Although it was interesting to learn more about Mr. Lamm, It might have been more helpful if you had reviewed the history of the Shawangunk Ridge and the Basha Kill-Neversink valley. Thousands of acres on the Shawangunk Riidge have been preserved and protected by the State of New York, the NY/NJ Trail Conference and the Open Space Institute. This will preserve the scenic and biological value of the ridge for all to appreciate. Our area will remain a beautiful place to live for many years to come, and will attract tourists to sustain our economy. Building large houses on top of the Ridge and large warehouses at its base will not enhance our area. In addition, the money spent here by a few well off residents and income from commercial storage fees cannot replace what is lost in scenic and biological value.

Jon Reed
Mamakating

Where are the pressure groups and ministers screaming about a racist component of these horrendous statistics of graduation failure rates of ethnic minority students? While some children may come from dysfunctional families, many have parents who are struggling to support their families and lack the time and energy to provide the early enrichment or the monitoring of their children's schooling.

When school success is measured by the "tyrants of testing," we are faced with educational child abuse in which the "one size fits all," contradicts all that we know of the learning theories and child development realities of each child's individual capacity and growth.

When we have school boards and administrators who view educational value in buildings, instead of the value of the loving environments of caring teachers and staff who focus on the education of the child instead of politically driven curriculums and assessments, we recognize the critical need for dramatic change in our view of our schooling.

We need to have school leaders who recognize the value and need for the implementation of technology in school programs in which a wide range of knowledge and skills can be immediately accessed and student performance can be evaluated, and, when necessary, remediated.

Since our "public schools" have been corrupted by administrators who have been schooled in the art of political indoctrination, and boards of education and the public, who cater to this leadership, we must accept that the current system is not working and that we must return school choice to the parents in the form of school vouchers. It is then that we can return American schooling to being the envy of the world and truly serve our children's learning needs.

Paul Jankiewicz
Ulster Park

Sustainable Development, fabricated by the United Nations Brundtland Commission and global elites, is a new livability and religious paradigm that seeks to entrench its core values into every person, business, and locality in the world. Imminent global environmental catastrophe is being used as a catalyst to precipitate a change in human behavior for the good of the planet and the survival of future generations.

When researching Sustainable Development it is important to study the words and understand the "newspeak." The connotations behind Sustainable Development terms deviate significantly from our Judeo-Christian culture. If more Americans understood this, they would admonish it.

Globalists state that for development to be sustainable it must ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This sounds reasonable but it is vague and wide open for interpretation. In fact, practitioners spend more time defining what is not sustainable than what is.

Sustainable Development is actually social engineering and is supported by the following three pillars: Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice. What does this mean? Social Justice means equal outcome, not equal opportunity.

Environmental Justice means all humans should have access to land and the state manages it for everyone, not all humans have the right to own land.

Economic Justice means wealth redistribution ranging from local tax revenue sharing to global tax revenue sharing, not free-markets and economic class mobility.

Using the United Nations as their platform, globalists are pushing for the world to embrace a standard global civic ethic or religion and they are extremely frustrated that Americans are not willing to abandon their Constitution and rule of law and their Judeo-Christian values and rights.

The United Nation's global civic ethics were published in 1998 in Our Global Neighborhood. Their "newspeak" value system is incompatible with American values.

Respect for Life means equal respect for all life (including humans, organic creatures, and inanimate objects found in nature); all life is equal and has equal rights.

Justice and Equity means a more "balanced distribution of opportunity around the world;" especially inter-generationally.

Mutual Respect means that individual achievement and personal responsibility are not values. Rather we should "promote growth of the group idea, so that group good, group understanding, group interrelations and group goodwill replace all limited, self-centered objectives leading to a group consciousness."

Caring means the United Nations would implement "policies and mechanisms that facilitate co-operation to help those less privileged or needing comfort and support in the world." The UN wants to know who you are so that it can foster a personal relationship with you.

Secure Life means that the United Nations would not only assign itself the duty of protecting its member states but would also include the individuals within the borders of those member states.

Fair Living does not mean fair opportunity. According to their value system, it is not fair, for example, for the developed countries, which contain 20 percent of the population, to use 80 percent of the natural resources. It is not fair for the permanent members of the Security Council to have the right of veto. It is not fair for one segment of the population to be rich while another segment of the population is poor.

