A dear friend of ours, Gary Gray went to be with his teacher recently. Although his physical presence is no longer among us, his influence will live on for generations to come.

I was “introduced” to Gary, by Gary over the phone after an article I wrote on recycling ran in our newspaper. He “convinced” me I should attend a meeting of the county solid waste advisory committee and offered to give me a ride. I declined the ride, but agreed to attend the meeting just to verify how wrong this “trouble-making foreigner” was. (I had discovered from several of our local, self proclaimed recycling experts that Gary was from “New Jersey” and all he wanted to do was destroy the local recycling effort - so this was going to be a good opportunity to expose him to our readership).

The meeting was attended by several local politicians, attorneys, businessmen and women, recycling staff and recycling supporters from throughout the county.

When I walked into the meeting room this “giant” started toward me with what looked like a shovel protruding from his arm while commenting, “Hello, Mr. Ficarro, I’m Gary Gray. Glad you could make the meeting. Sit anywhere you like.” While my entire hand was disappearing into a small portion of his palm I was relieved he had a boyish, ear to ear smile on his face.

Once everyone was seated, I found myself wondering how this plain dressed, giant trouble maker was deposited in the middle of a dozen or so of the most highly recognized individuals in our fair county. It took less than five minutes to figure out once the meeting was called to order. He was the only one at the table who had any answers, backed up by reams of fact, cost analysis, available grant information and intelligent resolutions.

It seemed as if the table we all sat at was attached to a lazy Suzan that stopped at the “foreigner’s” chair every time a question was posed.

From that evening on, the “trouble-maker” became the example for me, in more ways than I could ever convey.

Over the following 20 or so years, I watched this gentle giant promote our local youth through scouting, support our communities through faith, join in the fellowship of like-minded men and women throughout Susquehanna County and brighten the lives of under privileged children and adults alike in trying times.

There is no way to calculate how many of our neighbors were beneficiaries to the works of the “foreigner.” Even those confronted by his unparallel analytical ability to see through their “fluff” walked away better for it. (He loved a good debate!)

Gary forced us to think outside the box, leading us to believe it was for ourselves, but on reflection, more often than not it was for the benefit of others.

He was like a magnet. He drew us into sharing. He drew us into caring. And, most of all he drew us into making a difference.

Those chosen to have made his acquaintance are truly blessed. Blessed because we were fortunate enough to have “collided” with the foreigner. Blessed because he saw in us a grace, perhaps undeserved. And blessed because we were granted the foresight to allow his magnet to draw us in.

Gary earned far more than I can communicate here - but he never sought accolade, just participation in the struggle.

Our challenge will be to collect the bits and pieces of his influence we were able to absorb and spread those seeds in the hope we might create many more “foreigners.”

I can only pray we are up to the task.

America was created because of the lack of a government not listening to our needs. Does this sound familiar?

The reference to World War II I spoke of puts the stock market speculators and the traders who, without conscious, say a commodity is worth more than is real, like a grain of rice or a snow storm in the east. Similar to yelling fire in a movie theater. They make up things in their sleep, I do believe. Now greed sets in!

They are hurting the world without care of the people of the world, not just Susquehanna or New York or the poorest people who don't have enough money for food.

Hitler tried to eliminate a race to make him powerful and the world saw it. How was he thinking?

The countries got together and stopped him. The countries of the world saw what was happening and snuffed it out.

The traders and stock market speculators, in my opinion are no better! They are ruining the world markets for their pleasure. The rich are gathering all the wealth! I have nothing against making money the fair way! It’s the American way. The sad thing about this is that millions of people around the world see the discrepancies and all of us have to pay for it and have no chance to change it through negotiations. But, I say but, the small number of rich people compared to millions of poor people should be aware that we are watching them. They have to know how bad it is. Like taxing, say gasoline or heating oil, makes all of us pay the tax and that hurts everyone in the world.

That is treason against humanity.

Sincerely,

Peter A. Seman

Thompson, PA

Today, November 1, while we have an urgent need to get the economy creating jobs, the Republicans in Congress are wasting their time with a resolution affirming "In God We Trust" as the National Motto.

Other than pandering to the rabble, why bother? If anything, the motto that needs affirmation is "E Pluribus Unum." That is the motto chosen by the Founding Fathers. That is the motto disrespected by Congress with such a silly action. For the government to take a stand when it comes to God suddenly makes us quite divisible. Any Unum is gone. Religious nonconformists are made Second-Class Citizens.

It all started in the 1950's when Congress was eager to show the world we weren't like the Godless Commies. That's when they made IGWT official and required in on all our money (a measure that should be seen as blasphemous, in that it creates the Almighty Dollar - what many Americans actually worship). This superseded the Original Intent of the Founders, something conservatives claim to champion.

Today we're seeing another one of those classic "solutions in search of a problem." Since Congress does have something better to do, and since they'd rather do silly things instead, every one who bothered with this should be sent packing!

