Gentleman Farmer
Sag Harbor
January 4, 2009
Dear Editor:
On a sunny spring day in 1992, an attractive woman approached me from across the counter of my coffee shop, Estia in Amagansett. She was there to introduce the Sagpond Vineyard and she asked me if I might spare a minute to taste their first bottling of Chardonnay. I was pleased to learn that this new Domaine Wolffer would be available to join the other wines that I’d selected for the list we were organizing for dinner customers that, in my mind’s eye, would be filling the doorway in the weeks to come.
That first season proved to me that while I could make a good profit selling wines from Italy and Spain, selling wine from the neighborhood would be infinitely more rewarding. Back then I didn’t have time to set out and discover the East End as I would have liked; that would take time.
I did learn that purchasing the best products available and handling them gently was getting my customers’ attention. Domaine Wolffer was one of those New York products, like Coach Farm goat cheese, that caught the attention of the 20 percent of my customers that I knew were my key to success, year round, in Amagansett.
A few years later, on a snowy night in Sagaponack at one of Nancy and Loren Dunlap’s sumptuous dinners, I was seated across from Mr. Wolffer himself. New to the scene, it was my intention to avoid the common topic of selling wine. Our conversation focused on skiing from helicopters, a topic that I often dream of, having spent two years surveying the outback of Wyoming’s Hoback mountain range from Hughes 500 Ds in search of oil reserves in the early ’80s.
Christian’s stories of skiing the steep and deep in the Canadian Rockies had me hanging on every word. That night I also met his beautiful wife, Naomi, who moved through the room with an air of royalty in a most unassuming way. It was the beginning of a friendship that I will always hold in the highest regard.
With each following year my wife Jessica and I occasionally found ourselves in Christian and Naomi’s world, like many others, as spectators of what I thought of as Camelot, Sagaponack style. They had a way of making us feel comfortable and feeling honored to be with them. When they choose to live separately, they did it in a most dignified way.
In the spring of 1999, Jessica and I were blessed with a standing-room-only response to our new business in Sag Harbor, Estia’s Little Kitchen. Establishing a wine list had become easier, and including Wolffer Estate wines was natural. Seeing Christian pulling into the parking lot as the lunch rush moved off became a welcome and regular occurrence.
He’d always start by introducing his guests, often visitors from afar. Next he’d ask for a glass of his wine, rosé in the summer, Chardonnay most of the time, and occasionally when he wanted me to know about a new bottling that I might not have heard about, Christian would ask, “Do you have our Cabernet Franc or the new Pinot Noir?”
Christian was a man who got things done. His smile was genuine, his eyes a color that I have never seen before and don’t expect to see again. Not blue, not silver, his eyes were connected to his smile that was connected to his soul. When he put his hand on my shoulder at a party, it always made me feel as if I was the most important person in the room. He believed in me like a godfather and he kept me on track with his suggestions and confidence.
He once told me that he thought of himself as a gentleman farmer. He didn’t set out to create a world-class vineyard. It happened because Christian did it in the only way he knew how: with a firm hand and a touch of class.
I’ll miss his visits to my Little Kitchen, walking through the vineyards with him, and listening to him address his employees and mine in their native language. He was a man who made every moment count, a virtue that I’ll work hard to reflect the rest of my life. He would hope that your readers join me in supporting all of the good things that are made in the neighborhood and that we all smile and love the ones we’re with.
COLIN AMBROSE
The Best Thing
Montauk
December 30, 2008
To the Editor;
The best thing about Montauk is not the beautiful beaches or the great surf or the Lighthouse (which does look fabulous all lit up), it is the people who pull together when someone is in need. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that person to be me.
I have truly been blessed by the caring and concerns of the people of Montauk. I would especially like to thank the officers and members of the Montauk Fire Department who have made family dinnertime the normal, comforting time is should be. You guys are simply the best!
The Montauk Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, John’s Pancake and Steak House, Wok-n-Roll, Herb’s Market, and the Shagwong restaurant also deserve a special thank-you.
The visits, laughter, food, and helping hands from Theresa and Ed Eurell, Alan and Karen Burke, Alison Wald, Dan and Julia Stavola, Gina Demasco, Sammy Grecio, Lisa Frazier, Amy Esposito, and Kathy Fischer have really, beyond words, meant so much. And to all who have sent thoughts, cards, and love, thank you.
