It is very easy to write letters when we're angry or when we feel something is happening that shouldn't be happening. I also want to write when good things happen.

I just received an email from our Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman telling me that they will be reopening the Hempstead Harbor Aerodrome, and giving us new runways as soon as the current remediation project is completed. Arrangements are being made to grant flying permits and my friends and I will again be able to enjoy the one thing that gets us all up each morning.

Thank you, Supervisor Kaiman, for listening to us and for helping us with this project. Thank you also Councilwoman Kitty Poons for your constant support and encouragement. And, thank you to my neighbors who read my previous letters and articles and gave your support to this very interesting and exciting hobby/sport. We welcome you all to see what we're about and join us at the new Aerodrome.

Ken Casser

Consider why Obama has become so successful in the primaries. Just a short while ago a vast majority of Americans did not think he had a chance in hell. Even Las Vegas bookmakers gave him no hope. What are the dynamics of his impressive and unique campaign?

First, Obama is an inspirational speaker and we are at a time in history when our desire for some inspiration is no doubt at a high given all the negative news over the past many years. Next, Obama is the only candidate, of either party, who does not waffle about pulling out of Iraq very soon. While the "surge" in Iraq has done well the Iraqi government has not upheld its part. Ethnic war is inevitable in Iraq unless there is some sudden miracle between Sunnis and Shiites. There is scant evidence of this. It is endemic in religious confrontations that compromise is not an option. History has repeatedly shown that.

Now our economy is in the pits, likely headed for a recession if not there now and then we have a president who has an all time low approval rating. Republican presidential hopefuls wish he would just go away. He is never mentioned in their speeches.

Next the public is fed up with the performance of Congress. In the 2006 elections the public gave the Democrats a large majority in the House of Representatives (where all members are up for re-election) and even against all predictions gave the Democrats a slim margin in the Senate (where only one-third of the members are up for re-election). Yet Congressional performance is seen as very poor. Condemnation of Congress must be pretty severe when the public gives them an 18 percent approval rating which is even worse than Bush's. What else can the public do to protest? It is clear to me that the public believes we must have a fresh start. Obama's powerful statement that we can not have the same old politicians doing the same old things over and over again any longer.

For presidential candidates the public has in the past often looked elsewhere than Congress mainly because they have felt that politicians, particularly Congressmen, have never run a business and don't know how to run one either. Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain are Congress persons of some years. This does not help them in their presidential aspirations. While Obama is a "freshman" Senator, the public feels, that he has not yet been affected (or is it infected?) by the numbing effects of a longtime Congressional career.

At this point we are faced with this: A Republican, John McCain who feels that our stay in Iraq must go on and may last even decades and either Clinton, who waffles on how long we should stay in Iraq, or Obama who says we must get out (as the Congressionally appointed committee a few years ago concluded).

Obama has fashioned a package that coincides with the desires of a majority of Americans. I will not make any prediction concerning the outcome of the presidential race. The world is a strange and scary place. A great deal is at stake. I am convinced that many strange things will transpire this year.

Theodore Theodorsen