More can be done to stop bridge collisions

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More can be done to stop bridge collisions

I have to agree with Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle when he says “There has to be something more that can be done.” I also agree when he says that more warning signs are unlikely to reduce the accidents.

Think garage door openers. A very simple laser system stops a garage door when a laser beam is interrupted. A similar system installed at an appropriate distance and height from the bridge(s) could be wired to trigger a series of bright strobe lights affixed to the bridge, thus warning an attentive driver. Maybe add a siren for the inattentive driver.

I feel certain appropriate hardware is available at a reasonable cost.

Marc Duquette

Glenville

Whining protesters fear loss of privileges

Post-election stress disorder: Make no mistake about it, the young men and women who are protesting Donald Trump’s election are children of the anti-authoritarian society. They are upset and fearful that the new political order will impose law and order, which will interfere with their demonstrations of anarchy.

They are fearful that their entitlements will be scrutinized and curtailed. They are used to behaving irresponsibly in the name of “freedom” and unaware of the license they have taken. They know nothing about the Constitution or about the Founding Fathers of their country. They hoot and holler, destroy private property, stomp on and burn the American flag, and spew four-letter words with abandon.

Their parents and grandparents were part of the 1960s “sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll” transformation of the United States, eliminating the last vestiges of the authoritarian family and ushering in the antiauthoritarian family. They are heirs to the white intellectual liberal and black race mongering redneck coalition that has helped impose the fear of political correctness that has been called out by Donald Trump and embraced to the tune of 306 electoral votes by much of working- and middle-class Americans.

Donald Trump’s persona represents the authority that is reviled and feared by these leftists. They fear taking charge of their own lives and pursuing the opportunities they still have living in a free society.

They harbor a poorly disguised desire to be taken care of by society because they are emotionally too irresponsible to care for themselves. They are full of disdain for the police who risk their lives to protect them and others. They often break the law and choose to side with criminals. They justify their actions, through the morality of political correctness, as a “moral right.”

They would rather put their energy into protesting social causes, mesmerized by leftist ideologues, than focus on what they can do, in a land of unparalleled freedom and opportunity, to improve their lives.

George Hughes

Burnt Hills

New York needs to split electoral votes

Many contributors are writing to the Daily Gazette criticizing the Electoral College. They point out that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2 million votes.

The Democrats have long been knowm for voting for the dead. What about the illegal immigrant vote?

Even though one of the requirements for voting is to be an American citizen, I believe there is a good chance that many illegal aliens voted for Clinton. What a recount mess this would be. Also, Donald Trump won 33 out of the 50 states. Candidates campaign to win states and not to see who can get more popular votes.

I wrote a Letter to the Editor (Sept. 2015) pointing out how “winner-take-all” doesn’t work for New York state, one of the 48 states that allocates its electoral votes this way. Democrats have now won all of the New York’s electoral votes since the presidential election of 1988.

Seven of the 10 upstate electoral districts voted Republicans into the House of Representatives, and these districts — given Trump’s coattails in the election — undoubtedly would have voted for Trump in the general election.

Maine, which divides its grand total of four electoral votes, got plenty of attention from the presidential and vice presidential candidates prior to the election. Upstate New York got none.

It’s about time New York state goes the way of Maine and Nebraska and allocates its electoral votes in a more democratic way so that upstate voters can get more attention and be heard in the general election.

George Brougham

Schenectady

Thanks for spotlight on clean water fight

Thank you, Daily Gazette for your Nov. 22 front page coverage of The UAlbany coach, Scott Marr, and lacrosse athletes Bill O’Brien and Lyle Thompson, who made the trip to the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota to lessen tensions there.

Thank you especially at a time when most other news organizations are giving scant attention to this abuse of power by official forces on behalf of dirty energy. CNN has said that there are also veterans who are traveling to Standing Rock, deploying in peace, to stand with the water protectors.

Officialdom using violent means against peaceful and prayerful demonstrators who are concerned for the climate and drinking water is where the country is at — bullying at the highest levels on behalf of dirty energy. And we wonder why bullying is a problem in schools?

Look at the example. Water cannons deployed in freezing temperatures against people without weapons? Tanks, bulldozers and concussive devices able to ruin the ability of people to hear? Rubber bullets shot indiscriminately into a crowd? Pepper spray at close range? How is this “protecting and serving” the public?

It seems to me that the rape of resources belonging to all life in favor of the profits of a dirty energy industry goes against our constitutionally protected rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and that the official servers and protectors need to re-examine their service. None of us are “we” or “they” when it comes to our need for clean water to live.

If I could pin a medal on The Daily Gazette for its journalistic honesty in this case, I would.

Joanne Mann

Rotterdam

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Categories: Letters to the Editor