Dear Editor,

Built on pseudoscience, alarmism, and propaganda, “Climate Change” is a global scam, a monstrous flawed edifice that is bound to come crashing down sooner or later; the sooner the better. Meanwhile, it is also a stealthy, powerful new narrative, a global new faith with its alarmist high priests; its special interest groups (government and private), its fat cat lobbyists, a Jesuit Pope in Rome and on papal visits worldwide, Anglican, Episcopal, Protestant Archbishops and Bishops “for Climate Justice” all over the globe, and most of the member states of the United Nations.

Like most religions, “Climate Change” does not tolerate dissention: its leaders politicize normal scientific debate, and label skeptics as “Climate Deniers” no matter how well-qualified they are. These climate alarmists are crusaders who view themselves as morally superior to everyone else. They accuse the industrial world of “polluting” the climate, and they demand reparation (redress) for developing countries, which accounts for the “justice” in their “Climate Justice.”

Their gospel, roughly put, is that the earth is warming perilously due to human activity. We must, therefore, limit this deadly, global menace. Never mind that “human-caused global warming” is a hypothesis, not a fact, and a weak one at that, given the mind-boggling scope of the premise, and the astonishing complexity of the data involved in the verification/validation of this hypothesis. Their devil is Carbon dioxide (CO2). But CO2 is essential to life on earth, and, according to a number of eminent scientists, CO2 levels do not present any danger to our existence. Google “CO2 Coalition” and read about this colorless, odorless gas that looks and smells like Satan!

Years ago, when “Global Cooling” was debunked, there was a recess in climate scaremongering. If you research “Global Cooling,” do not trust Wikipedia, for alarmists have altered most articles of the period to fit their narrative. Start with Andy May’s “Global Cooling and Wikipedia Fake News,” Dec. 25, 2016. And, by all means, visit “Myths/Facts” at “Friends of Science”. You will begin to grasp the extent of the disinformation, along with the true nature of these climate zealots who have, nevertheless, managed to enlist so many powerful acolytes in their global scam.

Indeed, their alarmism is aided and abetted by the first Jesuit Pope in history, a man who, like all Jesuits, took a special vow (an oath) not to seek higher office in the Roman Catholic Church. But throughout their history, some Jesuits have been renegades, rebels and formidable advocates. Arturo Sosa who praised Fidel Castro, and welcomed him to Venezuela is now the “Superior General” of the Jesuits. At the Vatican, he may be trying to do for the world what Castro and Chavez did for Cuba and Venezuela. Regrettably, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now “Pope Francis” after St. Francis of Assisi) and other important religious leaders, worldwide, are rallying large numbers of devotees, adherents to the new faith.

“Environmentalism is the new Marxism,” so states Drieu Godefridi. He is dead on. As for “Climate Change,” it is all about securing massive global government funding for special interest groups while promoting global climate governance through the United Nations: another deadly utopian adventure, like communism. Hopefully, sunlight and science will prevail, and the crooked edifice will implode.

Gérard M. Hunt

(Curaçao Chronicle)

Tagging along Hispaniola’s south coast from Haiti to Santo Domingo took six days, or was it eight? I hardly remember. It was treacherous and very tedious; the seas were bumpy. With a GPS-compass linked to my pilot, navigation was child’s play.

Being aboard alone with my ghosts gave me plenty of time for long monotonous dialogues. Contemplating the intricacies of navigational techniques and how navigating the globe worked from a cobweb’s viewpoint?

“Anansi, you are a man of the world, a world nomad right? You, with Akan-ancestry, in Suriname and Antilles’ exile for generations, and then in the most recent chapter, Holland as repatriation destination, you are a true global citizen.

Let me ask you a tricky question. How did you manage to find these places? How could you figure out longitude and latitude in the ocean without any coastline in view?”

“Well silly white man, of course, we always left it to the crew. You know, we were only passengers, voluntary or not. These sailors used weird instruments, weird!

“You ever studied my cobwebs; radials, and then straight connecting tangles of the silken threads? I always set out my webs for symmetry but mostly end up with asymmetrical, woven with irregular patterns, but you need the regular ones.

“Never mind, these smart sailors used our very best and most symmetrical cobwebs as grids and then looked at the sky. They superimposed reference points for the sun, and the moon and bright stars, and their bookkeepers kept extensive, minute logs of time and place for comparison! Without us, spiders, they would still be lost.

“The moon and the stars travel across the night sky, so the angle with the horizon is changing with time. Take a dinner plate and a few wires, and by measuring those angles, you know what time it is. Compare it with tables, and you also know where you are.

“Yes, Anansi of course, the dinner plate of 360 degrees became the astrolabe or a quadrant as was used in Persia, and a sextant or octant used until today in the West.”

Getting my other stowaway to give up precious secrets of navigation was a bit more difficult.

“Captain Hendrick, how did you manage to know where you were? Did you know longitude and latitude? Did you have instruments?”

With some reluctance, after a few tries and pitch black, starless nights, Captain Hendrick shared his valuable knowledge.

“Dr. Gemma Frisius, (1508) of Dokkum sold some of his secrets to the VOC and later the WIC. He was a mathematician, cartographer, and instrument maker. Using a clock for longitude was a revolutionary idea, and no such reliable device existed yet.

“Another Dutchman, Christiaan Huygens (1624-1695) also sought the solution in timekeeping. He invented the clock pendulum, which was an improvement but still sensitive to the movement of the waves.

“Finally in 1765 John Harrison, an English watchmaker, created a chronometer that was sea-resistant.”

The Amsterdam clergyman and cartographer, Plancius (1552-1622), considered another system (Simon Stevin (1548-1620), gave the theory of Plancius a mathematical foundation in his book “De Havenvinding,” 1599). For nearly a hundred years, Dutch sailors were confused and often preferred coastal routes.