My family and I wish all a happy and healthy new year!
Thank you,
KATHY WEISS
Empty Spaces
East Hampton
December 30, 2008
To the Editor,
I went out to put my outside Christmas decorations away. But what did I find, but two empty spaces. My reindeer with the lights had disappeared sometime during the night. They were very special to my family. Whoever made off with them have no respect for someone else or themselves. I know they will never come back, but the cowards who took them will not enjoy them, as it’s someone else’s property.
RALPH C. GEORGE
P.S. The theft has been recorded with the Police Department.
Into the Water
Sag Harbor
January 5, 2008
Dear Editor,
Jan. 1 was a cold and windy day, but my husband went for a swim in the ocean anyway. It was his third time at the annual New Year’s Polar Bear Plunge in Wainscott, a tradition established several years ago by Colin Mather of the Seafood Shop.
The spectators far outnumbered the plungers this year, and a tiny group of drummers from Escola de Samba Boom nearly froze their fingers off playing on the beach as they awaited the brave swimmers. Colin and an intrepid group of friends jogged from the Seafood Shop down to the beach; my husband waited in our warm car until he saw the joggers approach, then he and a few others joined them, plunging into the water at 2:30 p.m.
Someone asked Colin if this was the coldest New Year’s in the history of the plunge. “No,” he said, “the first year we did the plunge it was only 9 degrees.”
The just-below-freezing temperature and biting wind of this year’s plunge did not seem to faze him or any of the other participants; everyone seemed to feel great when they came out of the water.
Each year, the plunge is done to support a good cause. This year, contributions were given to Phoenix House in Wainscott. In fact, after the plunge we all went to Phoenix House, where we were treated to a wonderful meal. The food was great and we had a terrific time.
Thanks go to the Seafood Shop and to Phoenix House for making us feel so welcome.
Phoenix House is an impressive facility. My husband, Kevin, and I were very happy to spend time there and to find out more about it. It was a good way to spend New Year’s Day. We’re looking forward to next year’s polar bear plunge!
MARGARET BODKIN
Kind and Polite
East Hampton
December 30, 2008
To the Editor,
Thank you, Town Highway Department employees. On Dec. 29, 2008, the remainder of fallen leaves were picked up by the East Hampton Town Highway Department. My piles on the edge of the road were small. I’m 77 years old, therefore, it was the best I could do. I approached the work crew and asked if they would gather the small piles of leaves. They did and were kind and polite at the same time. In this current climate of greed and corruption on most levels of business and government, I thank God for the kindness of some men and women.
LORETTA GOETZ
Ron Baron Matter
East Hampton
January 5, 2008
Dear David:
I returned from my vacation and was stunned to read the remarks attributed to Tiffany Scarlato, a member of the East Hampton Town attorney’s office. In referring to the Ron Baron matter, she said, “The justice process does not work all that well with respect to remedying a violation.”
Over the years, Ms. Scarlato has prosecuted and persecuted any number of code violators in Justice Court and sought search warrants resulting in early morning visits from masked and armed town personnel and doors being kicked in. Requests for high fines were the norm.
If, as Ms. Scarlato says, the process doesn’t work with respect to remedying a violation, then all pending cases should be dismissed and all future cases should not be brought until the parties have been given an adequate opportunity to work things out — the same amount of time afforded to Mr. Baron.
If, in fact, Mr. Baron did destroy a dune, then he should be hauled into the Justice Court with his public relations people and attorneys and made to sit there on Monday afternoon just like the rest of the people who give up a half a day’s work to answer charges in this court. In fact, as the violation alleged to have been committed is ongoing, the fine could be the maximum every day until it is resolved, which could probably provide significant revenue to the Town of East Hampton.
It would be nice to know why Mr. Baron is being treated differently than any other alleged zoning violator in this town. If the charges are not true, then let’s have a trial, which would resolve the matter once and for all. Equal justice in the town would be nice.
Yours truly,
STEPHEN A. GROSSMAN
Dangerously Myopic
Wainscott
January 4, 2009
Dear Friends,
Your editorial (“Pouring Dollars Into a Trickle-Away Theory”) misses the point of Gary Ireland’s public service litigation to remove the perennially destructive Georgica groins and to nourish our severely depleted beaches adjoining this groin field. Instead of chiding him, you should be applauding. But if you can’t find the grace to appreciate his effort, you should at least try to get your facts straight.
