In his weekly letter, Frederick Rembis stated that Barack Obama would cost each American family S2,000 to $4,000 and those families making over $250,000 between 90 and 140 percent of what they earn in taxes. That would mean that a family earning $250,000 would have to pay between $225,000 and 350,000 in taxes, which, in many cases, would be more than the amount earned!

I am a high school math teacher who fails to understand what numbers you based you assertions on nor the formulas you used to do your calculations. This is not the first time you have used unsubstantiated figures in your letters as you have used the same tactics, on occasion, to discredit the Clifton Board of Education.

May I suggest that the next time you choose to provide this newspaper with statistics, that you also provide the readers with the source of your base numbers, and also provide the formulas and algorithms that you used to arrive at your conjectures. And please Mr. Rembis, don't be too concerned that readers will not be able to understand your complex calculations, as I will be more than happy to simplify and explain them to everyone.

Mark Sorenson

Clifton

Free to choose

I was reading the "Your Views" section in the Oct. 24 paper about the pro-life American and was reading it as a woman thinking this was written by another woman and how she felt about abortion until I reached the end and found it signed Joseph Hicswa from Passaic.

Of course, Hicswa is entitled to his opinion as an American, but for decades, lawmakers, of which the majority are men, have been making laws telling women what they should and shouldn’t do with their bodies and it has to end! Women should hold the rights to their own bodies and when and if they will create a child, especially since a man can walk away with very little legal repercussions, if any at all.

For me, being pro-choice is more about a woman’s right to choose what is right for her own body. Do you know that today, in some states, a pharmacist can refuse to fill a doctor-written prescription for the morning after pill or even birth control because it goes against their beliefs? Since when does a pharmacist’s decision override a doctor’s? Who is a pharmacist to pass this kind of judgment? Why should a pharmacist have that kind of power? What’s next, a pharmacist can decide not to fill your prescription for your heart medication or some other medication based on a personal belief against it? That pharmacist does not live in that person’s shoes, nor knows that person’s life circumstances and should not have the right to make that decision.

Living in New Jersey where pharmacies are a dime a dozen, it is hard to imagine that in other parts of the country, there is only one pharmacy for 75 to 100 miles. If that pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription based on a personal belief, that person would have to find the means to travel another 75 to 100 miles to see if the next pharmacist will do the same. Ridiculous!

Do you also know that the Bush administration and those with similar views, including the McCain/Palin team, are working to overturn Roe vs. Wade? Do you know that today, South Dakota is working to pass a law making abortion illegal in their state for the second time! It was passed once and overturned, but they are trying again. Do you know the implications of a decision like this? Does this country really want to return to the days of back-alley abortions and wire hangers? Making abortion illegal will not cease it from happening, it will only make women go "underground" and return to the days of unsafe abortions where many women will die as a result.

I believe if you don’t believe in abortion, then don’t have one, but don’t force your laws on other women and their bodies since you don’t live their life. Not everyone has a perfect life, with a white picket fence, who never go hungry, whose family is supportive and not abusive. Many women are raped by strangers, friends or even family members. Should these women be forced to have a child they do not want and did not ask for? Is the abuser going to be forced to care for this child? Would we want an abuser taking care of a child? Should those children be dumped off into foster care, which is already overwhelmed, or worse? Is the government going to take care of all of those abandoned and unwanted children?

Did you know that from 1930 until 1960, the most popular form of birth control was Lysol disinfectant -advertised as a feminine hygiene product in ads featuring testimonials from prominent European "doctors" until it was uncovered that no such experts existed? The fraud of the Lysol "douche" was created because only 40 short years ago, birth control was illegal! Condoms were basically the only birth control available, but that left women next to helpless to control whether or not they got pregnant. The man had to decide to buy it, use it and what if it broke?

Did you know that there are health insurance companies today that will cover Viagra but will not cover birth control? This is happening today and women need to stand up for their rights to their own bodies!

In 2003, McCain voted against a bill that would require health insurance companies to cover prescription birth control. Can you imagine a day when birth control will again be illegal? Many lawmakers are currently trying to get these laws passed and politicians like McCain are helping that process along. Again, more men dictating to women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. Can you imagine if it was the other way around? How would it be if men had babies and women wanted control over when and if they had children? In a day when Viagra can be covered by insurance but not birth control, my guess is it wouldn’t even be an issue.

I did agree with one thing Hicswa said, "Another thing wrong is sex and familial education in America." The solution is not pro-life or pro-choice, it’s pro-education! We need to educate our young people about sex and give them the tools they need to make informed and educated decisions. Abstinence-only programs do not work. It has been proven time and time again. So enough of the rhetoric! Give the young adults in this country the knowledge they need to decide for themselves. Education is the key to prevention- prevention of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. But, don’t take my word for it, see for yourself and do your own research. In the meantime, get your laws off my body!