The UN wants this newspeak to be the ethical standard... the new global covenant. Americans believe all humans are given free-will; to preserve it we must act, engage, and resist those who wish to usher in this kind of fundamental change.

Mary Baker
Poway, CA

I have read Part I of "Shalom Lamm Speaks His Mind." Mr. Lamm is shrewd, a magnificent speaker, does his homework, and makes great presentations. However he is a wheeler-dealer and if you research through Orange and Sullivan County records he is consistently behind on property taxes, he has at last check been named in a 50+/- acre property foreclosure in Fair Oaks (March 2012), and has used a few properties (one the Wurtsboro area airport properties) as collateral for a loan of $600,000+/-. And let's not forget the bonding issues in the Villages of Bloomingburg and Wurtsboro. The escrow money in the local bank is nowhere to be found. Sounds like a used car salesman trying to sell you something you don't want.

Many of our local officials are too starry-eyed or have their own interests in mind to see through this charade. Take note of the number of public servants in our town government who are in building, construction, plumbing, heating trades, etc. Who are they looking out for?

About twelve years [ago] Kohl's was spouting 900 jobs, $10 per hour start, employment for the locals, help with Ellenville school taxes, etc. Kohl's has been in litigation to reduce their assessment to lower their school tax liability — the Journal has been writing about this issue for the past year or so. And go apply for a job there — see what they offer you.

Electing government officials and making board appointments is not a popularity contest regarding who was born here, he/she is my friend, or whether he/she is a Democrat or Republican. It's about time the residents elect new blood to run the affairs of this town and make decisions to benefit everyone.

Richard W. Morris
Wurtsboro

The beginning of each political year brings us inaugurations, speeches, organizational meetings, and appeals to potential volunteers. The spotlight is — or it should be — on serving the people.

I remember NY State Assemblyman Steve Katz saying that being an elected official "should work more like jury duty, where people do their civic duty, serve a term and then go back to real life." This would solve the term limits issue and bring new blood in many political areas. People who served could then apply their acquired political experience in real life, while real life would inform the politicians' actions. A continuous exchange between the realm of politics and real life would not hurt, and the widespread disconnect between the two would hopefully fade out.

Serving others — not only themselves, family and friends -— more people would discover the true satisfaction of helping those not able to do anything in return beyond a smile and a "thank you."

During almost six years of being either a candidate or an elected official, I was very often asked "what are you going to do for me?" To answer was easy: "I am going to honestly serve YOU, not my personal interests. I am going to listen and pay attention to what you really need."

I feel that I am more effective in making people aware of Rochester's Recreation/Youth Department events as a member of the Youth Commission than when I served as Town Board liaison to the same commission. The opportunities to serve are limitless and not at all related to a certain position; it's not the title that matters, it's the person and the intention that make the difference.

Right now, the Youth Commission needs volunteers; reading the quarterly newsletters — available at the town hall, banks, the community center — you're going to find out about opportunities to help, from being a volunteer member to sponsoring a program or an event, participating with ideas, donations, and more. Please call 626-2115 for more information.

Personally, I can't wait for our town's summer program to start, to join the kids on their field trips and create a photographic chronicle of their activities. Serving — even in small ways — brings rich meaning to our lives, to those we help and are positively affected; it's challenging, it's inspiring, it's rewarding. To quote Albert Schweitzer: "The ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."

Manuela Michailescu
Kerhonkson

As We begin our Declaration once again, We are
Peoples self in evidence
Evolving truth with experience

From hearing first the draft in hand of man Enlightenment
Spirit of Creations spare
In each and ev'ry moment's equal share

Of Spirit rising in the main as truth retains its order,
Straight and out of epicycles
Unrav'ling freedom's knots of human spate.

Obama knows the course from Jefferson to Lincoln and straight onto him. Through New Deal falter with Southern Strategy, the epicentric storms of politics, he appears intact, in terminus. There the dirty energy of slave power is at his feet. It is his discharge to dance upon, to give wider dance its linear demarcation of American soul in freedom's arc.

Tom Gale
Cragsmoor