Your head-in-the-depleted-sand approach not only ignores the overwhelming research proving these groins rob the downdrift beaches of naturally drifting, littorally flowing sand, but also you ignore the true history of beach replenishment and the will of the citizens of East Hampton, Southampton, and Sagaponack as expressed in their unanimously adopted municipal resolutions supporting beach nourishment as the most viable and valuable beach replenishment procedure available.
You wrongly accuse Mr. Ireland of “speculation,” when he states the fact that the groins are responsible for the atypically devastating erosion that have plagued our Wainscott, Sagaponack and East Hampton Village beaches since the groins were installed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s. No one of good will and common sense who has studied these groins, including the Army Corps of Engineers (1964 report), doubts that the groins have a significantly negative impact on the beaches abutting the groins. They are truly an ill wind that blows no good, with surfers as the sole arguable exception.
Their removal will restore our precious beaches to their natural line and unobstructured littoral sand flow. This removal is what you call the “big unknowable” of the post-removal impact. It is big but not unknowable. For millennia before the groins, our East End Atlantic beaches formed as near a straight line as nature will tolerate. Aerial photographic evidence before and after their installation show a marked and pernicious erosion downdrift of the groins.
Remove the eroding groins, and the beaches will return to their natural line. Your expressed concern for the few houses the groins now “protect” (another factual error) is narrow and uninformed, because the houses are behind dunes that are also lessened by the groins. The real “protection,” such as it is, to the houses within the groin field comes largely from East Hampton Village having allowed them to armor their dunes with buried revetments.
Beach nourishment is, and long has been, the environmentally accepted method of replenishing denuded beaches throughout the United States, and not just in urban areas as you errantly opine. In Wainscott we have been buying dredged spoil from Georgica Pond for years and rebuilding our dunes. West Hampton Dunes was replenished by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1990s and has not only been named the best restored public beach on Long Island but also has added many new residences to the tax rolls.
The beaches of the East End are our primary attraction and asset. The East End would be bereft without them. Our dunes will naturally continue to be ravaged by storms, the damage from which is grossly exacerbated by groins. However, we can and must replenish them with sand, such as that dredged from the sand-choked shoals of Georgica Pond. This undeniable reality makes your promotion of “an official policy of retreat (as) the only satisfactory response” to the natural diminution of our most valuable public property shamelessly mindless and dangerously myopic.
Perhaps you should support Mr. Ireland in the very promising legal appeal of his dismissed public interest case to atone for your end-of-the-year unseemly and uncharacteristic arrogance.
MICHAEL KENNEDY
Acts of Kindness
East Hampton
December 30, 2008
Dear David,
The kindness of strangers can warm our hearts. I experienced just that the other day in the village. My trusty old Jeep decided to take a powder right as I entered the Reutershan parking lot. I mean exactly in the middle of everyone driving in to find a spot or driving out, by the side of Waldbaum’s. A most unfortunate place for stalling.
I tried and tried to restart the car as I sweated, and people honked and probably swore at me. “Idiot woman stops her car here?” As I was just about to go into tears mode, a gentleman appeared at my window. “Need help?”
“Yes, thanks!” I replied.
When the engine refused to turn over and stay, he suggested a push to the side. He was about to start the push when another gentleman in a truck stopped in the middle and said, “Need help?”
I said, “Yes, thanks.”
The two gentlemen pushed me and my Jeep to the side out of harm’s way and before I could thank the second gentleman, he was gone. The first gentleman stayed until the engine finally caught and I was on my way. But not before I thanked him.
Afterward, I realized a mere thank-you was not enough. I should have offered them money. One does not think properly under duress. I can only hope they read this letter and accept my sincere gratitude. How lucky for me these two gentlemen were in the parking lot that day. Angels if you prefer, as I do. If I see them again, I will thank them properly with a few bob for lunch. It is the least I can do. I did not even have my cellphone on me that day. I never remember to take it. Or charge it. I was meant for a simpler time.
So if you’ve had a particularly hard day, or if life is getting you more down than up, take heart. There are gentlemen in the world. Angels right in our little village. At this time of year, it gives you a truly good feeling, one that stays with you. I later found a special ring I had lost. The day got better and better.
Two acts of kindness. Two gentlemen angels. I am humbly grateful. Thank you.
