Not putting stock in pope’s climate stance

Not putting stock in pope’s climate stance

Re June 20 article, “Locals: Pope’s climate message breath of fresh air”: So the pope embraces the belief that climate change and global warming is man-made.

I would feel a lot better about the pope’s comments if he had allowed opposing views to this position to be presented at the climate summit in April in Rome sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Anyway, the old Baltimore Catechism that I studied years ago taught that the pope is infallible only when he speaks ex cathedra. I don’t think climate change fits that category, so I am not sure what value his opinion has other than as an individual. I’m sure he is a holy man, but I see nothing in his background about his study of science.

Besides, historically the Catholic Church’s positions on scientific matters aren’t particularly stellar.

Remember that Galileo’s advocacy of the Copernican position that the Earth revolves around the sun that resulted in an Inquisition process against him under Pope Urban VIII that imprisoned him until his death.

I hope that those who worship at the altar of man-made climate change like our president don’t reinstitute the Inquisition for those of us who are doubters.

After all, remember that the high priest of the movement, Al Gore, said on Dec. 14, 2008, that the “Entire north polar ice cap will be gone in five years.”

The north polar ice cap is actually thicker.

William F. Malec

Galway

Escape investigation waste of taxpayer $$

The latest Cuomostupid.

He is launching an official New York state investigation into what went wrong at Dannemora. In other words he will spend millions more on top of the more than $1 million per day the manhunt is costing to find out the following:

1) Guys murder people.

2) Guys put in prison.

3) Guys want to break out of prison.

4) Guys sweet talk prison employee.

5) Guy or guys bed prison employee.

6) Prison employee brings guys tools to escape.

7) Guys agree to kill prison employee’s husband.

8) Prison employee agrees to be escape driver.

9) Prison administrators get info something is wrong.

10) Prison administrators find weapons in prison.

11) Prison administrators want to search entire prison but are told no money for that.

12) Prison administrators do not search cells of escapees.

13) Guys escape.

14) Prison employee gets cold feet.

15) Guys head to woods.

16) 800 good guys on overtime search for escapee guys.

17) Prison employee arrested for break out and maybe murder plan.

Money is flying out of state coffers to pay for Cuomo’s latest mess. Let’s see how close I am to the official findings. And my investigation is free.

John Metallo

Slingerlands

Don’t fabricate phony examples of racism

Perhaps someone can explain to me why in all the reporting on the government’s use of mustard-gas experiments there is no mention that “white enlisted men were used as scientific control groups.” Their reactions were used to establish what was “normal,” and then compared to the “minority troops.”

The NPR announcement about Karen Graham’s research reports with legitimate distaste and horror the using of humans for this type of research. Apparently the reason for the experimentation was that the military was afraid that chemical warfare would be used in World War II as horribly as it was in World War I. No excuse, really.

On the television news, I again heard that three minority races were used for these tests, with no mention that white soldiers were involved in fairly equal numbers. On the NPR website, in a declassified document “number OEMcmr No 103,” the title and summary begin with “Drop tests were performed on 40 whites and 39 nisei (Japanese-Americans) volunteers for their sensitivity to mustard gas and lewisite.”

The document continues, noting the sensitivity of the back as compared to the buttocks, stating that in “25 percent of the white volunteers the buttocks were less sensitive than the back.” I find it interesting how this newly discovered information is sent out to the media. There seems to be a suggestion that white lives don’t matter when one is trying to prove racism by the military.

There is enough real institutional racism in America without making a case of inhumane experimentation another instance of actions taken solely against minority races. We need to work with all people, all races, to root out the hidden and the not-so-hidden areas of racism, not make up new ones because of selective reporting.

I am disappointed in this NPR reporting and in other stations for not doing any research on the topic. It was fairly easy to find out that “white volunteers” were also involved.

Janice Walz

Scotia

Dutch can be resource for flooding solutions

Wasn’t Schenectady settled by the Dutch? Are not the Dutch world renowned for building dikes and flood protection?

Why not explore the possibility of protecting the whole Stockade area by installing a seawall that can be raised for the winter to protect against ice jam flooding, or when needed at the prospect of a summer flood? No doubt it would be expensive, but when all costs associated with the ugly prospect of individuals raising houses and destroying the uniqueness of the area piecemeal, plus the cost of flood insurance and rebuilding that could be reallocated to the project, it might be the best option.

Of course, it would help if there were a coordinated effort by the entire watershed to slow down water. This includes the upper reaches of the tributaries where it is so important to recharge groundwater, not speed up the “disposal” of precipitation.

In the particular instance that I am familiar with in Galway, the Gloweegee ultimately flows to the Hudson River. But why is Saratoga County wasting taxpayer money digging out ditches where there has not been any flooding problem just so water can flow faster in their “pretty” ditches?

It seems to me that we can come up with a better solution that in the long run will protect more for less. Who is looking at the big picture? If people here can’t see a solution, maybe ask the Dutch.

Andrea Loft

Galway

Woerner has conflict on tax credit issue

A wise old pol was want to say, “If you wanna beat a dog, you can always find a stick.”

So it goes with the Parental Choice in Education Act, legislation enjoying support across a broad spectrum of diverse interests including organized labor, leaders of Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran and other faith communities and, by a significant 66 percent to 30 percent margin, the general public.

The legislation would, in part, allow a $500 state income tax credit for families earning under $60,000 whose children attend parochial or private schools. In its current form, it would also offer defined tax credits to individuals and corporations who donate to public schools, or to scholarship programs for low and middle class students to attend private and parochial schools.

So how to beat this dog without alienating key constituencies? For Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner it is a simple matter of pinning the “Wall Street” label on it and flailing away.

So on May 26, the glossy piece of political mail arrived.

It features a smiling Assemblywoman Woerner and invites me to thank her “… for OPPOSING Albany’s New Tax Giveaway!”

And, it salutes Woerner for: “Saying No To This Shady Giveaway,” by “Standing Up To Wall Street and The Wealthy.” Could this be the same Assemblywoman Woerner who is also vice president and general manager of a division of The Wall Street Transcript, which sells “products” to the same “… billionaire friends…” of the governor?”

And what of the emails from her office stating unequivocally that she favors an ”up or down vote” on the statute and that “regional set-asides” to provide “equity for schools upstate” would be “more palatable?”

Lew Benton

Saratoga Springs

Foss nailed it on pay for lawmakers, pot

Are you kidding me? Part time legislators receiving $79,500 and yet, they want more — for what?

How many hours are they putting in? How much good have they done? What is this pay commission? What are they getting paid? How come downstate makes the rules to benefit them more than upstate? It’s business as usual. You pad my pockets and I will pad yours. Remember this at the next election and clean house.

Also, why are we letting our people get killed catching drug smugglers (marijuana) and letting our people produce it? Big business as usual. Sarah Foss hit the nail on the head.

James Maxfield

Scotia

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