March 4: Trayvon Martin has less than a month to live. On that date, two blacks doused a 13-year-old boy with gasoline and set him ablaze saying, “You get what you deserve, white boy.” Horrible, but chances are you didn't see it on TV or read about it in a newspaper.

March 14: Trayvon Martin enters the last two weeks of his life. On that date, a 21-year-old black man breaks into the house of Robert and Nancy Strait. Ninety-year-old Strait suffered a broken jaw. His 85-year-old wife was sexually assaulted then beaten to death. The Straits were white. A gruesome crime but it received little coverage.

March 26: Trayvon Martin has hours left in his life. “White-Hispanic” George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, shoots and kills the unarmed 17-year-old black youth, Trayvon Martin. The media is vivid. Immediately the incident gets blanket coverage. For days it is the lead story on FOX and CNN. Zimmerman is drawn and quartered.

Predictably, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were instantaneously on scene well before any facts about the shooting surfaced. It mattered little how outlandish their statements were, the press dutifully reported it.

Al Sharpton: “Trayvon represents reckless disregard for our lives. We've come to tell you tonight enough is enough.” Sharpton alluded to a similarity between the crucifixion of Christ, the killing of Trayvon, and Zimmerman not at that time charged with a crime: “They crucified him and never had a charge.”

Jesse Jackson: “He was killed because he was black.” Jackson later claimed Trayvon was “shot in the back of the head,” execution style.

Sharpton and Jackson are not fools; they may even believe what they say, but they surely know what their audience wants to hear and they give them a voice. The mob is not interested in justice but in striking out from a mentality of victimhood that the media duly feeds as do the race baiters.

Not since 1985 when Tawana Brawley said she was raped by six white men did the media go in to such a frenzy. The race baiters, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, quickly arrived on site to ply their trade.

Tawana later admitted she made up the entire story.

The race baiters were called to duty once again in 2007 when Crystal Mangum claimed she was raped by three Duke University students. The story was headline news for days. Later, Crystal recanted. She made-up the whole story.

Chances are many will remember Crystal's bogus story. But how many remember what happened to Channon Christian and Hugh Newson that same year?

Channon and Hugh, both white, were sexually assaulted, mutilated while alive in ways to horrific too describe, then murdered by five black men.

Media attention is largely determined by race. Black-on-white crime rates little news but white-on- black crime is sensationalized. Yet, statistics dictate it should be the opposite.

In 2009, 454 whites were murdered by blacks and 209 blacks were murdered by whites; roughly a 2 to 1 ratio. But factoring demographics in to the numbers gives a clearer picture of the disparity.

Whites compose about 70 percent of the population and blacks approximately 13 percent. Calculating the murder rates on a 100,000 per population basis the ratio is not 2 to 1 but 13 to l, that's 13 whites murdered by blacks for every 1 black murdered by whites.

Stepping back to look at the larger picture there is yet a more troubling scene.

Disabuse yourself that the media is fair and balanced; it is not. Their reporting is unabashedly biased and inflammatory. But that's not the worst of it.

There is in this nation a strong undercurrent of racial anger easily ignited by a single incident. It erupted in the past and shall do so again perhaps with greater fury. Add white blowback and one has the making of a race war.

Carl Rowan, the black columnist foresaw such a conflagration when he wrote, The Coming Race War In America. “I look closely at my country, and everywhere I see signs of decadence, decay and self-destruction.”

And a principal sign of this self-immolation? Racism. “Racism has not been as virulent throughout America since the Civil War, with short fuses burning on a thousand powder kegs.”

Rowan wrote that 16 years ago. Things have not gotten better.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

Lead pencils have erasers for people like me; the object is not to wear out the eraser before the lead. The designer of a lead pencil realizes when a person makes a mistake; you rub it out, and correct the mistake.

Several mistakes need rubbing out. However, how to correct them is not so simple a task. Here are some issues that pertain to most of us: We receive a contract for example, a contract for a house, a contract for a vehicle, or a contract for a service. Every person in charge of these contracts pressures you into signing without you reading it. Will you take a chance and sign it? Will you support a person or persons who think this way?

In addition, a thief is in possession of your credit card, and this thief makes this card reach its limit; a smart, shrewd, thief he or she is and calls up your bank to have the credit increased. Hence, this thief will charge more and increase your debt. Will you be happy about this? Will you allow someone to steal your credit card and raise its debt, especially if you live on a fixed or limited income?

The next issue: Our standards are less now than ever. During my school years, passing grades are (70%) seventy-percent or more; anything less than a seventy is failing. A (50%) percent is failing. If a product has a success rate of 50-50, for instance an automobile, will you purchase it?