Sincerely,
NANCI E. LAGARENNE
Quicker Than Yoga
East Hampton
January 2, 2009
Dear David,
This is to thank Theresa Quigley for her wonderful “Guestwords” column. Reading it I thought I too might have written it. As she does, I drive to Indian Wells parking lot, turn off my motor, and, quicker than yoga or meditation, find peace in the wonder of the ocean and share a bond as she does with those who may be there with me.
Sincerely,
Jean Hoffmann
Eternal Denial
East Hampton
January 4, 2009
To the Editor:
With the bombs dropping on Gaza and hundreds of people dying and thousands losing their homes, there is no sense that there is an endgame in sight or that either side really wants one. In interviews on NPR both the Palestinian and the Israeli ambassadors to the United Nations refused to answer the essential questions posed by the interviewer: Why does Hamas continue to shoot missiles into Israel? What does Hamas have to do in order for Israel to end the current bombardment? Neither ambassador would respond to these essential questions and without a response they rendered themselves as useless.
People who live in a state of constant war and aren’t capable of living otherwise are essentially useless to the peace process. Given the mentality of Hamas and the current Israeli leadership, the only possible short-term route to peace is one that will be imposed on both parties by the United States and Europe. Otherwise, we wait for sanity in an insane world.
The terms have been identified, but the will to accept and enact has never existed. Ergo, left to their own devices, peace will never be an option. When Hamas sends missiles into Israel they’re like teenage boys first learning about sex and too excited to control themselves. Mindless masturbation, but instead of blindness they get death. The Israelis respond like schoolyard bullies and beat on Hamas because they can and then blame the problem on their victims. Both sides live in eternal denial.
Yet the terms for peace are clear and doable: Two states, returning to the 1967 borders with some very small adjustments, giving Palestine its East Jerusalem capital, disarming all of Palestine, developing Palestine as a viable economic state, and allowing for some right of return.
The power for peace is in the hands of the Israelis because they have the ability to destroy Palestine at will. They have to accept the contract that guarantees the two-state concept and move forward on the West Bank settlements. They have to offer peace and dignity to the Palestinian people as their right, not as a gift for being good.
The Palestinian people have to realize that their leaders are useless and need to be discarded. They can never win with violence. The pain they might inflict on Israel is minimal compared to the pain they inflict on their own people.
The mindset of pubescent, macho stupidity has not improved the situation in the last 50 years. Israelis and Palestinians need to get over themselves and stop the killing. Stop preening and primping and sit at the table until an agreement is worked out.
NEIL HAUSIG
Sense of Injustice
East Hampton
January 4, 2009
Dear Editor:
It is said that Hamas broke the truce that had held for six months. They did it by lobbing homemade rockets into Israel. Hence it is felt that the overwhelming retaliation by Israel is only fair. But the truce that existed was never between equals. Was the truce not an illusion when the border crossings were still closed, when supplies were denied? As quoted from Uri Avnery’s article in Haaretz, “the blockade on land, on sea, and in the air against a million and a half human beings is an act of war as much as any launching of rockets. It paralyzes life in Gaza, eliminating most sources of employment, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation, stopping most hospitals from functioning, disrupting the supply of electricity and water.”
Tzipi Livni, running for re-election, put it bluntly. The aim is to liquidate Hamas rule in Gaza, albeit Hamas was the winner in the most democratic election ever held in the Arab world. And she has Netanyahu to contend with in February.
There have been massive demonstrations not only in Europe and at the United Nations but 10,000 protesters from all over Israel marched in Tel Aviv. The hundreds of deaths obviously include innocent civilians. The wounded number in the thousands while electricity and antibiotics run out and doctors operate without anesthetics.
I am not a Jew but I am an American and it is the one-sided support of Israel, providing them with the F-16s and the night-vision goggles, the tanks and the $3 billion a year throughout decades that arouses my sense of injustice and gives me the right to take sides and speak out. This cannot continue. There must be peace in the Middle East.
Is not a Palestinian life the equal of an Israeli life?
Sincerely,
HELEN FITZGERALD
Proportionality
East Hampton
January 4, 2009
Dear David,
The scoreboard for Israel on Hamas’s game of death for Israel and its Jewish populace tells you an easily understood story of nonstop murder by Hamas from the very beginning of its deadly game. This has been amplified since Hamas grabbed political control of Gaza. The scoreboard since then credits Hamas with 6,000 rockets of death fired from Gaza into Israel’s civilian population. Each one was launched with the intent to kill or maim civilians.
