Email to President Obama re: Israel

Dear President Obama:

On this Memorial Day, a day on which we in the United States remember those who gave their lives for our great country, Israeli commandos boarded a ship in international waters that was bringing supplies to Gaza. By any definition, this is an act of war.

Once again, Israel has shown itself to be somewhat of a rogue nation, much in the vein of Iran and North Korea. Turkey has done the right thing in recalling its ambassador to Israel. I would like to suggest that the U.S. do likewise. In addition, all foreign aid to Israel should be suspended until such time as they decide to honor the rules of international diplomacy and decency and not act like the rogue nation they are.

Thank you for your consideration of my position on this matter.

Sincerely,

David P. Hilsheimer

May 31, 2010

What does One Trillion Represent?

At 10:06 A.M. this morning, May 30, 2010 the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan passed the one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) dollar mark. Huge figures are tossed around like beanbags in Washington and few people seem to pay much attention, save the Tea Partiers lately. That got me to thinking… How much, exactly, is one trillion? I did some figuring and came up with some startling conclusions. To wit:

• One trillion seconds ago, it was 1978;
• One trillion minutes ago, it was 108 B.C.;
• One trillion days ago, it was 113,955 B.C.

Just a little food for thought to help put things in perspective…

Letter to the Editor re: The Cost of Wars

Dear Editor:

We now have one trillion reasons to oppose the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. On May 30, those two wars will have cost $1 trillion for
operations alone, not even counting the interest on the debt of that
borrowed money or the health care costs for returning vets. It is an
amount so incomprehensible that it can only be understood in terms of
what it could have bought rather than missiles and destruction.

For $1 trillion we could immediately give every one of the 15.4 million
unemployed people in the United States a $50,000 job and still have
$235 billion left over. We could provide free public university
education for the next 24 years to the 2 million of our children who
typically enter college annually. And those are what we can quantify.
What could $1 trillion do for cancer research or alternative energy
discoveries or any of a myriad of problems we would like to solve but
cannot because of lack of resources.

If we are not stable economically, then we are not secure as a nation.
We are now on our way to the next trillion. This hemorrhaging of our
collective resources for war has to stop now.

Published: 05/28/10

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Letter to the Editors re: Fair Districts Florida

For as long as I can remember, the Florida legislative branch has drawn congressional district lines in a manner to favor the party in power without due regard for the population centers and the common interests of the various constituencies. To wit: Florida's 11th Congressional District includes part of St. Petersburg; a good deal of Tampa; the western shore of Tampa Bay; the eastern half of Palmetto; and downtown Bradenton. More than half the district sits within Tampa Bay, itself and partly in the Gulf. How ridiculous it that?

FairDistricts Florida undertook a successful grassroots campaign, circulating petitions to get Amendments 5 and 6 on the November ballot to do away with gerrymandering, the process described above. On Tuesday, April 13th, legislative leaders submitted their own plan for redistricting, the provisions of which totally circumvent the protections of Amendments 5 and 6. I am not a Tea partier, but we must take our government back from those who would maintain power simply due to the fact they were elected in the first place. True representative government depends on the voice of the people. If we are not listened to, then we have little rights in determining where we go from here.

Everyone is encouraged to contact their state senator and representative, requesting they oppose SJR 2288.

Published: April 18, 2010

Bradenton Herald

Sarasota Herald Tribune