(The following is the second half of a letter that was in the December 3, 2009 edition of the Journal)

The false idea, which probably circulated as an e-mail intended to mislead, that President Obama is giving $2 billion to an oil company in Brazil is totally erroneous as proved by Factcheck.org: This claim stems from a "preliminary commitment" made back on April 14 by the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The bank intends to loan up to $2 billion to finance exports to the Brazilian oil company Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., known as Petrobras, over the next several years.

The e-mail is false on two counts: First, the message falsely says the decision was due to an "executive order" by the president. No presidential order was required. Furthermore, none of President Obama's appointees had joined the Ex-Im board at the time of the vote, which was unanimous, and bipartisan. The Ex-Im Bank states: "In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush."

Secondly, the message falsely claims that "we have absolutely no gain" from the loan. In fact, the loan is being made specifically to finance purchase by Petrobras of U.S. - made oilfield equipment and services. The mission of the Ex-Im Bank is to encourage exports by making such loans. The bank's chairman and president, Fred P. Hochberg, underscored the purpose of the loan during a trip to Brazil at the end of July: Ex-Im Bank President Hochberg, July 29: "I chose Brazil as my first international destination for good reason: Brazil is a powerhouse among South American economies and offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters in many sectors. I want Brazilians to know that Ex-Im Bank has the will and the capacity to finance their purchases of U.S. equipment, products and services."

In regard to the derogatory Van Jones statements, these are the facts: In 1992, while still a law student at Yale, Jones participated as a volunteer legal monitor for a protest of the Rodney King verdict in San Francisco. He and many other participants in the protest were arrested. The district attorney later dropped the charges against Jones. The arrested protesters, including Jones, won a small legal settlement. Jones later said that "the incident deepened my disaffection with the system and accelerated my political radicalization."

When he graduated from law school, Jones gave up plans to take a job in Washington, D.C., and moved to San Francisco instead. He got involved with Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), a group explicitly committed to revolutionary Marxist politics whose points of unity were revolutionary democracy, revolutionary feminism, and revolutionary internationalism, the central role of the working class, urban Marxism, and Third World Communism. While associated with STORM, Jones actively began protesting police brutality.

Jones founded Green for All in 2007, a national NGO dedicated to "building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty." Time magazine named Jones one of its "Environmental Heroes." Fast Company called him one of the "12 Most Creative Minds of 2008".

He was appointed by President Barack Obama in March 2009, to the newly-created position on the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he worked with various "agencies and departments to advance the administration's climate and energy initiatives, with a special focus on improving vulnerable communities." In July 2009 he became "embroiled in controversy" over his past political activities including his 1990s association with a Marxist group, a public comment disparaging Congressional Republicans, and his name appearing on a petition for 911Truth.org. Highlighting these issues, conservatives launched an aggressive campaign against him. Jones resigned from the position in early September.

So, yes Mr. Jones was arrested (not in prison) for protesting in support for what he believed was right. If only most of us were that passionate. And yes, Mr. Jones was a communist at one point. I am not a minority and have never been the target of racial inequality so I really don't understand how it feels, however I have empathy for anyone who must live through that and admire anyone with the guts to fight the system.

Mr. Warren Buffett's statements were taken out of context, following is the rest of the statement: Buffett reiterated his support for efforts to refloat the US economy and said it appeared to be "out of the emergency room" and "on the slow path" to recovery. But, in an opinion piece for the New York Times, he wrote: "Enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered and, before long, we will need to deal with their side effects. For now, most of those effects are invisible and could indeed remain latent for a long time."

President Obama has surrounded himself with unique, highly educated and brave individuals who do not "fit" into our idea of government. Yay for him! The problems we face are complicated and difficult, we need free thinkers. Oh, and by the way, please, please address the President of the United States with the dignity he deserves. Don't call him by his last name only, it's not polite.

The point of all this is to drive home some interesting points:

1) Always fact check; ask any high school teacher. Always go to many sources and try to stick with those that are as unbiased as possible. Another country's view is always an eye-opener.

2) Don't make decisions based upon your affiliation to a political party. There is no "pure" democracy or "pure" anything. Be open-minded and walk in the other guy's shoes for awhile.

3) We all want what is best for this country. There's nothing wrong with making the wheel run smoother, faster, made with less waste, fraud and mismanagement. Nobody said anything about re-inventing it, just making it better.

4) We are our brothers' keepers.