NRA is finally getting the country it wants

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NRA is finally getting the country it wants

Congratulations to the National Rifle Association; you now have the America you want.

Any unhappy person (sexually frustrated, religious extremist, mentally unbalanced) can legally purchase an assault weapon and pick their target of choice: an elementary school, a middle school, a college campus, a military base, a movie theater, a nightclub.

And thank you, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre for finally convincing me through these examples that this is just what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.

God bless America: home of the brave and land of the … free of common sense.

Norrine Thompson

Ted Thompson

Niskayuna

People are so tired of government secrecy

Re June 6 article, “Saratoga DA tapped as special prosecutor in McCarthy matter”: Why stop with the mayor?

I think that if there is going to be an investigation into what happened on May 19 with Mayor Gary McCarthy and Sarah Dingley and why proper police procedures weren’t followed, there should also be an investigation into what happened with Office Aaron Zampella. (Can you say, “case closed” way too fast?)

This thing with the mayor stinks out loud of a coverup. But so do the events that occurred with Mr. Zampella and yet another suspicious lack of a Breathalyzer test or any real explanation for why he would speed away from one of his fellow officers — who probably would have only made sure he got home safely (bad decision, my …!). Instead, the robotic spokesman for Schenectady Police Department, Lt. Mark McCracken, gave an almost identical answer to reporters in both instances.

I am also disappointed in Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett. He was originally appointed to his position in an attempt to clean up the Schenectady Police Department mess.

Not much has changed, apparently. You can’t answer questions with nonanswers and expect people not to wonder what the truth is. We pay your salaries. Man up or move over. People are tired of secret government.

Ken Kimball

Schenectady

Men: Man up and get healthy, see doctor

Around the world people are celebrating June as Men’s Health Month. It is also Men’s Health Week, a special awareness period recognized by Congress, which ends on Father’s Day, June 19.

Men’s Health Month is built on the pillars of awareness, prevention, education and family.

Men’s Health Month is credited with the increase in wellness activities for boys. Men’s Health Month is the time to encourage men to make prevention a priority. Many health conditions can be prevented or detected early with regular checkups from your health care provider. Regular screenings may include blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, prostate health and more.

Did you know that women are 100 percent more likely than men to visit a doctor for annual exams? Recognizing and preventing men’s health problems is not just a man’s issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.

As we prepare to celebrate Father’s Day, I encourage all men to recognize the importance of seeking preventative, timely and appropriate medical care. Let all of us — both men and women — remain mindful of the important role preventative medical care, daily exercise, a balanced diet and refraining from smoking can have in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

Ladies, this Men’s Health Month encourage the men in your life to eat healthy, exercise daily and visit the doctor for regular checkups.

Are you ready to man up and schedule a doctor’s appointment this June?

If you do not have health insurance, the Cancer Services Program of Fulton, Montgomery and Schenectady Counties (CSP) may be able to assist you with some of these annual screenings. CSP provides free mammograms and pap tests to eligible women 40 and older, and colon cancer screenings to eligible men and women 50 and older. For more information, please call 841-3726.

Suzanne Hagadorn

Amsterdam

The writer is the Health Education & Promotion coordinator for CSP of Fulton, Montgomery and Schenectady Counties.

Police need sidewalk law for alcoholics

I support the Saratoga Springs sidewalk law. The police need tools to deal with the homeless. Baltimore, Md., has a similar law. I am sure many cities do. The mentally ill can be taken to a hospital for evaluation and an intake to determine eventual medication.

The alcoholics are another matter. If they do not want to stop drinking, you cannot force them.

Years ago, I rented a room on Saratoga Lake to a guy and his girlfriend. She paid for the room. She worked. She owned the car. The guy was an alcoholic. He spent his days drinking. He was so disruptive that I asked him to leave. He moved back in with his parents. The following year, he was sober and by himself. I re-rented him a room.

The year after that, he was drinking again. His father told me his son had been arrested in downtown Saratoga Springs for being drunk and disorderly and was in jail. He said he was happy he was in jail because he couldn’t get into trouble.

The father said it was like living with a nightmare. He told me that he and his wife didn’t drink, and that their son was adopted. His tendency to drink was likely genetic.

Dick Vale

Schenectady

Is country on wrong path, or is it a dream?

I had a dream: a bad dream. Like most bad practices in human events, it started looking all roses.

I dreamed we were living in a “to each according to his need — from each according his ability” regime administered by the government. Everyone had a job where he pretended to work and they pretended to pay him. All productive citizens got enough to meet their needs, but not much more than that.

Our neighbor’s son was an artist who didn’t take a job. So in the eyes of the government — with only his works of art — he didn’t produce much, so he didn’t get much. And the people in that town didn’t have any money above what they needed to live on. So he sold very few of his paintings, which weren’t that good, and largely lived off of his mom and dad.

And there is that upstart in our group who thinks if he produces more than anyone else, he will get more. So he hustles around and makes the rest of us look like pikers. But he still doesn’t get ahead because he hasn’t found out that it is more important to join the party than to produce more.

He talks of going to some far-off land and starting an enterprise of his own. But of course, that opportunity died with America and the establishment of our one-world government.

I dreamed that when I am getting older, my mounting medical expenses and a need for life-sustaining treatments will make my “to each according to his need” very large, while my “from each according to his ability” will be very small. Will they still provide according to my need? Am I having realizations of the dark side of “from each according to his ability to each according to his need?

Is this a preview of where this country is headed or did I actually just have a bad dream?

At this point, what difference does it make?

Lawrence King

Schenectady

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Categories: Letters to the Editor