Israel’s score till now is zero. In that time it made no major direct military moves against these terrorists until now, with a massive wave of air strikes and naval gunfire, followed by a purposeful movement of troops into Gaza. Its targets were not civilians, but Hamas fighters, its leaders, the locations used by Hamas for weapons storage and other terrorist activities, as well as rocket-launching areas.
The Arabs’ wailing over this way-overdue military response as amounting to genocide is laughable and pathetic. That their country is occupied is another big lie. They have no country, never did have. They have been too busy trying to destroy Israel. Somehow, these people cannot get it through their medieval skulls that when you start and lose six wars in a row against Israel and refuse to agree on a peace agreement that does not abolish Israel, you stay losers.
They have every right to keep whatever land is deemed needed for their security. Sixty years of constant warfare forced upon them is good reason to realign its borders. In the last two days I have seen and heard demonstrators in New York, London, and Paris scream for the destruction of Israel, saying that Israel itself is on Palestinian land, and for Jews to again be put into ovens. They yell that 500 are dead and more wounded, not noting that almost all were Hamas fighters and supporters, and that they purposely use mosques and homes for their terrorist activities.
When did the population in areas about to be attacked first get telephone warnings to get out? Israel gave these alerts.
Those who call for proportionate response no doubt would not object if instead of this military operation the Israeli Army just fired off 6,000 rockets into Gaza as an equalizer. Perhaps after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor we should only have sought out the aircraft carriers that took part in the raid, destroyed them, and called it a day. Germany declared war on us only after we did so against their ally. We could have thereby avoided the Pacific and European wars, not suffered 400,000 dead and more in wounded, sold lots of armaments, and remained in the depression F.D.R. could not get us out of.
The rules of war allow the killing of any number of combatants to prevent the killing of just one innocent civilian. There is no legal equivalence between the deliberate killing of innocent civilians and the deliberate killing of Hamas combatants. Proportionality is not measured by the number of civilians killed, but rather by the risk posed, as shown by the Hamas rocket that hit a kindergarten in Beer Sheva. Under international law, Israel is not required to let Hamas play Russian roulette with its children’s lives.
Hamas is guilty of targeting civilians, using its own civilians as human shields, and seeking the destruction of a member state of the United Nations — all of which are war crimes.
Hamas, Palestinians, and their apologists, of course, will ignore these unpleasant truths — read their letters and statements. In the meantime, give Israel your support against those who want to erase it.
Earle S. Rynston
Costly Games
East Hampton
January 2, 2009
Dear David,
Congratulation to The East Hampton Star for that strongly worded, excellent lead editorial (Jan. 1) on the subject of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board’s long-running war against the library’s attempts to win approval for the much needed addition to the children’s wing.
How much longer can this clearly biased group of people continue to erect new roadblocks to this crucial project? Years have passed since the initial application, the cost has now gone over a quarter of a million dollars, and the real victims, the young children who would greatly benefit from the addition, are rapidly growing older.
Let these costly games come to an end. It is high time that this important matter be brought to a final vote.
Sincerely,
GEORGE A. SMART JR.
Confabulated Stories
Amagansett
January 1, 2009
Dear David,
If people wonder why it is so difficult to find worthy candidates to run for public office, they need look no further than a nasty epistle about me in last week’s Star. Having been off the town board for three years, I had almost forgotten this particular fellow and his confabulated stories. This laundry list of my invented sins seems to be punishment for giving my time to the new budget advisory committee. I hope those who know both of us will consider the source. Others with concerns are welcome to contact me.
Perhaps his next letter will include constructive and helpful ideas to be considered by the committee. Though we have not yet met, I know the committee will welcome constructive ideas related to the financial well-being of the town. At the first meeting, I’m sure we will discuss how to best solicit community input. These are perilous economic times everywhere, and it’s time to set aside personal and partisan rancor, and work together.
Best in the New Year,
JOB POTTER
Action-Oriented
East Hampton
December 19, 2008
Dear David,
In concept, the East Hampton Business Alliance supports the town board’s decision to appoint a financial advisory committee to review town spending and suggest ways for our government to reduce town taxes.
However, the alliance strongly urges that the town board adopt the following suggestions as it pertains to the committee:
1. The committee should be larger in order to bring in different types of expertise and to make sure that committee attendance is sufficient.