Corinne Miskowsky

Clifton

Remember Pearl Harbor

Sixty-seven years ago on Dec. 7, 1941 Japan’s Premier Hideki Tojo launched an attack on America, which was conceived by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, under the direction of Vice Admiral Chuichi Naguma as America’s military installations on the Hawaiian islands were destroyed with barbaric savagery. Two thousand three hundred forty three service people were killed, 1,272 wounded, and 960 are missing. Mitsuo Fuchida led the attack as the Ambassador of Japan, was discussing peace in Washington, D.C. There was no formal declaration of war, only a sneak attack would galvanize America’s commitment to its eventual victory over the Axis Powers.

Tojo’s plans of the Central Agreement called for the continuation of the war with China, to invade and conquer Malaysia, the Philippines, Borneo, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, the Dutch East Indies and enslaving the peoples of the Pacific Rim from Wake Island to Australia, which would be known as the Zone of Captivity with the extermination for the captured peoples. The attack on Pearl Harbor would bring America into World War II against the Axis Powers and would cause 1,000,000 casualties.

Americans – always remember Pearl Harbor for we were not vigilant or prepared and our people and our military paid the price for the catastrophe that was Pearl Harbor. Americans have an abhorrence of war but we must defend our freedom and our nation with all the veracity that a nation can muster then and in the future.

On Dec. 7, 1941 America’s battle cry was "let’s Remember Pearl Harbor," which was memorialized in a song written by Don Reid with music by Sammy Kaye, which was described as a march with spirit and America’s patriotic spirit was reborn. The words follow: "History in every century, records an act, that lives forever more will recall as into line we fall, the thing that happened on Hawaii’s shore. Let’s remember Pearl Harbor, as we go to meet the foe. Let’s remember Pearl Harbor as we did the Alamo. We will always remember how they died for liberty. Let’s remember Pearl Harbor and go on to victory."

As Navy Adm. Tom Fargo stated, "We have a solemn obligation to protect and preserve for history the sacrifices and lessons of Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific for generations to come." "We’re honoring the people here today, who were killed. We’re not here for ourselves, we’re here for them."

As Americans, our resolve is not to forget the above mentioned atrocities and especially the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.

Frank Warholic

Commander Montville Memorial VFW Post 5481 and Auxiliary

Towaco

Why not remove the soil

Why has the Clifton Board of Education and now the Clifton City Council not explored or considered the removal of contaminated soil located at 290 Brighton Road, a site where an industrial building is being converted into a high school annex.

The Clifton Board of Education purchased 290 Brighton Road in 2005 with the stipulation that the Board of Education could not seek any actions against the prior owner for remediation costs arising from environmental issues that may be identified at the site. Now the City Council in essence has concurred with the Board of Education’s position on this matter by adopting a resolution on Oct. 21 recognizing the Board of Education’s placing of a recorded Deed Notice that contaminated soil is present on the property. The Board of Education sought the City’s concurrence on this Deed Notice because the City of Clifton has an underground easement for sanitary and storm water sewers underneath the exact location where the contaminated soil is located.

I requested that the City fully explore the possible ramifications of adopting this resolution with an environmental attorney and an independent environmental consultant before taking action since there was no rush to do so. I raised concerns of the City’s liability both with potential exposure to City workers, who may be called on to work in the area, and the possibility of liability issues if the contamination is spread via the City’s sewer system. I challenged statements by the City’s attorney that any costs associated with these issues would be borne by the Board of Education and not the City when the funding source for both the Board of Education and the City comes from the same source, the taxpayers of Clifton.

Despite assurances from the Clifton Board of Education that both the capping of the site and the movement of contaminated soil would be in full compliance with NJDEP regulations and in accordance with the stipulations in the agreement between the Board of Education and the NJDEP, those provisions have been violated even before the school is half complete.

Months ago, the Board of Education’s attorney told the public that the capping process was complete and in place. However, within the last two weeks that cap has been removed and contaminated soil has been disturbed and covered again without the cap being replaced, without notification to the NJDEP and without engaging a certified environmental contractor to do this work. How many more screw-ups by the Board of Education are we to endure on this project? How many more change orders are in our future?

The City Manager and the City’s attorney tells us that under no circumstances will employees of the City of Clifton work in the area of contamination and rightly so. Both gentlemen also stated publicly that any City related work that needs to be addressed in the contaminated area will be carried out by contractors certified to handle contaminated material. As time passes, how can we be assured that these procedures will be followed and proper notifications are in place should the need arise to access these sewer pipes? Why hasn’t the City gone after the prior owner for encumbering the City’s easement with this contamination or does the adoption of this resolution now preclude the City from going after the prior owner? How will the Board of Education employees and students attending the school be notified and safeguarded about the presence of the cap and in the event the cap is no longer secure and contamination is again disturbed?