Longitude, Frisius understood, could be found by comparing the time of the actual position with the time at home. The globe rotates around its axis every 24 hours, so one hour is 360 degrees divided by 24; that makes 15 degrees per hour. Each Degree divided again by 60 Minutes comes out that one Minute is equal to one Nautical Mile.

Willebrord Snellius (1580) measured the distance between Alkmaar and Bergen op Zoom with triangulation and thus got the measure of a minute, and the circumference of the globe.

But for latitude, Frisius used of the cross-staff or Jacob’s staff. By day, it was necessary to measure exactly at noon the height of the sun above the horizon with an astrolabe or cross-staff. (See Willem Blaeu (1630) of the Jordaan in Amsterdam in his mariner’s guide “Licht der Zee-vaert.”)

By Jacob Gelt Dekker

Dear Editor,

It has been quite some time past that the health insurance takes for granted the responsibility of patient care, and is more interested in signed contracts with other nations to care for our sick, whole-heartedly.

It is also so, on the other hand, that individuals taken care of unprecedentedly do not care to address this nuisance of theirs to the proper authority, or even voice their concern to better the services given for the benefit of themselves, and others.

We notice, for example, in the seniors’ and pensioners’ association, representatives mouthing about great deals, but keeping down the poor and helpless with much talk and no action. The health institution SZV has had Dr. Bryson representing the arriving patients to Curaçao, but who is now in place? People going elsewhere have no one to turn to to represent them and if they do it is all hand in glove administratively.

Notice the issue of states where some are sent abroad, republican places, with sometimes no family members to defend them, the institution does not care; moreover, the sick are abused in the manner of proper assistance, not given any rights to defend themselves, not even covered with the right policy for their total care. If you don’t have an acceptable insurance policy you are doomed. Now while browsing on your cell, try going to UN documents on human rights patient care; don’t be surprised by what you did not know.

For the past 3-4 years the same board of the senior’s association sits once a month with the persons in charge at the SZV, and cannot come up with viable answers to the general membership. Nor had there been an election or distribution of membership cards, all against the order of the constitution of the association. We are perhaps dealing with a dictatorship regime of the association, yet I see no report in the media of such a nature.

There are many trips for conventions and boat trips to simmer the elderly, not to ruffle feathers. What is so unique is that the same president of this association and representative have not taken any time to address this non-compliance of the constitutional proceedings for the election to take place.

For requesting my membership card I was made an offer to vote for her, on election day, for the democratic party. I bluntly refused, now it is going into the third year with no word on my membership card.

How much more abuse can this be.

Name withheld at

author’s request.

Dear Editor,

I have never stopped going to a church service at some time during the week. I have heard at least 3,700 hundred sermons in my life. As the years go by and life evolves some sermons come in just at the period in time when it is most appropriate.

Well, on Sunday, June 18, 2017, I listened to one those sermons. This one was most appropriate for Father’s Day. I know that the sermon from the Sunday service at the Anglican church is aired on that same Sunday at eleven o’clock on PJD-2. It is a sermon which is appropriate for fathers and could be repeated all during the year, so I’m wishing that that sermon gets more airtime during the year to awaken the responsibility of those for whom the shoe fit. That was not the original intention for writing to you, but since I know that it is more than necessary I had to mention that.

It seems as if this letter is going to be in bits and pieces so here we go. Someone asked me what good does being a member of Parlatino do for us? Meaning, what are the benefits of St. Maarten being a member of Parlatino? I was explained this in a nutshell at one time, but I told that person that he should get someone from the newspaper to interview those who go to those meetings and from whom we do not get any feedback, and ask the important question so that we also can get an idea what our money is invested in and what the returns should be.

Another person stopped me in the parking lot and told me that my government is showing off with a building that the pensioners paid for from their savings while the Minister of Finance is letting us know that our pension fund is in jeopardy. I told him that I had already written about that several times. He told me that I should take a ride at night to see it lit up, and he wanted to know why waste the money that the lighting is going to cost, while the finance minister is complaining about we do not have any money. A few flood lights would do the same job. What I know is that those lights are not safe during a hurricane.

When it comes to government saving money and definitely lowering the gasoline bill all government has to do is get smaller cars, and yes, not only from Motor world. The majority of the car dealers have several models of which the prices do not vary that much so that the wealth could be spread and not only one person get the lion’s shear. Government has to make sure everybody lives.

If we keep a close eye on what is happening in traffic on St. Maarten we would notice that beside the gypsies, police, ambulance, fire trucks and customs department, eight out of every 10 cars in the traffic is occupied only by the driver. Stand by Air Lekkerbek and monitor it. This also is the case with government driven vehicles. Only one person in each vehicle, so why do we need SUVs. Get smaller vehicles and with the worsening traffic congestion, because we refuse to regulate public transportation in the adequate way for St. Maarten, I would suggest acquiring motorbikes. Let’s save some money people. By the way, young ladies are riding more and more these days also.

The Minister is telling me that my pension money is in jeopardy so I have to show him that there are more ways than only collecting that measly 13 million to help the government coffers. I was told that effort is being made to get back the money from whoever is responsible for government having to spend large amount of moneys because of litigation. I believe somehow that money should end up where it belongs and those who are not responsible should not have to be punished for incompetence and irresponsibility of others.

Permit me to ask this question – If government put seven sleeping police across the Soualiga Road, does that mean that those drivers who pass you on that road because you are adhering to the intention of those sleeping police, have the right to look at you as if you are the criminal or even blow at you because they mean that you are driving too slow over that road?

Russell A. Simmons