Letter for Nov. 30, 2022

The emperor has no clothes

In the year 2020, worldwide, there were about 17 “wars,” armed conflicts, in each of which at least 1,000 casualties were inflicted, for a total of more than 125,000 deaths. For that same year, the United Nations had a total budget of about $600 billion, of which, the U.S. paid more than $11 billion. All these figures are typical of recent years.

The United Nations was founded in 1945 for the stated purpose “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war …” Article 42 of Chapter VII of the charter of the U.N. stipulates that, “Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41 (i.e. sanctions short of armed force) would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations.”

The fact is that while a case can be made that it has achieved some successes, in regards to the primary goal of preventing armed conflict, the United Nations is a failed institution. Over 99% of the world population resides in the countries that are signatories to the charter, yet the U.N. has been virtually helpless in preventing and stopping armed conflicts between nations and warring combatants.

Virtually no public acknowledgment and discussion of these jarring facts takes place anywhere.

Peter Grossman

Spokane

Laughing out loud

Thankfully, the elections are over aside from a few still counting. I usually watch the different voices on TV programs so I can get a more balanced perspective on things, though I sometimes come away with a headache.

Recently I had the biggest laugh ever. Fox New host Jesse Watters made the statement that the Democrats did better than everyone thought because of the young and “unmarried” women, and that they needed to “get control.” Other hosts and guests on Fox followed up with that thought and insinuated that if women followed the Bible and the husbands were the head of the household, the votes would have been different.

This is an absolute insult to all women. Why do these people use the Bible when they think it suits their needs but don’t follow anything else in the Bible in their lives? Many women like myself have been married to enlightened men who did not expect us to just follow them, but to do our own research and think for ourselves. If you look at some of the men in political life, married or single, they certainly don’t follow the Bible in their decisions.

Women, no matter what age, single or married, are smart enough to vote for what is important to the country. We do not have to be a “party” voter if we don’t agree with what the party stands for.

Fox News needs to clean house of those close-minded men. Thank God for women.

Gerry O’Rourke

Spokane Valley