I applaud Mexican President Felipe Calderón for his honesty and courage in calling for a debate on drug legalization to help reduce the bloody war in Mexico (“Thinking the unthinkable”, August 14th). Former President Vicente Fox has since gone further and called for an end to prohibition. Their openness and frankness are in stark contrast to the Obama administration. Barack Obama’s drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, has repeatedly said not only are he and Mr. Obama opposed to legalization, but that the word is not even in their vocabulary.

America has sent Mexico $1.3 billion in aid to buy guns and tanks. What Mexico really needs doesn’t cost a penny. It needs America to open up a debate about the causes of and solutions to the violence in Mexico. All options need to be considered when coming up with an exit strategy for this un-winnable war.

As someone who lived in pre-drug war El Paso between 1958 to 1963, I have great difficulty adjusting to the virtual tsunami of information about drug trafficking, murder, and corruption that has been emanating from Juarez since I began following the drug war in earnest in 1995. Not only have the numbers of alleged drug-related killings increased dramatically, so has the savage and brazen manner in which they are being carried out; to say nothing of the fact that pitched battles between government forces and narcotrafficantes are being fought deep in the interior.

Even given their dramatic progression from levels reported as recently as 1995, there is general agreement that after newly elected President Felipe Calderon dutifully attempted to accommodate a Bush-Cheney call for a crack down on drug smuggling in 2006, things have become even worse: more savagery, more killings, and more disturbing evidence the Mexican government is losing control.

Even against that background, President Calderon is still claiming progress in Mexico’s version of the drug war, based on the most recent arrest of another notorious drug lord. How long can such blindness persist without provoking a catastrophic failure of government South of the Border? More to the point: how might such a failure affect us?

And isn’t this very reminiscent of our “successes” against the cocaine cartels and Pablo Escobar in the Eighties, to say nothing of claims made on behalf of body counts and the “light at the end of the tunnel” in an earlier war?

From the “About Us” Section of NewsLanc.com’s web site: “NewsLanc.com is an e-zine focused on the important issues facing Lancaster city and county. Our mission is to provide an alternative source of coverage and comment from the monopoly Lancaster press. We will provide news without spin, editorials without vested interests and personal attacks, and solicit vigorous discussions from the public.”

Stated above: “WATCHDOG: Did the editorial writer fail to make it through grammar school math? If 100% pay their fair share, the 73% who now are paying the entire bill will pay less in the future! The above is just plain mean spirited, unless the writer is really that dumb.”

I’m trying to imagine how yellow your brand of journalism would be absent your noble mission of avoiding personal attacks.

By the way: Your mission statement should read, “…an alternative…TO the monopoly Lancaster press”, not “an alternative…FROM the monopoly Lancaster press.” Did the mission statement author fail to make it through grammar school grammar? Is the writer really that dumb?

It is far better for a journalist to be poor in math than poor in English.

EDITOR’S RESPONSE:

We surmise that every once in a while the same dimwitted, misguided, nasty party is allowed to write an editorial for the New Era.  It is a public embarrassment.  We see no contradiction to our mission by calling actions what they are.

For those who prefer sugar coating and ignoring vital issues (such as the misdirection of Lancaster General Hospital), there are the Lancaster newspapers.

For LNP it is a business, which we respect.  For us it is a mission to help improve our community.

The New Era editorial this morning, “What motivates mosque backers?” is the most deceitful and demagogic I have ever witnessed by newspaper editorial writers.

It is cunningly deceitful for [its]editorialist to supposedly quote syndicated columnist Cal Thomas by stating “As Cal Thomas pointed out on this page Friday, Rauf’s (the leader of the Muslim community center) goal is to use ‘peaceful means’ to establish the Islamic state worldwide”

Cal Thomas, who is certainly no innocent in this matter, said no such thing.

Cal Thomas pointed to a foreign language (Arabic) website (www.hadielislam.com – no translations available) where a supposed interview with Rauf was published which was then privately translated by a former Palestinian terrorist turned Christian convert (he is also an “end times”/Muslim conspiracy enthusiast, etc.) This person then “explains” what Rauf wants to do, without ever actually quoting the “translation”, and, it is on this, less than a thread of credibility, that we discover, for the first time ever, just what it is that Rauf wants to do, i.e. use “peaceful means” to establish an Islamic state worldwide, a state that both the New Era and Cal Thomas immediately elaborate on as one that would subject all infidels, including Christians and Jews, to decapitation.

Is this not simple deceit plus gratuitous fear mongering which amounts to demagoguery? Additionally, is it not also political opportunism in creating yet another “anger point” to hang on President Obama as the mid-term silly season begins?

But to some, this new “information” comes with a bonus.

Opponents of the NYC project will not only be able to quote an unknown terrorist turned Christian for an explanation of what Rauf really wants to do, they can “point to” nationally syndicated columnist, Cal Thomas, and our own local newspaper’s editorial writers. How is that for irrefutable evidence? Disgraceful!

Well done!!!!!

Penn Square Partners and Lancaster Newspapers can do much to restore the good names of two public servants. An admission of ‘guilt’ and a public apology would go far in bringing some closure to the public’s discontent regarding the hotel and convention center.

While I have serious reservations about the future viability and sustainabilty of both, and I fear the tax burden on future generations, a public apology is warranted. Perhaps this will be forthcoming as a result of the lawsuit. I wonder if/when we will ever read of the outcome?

