THE GARDEN GNOME

You’ve got to be kidding me—the amount of wasted time spent by the city to pursue Ms. Dickson (“The Garden Gnome,” Artvoice v6n39)!

Meanwhile a few blocks away—also on Crescent Avenue—I’ve got a nonfunctioning street light cracked in the middle and ready to fall over, and a gas leak in my front yard. Even with repeated calls to the city and the utility, by myself and many neighbors explaining the danger—still no action.

Someone downtown needs to learn how to use their time more wisely.

Jody Hanson

Buffalo

SUB-PRIME SUBHUMANS

This letter is in response to the recent news concerning the sub-prime mortgage melt down and its impact on the rest of the economy.

Until recently I was an underwriter for a sub-prime mortgage company that is about to close. It seems that most media outlets and government officials feign ignorance about the real underlying cause of the problem. There is either a tendency to blame the borrower or act as though no one in the industry—or outside of it—saw this coming. They fail to mention that those who gained the most financially got off scot free while leaving the mess behind for everyone else to clean up. In my former company, the sales managers and loan officers “held the keys to the safe” while deciding which guidelines to ignore, sometimes going so far as to bribe fellow underwriters to “look the other way.” Sales managers often overrode an underwriter’s decision they did not agree with. Other times fellow underwriters would be threatened with their job for “impeding company growth and progress” just because they refused to go along with the flagrant disregard of guidelines. I complained to the sales managers about the bribing but all I got was a formal write-up for making “inappropriate comments.”

As a result of the corrupt management of this company, I and several hundred others were laid off. I believe the federal government needs to investigate this company and bring to trial those corrupt individuals who broke the law. This would set an example for the rest of the mortgage industry that absolute corruption corrupts absolutely.

Joe Bialek

Cleveland

AGAINST THE PAX AMERICANA

American society is not in a good state. The cause of the problem is American capitalism, our imperialist foreign policy and our global empire. Indeed, our government possesses military bases in at least 50 countries and has the world’s most lethal military machine.

Our multinational corporations have investments in almost every country and our government is attempting to dominate the world through its so-called New World Order. This foreign policy is illegally infringing on the right of other people to democratic self-determination. This Pax Americana is what generated hostility toward our country and is responsible for so-called anti-Americanism. This foreign policy needs to be altered if America is ever to provide constructive international leadership.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are about to fundamentally change this imperialist foreign policy. They support it and their backers are profiting off it. This is the cause of America’s current malaise and the sporadic terrorist attacks that threaten our domestic security. Another approach is needed.

Only a socialist government led by an American democratic socialist party can truly solve our problems, and this is not about to occur in the near future. Our problems will, therefore, only get worse.

David Slive

Buffalo

SOWING PEACE

Is there a connection between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and terroism? Like the attack of Yemen on the SS Cole, followed by 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? These confilcts must stop.

In his Viewpoints article in the Buffalo News (Sunday, September 2, 2007), Edward Cuddy, Ph.D, appealed to us to stop cultivating terrorists. We should take his advice before we kill our world and everything on it.

I resent being told to “stand united in the fight against terrorism,” when what we need is an end to war, discrimination and man’s inhumanity to man.

Francis of Assisi said: “Lord, make me an intrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Where am I sowing love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and joy?”

Good question.

Terence S. Underwood

Tonawanda

THE IRAQ WAR: PROFIT & LOSS

On August 30 the Buffalo News reported that Buffalo is the second poorest big city in the country. The day before, MSN’s Michael Brush reported that KRB, Inc., a division of Halliburton, made “$17.2 billion in Iraq-related war revenue for 2003-2006.” That’s more than $67,000 per person in Buffalo. Erie County alone spends approximately $1,243,878.77 daily on the Iraqi occupation. This is more than a $1,000,000 a day that is not being spent on healthcare, education, infrastructure, housing or hunger.

While we spend enormous amounts of money in Iraq, money that this community desperately needs, troop and Iraqi civilian deaths increase. Yet polls show 70 percent of US citizens oppose the war and most Iraqis want us to go home. A recent mental health survey has shown that significant portions of Iraqi children are now showing signs of mental illness and trauma. Continued violence will only worsen the situation.

A new Upstate Antiwar Network has formed to support soldiers from Fort Drum in Watertown, which has provided more soldiers and absorbed more deaths than any other US military facility. Enough is enough!

Elea Mihou, Executive Director

Western New York Peace Center

Buffalo

GIVE US HELL, JIM Z.

“Basically, in the Petraeus view, to count the amount of violence means excluding from that count many incidents and forms of violence. For example, not included in the Petraeus count as Ilan Goldenberg at Democracy Arsenal points out: being shot in the back on the head doesn’t count” (http://www.americablog.com/2007/09/petraeus-will-say-violence-is-down-in.html, http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2007/09/getting-shot-in.html).

Let’s nip this lie made on a liberal Democrat blog by Ilan Goldenberg. This is totally untrue and made up by the evil, lying, liberal Democrats to try and discredit the surge.

One single solitary guy. A liar. So what we have here is one liberal lying for the liberal Democrats on a blog site and the liberal Democrats sell this as reality.

Just like John Hopkins did a lousy survey of only 1,000 Iraqis and determined that over 650,000 Iraqis have died at the hands of American soldiers. What a giant crock. Total nonsense.

I’m so damn sick of these liberals and their cowardice and anti-America and anti-troop comments.

Let’s beat the hell out of these losers in ’08.

The real die-hard San Francisco liberals want the black guy. Figures. Maybe Obama can get Osama as his running mate.

Niman says he just loves or troops, but he calls General Petraeus a “disgusting liar” (Getting a Grip, Artvoice v6n39). Niman also said our troops have “low morals, just like our president” and refers to the new recruiting standards, making them all out to be like criminals.

I’m a 10- year Navy vet, and sick and tired of liberals crying and whining.

James Ziolkowski

Buffalo