I raised all these issues in a letter dated Sept. 23 to the City Council, City attorney, City manager and City engineer without answer and again in person at the Oct. 21 meeting.

The question of the day is really why don’t we just remove the contaminated soil and be done with it? Why is it necessary that the shadow and specter of liability and the unknown expenditure of tax dollars have to remain forever over the heads of the citizens of Clifton? The Board of Education and its attorney tell us that is just a small area with minimal contamination levels. Then why don’t we remove it? Or is the Board of Education and its attorney simply trying to cover their collective behinds in signing away the Board of Education rights to recover these costs from the prior owner? $11,000 of remediation is one thing, several hundred thousand dollars of remediation is a little harder to justify this give-a-way to the prior owner.

Jim Daley

Clifton

Issues of the day

Why do people say save the Earth if homeowners are just going to go around and cut trees down.

Along Highland Avenue, a whole bunch of trees were cut down. The man who lives behind me cut three trees down in the past few months. Now you hear more noise and no privacy. It looks so bare without the trees, what about the animals? Does anyone ever think of their homes? 

Oh, about (Barack) Obama, why does it have to be like "is a black man ready to be president?"

It doesn't matter what color he is as long as he does the job the right way. I think he will be a good president. We do need change, this world is so messed up and unfair to us low income families.

And for people who come over here illegally, are taking over? We wouldn't mind it, but do it the right way, and you must learn our language, why do we have to learn Spanish. I think they must learn English and I think if you are here you have six months to learn the language or you gotta go back. This is ridiculous.

Another thing - where the heck do half of you people get your license? I only had my license less then a year, because of the test, but…I am a good driver. These people need to go back to driving school. You got these drivers that cannot read, when it says "No left turn" that means "No left turn." Where are the cops when that happens?

And the parking around here, isn't it a law about parking too close to the corner? They do that all over and… they are mostly big cars. And the overcrowded schools, why are they overcrowded? First off, 80 percent live in other towns, using their friends or relatives’ address. 

Debbie Robinson

Clifton

Is group a good thing?

I read with alarm that the Protestant clergy in Clifton are forming a group called the Clifton Clergy Group to pursue issues such as "diversity." Why does Clifton need a group of clergymen pushing for "diversity" in this city? 

No one in Clifton has ever been prevented from running for office because of his race or ethnic background. We have only one high school, which has kids representing every ethnic group in the city. Yet these clergymen are not satisfied. Why is that?

What this usually signals is that they intend to impose their views about gay rights and gay marriage, abortion, sex education, etc onto the City. Mostly they want to push for the secularization and de-Christianization of the community. One of the members of the group is a female minister from California! Just imagine what she intends to do to the conservatives in this town.

Most importantly for the Catholic community, groups of liberal clergy like this are almost always virulently anti-Catholic. An organization called Americans United for Separation of Church and State has recently attacked Bishop (Arthur) Seratelli for daring to speak out against abortion, and they have "reported" him to the IRS for an investigation. This is the kind of thing we can surely expect from the Clifton Clergy Group, make no mistake about it.

Be afraid people. Be very afraid.

Bill Gallagher

Clifton

Government junk

Nov. 4, 2008, another date which will live in infamy! I had to pay full price for my third HDTV converter box. My two $40 government coupons went for two non-functioning boxes. They converted my hard-earned money into useless junk. No exchange or refund for them, of course.

The new box, hooked up to my old Gold Star analog TV with a Magnavox antenna, did indeed produce some sharper images, after first scanning for all of the "available" channels in our area. It added some new inconsequential channels, like two full-time weather channels, some beach volleyball and two more Korean stations.

But the screen messages also said, "weak signal" or "no signal" for channels I usually receive without a box. Channel 9: no more Yankee games. Channel 13: no more cooking shows or "This Old House," etc. Channel 21: ditto. Channel 47: no more "boxes" on Friday nights. Channel 50: no more New Jersey lottery drawings, etc. etc.

February 2009 is going to be a disaster for me, unless I can dig up $500 or more for a brand new HDTV set. Maybe that’s what they intended for us all along, to stimulate their economy. This switchover will be a real hardship for many people on fixed incomes.

George Freer

Clifton

The right man won

Barack Obama’s elegant acceptance speech was vividly reflected on the TV screen on the faces in the crowd with tears of joy rolling down their cheeks. His inspiration restores belief in the American dream and our own personal destinies. His charisma helped him win the race, but it was his sincere belief in "yes we can" that has made all people feel better about the future.

It will be a new dawn in the White House with a new first lady of intelligence and beauty as a role model. Joe Biden, a special person in his own right, is the right vice president to help bring about "change."

History has been made, but we all have to help it become the best chapter in the book.

Glory Read

Clifton