Letters to the Editor

This letter came in on an email. I did not try to verify who wrote it or if it was even sent to the Orange County Register. The reason I did not do this is because the letter makes a few very good points and I agree with the writer. HG

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet.
Pass it along if you feel so inclined.
Dave LaBonte (signed)

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States , people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Paula Glidden of the town's parade committee for inviting KPAH Radio to broadcast the 2007 parade. We had a lot of fun doing it and got a chance to exercise our remote broadcast equipment.

I would also like to thank Dan Schinhofen (who invited himself) of KPTU.TV and Evelyn Hoffman (who I had to beg) of KPAH.com for doing an excellent job of announcing the parade entries.

Although they had never worked together before, their smoothness and polished presentation make them the best announcing team I've ever heard in the region.

Also, thanks to Geraldine Ahrens, for taking a day off from work to be our on-location audio engineer; Dean Black, for taking time out of his retirement to do traffic control; and to Billy Hoffman for getting out of bed early to act as production assistant.

These are some of the unpaid, and usually unheralded, volunteers that, after 7 years continue to maintain Talk Radio of Pahrump's role as our town's international voice. Thanks to all,

As I drive through Pahrump, I see many children on off road vehicles riding on the streets, no helmets, no lights, no insurance, and no license. I have had at least one very close call where a young person ran a stop sign and I almost hit her. I have seen many more close calls. They can come out of anywhere, on almost any street. The kids pay no attention to the speed limit, pass you with at a high rate of speed and cut you off without warning, pay little to no attention to traffic signs and signals. What these children do not understand (AND THE PARENTS ARE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT IS) is that when a 2000 to 6000 lb car or truck does hit them, their 60 to120 lb body and 80 to 400 lb off road vehicle will loose. What gulls me is the irresponsibility of the parents of these children, which allow them to run the streets. I have even seen adults out with them. I have seen them on most side streets but also along Hwy 372 and 160. The "ACCIDENT" will be when one of these children gets hit and ends up in the hospital (if their lucky) or becomes wheel chair bound for life or are buried because their parents fail to follow any common sense rules of safety. There is a reason they are called off road vehicles! Even with protective gear they are at great risk should they meet a car or truck at 23 to35 mph? Many of these vehicles are doing well past the speed limit, which only compounds the danger and problem. I fail to understand why the police do nothing about them on the pavement, I have seen the police go right by as these kids go down the road. What the police need to do is stop them, impound their "OFF ROAD VEHICLE", because they are breaking the law by not having lights on, a license, a helmet, insurance. Put the police have no problem giving a person without a seat belt a ticket, really makes you wonder where the priority lies. But when one of them gets seriously injured or killed, and it is just a matter of time before it happens, the headlines will read "WHAT A TRAGIC ACCIDENT", and they will be right, but the "TRAGIC" part is the parents are not charged with child neglect. Because the responsible parent would not allow these kids on some very powerful machines out on the street. There are miles and miles of uninhabited desert where these vehicles can go and have their fun.