Editor, Times-Union: I know I'm pushing my luck by being almost partisan in my thinking (I don't think, though, that I'll be hit by the "hit squads") but there is just too much happening.
Reading the Jan. 26, 1999, Times-Union and listening to the U.S. Senate votes on "Dismissal of Articles" and "To Hear Witnesses" gave rise to my sharing again of my lofty thoughts.
Anybody reading in any depth the 26th issue saw, "Local Students Apathetic ...," "GOP Senator Says ...," "Pope to Meet ...," "Smoking - No Cost ...," Ellen Goodman's Column - very predictable, Andy Rooney's "Impeachment Is ..." - humorist turned serious. What a wealth of quotables it contained!
Having said, I feel I have to "come out of the closet" with my input. My recollection of the Democrats chant on Clinton was (not all) "resign - indefensible." Republicans (not all) were silent. It's now reversed (the polls did it). I feel "impeachment" has become a "farce," but I am about ready to erase the word "hypocrisy" from my vocabulary (and it's already limited) because being so is so acceptable. It should be replaced with "adaptable."
But Brad Snyder's Letter to Editor makes sense (1-26-99 Times-Union).
The "Pope" visit: I resent William Jefferson Clinton (no longer "Bill") and wife having a 45-minute private talk (the fourth he has had) with the Pontiff. I couldn't begin to even be a part of the mass celebration. We have really come a long way in our descent.
Also our new Senator Bayh (voting "no" and "yes") probably was instructed by Teddy Kennedy.
I like to read all the letters and hope to continue as part of the page. Let the words fall, don't be afraid.
B.J. Walker, Warsaw
Bank Spies
Editor, Times-Union: A new government directive will force banks to spy on their customers and report any "unusual transactions" to federal investigators, and there's less than two months left for Americans to try to stop it from taking effect.
Under the so-called Know Your Customer rule, bank tellers can quiz you about where you got your money and how you plan to spend it. And if your answers sound suspicious, they can report you to federal law enforcement agencies.
This new regulation will turn your local bank into a branch of the federal government's civilian surveillance apparatus. It's the ultimate invasion of your financial privacy.
The Know Your Customer law has been proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is scheduled to go into effect on April 1.
It will require banks and financial institutions to develop customer profiles, monitor transactions and report to the government any "unusual activity," such as large cash deposits or withdrawals.
Since "unusual activity" could include depositing a Christmas bonus or inheritance, or withdrawing money to buy a house or car, ordinary Americans could find themselves trying to prove to agents from the FBI, IRS or the DEA that they are not drug dealers or money launderers.
This law would turn every bank teller into a government informer and everyone with a bank account into a criminal suspect.
The Libertarian Party opposes the Know Your Customer regulation for numerous reasons.
1-Your banking habits are none of the government's business. In a free society, the government has no business even asking where innocent Americans get their money or how they spend it, much less coercing businesses into secretly monitoring your bank account.
2-It's an illegal, warrantless search that violates the Fourth Amendment. Monitoring every bank account to check for laundered money is no different from pulling over every driver just in case some are intoxicated, or searching every home to check for stolen goods. It is unconstitutional, plain and simple.
3-It could subject your money to asset forfeiture. If you can't immediately prove you're not a criminal, the government could seize your money under asset forfeiture laws. Instead of being the safest place to store your money, banks could become the most dangerous place, since Uncle Sam's bank robbers can seize at will.
The Libertarian Party has joined other organizations and business groups to prevent this law from taking effect.
The FDIC has set March 8 as the deadline for public comment about the proposed regulation, and Americans need to let the government know what they think about this "Prove-You're-Not-A-Criminal" law.
We need to flood the FDIC with letters, faxes and e-mails demanding an end to Big Brother Banking. Americans need to launch a Know Your Constitution program, to remind these federal bureaucrats that they have no right violating our privacy and dignity this way. To comment on the Know Your Customer regulation, write:
Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary
Attn: comments/OES Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20429. fax:(202)898-3838 e-mail: comments@FDIC.gov.
Daniel Stevens, Warsaw
In Time Of Need
Editor, Times-Union: I don't know if you'll print this letter or not, but I hope you do - both for the people we'd like to recognize and for those in the community who need to know that there are still generous, giving, caring individuals who reach out in times of need.
On Thursday, January 7, 1999, we returned home from visiting family for Christmas only to find that our house had burned. What could have been called the most difficult time in our lives has since become a time of great blessings. We'd like to publicly acknowledge everyone who was, and still are, there for us in our time of need.
First, we'd like to say a Big Thanks to the Leesburg Fire Department who did a great job. Without them, we wouldn't have even the few things we were able to save.
Second, to a motel in Warsaw - especially two female employees who went above and beyond their job descriptions in making our stay as pleasant as they could.
The Red Cross came through for us also. They helped out with supplying us generously with food, clothing needs and other essentials we needed to get by. They were great!
A large amount of gratitude and love goes to the North Webster Church of God, who was, and still is, there for us. Without them, we don't know how we'd have gotten through this. Our church family helped us clean items, cooked meals, offered us their homes and many other things too numerous to mention. We love them all dearly.
We can't name everyone individually because there's just too many, but we have a very special family doctor who has been caring and generous beyond the call of duty. We really appreciate all he's done for us.
Last, but not least, is our family, and most of all, Jesus. We know that it is through Him that we have been blessed with everyone mentioned above, and others in our lives.
It sure is nice to know that there are still people around who are willing to help in any way they can - unconditionally. May the Lord bless all of you the way He has us!
Jeff and Tina Carson and family, Leesburg
Concrete Canoes
Editor, Times-Union: Mr. Weihler appears to question how building a functional, two-person boat out of cardboard reinforces the concepts taught in a high school physics class.
The boat project accompanies a study of buoyancy force. In addition, the students must design their boat to hold two people and to survive a voyage of two lengths of the pool.
To weather such an ordeal, the water-absorbent cardboard must be waterproofed and the seams reinforced. In addition, the students learn to test and redesign their crafts, a process they will use all of their lives.
As far as using this experience in college, teams of civil engineering students from most major engineering schools across the country (Purdue, Ball State, Rose-Hulman, Tri-State, to mention a few in Indiana alone) build concrete canoes. They race these vessels of non-ideal material at a national convention annually.
Jen Dilling, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute
Woman Of The Year
Editor, Times-Union: I was very humbled, honored and certainly surprised to receive the 1998 Woman of the Year Award presented by WRSW/Times-Union and the chamber at its annual dinner. It was an exciting, memorable moment. I must admit I became a bit misty-eyed thinking how Bill would have been beaming, had he been there, for we were each other's cheerleader.
I have pondered how I have been put in a position to receive such recognition as I was just doing what I felt God was calling me to do. There are countless individuals serving others on so many levels day after day.
I have been richly blessed by God and the citizens of Kosciusko County. My prayer is that He will continue to give me opportunities to be a blessing to others.