“Lastly, let us resolve to do better in the future”

No. I do not agree. Before we come to this last item of a resolution for the future, before we can move on, the damage done to the reputations and leadership positions of two very good and honest people needs to be restored. If we do not, we teach a horrible lesson to any future office holder which is to forget the public interest, forget your fiduciary responsibility, forget your personal integrity, when very powerful private interests oppose you. Some would say that most everyone has learned that cynical lesson already and which is the reason for the corruption that is so rampant in our entire political system. If that is the history we want for Lancaster county, if that is the legacy the power players want to leave behind, then Lancaster County will be disgraced.

It may very well be that all the players were well meaning and wanting what they felt was best for the entire community, but the game was rigged from the beginning and rigged against the elected representatives of the people by nothing less than the combined power of money and media pursuing, by definition, their own private interests. You can pursue both but you cannot, by definition, have a private, vested interest, then deny that it exists and claim that you only have an interest in the public good. You cannot smash the elected representatives of the public using the leverage of money and media power, then claim, that you did so only to serve the public interest and not your own, clearly apparent self interest. It is not credible. It is incredible.

We can either restore these good people, Molly Henderson and Dick Shellenberger, to the respected positions they once held and deserved, or we may as well burn the hotel and convention center to the ground and begin all over again. Buildings and money can be replaced. A person’s right to their good name cannot be replaced, . . .but it might be restored.

(Note: I have never met Dick Shellenberger, and I met Ms. Henderson only once in a grocery store for less than 5 minutes. I have no hotel interests nor any personal involvement in the county, city, SDL or any other entity affected by the Hotel and Convention center. I wish that new facility every promise anyone has ever held out for it, but not under the history that now stands.

As a child I spent summers in Lancaster visiting an aunt who live on College Avenue near Buchannan Park.  I have many fond memories of riding the escalators in Watt and Shand.  I remember the blind man who sat outside selling soft pretzels.  At the time Lancaster was one of the few places where one could buy soft pretzels.

I used to ride the Conestoga Transit bus downtown to the theaters on Queen Street.  As I recall there were three all on one block.  I loved those old theaters especially the Hamilton with its long lobby and great marble pillars.  I remember when the King Theater opened with its wonderful reclining seats and large screen.

I believe there was also a small neighborhood theater somewhere in the city where I saw a re-release of Pinnochio.  I grew up in Shamokin, Pa. and as a child I thought of Lancaster as a big city.  It was all quite wonderous to me then.

I live in Baltimore now and from time to time I go back to Lancaster to visit the Fulton.  I saw my first live professional theater, a production of Auntie Mame, at the Fulton in the 1950s.  I will return in a few weeks to see Spamalot.  I will make it a point to visit the new Marriott on Penn Square. It will be a bitter sweet visit.

I shall miss that grand dowager Watt and Shand and will ache with nostalgia at the loss of the wonderful movie palaces of Queen Street.

October is National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, and Sweet Pea Project has planned two events to raise awareness in the community and offer support to those who have suffered the profound and permanent loss of a child.

Sweet Pea Project kicks off the month with Kids Cookie Creation Station, a three day long family-friendly event to be held as part of Downtown Lancaster’s Art Walk at Mulberry Art Studios. This “decorate your own cookie” event is a great way to have some creative and delicious fun while supporting an important cause. Cookies are $2 a piece and 100% of the proceeds benefit Sweet Pea Project. Event hours are: Friday, October 1st from 5pm until 8pm; Saturday, October 2nd from 10am until 6pm and Sunday, October 3rd from 11am until 5pm. Mulberry Art Studios is located at 21 North Mulberry Street, Lancaster. More information is available online at www.sweetpeaproject.org/cookie.

On October 15, Sweet Pea Project invites families who have lost a baby to gather together for the First Annual Balloon Release in observance of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day. The Balloon Release will take place in the grassy field in front of the amphitheater at Long’s Park in Lancaster. The Sweet Pea Project team will be handing out balloons from 5pm until 5:45pm and the balloons will be released promptly at 6pm. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and personalize their balloons. 100% compostable seed paper will be provided for family members to write notes to their child. The notes will be inserted into the balloons so that when the balloon bursts, the notes will be reclaimed by the earth and sprout wildflowers. Sweet Pea Project has taken precautions to make sure that this is an eco-friendly event. For this reason, no balloons other than Sweet Pea Project issued balloons will be permitted. Biodegradable balloons will be provided for free. There is no cost for this event and no registration is required. This event has inspired bereaved parents to plan similar gatherings across the world, including two in Australia. More information is available at www.sweetpeaproject.org/balloon

Sweet Pea Project is a local organization that offers comfort, support and gentle guidance to families who have experienced the death of a child before, during or shortly after birth. Sweet Pea Project was founded in January 2009 by Stephanie Cole, whose own daughter Madeline was stillborn in January 2007. Through her work at the project, Stephanie honors her daughter’s short but precious life while reaching out to other bereaved parents. Sweet Pea Project has recently filed paperwork to become a federally recognized nonprofit and now includes board members Beth Gauthier, Nicole Spadea Jackson and Simone L. Lee. To learn more about how Sweet Pea Project is working to create a more compassionate community, please visit www.sweetpeaproject.org.

Sweet Pea Project is very grateful for all the support that they have received from the community. Kids Cookie Creation Station is sponsored in part by Mulberry Art Studios, Baby’s Silkie and La Terra Bakery. Sweet Pea Project’s First Annual Balloon Release is sponsored in part by Baby’s Silkie, Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home and a private donation by Madeline Cole’s great-grandparents, John and Marie Gallagher.