun-filled orgy of feasting, music, merriment, and uninhibited sexual copulations between men, women, nymph, and satyr alike. The Lord of Misrule and his Dark Queen smile and look approvingly upon the gathering, as they, too, prepare to join the riotous festivities.

To hell with piety and Puritanism, God and church be damned. This night, we fly and party with the ancient ones, who are beyond good and evil. This night, we are infused with Luciferian fire. This night, we eat of the forbidden fruits, and drink heartily from the unholy cup of abominations. This night, we are witches all. The night I speak of is Halloween. "All good Christians shall be a-weeping, for beware, She is a-creeping." Blessed are the heathens, harlots, and heretics.

 Phil Patti

Clifton

More sewer questions

 How is the flat fee charged for multiple dwelling buildings if the owner pays the cold water bills? If a one family home with two residents pays a consumption bill of $100 and pays a $20 fee that is 20 percent. If a four family home with eight residents pays consumption of $400 and $20 fee that is 5 percent. For large apartment buildings, commercial and industrial users that discrepancy gets even worse. Are single family homeowners subsidizing the commercial, industrial and multiple family dwellings?

Also, conserving water will not lower the sewer costs because the conserving will be seen with all the brown lawns in Clifton next summer. The sewer usage will be the same so the rate will have to go up. A better option to save money would be to charge for garbage disposal. Some people put out three or four bags twice a week while others put out one bag a week. A charge per bag would be a way to encourage more recycling and lower our garbage fees. This would be more user-based and help keep Clifton green. Or is the City Council saving this for next year, so they can say "There is no municipal tax increase again, aren't we doing a great job?"

Gary Plishka

Clifton

Un-American

I was appalled and angered to read in today’s Herald News about what I consider high treason – the sad saga of the $100 billion aircraft refueling contract at Boeing.

The Pentagon, through, various shady manipulations awarded this contract to a foreign company over our flagship company Boeing.

Atta boy George (Bush), let’s talk about patriotism as we wave ’ole glory.

I had the privilege of flying in a Boeing B-17 once while stationed in Alaska. A couple years later while stationed at Tacoma, Wash. I was proud to watch the B-52 fly over our base on its initial test flights. Don’t forget children my C-124 Globemaster still had propellers on it.

We old-timers know that the B-17 was the backbone of the World War II Air Force and the B-52 for the next 50 years. What better excellence in any air force worldwide.

How does the Bush administration and the Pentagon repay this patriotism and excellence? Just like those Ponzi artists on Wall Street. They rigged the sub-prime game and we, the consumer pays.

However, Bush and his Pentagon cronies got caught on this tanker scam and the contract must be re-bid. Does anyone go to jail? Of course not.

Just like the grand masters of the Wall Street Ponzi Game, the Pentagon scam artists are jail-free for it was only poor business sense.

That’s right. Let’s put real crooks like mayors Sammy Rivera and Sharp James in jail. These two are a danger to our society. Their high crimes will drive this nation into the next depression and should be jailed.

The president of Iran stated recently at the United Nations that the American Empire is collapsing.

I wonder how many shoes have to be dropped before we hit bottom. Greed – boys – greed.

Remember kiddies the last words of Czar Nicholas before he and his family were murdered in the 1917 Russian Revolution. "Can all of this been avoided?"

You bet your sweet tootsie. Share the wealth. What’s good for Wall Street is good for Seattle.

Walt Jankowski

Clifton

All to blame

Thanks to President George Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for their American Economic Recovery Plan. If it were up to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, Congress would have gone on vacation and nothing would have been done. It's fortunate the economy is as resilient as it is because of Bush's tax cuts and fiscal policy.

And, no, this wasn't all Bush and the Republican's fault. This crisis has seeds dating back to the Bill Clinton administration when Barney Frank and the rest of the Democrats put pressure on government agencies to make home loans regardless of qualification to garner political favor from their constituents. No party is without fault here. There's plenty of blame to go around.

Let's hope our legislators can restrain themselves from turning this to anyone's personal financial or political advantage. Pay close attention to who actually puts our interests first.

Quite frankly, I'm glad this happened on Bush's watch. Who knows what Barack Obama might have done. My guess is he would have either voted "Present" or raised taxes.

Frederick Rembis

Clifton

Not a good title

(Barack) Obama’s buddies pushed for bad mortgages. What exactly does a community organizer do? Obama’s rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question.