2. The committee should be of limited duration, perhaps one year, with the end result being a comprehensive report of recommendations and suggestions.
3. The goals of the committee’s work should be articulated more precisely.
4. The committee needs to be action-oriented and function independently of town board decisions.
The East Hampton Business Alliance views itself as the primary voice of the many thousands of citizens involved in earning their living in our town. In this role, we strongly support the town board actively soliciting opinions and advice from the business community. Something needs to be done to get the “business” of running East Hampton Town on a more professional and efficient basis.
Respectfully submitted,
MARGARET TURNER
Executive Director
East Hampton Business Alliance
Proverbial Albatross
Amagansett
December 28, 2008
Dear David,
Today I watched the LTV broadcast of the Dec. 16, 2008, town board brown bag meeting concerning the marine patrol barge.
For starters, I figure the barge cost about $4,000 per foot to build, not including the deck equipment.
The deck crane is not suitable for driving piles at all, which was the main purpose for getting the rig in the first place. The crane is slower than the second coming of Christ.
For about 30 years, every spring, usually alone, I drove about 130 poles in Napeague Bay for my three fish traps, and all were taken out every fall. My outer set was made up of 45 steel poles, 50 feet long, each weighing 500 pounds. They were set in 35 to 40 feet of water.
The town barge crew, in foolishly replacing the 15 poles at the Head of the Harbor, worked in about 10 feet of water with no tide and flat, calm weather, with three men taking several weeks to do the work. A goodly number of people were keeping track of the whole operation. It took them several weeks to do a job that should have taken about two days.
The rig was at the Head of the Harbor for 57 days. First Light’s comment to this was that the crew was also doing other work, like changing oil on Marine One. This shows how ridiculous this million-dollar-per-year outfit is. Does it really take three men all day to change three gallons of oil in an engine? It takes me about a half-hour to change the oil in my 3145 Caterpillar.
Two discussions that were not on the table were:
1. Why were perfectly good poles replaced with new poles of less value to the boat owners, because some of the original poles had riding timbers bolted to them for storm tide protection? I could find nothing wrong with the poles they took out and placed on the commercial dock. This was nothing more than a make-work project to justify the barge by First Light, pure and simple.
2. There was no discussion, as far as I know, about how much it cost to send to Florida — twice — crew members to learn how to operate the crane.
As to First Light’s comment that it will take two men to pull out the town trustee moorings, on Nov. 20, 1992, with my 45-foot trap stake barge and 40-foot dragger, I took out the moorings all by my itty-bitty self, and placed them all on the dock with my Jeep.
The town barge, et al., is not much more than the proverbial albatross hanging around the East Hampton taxpayers’ necks.
Cheers,
STUART B. VORPAHL
Printer’s Devil
January 5, 2009
Sag Harbor
Dear Editor:
In my letter printed under the title “Transparency” (Dec. 18), the entire first paragraph was omitted, making the truncated product awkward. I would rather assume that it was the work of the printer’s devil than a misguided exercise of editorial censorship, no libelous matter being involved. The entire first paragraph went as follows:
“Transparency (a k a open government) is one thing. Being too ‘available’ as distinct from ‘accessible’ is another. President-elect Obama seems to be erring on the side of availability — too ready to be interviewed by the media on matters relating to his post-Bush policies before he takes office, even though the presidential election campaign is long over.”
I would hope you will publish this omission so that the rest of my letter makes sense to your readers, because it is the heart of the matter.
Yours sincerely,
DAVID CARNEY
Honorable People
Wainscott
January 5, 2009
Dear Editor,
Richard Higer’s rant in the Dec. 25 edition certainly has not strayed too far (“You Lost, You Lost”). Mr. Higer, isn’t that what someone told you a while ago, during one of your weekly rants?
It is obvious, “You can’t handle the truth.” I do not listen to Mr. Hannity and certainly not to the likes of Dan Rather, Anderson Cooper, or any other of the darlings of the left who cannot seem to get a story straight with facts, not fiction.
Maybe, you should not think about sleep aids, breathe some fresh air, open your eyes, and do some independent research.
The facts, which you refuse to look at, are there, if you have any independent thoughts. Unlike you, sir, I am an independent and gather all the facts, not from what someone said or slants because of their political leanings, but from what is in plain view. Obviously, you, sir, have some difficulty in defining what is real or fluff.
