Dear Editor,
I hate this subject with a passion. Nothing can drive apart a relationship, group of people or stop a conversation stat like abortion.
Abortion: A medical procedure that saves the life of one and ends the life of another. Simple.
It crosses all boundaries and introduces an erroneous perception of belief for many of our neighbors.
What is the lie, you may ask? Well it is all in the terminology used by the medical profession, politicians and those who support this human right. Human right? Well if we can accept one lie, “that all free people are equal in many ways”, then we should have the right to our safety and healthy bodies. Women have the right and ownership of their bodies. Good, well that’s done. Now the central lie. That the life within the womb is called a “fetus”, and not a child since its still in the woman’s body. A life, but somehow denied protection by the law to remain alive in time. Its life force is superseded by the life of the woman carrying it.
Who made that decision? Well the US Supreme Court did, passing into law Roe vs. Wade, a decision that allowed for abortions in America, and ultimately throughout the world too. Hey, if the biggest democracy in the world can decide this, so could others. Follow the quacking duck.
This past Friday , a conservative-led Supreme Court has overturned this ruling, opening up a huge bag of firecrackers ready to be lighted into an explosion of who the hell knows for sure. Can’t be good. Not for the victims of rape, incest and those whose lives are threatened by, yes, the fetus and its condition. Horrors upon horrors, we will now have each state within their union able to decide how, when and where the state can control their female population. It’s all about control.
The Conservative Right, with their religious allies, will claim the right to control women and their bodies, mostly for religious reasons (What would Jesus do?), but it is a guy thing. That’s right folks. A further lie raises its ugly head, that being “Women are equal to Men”. Well in several states within the US union that is not true. They want you to believe that women are equal to men in Texas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and so many other states but we all know that is not true, otherwise women would be allowed to respectfully, intelligently and morally decide what to do with their bodies.
I am a spiritual and religious person, and I abhor abortion, capital punishment, paying excessive taxes and the like. As a former Franciscan Friar Tor, I met several women who truly needed an abortion. Yah, we talked and debated until we could do it no more. I could have said horrible things right out of the religious playbook most Catholics have read. You’re committing a terrible sin, you’re going to be damned, etc., etc. I did not, and in fact accompanied a young woman to and during the procedure.
Why did I assist these ladies? Well what was the truly greatest of laws given us by Christianity and many other sacred religions? We can make our own decisions. We have the right and ability to choose.
Well, here go the men again, playing God. They want to tell 50% of this planet what the hell to do. Long ago I have met men who murder owners of abortion clinics, nurses and doctors that work there too. Real God-fearing men who were members of The Army of God, a known domestic terrorist group that has declared a holy war upon the abortion genocide (as they called it).
Abortion is a destroyer of life in so many ways. I hate its conception and practice, but I acknowledge its purpose to liberate women from a future of pain and distress. Socio-economic aside, no one makes a decision like this easily. I don’t see the religious right and its many membership offer much more than words and prayers to those who truly need this procedure and assistance.
Allahu akbar – God is great, God is greatest That is true. The sacred books of most religions tell us that the righteous is a person of wisdom, who decides well. Well, folks, America is going backwards towards the time when women were to be present, but not heard, a time when men ruled the roost, even if that meant that their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers would be under their command. It’s The Hand Maiden (book to movie) in the flesh.
Ladies, is this not the time and anywhere being the place, to stand up for your rights as a human being?
Most men care about family, community and nationhood, but they have a collectively tarnished outlook on life. Many will impregnate someone, and some will stand by their choice and action by being responsible, yet many will not. I lived in the Bronx for a year, and cannot remember how many single women with children lived down the block from the guy who will not acknowledge his children. The number of single women with children has grown from 9% in 1994 to 16% in 2014. That stat has gone up since then.
Ladies, the society you live in will care for you, support and protect you only if you force it too. Take it by the horns and lead.
Ladies how can you allow a bunch of elderly lawyers(the Supreme Court) overturn Roe vs. Wade without a seriously revolutionary fight? In many states that you live in, politicians are going to start pressuring for other severe changes to the law, and how society views citizens’ rights and privileges.
Friends in the LBGTQ community, look out! You’re next in line. How about overturning same-sex marriages? Maybe there will be a return to some horrid southern traditions. Who knows?
Fight for what is right, including the Right to Life. Stop lying about your intentions. If God were like us, would each of you be dictated to? Or would you be allowed to choose, even if it is a bitter thing.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
Dear Editor,
What has become of the project to connect Philipsburg homes and businesses to the main sewer system which began almost two decades ago?
Millions of dollars have been spent to lay the foundation for this project with pipes, etc., being placed in the ground in anticipation of the homes and businesses being connected. I would like the Minister of VROMI [Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – Ed.] to tell me how exactly does the process work? Why spend millions to begin this project and then for no apparent reason just stop?
I only became aware that this project was never completed after contacting a local company to undertake two sewer connections for my businesses, when I was informed by that company that “the sewer system to the west of Weduwensteeg is not yet connected to the main sewer system and cannot be used at the moment.” This is just not about the inconvenience, but a question of how government money is spent.
How does the government operate with these huge financial projects with no continuity? As far as I've been made aware, the pipes have already been placed underground so I do not understand why they would spend millions doing this and not follow through. Millions of dollars are being wasted every year pumping sewerage when the infrastructure is in place to complete a project that was started when the now Minister of VROMI wasn’t even old enough to vote. Why has this project been abandoned? Is it that they have forgotten about it?
