Attacks in India

I was appalled to open the paper on Thanksgiving and find the story of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India relegated to Page 2C. The front page carried shopping and football news.

As someone said to me, "How would Americans have felt if, after 9/11, news of the attacks were relegated to the back pages of world newspapers?"

The death toll is 125 and Americans were targeted. I don't know who is responsible for front-page news at the Advertiser, but more often than not, I have been critical of what is considered "front page news" by your staff.

All of you need to remember that not everyone has cable or satellite news and/or Internet.

Run on Gun Shops

It amazes me that people are running to gun shops and buying up guns because they think President-Elect Obama will rewrite the Constitution and do away with the Second Amendment. Like every other vicious lie that was spread about him over the airwaves and Internet, no one bothered to hear him say that he believes in the Second Amendment but wants to get the assault weapons off the street. After all, what does a homeowner need with an AK-47? Surely, you wouldn't shoot a defenseless deer with it. Law Enforcement is already outmanned by such weapons on the street. How many times do we read where an assault weapon was used in a home invasion or robbery?

Just last month, an eight-year-old child was killed with a Uzi at a gun show Why in the world was a child allowed to fire a loaded weapon of any kind, much less an assault weapon, at a gun show? So, please, don’t go out and stock your homes with arsenals and your hearts with hate. Don’t create problems where there aren’t any. This nation needs to pull together, and I am grateful that we have elected someone who does not make “knee-jerk” decisions and someone who will work hard and long to mend the torn fabric of this nation We just need to pray for him and know that God is in control.

I am so proud to have lived long enough to see this night. Now, maybe this nation can bind its wounds and forge ahead TOGETHER! And I predict that the next generation of every race will be better stewards of this land God has given us; they will strive harder to become more educated, to work harder, and to be all that they can be. I hope my grandchildren and all the youngsters in our lives will realize in time what a moment this is and what an opportunity it is for all of us to remind ourselves that Heaven has no back door. We are in this together and as Sen. Obama said four years ago: "we are not a nation of red states or blue states but we are these United States of America."

And God is still in control and for those of us who are Christians, He has given us this opportunity to rid ourselves and this nation of prejudice and hate. Peace and forgiveness begins in the heart and until we find that as individuals, we'll never find it as a nation. As for me, I could never understand the prejudice, the cruelty---nor could my mother. I could never understand why I was taught in church "to love thy neighbor as thyself," and to be taught that "all people are created equally," when they appeared to be just empty words. I could never understand why I was taught to pray for and send money for the missionaries in Africa when black Americans weren't allowed in our churches and schools. So, for me, this is a personal journey and one for which I am thankful I was blessed to see in my lifetime.