Smoking ban a sign of things to come
The April 22 Gazette article (“No ifs, ands or butts about new policy”) on a smoking ban in Saratoga Springs public housing shows what we may all face if the government succeeds in becoming the single provider for health care in the United States.
All aspects of our public and private lives will be controlled to protect our “health and safety.”
The ban in Saratoga Springs, which includes e-cigarettes (not a health threat), will likely expand as the U.S. Department of Housing Urban and Development (HUD) is now looking at a national ban.
Please consider where all this is heading. We are losing our personal freedoms in larger and larger increments.
David LaSpaluto
Middleburgh
Pipeline opponents did whatever it took
It was a long and difficult struggle trying to convince our elected representatives at the next levels of government that any additional pipelines running through Schoharie County, as well as bordering counties, were nothing but a detriment to our residents and also unwarranted.
I wish to thank the handful of county supervisors, as well as our local activists, for all the support given over recent years to defeat what was being proposed by Kinder Morgan, which has just recently surrendered its efforts to build a pipeline that would have served as nothing but a tool for export.
In addition to this encouraging news, the Constitution pipeline has reached a major stumbling block with the state of New York.
There is a sense of great accomplishment shared by those of us who fought so feverishly on this issue. Now those residents that were scheduled to be affected by Kinder Morgan can breathe a sigh of relief.
While attending public hearings held by both pipeline companies, I was chastised by some individuals for my straight-forwardness in opposition to what was being proposed. While it is never easy to overcome issues of this nature, one must be willing to fight for the best interest of those you represent, no matter what it takes.
Gene Milone
Schoharie
Conservative voters being fed falsehoods
I never cease to be astonished by the degree of vitriol expressed by self-described conservatives toward fellow Americans that don’t share their world view. Their letters are often a mish-mash of name calling, Bible babble, and misinformation culled from conservative media sources.
One such letter that recently appeared in this paper caught my attention when it characterized Common Core as a “leftist” initiative, a statement that is clearly not true.
The origins of Common Core are secondary and elementary school curriculum guides that were authored by William Bennett, Ronald Reagan’s secretary of education. These guidelines were published by the Department of Education in 1987 and 1988. Common Core standards are also deeply rooted in the No Child Left Behind Act, a bipartisan initiative signed into law by George W. Bush in 2002.
Repeating something doesn’t make it true, but it proves the effectiveness of the endless hate talk that pollutes our airways and informs conservative audiences. A torrent of half-truths, exaggerations and fear mongering damages minds already weakened by resentment and bigotry. By design or otherwise, conservative media is a very effective propaganda tool that purposely fuels hostility toward critical thinkers and the unindoctrinated.
Many who profess to be conservatives don’t seem to understand that by doing so, they support positions on issues such as consumer and labor protection laws, health care, Social Security and taxation that are contrary to their own interests.
They appear to be unaware that they are being played by political opportunists and media hucksters who profit from stoking their fears.
George Milner
Mechanicville
Categories: Letters to the Editor
