To Winter Park.

As of April 28th,  Leo’s Kitchen has closed indefinitely. We want to thank all of the guests, locals and businesses that have supported Leo’s and DaVinci over the last 6 and a half years. The community support we have received in Winter Park is humbling, and we are unendingly gracious. As we move on to other things, we will never forget the people and experiences that made this restaurant an incredible community gathering spot. We wish everyone health, happiness and prosperity.

Leo Shukan, Chef/Owner Leo’s Kitchen

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To the Editor

As the 4/12 letter to the editor points out, Mr. DiGirolamo IS concerned  about the death of fetuses and the soul of those who would have an abortion and those that allow it—with good reason!  For example, a 5-10 year Univ. of Minnesota study shows that 54% of aborting mothers have nightmares over their decision, 81% are pre-occupied with the aborted child, 35% had “visitations” with the aborted child, and 96% felt they had “taken a life”.  Significant numbers obviously, and accompanied by very weighty long term issues for the mother. Yes, these facts should be cause for concern for the deaths, souls and mental health of aborting mothers. Don’t let the “quickness” of abortion fool you into  thinking that it will ever be over. Too many women have far too many sleepless nights agonizing over the abortion they had done. 93% of those that abort do so for social reasons,–age, finances, convenience.

I’d think most mothers  considering abortion would also think about the heartbeat within them, (detectable at 21 days), the recognizable human features within her at 7-10 weeks, and the early sensation of pain by their unborn child.  If she can acknowledge but still disregard these facts, she is a harder person than much of the USA population.

The 4/29/19 response  suggests “…prying open the mind…” to consider abortion motivations,—desperation, fear of economic ruin, love, fear of loss of maternal life, , bringing a child into a life of poverty,” etc.  It might be instructive to step back before conception and ask for some “deep thoughts” regarding pregnancy and childbirth and ask for sexual responsibility so the above mentioned mental health considerations don’t have to be dealt with.

An acquaintance of mine has had three abortions, simply for convenience and as a method of birth control for an irresponsible lifestyle.  Some abortions are justified, for rape, incest, health of the mother, serious unmanageable health issues of the baby, etc. but voluntary termination of the pregnancy via joint agreement of  an irresponsible mother and a compliant physician, is very wrong. First, do no harm. Most mothers who choose to carry the child to term, then have the child adopted, have a healthier emotional healing than those that abort.  A tiny human life given love by the adoptive family is a far cry from having that child’s life terminated.

Advocacy of health care, family planning, etc. is admirable  but a) it has to be paid for by an already overtaxed population and b) this obviously involves  another “Govt. Program” which, given the abject failures of much of what the govt. is involved in (the post office, AMTRAK, the VA, etc.), is no guarantee of anything but more bureaucracy and  likely failure. We might even go back to our founding documents, the US Constitution, which doesn’t designate abortion policy as a function of the federal govt. In fact, it strictly limits what the govt. can do  and being attentive to current news readily indicates the degree to which govt. is already over involved in all aspects of our lives. I’d expect no less than advocacy for more govt. social programs from liberals.  It should be noted in the 4/12 letter that “the richest 1% had their taxes cut” but so did another 79% below them on the income scale. Partially cutting the programs mentioned in the letter DID NOT balance the budget but only slightly reduced the deficit.  Many programs were reduced, not just the writers favorite ones. The CHIP and SNAP programs haven’t lifted people out of poverty but instead have perpetuated them as evidenced by the multi year, multi-generational use of them.

Progressives are anti death penalty for  a convicted murderer but willingly take the life of an innocent unborn child.  1.0-1.5 million abortions per year take place in the USA, a huge number in total since  Roe Vs. Wade in the 1970’s. I wonder how many potential Einsteins, Edisons, Jonas Salks and Mother Teresas were killed among the 56 millions aborted?   How many potential cancer cures and solutions to energy and pollution problems have been killed prior to birth?

Speaking of Mother Teresa, it seems appropriate to finish with a quote from her:  “The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion, which is war against the child.  The mother doesn’t learn to love, but kills to solve her own problem. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want.”

Pete Peterson, Tabernash

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To the Editor

It is said that we live in historic times.  How can we forget the details of the presidential election? Defeating a prominent New York Democrat. Using unconventional campaign tactics.  He boasted about his wealth, and promoted a reputation as a successful business executive. Winning with a landslide of the Electoral College. Using religion and race as dominant issues in the run up to the election, while playing on the fears of many. Promoting Trade Wars as a positive strategy for the American economy.  And then there’s the promise of prosperity for everyone in his campaign slogan.

Taking into account all of these, the election of Donald Trump is the most obvious that comes to mind.  But, here’s another detail to remember. These also all pertain to Herbert Hoover and his election as the 31st President of the United States when he was the 1928 Republican candidate.   

The New York Democrat he defeated was Al Smith, the first Catholic to run for president.  Herbert Hoover unconventionally campaigned mostly via radio, giving only 8 live speeches during the entire campaign.  He was also a millionaire (by today’s value, probably a billionaire) attributing his skills as a business executive to his success.  Hoover won a landslide 87% of the Electoral College, Trump 57% – a lesser landslide. Muslims (religion) and Mexicans (race) were Trump’s top speaking points in his campaign.   For Hoover, Al Smith being a Catholic (religion) and his stand on favoring interracial marriage and opposing the Ku Klux Klan (race) were issues for which he criticized Al Smith.  And, now Trump speaks of Trade Wars, like Hoover did, as smart economic strategies for making America great (again), even in the face of warnings by most current economists. Hoover’s Trade Wars are acknowledged to be major reasons for prolonging the Great Depression.  And, fomenting fear was a primary strategy for both Trump and Hoover. For the former, it was (and is) fear of Muslims and Mexicans. For the later, it was fear of the Roman Catholic Church controlling the White House and that whites would marry non-whites. Trump ran on MEGA.  Hoover promised everyone, “A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”. Neither had little to do with reality, and their policies actually did just the opposite.

Oh, and one last comparison.  Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover are rated among the worst American presidents of all time, although Trump is at the top of that list.  As Mark Twain is credited with saying, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”. What rhymes with Slump and Dump?

Ronald Fischer, Fraser