Truth, Censorship and the Government

The New York Times

Letter to theEditor

April 8,2019

Mark Fallon, a retired SpecialAgent with the Naval Investigative Service, wrote an Op-Ed (published in the Times, April 3, 2019) explaining his disagreement with the NIS requirement he submit any proposed publications for pre-approval. This is not an uncommon requirement for men and women throughout the government who served in national security agencies.  Fallon has joined two other retirees who object to review of their writings before publication

This is my letter:

“If Mark Fallon could be trusted to do sensitive work for 31 years, then he ought to be trusted not to reveal classified information now.

“Censorship is anathema, even when called “prepublication review.” “

Francis X. Archibald

Mount Pleasant, S.C.

"Tote that barge"

Published August 20, 2017

August 15, 2017

Letters to the Editor

The Post and Courier

Charleston, SC

Dear Editor,

The Aug. 15 story about the State Ports Authority steaming ahead with new cargo records is a wakeup call to the S.C. congressional delegation to get behind the request of the SPA to federal officials for authority to run a barge capable of moving 1000 freight containers from Wando Terminal across the Cooper River to a rail facility for further transport across America. The P&C reported on this request a couple of weeks ago. 

As the SPA volume increases the risks to all motorists also goes up. Three recent experiences bear this out. I entered I-526 at Hungryneck Boulevard in Mt. Pleasant and headed west. At the next entry point, Long Point Road, six tractor- trailers with containers were coming up the access ramp and entering the westbound traffic on I-526. Three similar containers had just hit their stride on the Interstate.

A day later, I was on I-526 late in the afternoon heading east toward Mt. Pleasant. From the Don Holt bridge onward it looked like every five or six personal vehicles were bracketed by tractor-trailers carrying containers in both west bound lanes. 

Recently, I was on Long Point Road and needed to make a left hand turn. Eleven tractor-trailers carrying cargo containers came from Wando Terminal and blocked my turn before a traffic light further down the road interrupted the flow of traffic and I (and others) could proceed. 

These examples illustrate how the problem of tractor-trailers carry containers will only grow and seriously impact the traffic and vehicular safety in the Mt. Pleasant area. 

Kudos to the SPA for the effort to increase their operations. The SPA brings in money to the state and provides good jobs. 

It is time, however, to start a modern day version of “tote that barge.”

Sincerely

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Voter Data

Letters to the Editor (Published July 6, 2017)

The Post & Courier

Charleston, SC

Dear Editor,

I am 110% opposed to South Carolina sending any voter information to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, beyond what is available to any South Carolinian and only if the Commission pays for it like a citizen would have to do.  

There are approximately 175,000 voting precincts in America. No one knows the exact number, as it may vary from year to year. But every one of these is usually staffed by good, local people volunteering to oversee the most important act of citizenship. 

To allege, as President Trump does, that widespread fraud in voting across America deprived him of a plurality in the popular vote, is nonsense. It is not supported by any facts from any state, or by anyone or any organization who conducts legitimate poll watching. 

The President’s comments are a vicious, undeserved slander on the good, hard-working, women and men who voluntarily staff the polls.

I have run for local and state office and won and lost. I never questioned the integrity of the process or the counting of the votes.

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Send comments to:  arch@archibald99.com

Lost appetite

As Published in The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC, 

Feb. 10, 2017

Dear Editor:

It is Sunday morning. I am enjoying my coffee and have finished the front and Opinion sections of the newspaper. As I start on my second cup, I pause to express my dismay to learn from Steve Bailey’s “S.C.’s poverty wage trap.” a  worker at Church’s Chicken in North Charleston is paid $8 an hour. In this day and age? In this community? In an environment where food workers have minimum opportunity for tips this is unsatisfactory to this reader who enjoys fried chicken occasionally. But not anymore from Church’s.

Sincerely,

/s/ Francis X. Archibald

Loving the daily newpaper

Letter to the Editor

The Island Packet

 Hilton Head SC

(Published May 8, 2014)

 

The people in this community must really love the daily newspaper.

Every day, it seems, someone provides grist for front-page stories that usually carry over to inside pages. There is always a fresh murder, rape, child molestation, robbery, car theft, or drug offense involving heroin, cocaine or marijuana. On slow days, there are reports of horrific traffic accidents and thefts from charities, businesses or government offices.

And when things really slow down, local government steps up and brings us fresh courtroom dramas involving all of the foregoing.

There is hardly any room in the daily morning paper for the shenanigans of the White House and the Congress, especially the latter.

Francis X. Archibald

Moss Creek