Sincerely,

Stephen Van Eck

Lawton, PA

Maybe, it’s a rotten shame. Thanks to circumstances beyond human ken, the Oval Office is being occupied by a successor to Rodney Dangerfield. President Barack Hussein Obama junior gets no respect. To hear the FOX channel commentators tell it, with darn few exceptions and only seldom at that, the man deserves none.

If pressed, they’ll concede President Obama brought bin Laden to justice. If pressed further, they might also concede that he fulfilled the “dead or alive” commitment of his predecessor. Likely, those commentators would begrudge Obama any credit for ridding Western Civilization of a certain “bedbug.” In that case, they'll most likely give all credit to the drone that exterminated the American-born muse, who inspired the 13 murders at Fort Hood. As for the conflict in Libya, very well, one must concede Obama led “from behind.” Still, it was satisfactorily resolved with no loss of American life.

I think it was Chris Matthews or somebody like him, who expressed a certain opinion about those commentators at FOX. Had the current president been elected as a Republican, they would be urging vociferously carving the former’s likeness into Mount Rushmore.

If the country should happen to demand such an alteration to Mount Rushmore, even in spite of Obama’s being elected as a Democrat, that I would consider excessive. Here’s what would be much more to my liking: the likeness of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Sincerely,

A Alexander Stella

Susquehanna, PA

The murdered leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, was like quantum mechanics: quirky, unpredictable, contradictory, and difficult to understand if he can be understood at all. A strange man. To some he was the unifying force of a multi-tribal nation and benefactor of the people. To others he was a dictatorial tyrant. Who's right? Maybe both.

Libya is a nation rich only in sand; 90 percent of the country is covered by the Sahara Desert. Rainfall in a good year is one inch. It is a barren land without lakes, rivers, or vegetation. Then in 1959 everything changed, oil was discovered.

Almost overnight the poorest nation in Africa became one of the richest. As oil flowed out of the ground, money flowed into its treasury. But the nation's ruler, King Idris, saw this not as a boon for his people but as an opportunity to enrich himself.

Dissatisfaction with the monarch grew until a military coup in 1969 led by Muammar Gaddafi overthrew Idris and Gaddafi became Libya’s de facto king.

The change under Gaddafi's 42-year reign was dramatic if not startling.

The United Nations ranks nations according to the Human Development Index (HDI). The Index is a comparative measure of life expectancy, education and standard of living, for all countries worldwide.

Comparing pre-revolution Libya to today one finds striking differences. The average lifespan increased from 50 years to 75 years. Education as measured by adult literacy went from 30 percent of the population to 89 percent. Of special interest was the decrease in literacy disparity between men and women. That narrowed from 50 percent to 20 percent.

Twenty-five percent of Libyans had a university degree. If after graduation one was unable to find employment, the state would pay the average salary of the graduate's profession until employment was found.

And per capita income increased from $50 to $1,200.

Under Gaddafi, Libya rose to have highest HDI in Africa and the fourth highest per capita income on the continent.

Gaddafi initiated a 26-year, $20 billion irrigation project. Water from aquifers was pumped through a 2,300-mile long network of pipes to Libya's major cities. There were 1,300 access wells along the pipeline for farmers to irrigate newly arable fields with free water.

To encourage cultivation of this now fertile land the state would give a settler a plot of land, a house, equipment, seeds, and livestock.

Abundant harvests made food inexpensive. A loaf of bread cost 4 cents. Gasoline was also cheap at 50 cents a gallon and electricity was free along with no-cost medical care and education

Libya had no sovereign debt and $150 billion in reserve.

But Gaddafi made one unforgivable mistake, the same one Saddam Hussein had made earlier.

In 2000, Hussein announced that he would no longer accept dollars for his oil, only euros. But this would endanger the dollar as the world's preferred currency for oil as well as for all international commerce. This creates a worldwide demand for dollars that gives this currency value. To undermine the dollar was to undermine America's preeminent global position.

The story ends with Hussein dangling at the end of a rope.

Gaddafi also tried to unseat the dollar. His plan was to accept only gold or the gold-backed dinar for oil. That resulted in a US/NATO bombing campaign. But Gaddafi proved to be unexpectedly popular. The bombing went on for six months averaging 50 air strikes per day. Entire neighborhoods were carpet bombed and Libya's vital water distribution system was damaged.

And this story ends with Gaddafi with a bullet in his brain.

Just as there are two Libyas - pre- and post-Gaddafi - so also there are two Gaddafis, the benefactor and the tyrant.

Gaddafi was no choir boy; he did not suffer dissidents gladly. Twenty percent of Libyans received a stipend to act as government eyes and ears for dissenters. Once found they were publicly executed. Gaddafi employed a cadre of hit-men to assassinate dissidents who sought asylum abroad. For anti-Gaddafi activists, Libya was not a good place to be.

Also there is little doubt that huge sums of Libya's annual $35 billion from oil sales were pilfered by bureaucrats and siphoned off by relatives. And however much Gaddafi did for his people with such substantial resources, he could have done much more.

But now he's gone and we must ask ourselves a well-worn question: Is the devil we knew better than the devil we don't know? We'll find out soon.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA