Page 20 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • December 19, 2012 -- in other words, that some kind of commie plot is behind the environmental movement. Tune in the Time Battleland website and check out the attacks on John Koster for having exposed a real commie plot, America’s entry into World War II once Hitler turned on Stalin. You will notice that most of my detractors do not understand how to use a definite or indefinite article and not one of them seems to know the difference between “it’s” and “its.” They take contempt for all Asians for granted, and they think Stalin won the war himself. To believe this you must forget “Saving Private Ryan” and think “Omaha Beach Party” with Frankie and Annette. I am now a card-carrying anti-communist with a full deck of cards, and I believe global warming, fracking, and the avoidance of sensible recycling measures are worse threats to America than the silly bunch of Web junkies over there in winterland. My consolation is that these blokes share a continent with China and that the contempt they feel for Asians is mutual. My advice? Not a single American soldier should be sent to either side when they go at it. Let them duke it out. It’s not our problem. Another body blow to our sense of well-being came toward the end of the year when the United States, Canada, and Israel were the only major nations to vote against upgrading Palestine to non-member observer status in the United Nations. Maybe this is part and parcel of the U.N. plot to drag down our standard of living. Maybe, on the other hand, it is a wake-up call from Europe and Asia that the United States no longer makes their foreign policy. The United States should not abandon support for Israel. To do so would not only be disgraceful, but embarrassing. Some years ago, we quietly seemed to be writing off Taiwan -- Nationalist China -- and incredibly enough they survived anyway, partially by affiliating with Japan. The United States needs to use whatever influence it has left to get both sides in the Middle East to sit down and work out an equitable peace that guarantees Israel’s security without writing blank checks for any future expansion. The fewer checks we write to anybody outside the United States, the better for Americans. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the commercialization of China mean that, once the sideshow is over, we no longer need to keep garrisons in South Korea or Japan. We should preserve our nuclear umbrella in case things really go bad, and other than that, we should bring the men and women home and save some money. The locals other than the nighttime professionals do not want them there. The same is true of Germany, which feels such a diminished threat that they stopped military conscription two years ago. The 21st century is not the 20th century, when a massive U.S. presence in central Europe and the Pacific Rim was vital to prevent the Soviets from taking over any more countries than they already had. The American military machine should consist of elite forces to deal with terrorists -- the real threat today -- and not expensive combat divisions ready to fight the wars of the Hitler-Stalin era. Both of them are dead. We should remember the incredible extent of their evil deeds and let people who were not there write about “The Good War,” but we should not act as if the demonic duo were about to emerge from a cave somewhere and ask for a replay of World War II. That fantasy could leave us bankrupt. Speaking of bankrupt, here is another issue. This would be a great time to make the private sector somewhat more attractive -- raise the minimum wage and cut taxes to people in all economic brackets -- rather than use the public sector to invent jobs that do not do people outside the system any good. The first thing I heard when Wall Street collapsed was that everybody wanted to be a teacher or grab some other government job. We are already a bit top-heavy. The system we have now taps the taxpayers to make them cover the expense of feeding people who cannot possibly afford to live without government help because their wages are low or nobody wants to hire them. Rome had the same system. Subsidized food and free entertainment did not allow the maintenance of either a republic or an empire -- but allowing employers to exploit the working poor is not the way to greatness, either. Last but not least: Save the National Park system. The trees and shrubs produce oxygen, the tourists produce money, and the scenery produces awe. America has not engendered a William Shakespeare or a Ludwig van Beethoven. Europe and Asia have never produced a George Washington or an Abraham Lincoln, but residents of the globe can enjoy the Grand Canyon and the redwoods and ponder Valley Forge and Gettysburg and Antietam and the Little Bighorn without renewing conflicts long since settled. Perhaps they can even learn to get along. America is still the greatest country in the world. America is no longer the only great country in the world. We can expect that some time in this present century we will be surpassed economically by China and that Japan and Germany will soon reach parity or near-parity through greater efficiency while other countries continue to phase out our light industrial base. They will never take away the redwoods. Let us hope nobody gives them away. As 2012 winds down, we should reflect on what the year brought us as individuals, citizens of the United States, and occupants of the planet. The hot button topic here in Bergen County is still Hurricane Sandy, with repairs still being paid for with bonded money and still generating recriminations -- some justified, some not -- against the utility companies that could not keep up with the power failures. This is one of those cases like the death of Marilyn Monroe or the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is easier to say we are all guilty rather than look for plausible perpetrators. We are supposedly all guilty of the death of Monroe because of our sexist attitudes, and we are supposedly all guilty of the death of Kennedy because of our racist attitudes, right? Wrong! Attitudes do not lead to murder convictions unless you have witnesses to the shooting or a plausible confession without coercion by torture. Similarly, the massive power failures and the sometimes lethal flooding were the results of Hurricane Sandy -- a natural event. How do you cope with hurricanes? Generators and solar panels for independent electric power could help. Underground power lines could also help. Failing that, areas not in tidal basins could raise the electric lines above the level of most of the tree branches and hope for the best. Having sump pumps that dump your sump on the lawn and not illegally into the treatment sewage lines would also be a good idea. It should be added that the land-line telephone is now going the way of Western Union deliveries by boys on bicycles. I call my cell phone tomoguchi, after a pocket toy popular when my children were very young. My son gave it to me at the first hurricane warning. For those who do not remember the 1990s, a tomoguchi is a simulated electronic pocket pet that needs to be taken care of just like a live pet or a small baby, but only by pushing buttons. My tomoguchi cries when it needs to be fed, and I feed it as long as the power to my house works. Otherwise, I feed tomoguchi at the service station or the copy shop. I feed it whenever it tells me it is hungry. During the last two storms and their aftermath, I was able to keep in touch with family and friends as necessary when the land lines were numb and dumb, though they came back shortly after the electricity did, and only flopped on me a couple times during heavy rains. Other than that, my wife and I read while it was daylight and slept when darkness fell. Life in a cave with upholstery is not insufferable, but I know some small businesses that may not recover from the many days without power. I shop there whenever I can, because if they fail, eventually we all fail. Tomoguchi’s cries must be heeded because tomoguchi is needed. Cries for anything that impacts the environment in a way that increases the carbon footprint must not be heeded, because global warming definitely contributes to the ocean’s flooding potential, and may or may not contribute to the fury of hurricanes. Impacts to the environment include asphalt on roofs and parking lots, artificial turf on sports fields, and lawns. Perhaps the most serious impact we can all delete, however, is the wanton cutting of trees that provide shade and take water out of the soil and use it for the photo-synthetic process that takes in carbon and turns it into wood and pretty leaves and expels oxygen. I just came up with an answer for people who think “green” is “red” The future we need to face Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: Tim Mc Naught’s letter of Dec. 5 questioning “Is Christmas a bad word?” - is great and represents the feelings of the vast majority of Christians and Jews. In reading your paper I noticed a “Tree and Menorah lighting set” in the Waldwick Watch announcements. The “tree” is, was, and always will be a Christmas tree. It is a time-honored tradition which began over 400 years celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on Dec. 25. In the best wishes of our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. William Healy Upper Saddle River Dear Editor: This is an enormous thank you to the incredible team of people who assisted and volunteered their time and talent to provide the residents of Ho-Ho-Kus with a 2012 Community Holiday Celebration event filled with fun, family, friends, music, food, and the spirit of giving and helping neighbors in need. It is also a huge thank you to the residents of Ho-Ho-Kus who came out to enjoy and support the event. It was an afternoon that captured the true spirit of giving this holiday season. In the past, we just attend the event and, although it has changed a bit throughout the years, it is always something our family looks forward to. This year, my sixth grade Girl Scout Cadette Troop 1168, as part of their community service project, was responsible for assisting the event organizers. As a result, we became more involved and got a real sense of just what it takes and who is involved in planning this annual event. Sincere appreciation is extended to the Ho-Ho-Kus Fire Department and Women’s Auxiliary, the Ho-Ho-Kus Department of Public Works, the Ho-Ho-Kus Ambulance In agreement The true spirit of giving Corps, the Ho-Ho-Kus Police Department, the Ho-Ho-Kus Mayor and Council, the Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber of Commerce, the Ho-Ho-Kus Recreation Commission, the HoHo-Kus Girl Scouts and Sixth Grade Cadette Troop 1168, Ho-Ho-Kus Public School Choraliers/Wind Ensemble, Washington Elm VFW Post 192, CERT, and the residents and families of Ho-Ho-Kus. The event required a meeting to plan the event, putting up the lights on the tree and preparing the dreidel for display, purchasing the jingle bell necklaces so we could all ring in the holidays together, printing the flyers and the programs/song booklets used at the event, setting up and tearing down tables, providing a place for Santa to sit and meet the children, and much more. Volunteers decorated the downtown area with greenery and ribbons, purchased and served hot chocolate, and baked cookies for everyone to enjoy. So many people generously donated, collected, and distributed pajamas and books to children through Children and Family Aid Services, and donated cleaning products to residents of Little Ferry and Moonachie who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Those who attended the event drew and wrote notes of appreciation to soldiers serving overseas. Mayor Randall officially kicked off the season as he, along with the audience, sang together to welcome Santa as he came riding into town. I thank my amazing troop parents for their continued support and my own troop members, who are learning that what they say and do does make a difference. It truly does take a village as the saying goes. Thank you all so very much for your part in making the event so wonderful. We now know firsthand that this annual tradition doesn’t just magically happen. Laurie Hamm Girl Scout Service Unit Manager Ho-Ho-Kus