Here’s a big part of the answer. Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit. In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside banks lobbies and confront executives at their homes and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.

In other words, community organizations help to undermine the U.S. economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans and Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it.

Frank Raines made millions off of Fannie Mae. Raines is now on Obama’s staff. Barney Frank, Raines should be put in prison. George Bush and John McCain alerted Congress five years ago of the fiasco coming and the Democrats blocked all legislation to correct it.

Vote for McCain and Sarah Palin. Give them a chance to clean out Washington. Remember freedom is not free.

Joseph Sidor

Clifton

Time to fight for education

Under Communism there was a tacit agreement between the state and the workers. The state pretended to pay the workers and the workers pretended to work. There seems to be a similar agreement between the educational elite and parents. The educational elite pretend to educate our kids and parents pretend they're educated.

It's an inconvenient truth that Clifton schools have consistently ranked in the bottom half of the state in academic performance as documented by the NJDOE. Many good people in our school district are frustrated knowing nothing can be done until parents assault the administration building carrying pitch forks and torches demanding accountability. The controlling majority within the district are relieved that their misrepresentations and misdirection along with general apathy have kept them in power so long.

It's never too early, or too late, for good people who wish to effect positive change for our kids and make our school district accountable for its action to get involved and possibly even run for office as a school board member. Our kid's education is too important to be left in the hands of the educational elite. Our kids deserve much better.

Frederick Rembis

Clifton

Idiot leaders

In response to James Raymond’s letter, I don’t recall Walt Jankowski calling for the disbanding of our armed forces, in fact, he said we should reinstate the draft. Please don’t make it up as you go along. Your description of Sarah Apalling as a frontier woman, part of the same group that founded this country, almost took my breath away from laughing so hard. Only those of you out there with the intelligence of an amoeba would believe such nonsense about her.

First of all, it is shameful how she drags that little baby around with her as she campaigns, especially so late on the debate night, so that she can get that I-am-a-mother photo op shot. Her you-betcha, and wink, wink, wink, and shout out to the teachers in her family during the debate was so pathetic and pitiful one almost had to feel sorry for her. That John McSlime would insult all women, and endanger the entire country by appointing someone like Sarah Appaling, says much about how he puts his election ambitions before America.

Surely in the entire Congress, miserable as it may be on both sides of the aisle, or among all the governors, there had to be at least one woman (and the only reason he picked a woman was to show up the Democrats) more worthy of selection; say perhaps Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins in the Senate.

As to hypocrites, no one on our side is making a big deal about Palin’s teenage daughter’s pregnancy, but if that had been Obama’s daughter or Clinton’s daughter you hypocrite Republicans would have crucified them.

As to idiots, George Bush is your idiot president, John McSlime is your idiot presidential candidate, Sarah Appaling is your idiot vice-presidential candidate. The worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor was committed during the watch of your idiot Bush because he failed to heed warnings about a possible attack.

Then, instead of putting 140,000 soldiers in Afghanistan to go after Osama bin Laden, your idiot president lied us into an attack on Iraq, resulting in the deaths of over 4,000 of our soldiers and the wounding of many more, an act, I might add, bordering on treason if not treason itself. The economic crisis we are presently in and will be paying for the rest of our lives is the result of the idiotic policies of mostly a republican administration that you voted for (remember the last seven years were under Bush's watch). The shoe size fits you Sir Raymond, so wear it with the idiot pride it deserves.

Beverly Wardell

Clifton

No more Dem changes

Back in September of 1999, The New York Times (if you can believe it) warned the (Bill) Clinton administration of an economic disaster if both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not reined in on their splurge of mortgage guarantees to high risk credit borrowers. The warnings were ignored.

In 2003, President (George) Bush wanted more controls enacted on these agencies to reduce their exposure to widespread foreclosures. The Congress, with Democrat Barney Frank in the lead, said both agencies were financially sound and no action need be taken. In 2005, Sen. (John) McCain again warned that mortgage lending was out of control and we were heading toward a financial disaster. Warning ignored.

In 2006, when the Democrats took over the Congress, they said they would change the way things were done in Washington. The Democrats said there would be more oversight and control of government spending - never happened. Now we hear Sen. (John) Kerry, not surprisingly, laying the blame of this mess on Bush.

These liberals never give up. It's never their fault. Now we have another Democrat who wants to change things in Washington - the messiah, Barack Obama. Can we afford another change? I don't think so. Give us a break.

John Nick

Clifton