On Front Street, Back Street and Cannegieter Street the pipes have already been placed underground and I hope that the Department of VROMI can look into this and provide some answers to the residents and businesses in the impacted area.
Don Hughes
~ A call to action for every self-respecting St. Maartener ~
Dear Editor,
There comes a time in every society’s history when the people have to rise up and collectively decide that the path which the country is currently on is not the right one. I strongly believe that for St. Maarten, that time is now. Too long have we ideally sat by and let the government do as it wishes without any form of repercussion for underperforming.
With elections a year-and-a-half away, you can already start seeing ministers and parliamentarians kicking into action, taking any photo OP they can to make it seem as though they have been actively contributing to bettering the island over the past three years. Please do not be fooled! These same ministers that are posting their “wins” are the same ones that have reactively dealt with the slew of problems the island faces or outright ignored them. What has been done in regard to:
* Affordable housing?
* Inflation and cost of living going up (gas, electricity, food)?
* The stay on salary increases?
* The brain drain happening in government?
* The mutilation of our hillsides?
* The encroachment of our public beaches?
* Gross misspending of public funds?
* And the list goes on and on…
No, I for one will not be fooled! It is time we the people demand our government does better. All too often we hear through the grapevine of this and that wrongdoing, but these cases very rarely come to light. That is why I strongly commend the person(s) within GEBE, and our investigative journalists such as Ralph Cantave on their speaking out against the blatant neglect, wrongdoing, and utter fiasco that is taking place within GEBE. This is just one example, but a most welcome one at that, and I urge every St. Maartener to stand up and say no! No, we will not accept shady dealings and gross misconduct anymore! Call it out. Call out any wrongdoings, misspending of public funds, or lack of integrity with which you are faced. Then and only then can we start righting the many wrongs that have become common place, and “the way things are done here on the island.” We need a culture shift. Accountability needs to be the pillar we build our country on moving forward.
Therefore, I for one will be playing my part in writing up pieces such as this one, in which not only critical questions will be raised, but also viable solutions as it would seem our government is severely lacking in that department. I do not care who is in office, I care about results, and if those cannot be achieved with the current players, it is time for new ones to jump in and start booking us some wins. We the people of this nation deserve better, we desperately need optimism to return, so we can all collectively strive for a better and brighter tomorrow.
Enough, is enough!
David Salomon
Dear Chairman and Members of the Committees Social Affairs and Kingdom Relations,
Today, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, I opened the Volkskrant and read with pleasure the intention of the Cabinet to show a more social face. Instead of acting out of distrust, a new attitude is taking “possession” of the cabinet: more room for customization, based on trust. That is, of course, good news! I would like to see one small extra step taken: The Caribbean Netherlands is also part of the country of the Netherlands!
In short, put aside all typically Caribbean Dutch concepts such as “onderstand”, end the discussion aimed at a social minimum for the Dutch Caribbean and instead think “inclusively”: the Caribbean Dutchman is also a Dutchman. The Dutch law is also applicable to the Caribbean Netherlands, unless … (motto: “comply or explain”). I am now referring to article 132a, paragraph 4 of the Constitution (i.c. “own” rules possible in case of special circumstances, essentially different from the European Netherlands).
Speaking of the entire Dutch Caribbean – it concerns the three islands of Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire – we are talking about a total of approximately 27,000 people: the size of a village in the European Netherlands. Paraphrasing astronaut Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon) I would like to say: “For the European Dutchman perhaps a small step, for the entire country of the Netherlands a giant leap forward.”
J.H.T. (Jan) Meijer
St. Eustatius
Dear Editor,
St. Maarten has been known for decades for its “sea, sun and sand”, all of which attracted the very first tourists and continues to attract tourists to our beautiful Island. Tourism is our only source of income.
Let us make no mistake that our sandy beaches and our beautiful crystal, clear waters are the primary reasons why most people come to St. Maarten. If we continue to dredge Great Bay Harbor, putting that precious sand into the Pondfill, the lagoon and landfill, we are destroying our most precious resource, our beaches which God gave us at no cost.
The cruise ship business is important to our economy. Without our beautiful beaches and crystal clear waters, the cruise ship business, indifferent to their investments, would be more likely to move to another island that has maintained their beautiful beaches and crystal clear waters.
The only other reason the cruise ships might briefly stop here would be to dump their garbage, thus continuing to increase the size of “Mt. Garbage” at the Pond, which I am sure will not replace our beaches as a tourist attraction.
They may also stop to dump their other wastes in the precious sea that surrounds us, thereby continuing to pollute and further endanger our crystal clear, beautiful blue waters. This is the very same water along with our beaches that attracts the cruise ship business and most of the tourists to our Friendly Island.
Considering the above, it is advantageous and necessary to return any sand dredged to the perimeter of the Island, thereby ensuring the future of our beaches, the future of our people for now and for generations to come.
It takes millions of years to create sand and that sand travels around the island. The conclusion being: if you take sand from one place, whether dredged or shoveled onto the back of a pickup, you take it from all the beaches. I have lived here 49years and seen our big beautiful powder-white beaches turn to a coarser beige sand or a grey sludge.
During the days of Claude Wathey, it was illegal to take any sand from our beaches. We bought the sand we needed for construction or any other purpose from Barbuda.
Every ounce of sand dredged and not returned to the outskirts of our island is an act of pure destruction of our beaches and of our economy.
It is an act of treason to St. Maarten, its people and its future.
Cheri Batson
