Letters to the Editor for Thursday, May 9

PHOTOGRAPHER: Letters to the Editor

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Cuomo sides against New Yorkers in NRA

I’m embarrassed to say I’m from New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo welcomes illegal immigrants, but thinks I (a lifelong resident) don’t belong here because I’m an NRA member.
David Denison
Galway

Give Lyme disease attention it deserves

There seems to be an inordinate amount of attention lately in the media over the recent “outbreaks” or “epidemics” of measles in the United States.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just over 700 cases of measles have been reported in the United States so far.

Blame is being placed on unvaccinated Jewish Orthodox communities, and schools in many of these communities have been closed.

When I look up the CDC statistics on fatalities for measles, I found that about one in 10,000 cases of measles results in a death, usually from complications from additional factors.

That’s a fatality rate of 0.01 percent, one-hundredth of 1 percent.

Compare that to the rampant spread of Lyme disease, which is getting virtually no media coverage.

The CDC estimates about 300,000 cases of Lyme annually, numbers which actually may be greatly underreported.

Lyme, once established in a patient, can have debilitating consequences for years. Treatment for Lyme is still almost non-existent.

Try and find a doctor who will aggressively treat an embedded tick bite with 10 to 14 days of an antibiotic. They are very difficult to find, as most adhere to the CDC guidelines of one dose of doxycycline for a tick bite.

Why is there such a created panic over measles, which is over in a couple days, and almost no concern over Lyme, which has expanded to all 50 states and is truly a real epidemic?
James Shear
Glenville

Calling Duci “gritty” was a compliment

In Steven Cook’s April 29 Daily Gazette article (City’s longest-serving mayor dies), I was quoted as using the adjective “gritty” to describe Frank and the people of Schenectady.

Some readers might be unfamiliar with the definition of “gritty,” so please let me explain. The word sounds much different than what it means.

“Gritty” is defined as “showing courage and resolve” or “tough and uncompromising.” Like John Wayne’s character, Rooster Cogburn, in the movie “True Grit,” Frank Duci also showed “true grit.” Frank grew up in the Depression and had to be tough and determined to get through those hard times, as his father died when Frank was just 12 years old. Frank often told me of the odd jobs he took to help his widowed mother, Nancy.

Whether it was working those odd jobs, getting through school, serving in the U.S. Navy or representing the city he loved as a county legislator, city councilman or mayor, Frank demonstrated “courage and resolve,” the likes of which we rarely see. Later in life, on the political battlefields, Frank could appear “tough and uncompromising” as he fought for what he believed was best for the citizens of Schenectady, who, like him, worked hard to make a living and fought for our nation and its ideals. Frank’s determination and resolve, often against all odds, was a most admirable trait of members of our “Greatest Generation” who won a world war and transformed our nation. I hope readers understand that my use of the term “gritty” was meant as the highest form of compliment.
Michael Cuevas
Schenectady