Of course, one is judged by the company he keeps. So, if this is the case, and the mantra of “Change we can believe in,” maybe one should look at the company he keeps? The obvious is there for anyone who chooses to look.
“Rejected and thoroughly aired?” Where, in the leftists’ mainstream media? You have to be kidding.
Yes, we have to give Mr. Obama a chance, but it seems that his staff can only find out what clothing was purchased at Lord & Taylor. Some supersleuths to do the vetting? Hire Barney Fife.
They didn’t know that there was a major investigation involving Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico? We have to give Mr. Richardson a presumption of innocence but not Rezko, Ayers, Dorn, or Acorn. Let us not forget Blagojevich, Obama’s old pal and political ally, and the rest who are under one tainted cloud or another. Mr. Obama doesn’t seem to know anything about who he breaks bread with. That is what he states.
The same faces bring the same smile. Do you understand what that means? One cannot rub the spots off a leopard. Do you know what that means? If one allows their integrity to be compromised in any manner, they will cease to exist, as honorable people. Do you know what that means? Most likely not.
I do not pay homage to dishonorable people and certainly do not associate with those who are or those who do. Nor do “I suffer fools lightly.”
By the way, there is a big sale on Ambien. However, I would rather buy you a lifetime supply of Starbucks. Then you can have your eyes opened up to reality. It is your weekly rants that are boring and void of real facts. Maybe it is you that should take my place and head to that Minneapolis Railroad bathroom with Chris Dodd, Barney, Teddy, and take Sokolin with you. I have no wounds to soothe. Zzzzz . . .
Yours truly, and wide awake,
ARTHUR J. FRENCH
Another Illusion
Sag Harbor
January 1, 2009
To the Editor,
Three of my recent letters were on the same topic. Most of our lives are lived out in an illusion. Seems like every week the evidence becomes more obvious. This headline appeared on the front page of The New York Times: “Wall Street Profits Were a Mirage.”
For Dow Kim, 2006 was a very good year. While his salary at Merrill Lynch was $350,000, his bonus was 100 times that — $35 million. Mr. Kim’s colleagues far down the ranks also pocketed huge paychecks.
But Merrill’s record earnings in 2006, $7.5 billion, turned out to be a mirage. The company has since lost three times that amount because mortgage investments profits plunged in value. We taxpayers will pick up the tab for the meltdown.
Wall Street pay structure, in which bonuses are based on short-term profits, encourages employees to act like gamblers at a casino while the roulette wheel is still spinning.
The culprits were greed and their siblings, speculators or risk takers. Even Wall Streeters concede they were dazzled by the money. Everybody who was part of the illusion was led like sheep over the cliff. The bottom not yet determined. The same people were given $700 billion to clean up their act. The solution another illusion.
Hang in there,
LARRY DARCEY
The Guillotine
Springs
January 4, 2008
To the Editor:
I don’t know why, but I have this feeling that somebody is listening.
So here, Mr. President-elect Obama, is another suggestion, a strong suggestion, and please note that it is coming from East Hampton, savvy East Hampton.
You committed yourself to closing the prison at Guantanamo, probably for good reasons. This has been going on for much too long and without any reasonable, expected results.
Fine. We understand and respect your decision, but obviously some very unexpected and drastic events took place in our country since then.
The devastating hit, a catastrophic attack on our economy, is something that those terrorists in Guantanamo could not have succeeded in matching or executing, had they been given a free hand. Not in their wildest dreams.
So please, Mr. President, please hold off on dismantling all those facilities in Cuba. However, clear the prisons immediately of all these inmates, or whatever they are called. Disburse them, return, distribute them A.S.A.P., a rush job, please.
Once done, start collecting, apprehending, and imprisoning all the actual, real, guilty terrorists, the ones who are responsible, the ones that caused our current economic debacle. Round up all the looters without hesitation or delay and ship them — you guessed it — to Guantanamo.
Start with the obvious ones: Bernie Madoff and his clan, followed by all the others — Wall Street, banking, insurance. You and we know who and where they are. You do that, Mr. President, and Guantanamo will immediately earn its credibility.
Never mind the potential, sickening counterarguments, “was a real crime committed,” “was this done within the legal parameter of laws or rules?” Baloney. Nonsense. Start interrogating them immediately; maybe some of the loot can still be located, saved, and returned to its rightful owners.
