New Yorkers paying too much for Internet
I live in the New York Capital Region. Most of our residents have Time Warner Cable when it comes to Internet service provider. Some residents also have Verizon FiOS. For most of us, we don’t have a choice; it’s a monopoly.
Time Warner’s basic and standard service for regular folks paying in the $20-to-$50-per-month range is download speeds at 2 to 15 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload at 1 Mbp. (Upload speed is important, too.) The highest speed for more affluent folks is 50 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload.
Even for those with access to FiOS, the lowest service with 25 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload is more than $50 per month. There is the possibility of getting 500 Mbps/500 Mbps download and upload, but at a monthly cost of close to $300.
Verizon’s wireless 4G Internet is an alternative for some, but the speed is still 2 to 15 Mbps, and you pay for data usage. So the cost is $30 to $120 per month for 10 to 30 gigabytes of data usage. Not everyone is within the service area of the wireless network.
Look at Google Fiber in Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas and EPB Fiber in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They have 1,000 Mbps (1 gigabit) for both download and upload for only $70 per month. That’s the kind of value we need to get here in Albany and in all of New York.
Paul Chen
Niskayuna
More money for kids; fire victim was vilified
On page 1 of today’s [March 22] Gazette, there’s an article, “For kids, nearly half in poverty.” Yet on the same page, another article appears regarding Gov. Cuomo’s Hunger Games competition, and the money he’ll give to three upstate regions who’ll compete for $1.5 billion by submitting proposals for how they would use the money.
What is wrong with this picture? There are kids living in poverty in the state of New York, but the governor is giving away $1.5 billion? How about some money to fix the terrible roads in this state?
On another note, an article on the fire on Jay Street mentioned that a tenant (Harry Simpson) tried to drag a burning chair out of his apartment. This man was vilified in another [March 21] article [“Troubled life ends in tragedy”], stating that he had a troubled past and drank Budweiser beer. Really?
Mr. Simpson saved the lives of three residents that day, and this is the remembrance he receives?
Sandra Harrity
Cobleskill
Racist label is just another distraction
I unsuccessfully read and re-read Gary P. Guido’s March 24 comments regarding the “Racist GOP” trying to ferret out any basis for his racist label. It just isn’t there.
His basis for calling the GOP racist is that they greeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with enthusiasm and “rolled their eyes” during Obama’s State of the Union address.
Unlike you (“I only watched … for a few minutes”) and apparently most of the elected Democrats, I listened to the entire Netanyahu speech. His points were impassioned and accurate. He says what he means and does what he says. He is clearly a leader and a man of character.
I also listened to the entire State of the Union address, where the president’s words about “working with the Republicans” clearly did not correspond with his actions since being elected to office. Saying one thing and doing another shows a lack of character. His actions while “on the world stage” also say much about his character. Chewing gum in India and France. Taking selfies during the Mandela memorial ceremonies, etc., etc.
Mr. Guido: The only one who is making race a part of the equation is you. I am color blind. I do not judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have had almost eight years to judge our elected president and all I can do at this point is roll my eyes.
Jeffrey A. Clark
Ballston Spa
No justification for prejudice by anyone
Things are sure getting crazy today, with people accusing each other of hate toward their particular ethnic group. A huge amount of prejudice against police officers accused of bias and hate explodes into even more hate by those who are protesting.
The obvious point all seem to be missing, especially by those “protesting” because they are supposedly on higher moral ground, is that we are all of one race — the human one. Yes, we are all just people, including those who protest. That aspect is totally forgotten in the rage being exhibited against other humans who have a job that puts them in a “superior” position to the rest of us.
Not that those humans are better or superior in themselves, but they are given authority to clamp down on wrongdoers and law breakers. This, in itself, today gives way to jealousy and a desire not for equality, but for superiority by those protesting. It has been said, by a very ignorant human, that those in the minority cannot be prejudiced. What conclusion does that lead us to?
For example, it is recorded by the census that whites are now the minority in Southern California. Does that mean that those whites are no longer considered prejudiced? Are whites in Africa not prejudiced, but the blacks then are? Is that just sheer ignorance or what?
In truth, there is much more prejudice and hatred in black communities than in white ones being “justified” by perceived (correctly or incorrectly) injustices. Do these people realize there were white slaves way back when, too? Do they rejoice and appreciate the fact that it is whites who have tried to stop slavery by civil wars and combating it politically? Do they understand that most slaves were put into slavery by other blacks and Arabs, and not whites?
You see, we all have the tendency to stick with our own crowd. It is not anyone’s fault. It’s just a matter of fact amongst us humans and birds. These riots under the guise of protests, I fear, are only going to get worse if we don’t remember we are all the same inside. All created by God as family.
Barry Groat
Schenectady
Obamacare will not survive challenges
For all the unfortunate souls that are experiencing the reality of the Affordable Care Act (in the form of the penalties for not having health insurance in 2014), there is some good news.
1) At the point in your tax return, when you are asked if you had “approved” health insurance in 2014, simply check yes. The IRS has already announced that they will not be auditing the response to this question.
2) If you are reluctant to check yes when the actual answer is no, simply fill out the form that states you are an illegal alien. Illegal aliens (aka, undocumented workers) are specifically exempt from any penalties under the ACA (aka Obamacare).
3) If neither of these options are acceptable, please be advised that the ACA legislation does not provide for any method of collecting the “penalty,” other than to deduct it from your refund. If you are not due a refund, you are immune from the penalty.
4) If none of the above is palatable, citizen criminals should just accept the penalty and wait until June. At that time, the Supreme Court, by virtue of finding the Obamacare state subsidies contrary to the written words of the legislation, will effectively make the law unworkable and Obamacare will collapse under the lies upon which it is based.
Even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, sober or not, will not be able to find that what is plainly stated and intended in the ACA is not there — and is to be ignored — as Obama has done to most other provisions in his, and the Democratic Congress’, most corrupt legislation.
Mike Blyskal
Ballston Spa
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