Why do Americans keep selecting into office of the Presidency, Senate, and Assembly, a less than 70% majority, of our population who vote.

What if this 50-50 automobile is the only one you can purchase: Thus, this leads to an issue of competition and risk. Will you take out a loan and start your business with this automobile? If your business becomes a success, will you share your money with me? If it fails, do you want me to bail you out of this failure? Hence, why will you begrudge the successful who take these risks?

Do you begrudge the successful who budget their money? Do you run your household or business without a budget? When a group has a full majority to make a budget and does not: What does this mean? Does it mean financial irresponsibility? What will you call it?

Ask yourself this, "If you and everyone were millionaires, would you work? If you have money and I have none, you must give me some of yours. Will you allow this? If you do, then give me your money now for I am not working, and I am able to work, but I have a better way: This better way is to take it from you.

The final issue is this: Do you value your freedom, freedom from more rules and regulations. Each state has different rules, if you do not like some of the rules, you can move to another state. However, if all the states have the same rules there is no place to go. Will you allow a government to control you?

There are many more issues: For instance, those who say one thing and do another, those who say they are Christians but have Moslem and Socialist influence, those who wish to rid or change the Constitution of the United States, those who want to take away our guns, those who wish to keep illegal aliens flowing into America, and the list goes on for ever. However, to limit the word count, I stop here.

Thus, I am now an Independent who once was a Democrat. By voting and writing this "Letter to the Editor" my hope is to erase my previous mistake; my hope is to make you aware of some issues; my hope is for you to come out in numbers and vote. What direction you wish for this country to go; and whom you wish to vote for is up to you.

Sincerely,

Larry Gary

Gibson, PA.

In the next month or so, you will be walking up to the stage to receive your college diploma. You probably spent four years in the process, spent tens of thousands of your parents hard earned money, or you are heavily in debt. However, you have reached the threshold of the American dream. You are qualified for any number of high paying jobs with unlimited potential. But, you better wait just a minute before you move out of your family home. It just seems that the numbers are such that fully half of you will not be able to find a job. What a stunning reversal.

Not to worry, President Obama is making a political campaign swing aimed at convincing all of you that HE will press to keep student loan interest rates low. What a guy! Not only is HE working to keep the rates low, but HE is working hard to keep unemployment checks coming for years! How can you possibly go wrong with that kind of support. It is too bad that HE hasn’t got a clue about how to run the country and get it back on track. Even at that, the economy has made some meager gains in spite of HIS tenure. Oh well, do not despair - four more years and HE just might figure out how to get you a job (but don’t bet on it).

Oh, in case you didn’t know it, if you luck out and get the right job in government, you may get up to $7000/yr of your student loan paid off for you. Wonderful thing, those government jobs. And they’re guaranteed to work for you as long as you vote right and the rest of us don’t break out the guillotines.

Sincerely,

Joe McCann,

Elk Lake, PA

Why am I writing this about Notre Dame U? Because Mr. Obama’s H.H.S. new law about “baby killing drugs” will be mandatory if he and his secretary Ms. Sebelius plan goes into effect. Bishop Jenky of Peoria, Il., is a holy cross father and is on the advisory board of Notre Dame U.

Bishop Jenky stated Mr. Obamas’ H.H.S. law can be compared with past dictators and leaders who did what they pleased to kill many, many innocent civilians under their leadership. Notre Dame was founded on catholic principles, was a great respected catholic university for about 100+ years. It was founded by holy cross fathers, but sadly, it is now controlled by secular lay people. Now, over 50 professors at Notre Dame want Bishop Jenky removed from their advisory board.

These 50 or more professors gladly invited Mr. Obama to talk and receive an award, Mr. Obama is the most pro-abortion president in U.S. History.

While Mr. Obama was at Notre Dame in 2009, about 88 people, men and women, were arrested for trespassing on Notre Dame grounds. These protestors were showing how baby’s were being sacrificed and they did not want Notre Dame to invite a pro-abortion speaker and award him. Father Jenkin and his staff had them arrested. One of the protestors has since died and Fr. Norman Weslin is in very serious health. Fr. Weslin, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, was brutally thrown down on the ground by the arresting police.

Whats wrong with Notre Dame? This is my opinion. Father Theodore Hesburgh in 1952 became the president and had plans to change Notre Dame. He opened up the faculty positions to whoever came along – Fr. Richard McBrien – who is against many catholic teachings and now Fr. John Jenkins. Father Hesburgh traveled the country at that time and bragged how he was on over 50 committees and instead, he should have stayed home at Notre Dame and carefully screened the faculty and “do they uphold catholic teachings”! Fr. Hesburgh brought Notre Dame up to a very big university but at what cost?

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorehead

Susquehanna, PA