‘Nook’ readers donated to Gilroy High by Christopher family a good example
Dear Editor,
The Gilroy Foundation’s main purpose in this community is to build an endowment to give out grants and scholarships in perpetuity, we like to call it our community “savings account,” and only give out the interest each year, so the account will always be here forever to continue those grants and scholarships.
However, the Foundation has added another “service” to our wonderful community. We manage pass-through grants from donors to worthy causes. A perfect example of this is what we are currently working on between the Don Christopher family and Dr. Marco Sanchez, principal of Gilroy High School.
We just finished buying 125 “Nook” e-readers for Gilroy High’s English Department and now are in the process of buying new computers, a color laser printer, and math programs for all four grades. In addition, we are sponsoring all ninth graders to take an ACT Readiness Assessment and all Tenth Graders to take the PSAT.
All this is being paid for by the Don Christopher family at a cost of more than $50,000.
The Foundation has also hired Mr. Phil Robb as an independent contractor to “mentor” the two new choral teachers at Christopher and Gilroy High Schools. Larry and Sally Connell have generously made a donation to cover this project.
We have more than 100 fund donors and members – and we are grateful to them all for their generosity in supporting programs they care about. They believe in the concept to “Give Where You Live”!
Donna Pray, Executive Director Gilroy Foundation
President not telling the truth – America going to war
Dear Editor,
President Obama gave a very fine sounding passionate speech about how we have to strike Syria to stop the bad man from killing children, and that this isn’t war. Liar, liar pants on fire … he is proposing war.
It will lead to boots on the ground. Obama is not telling America the truth.
How is a limited strike going to keep Assad from using chemical weapons? If we attack him, especially a limited attack, does anyone really think that’s going to stop him? At best it will piss him off and then he’ll do something dramatic in response and then we will have to respond to that. After all, if President Assad hits us back and we run from the fight then we’re even bigger cowards than if we showed restraint in the first place.
Everyone who has ever been in a fight knows that once you throw that first punch the fight has begun. Obama is trying to tell us that he doesn’t want to fight Assad, he just wants to punch him one time and it will all be over. Really? Really? Are you kidding me? You think we’re that stupid?
After we hit him, he’ll his us and then we’ll have to go to war to show the world that we don’t run from a fight … And the world will not be on our side because our strike will be illegal, too, in the view of the civilized world who is still waiting for the United Nations inspector’s report to be finished and the world to come to a consensus about what to do.
America has gone to war enough times based on lies. You can usually tell it’s a lie when there’s a big hurry to do something when there’s no reason to rush. I don’t understand why Obama chooses to exactly emulate Dick Cheney but that seems to be what’s happening here. And if Obama chooses to attack Syria after Congress votes it down then Obama should be impeached.
Marc Perkel, Gilroy
Let’s compare the Obama presidency to the Bush regime based on ‘the facts’
Dear Editor,
This is in response to Mary Park’s letter of Aug. 23. There’s an article going around the Internet right now about how people disregard facts (or don’t look up the facts) but choose to believe what they want to believe.
When I read Mary Park’s letter, I decided I could share a few facts with her.
Fact: the deficit has been reduced pretty significantly since January 2010. When Rand Paul says, we’re running a “trillion-dollar deficit every year,” that’s a simple falsehood.
Fact: Obama has created more jobs than Bush. This is from U.S. News, Jan. 4, 2013. When Bush began his first term in January 2001, total non-farm employment was 132.47 million. At the end of his first term that number was 132.45 million – effectively zero job growth. During Obama’s time in office that number has risen to 134.02 or 460,000 jobs. This isn’t nearly enough – and Obama agrees that it’s a poor showing – but the fact is we’re still picking up the pieces from Bush’s devastating time in office.
Fact: Bush sent our young men and women in uniform into war, recklessly. How much did Bush spend in Iraq? A Frontline report of March 18, 2013 says the war in Iraq will end up costing us $3 trillion, and it’s estimated that $60 billion has been squandered on fraud and corruption in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the more important number to me, the 4,422 Americans who lost their lives in Iraq and the 31,926 Americans who came home wounded. So you’ll pardon me if my blood boils when I read “Few American presidents have done more to hurt the … middle class … than Barack Obama.” It’s untrue.
Personally, I want Obamacare. I paid $492 for one visit to the doctor in the past year – and I have insurance. I see folks, many of them seniors, who suffer terribly under a healthcare cost burden – who worry about going bankrupt because of an illness. I believe those who fear Obamacare are being misled by the politicians who accept money from insurance companies. (And I think it’s humorous that Obamacare is really Romneycare – because Mitt first implemented it – and it HAS worked well in Massachusetts for years.)
Fact: Politicians will outright lie to try and advance their own agenda. But shame on us when we believe their lies without researching the facts for ourselves.
Ann Spivack, Gilroy
