I want to express my appreciation to Editorialist Emeritus Bob Scroggins for setting me straight on so many of my wrong-headed ideas. Now I understand that women prefer cooperation to competition. That’s why there are no women Olympians, tennis pros, softball teams, basketball players, golfers or other female athletes.

Now, thanks to Bob, I know that women prefer security to risk and safety to danger. That’s why there are no women serving in our military, or our fire and police departments, or women trying to desperately to preserve our freedoms and security by attempting to join their ranks.

Finally I comprehend that women prefer comfort to sacrifice. That’s why women choose to endure the pain of childbirth, the sacrifice of putting their personal goals and aspirations on hold, perhaps permanently, to contribute to society by raising a family.

Thanks, Bob, now I finally get it. Silly me, I always thought stereotypes were the haven of the ignorant.

Sincerely,

Chris Chacona

Susquehanna, PA

It was chilly and rainy that night in Sanford, Florida, a couple of Februarys ago. Nothing unusual until two men crossed paths, leaving one dead and one to tell the story. That story sent a seismic wave rumbling from New York to California. Its aftershocks are still reverberating.

Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, catches the eye of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood's Hispanic watch captain.

The watch captain's suspicions are aroused by Trayvon's behavior. Sanford is a high crime city plagued by a five-year rising tide of burglaries. In 201I, there were 945 break-ins. Zimmerman calls the police.

Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around looking at all the houses. Something's wrong with him. Yup, he's coming to check me out. See if you can get an officer over here.”

Dispatcher: “We've got someone on the way. Are you following him?”

Zimmerman: “Yeah.”

Dispatcher: “Okay. We don't need you to do that.”

Zimmerman: “Okay.”

After a lengthy series of exchanges about directions the transcript ends. Sometime after this Trayvon is shot dead by Zimmerman. Minutes later the police arrive. Zimmerman is taken to police headquarters.

Minutes after the shooting he is grilled for five hours. Zimmerman declines the aid of an attorney, is forthright, and cooperative.

His story never varies. He was punched by Trayvon (his nose is broken). Trayvon had him pinned to the ground and was pummeling him (verified by two witnesses and grass stains on his back). Trayvon slammed his head against the concrete sidewalk (there are cuts and abrasions on the back of Zimmerman's head). In fear for his life, he draws his pistol and blindly fires the fatal shot.

The next morning Zimmerman retraces the events of the previous night, step-by-step with a detective. His accounts are consistent. There is nothing to indicate that Zimmerman is lying and everything to indicate that he is telling the truth. He cannot be charged without evidence and self-defense is not a crime. Zimmerman is freed.

The incident has no legs. It remains a local tragedy until---until Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton, hires Ryan Julison, a 20-year veteran in public relations campaigns. Julison does yeoman’s work. In a few days, the story goes coast-to-coast.

NBC typifies the media coverage. Geraldo Rivera, a former NBC employee, said the network “made an ideological decision that they would argue strenuously for the prosecution and conviction of George Zimmerman.”

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP, smell a spectacle. They lead campaigns that plea for justice in what is now a manufactured racial incident. But justice is not to be found in a court of law; the two are antagonistic.

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, justice is in the mind of the victim; it is subjective, individually determined, and is fueled by raw emotion. Law is the opposite. It is canonized, objective, and fact based.

Law reigns in the courts, but justice rules the streets and the multitude cries for justice. It is a politicized donnybrook.

Chief of Police Bill Lee: “It was relayed to me that they wanted an arrest.” Lee refuses saying he will not arrest anyone without evidence and it would only open the city to a law suit.

Lee is sacked.

State Attorney Norman Wolfinger is next. He is criticized for making the decision that there is insufficient evidence to convict Zimmerman.

Wolfinger is sacked.

Florida's governor, Richard Scott, replaces him with a compliant state attorney, Angela Corey.

Corey manages to get Zimmerman before the bench. The media play both sides of the fence, the law and the street, making the case out to be something calling for Solomonic wisdom. In truth, it is simple as shown by the trial summations.

The prosecution's summation, suffering from a dearth of evidence, appeals to the emotions of the jurors. The defense's summation is based on hard evidence and law.

Zimmerman is acquitted. His case is now being retried in the streets.

Zimmerman would never have seen the inside of a courtroom but for the talents of a publicist, professional race baiters, and political interference.

And now the Department of Justice is ready to wade into waters where it has no business to go. But that's the way it is in politics and in the streets. It is the maddening roar of the crowd and the cruel tyranny of the masses that carry the day, while reason is thrown to the dogs.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

Long haired people need not apply. Sounds more and more real every day. As a landowner and a lease owner in Susquehanna County the DRBC is now stepping on my toes.

Because we are one mile away from the Wayne County border the way the crow flies they are controlling the gas under our property. Who else do they control and why should we be penalized for their regulations. They better rethink where their jurisdictions lay. Write a letter to Stone Energy.

Hang a sign out on the county lines saying, we love the price of natural gas and we (DRBC) benefit from it in each and everyone one of our homes and businesses but "no drilling here", long haired people need not apply.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you or in this case lets you drink. This is a travesty. Play by the rules or you are out.

Using your power to keep drillers out of the watershed hurts more people than you realize.

Safety first, How much more safety do they need? How much? All tests were good!

Maybe they can meet down next to the river in Philly and we can dip and drink a toast to the good they have done for mankind.

The DRBC needs to fund the landowners who have leases in Susquehanna County and pay them out of their high and mighty pockets the 12.5 percent, per cubic meter payments we would be receiving from our gas, until they write letters to the gas companies here in our county and allow them to drill. Pay up! Maybe they can scrape up the money on the savings they are experiencing because of the low gas price to our nation’s 350 million. Maybe we don't want them to be burdened like they are burdening the landowners and lease holders of Wayne, Pike, Susquehanna and any where else in and out of the water shed.

I am dismayed how a handful of educated (and I use that term lightly) people want their cake and eat it too. I love bacon, but you kill the pig. Hang a sign at each and every road going into the dreaded DRBC.

I feel it is shameful what they have done. Shame is not a good enough term. Silver spoons in their mouths and water in their faucets. I love bacon.

Tuck your hair up under your hat, boys!

Sincerely,

Peter A. Seman

Thompson, Pa.