No hesitation about the methods — waterboarding, snowboarding, wash-boarding, dogs — whatever it takes to get fast results. The chances are very good that you will get very fast and accurate information and results typical of sleazy, selfish cowards.
Consider these villains way below the law. No need, or room, for legal, constitutional rights or fiddling, for heaven’s sake. It is treason punishable by death.
If Benedict Arnold was caught — to the gallows, without a doubt. The Rosenbergs were executed. Jonathan Pollard is almost 20 years in jail.
Abraham Lincoln suspended the habeas corpus. F.D.R. did not hesitate to intern most of the American Japanese population. The precedent is set. What are you — we — waiting for?
Consider and take into account all the damage and hurt that the above caused, or may have caused, and it will pale compared to the current economic, industrial, emotional, and political devastation. And it is not over yet.
These financial S.O.B.s did not do this for a worthy cause or for an ideology that they strongly believed in — not at all. It was strictly for personal and selfish greed.
God, how I miss the good old days, the gallows, firing squads, the guillotine. Let’s go for it. I am sure that the vast majority of us will support you.
Boiling mad,
EDWARD A. WAGSCHAL
For Sara
Christmas morning 2008, at 10:37 a.m., you killed my dog.
I don’t know who you are, but you do.
She ran out of a gap in the fence of our house on Three Mile Harbor Road.
I called to her to come back, she turned around, and you killed her in your white pickup truck.
It was an accident. Maybe you were going way too fast, but it was a forgivable accident.
What was not an accident, what is not forgivable, is that you hit your brakes, you knew you hit her, knew you hit her hard enough to blow her internal organs out of the other side of her body.
You stopped, looked, and left her writhing, dying on the pavement, and ran.
You did not know that this beautiful little soul, Sara, was rescued after having her elbow shattered (probably by someone just like you, who did not have the courage or fortitude to stop and accept responsibility).
She was dropped in a kill-shelter to be gassed to death. We brought her here.
She came here in chronic pain with multiple health problems. After a month of care, she was well enough to have her leg amputated.
The vets at Veterinary Clinic of East Hampton, as always, went above and beyond to help her.
She recovered.
She was a symbol of unconditional love, of hope, of recovery.
She shone like a star. She was honored by people who love dogs all over the country for her stamina, bravery, and forgiving heart.
She would howl, come and put her little head in my lap for head scratches, play with toys. She loved people, dogs, and cats. She loved leash walks and dragging everything she could into her crate.
She even got comfortable enough to counter-surf the kitchen and roll around in her crate, reveling in her bedding. She never learned to love the vacuum cleaner.
She danced on three legs.
And you — a coward with no understanding of unconditional love and eternal souls — took her from us and ran.
Sara will live forever in the hearts and souls of all who she touched.
You will never kill her spirit, or the spirits of the people who love her.
Sara has her special place in heaven.
You have your special place in hell.
May God have mercy on you. You’re going to need it
Kate Quigley
Most Beautiful
East Hampton
December 31, 2008
To the Editor;
It all started with Adam and Eve, two innocents who met in the Garden of Eden. That was a long time ago, but it’s a part of history. Adam and Eve became friends and developed knowledge from the Garden of Eden. What did they do with that knowledge? They were innocents, and like children in a playground, they were seeking knowledge, friendship, love, and understanding. That’s a wonderful beginning.
The question is: What will come from that beginning?
It depends on man. Will he be friendly? Learned? Curious? Hopefully, each one of those traits will arise. At this point in life, it could go any way or anywhere. We could have a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to learn because man is curious and has always been.
Unfortunately, with curiosity, man’s future can go in different directions. From my experience, most importantly he must find love, friendship, children, parks, and curiosity. What he must avoid is war. He was not meant for war. Life was not meant for war. History has since established that. Go back to Adam and Eve. They had the right idea. The most beautiful four-letter word in the English language is love. It can bring marriage, children, and friends.
We all know now we can all be subject to diseases, the horrors of war, disdain, and manipulation.
It’s up to man. He was put on this earth for love, goodness, education, and friendship. He must learn how to disdain war, illness, and jealousy.
Picture a park with swings, children, friendly policemen, and St. Bernard dogs that make the park a place where people come to sit, hold hands, and fall in love. This may sound like a make-believe story, but it’s my image of what life is all about. I say the most beautiful word in the English language is love.
HOWARD RICHARD