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Paint Guns For Those Who Pass Buses

I applaud the idea of extra police efforts to apprehend those drivers that pass school busses loading and un-loading students. There are too many problems in making positive IDs on those drivers from inside a bus and overtaking vehicles in the crowded traffic situations.

A simple solution: Mount a paint spray gun on the side of the bus below the bus driver's window. This gun will operate ONLY if the red lights are flashing on the bus and the driver would deposit a bright line of school bus yellow, on the side of the passing car. No excuse available when the driver is pulled over!

Positive identification! The car's owner is responsible for that vehicle so even if he/she was not driving at the time, the car was used in a crime.

Anyone want to bet on the chances of any school board adopting this?

Walt Hackett
Saugerties


Could Rail Trails Just Be Gentrification?

Several letters have been written about the proposed scrapping of railroad track along the Ashokan Reservoir to develop a "world-class rail trail." The most recent argument is the trail would bring in revenue for the county.

I am for rail with trail, but before investing in trail alone, we might think it through.

First, the rail-to-trail movement has its problems, being highly political, with land conservancies and government money invested. The original plan for rail to trails was to land bank, with the possibility of using the routes for future train use in the event it were needed. Additionally, some 8,000 private landowners are in litigation for reclaiming property. We have great local rail trails, albeit not "world-class," developed in our area that didn't need millions.

Advocates cite statistics about tourism revenue, but most are reported by the rail-to-trail group. I have spoken to many vendors locally who have not benefited from local traffic on the trails that exist.

The argument of saving money by trails also is perplexing to me as I wonder about upkeep costs and security. Perhaps the desire for trails is for local recreation and not about tourism at all.

It feels like gentrification to me, along with unknown costs. Ask the locals if they might rather have government money help stimulate our local economy or repair infrastructure.

Dan Paashaus
Cottekill


Doesn't Think Pete Seeger's Worthy...

I have read that Pete Seeger was a self-proclaimed communist as far back as the 1950s and 1960s and that he had reiterated it again in 2010. Do we really want to be naming bridges, roads buildings or anything else, especially the Tappan Zee bridge, after a communist?

He flaunted the first amendment of the constitution of the United States for being able to speak out in defense of cleaning up the Hudson River, for which he was a strong advocate and which I strongly supported — but didn't that make him a hypocrite?

Why not pick one of our brave military heroes and name the bridge after him or her? They have died for our country, not just for the Hudson River.

Bill Griesbeck
Claryville


Let's Get A Handle On The Heroin Epidemic

The increasing magnitude of heroin use and its far-reaching effects is serious. The epidemic is true throughout the U.S., in towns and cities of all sizes.

Addiction is a "disease" as defined by the American Medical Association. I know this personally because, tragically, I lost my 23-year-old son to this disease. His hometown was Hurley, NY. My son had been in treatment in Kent, Conn., for three months before transitioning to a sober living home in Torrington, Conn. He died there just three days later. What I have come to learn since, about his sober home and the industry at large, has horrified me. In his honor, www.SafeSoberLiving.org has been founded to help those still climbing the mountain of recovery each day.

There are many important steps to sustained recovery. Safe sober living homes are one. These facilities are meant to provide people with an opportunity to recover in a safe environment, to transition away from their dependency and triggers, and then to rebuild or maintain productive lives. Sober home regulation must therefore be one of the top priorities on the list of conversations concerning addiction.

We have allowed sober homes to go under the radar with little oversight and virtually no regulations. A broader scope of regulations is needed to protect those in recovery. While there are some well-run sober homes, the reality is that there is a proliferation of dangerously unregulated homes.

Regulation is an action that can be clearly and decisively taken, now. This is a tangible goal that will affect millions. The United States of America regulates whether an apple can be labeled organic. How can we not take action to put into place regulations that protect those already deemed in need by the American Disabilities Act?

Please join Safe Sober Living in being a part of the solution.

Elizabeth Shults Berardi, Founder
Safe Sober Living
New York


Republicans Are Being Snubbed By Minorities!

Republicans are often told they will need to cater to minority populations to succeed. But that doesn't always work.

On one of the talk shows, a black commentator stated, "Gov. Romney could have won if he had more of a message."

"What type of message?" asked the host, "One that stated our country can have universal health care, and each participant can keep his own doctor and his own health care plan, if he wanted to, and this nation under his leadership was moving forward, and would not return to the actions of the past"?

The commentator replied, "Well, at least Mr. Barack Obama had a trustworthy message that the people could and would believe in, compared to Mr. Romney's nonmessage."

The conservative guest stated that unlike the president, Romney went to the Atlanta NAACP meeting and talked about black enterprise zones, charter schools and tax breaks for families working to maintain the family structure. Romney probably expected to receive more than the usual 5 percent of the black vote; instead, in some districts he received none.

Some black voting districts in Philadelphia and Cleveland, as confirmed by CNN, voted 19,257 for the president, zero for Romney, and in the latter, 17,853 Obama, again zero for Romney. Black leaders said, "This is a fine example of voter preference, not racism."

Also, Democrats say that there is no need for voter ID. But in Ohio, one woman voted six times for Obama, stating, "It's my right to vote for my president."

Jim Allen
Middletown


Interfaith Means Sensitivity In Criticism...

I have read some just criticism of many Christians for being "last" to ally themselves with some needy people and desperate communities, especially citing AIDS and civil rights. Such illustrations are apt and deserving, especially as they underscores how "some" were later than others.

But they might also cite how the Metropolitan Community Churches were fully alert to the AIDS crisis in the 1970s, and how the first young lunch-counter protesters in the late 1950s had just returned from a conference of the Student Christian Movement. They never mentions how black churches faced the civil rights issues.

However, in labeling such Christian latecomers as observers of a "comfortable, pharisaical ritual that gazes outward only to condemn," these critics fall back on a long discredited cliché, labeling an important group of Jewish leaders: Pharisees, the fore-runners of the early rabbinate of the Common Era. The New Testament offers a mixed report about Pharisees, some having been allies and protectors of Jesus, with few (probably none) of them involved in the final conflict in Jerusalem. There are reputable scholars who believe Jesus himself was a Pharisee, which makes his criticism of some Pharisees more credible, in the sense that Democrats are the more credible critics of other Democrats.

Especially during the upcoming period of Passover and Holy Week/Easter, it is incumbent upon us all to be sensitive to the way we address both ancient and modern issues. Pitts is very late in cleaning up his language if not his understanding of biblical history.

Albert R. Ahlstrom
Kingston


Politics Simply Keeps Reflecting Wealth

I'm shocked, shocked, that once again the state budget reflects the needs of — wait for it — wealthy campaign donors (even the dead ones) and non-taxpaying multinational corporations.

And my goodness, who could believe the awesome amount of bipartisanship that it must have taken to unanimously deny property tax relief to struggling homeowners; increase the largesse to bloated Wall Street traders; ignore hungry, homeless children; spurn New York City's mayor's offer to save all of us almost a half a billion bucks to pay for his pre-K program; give for-profit charter schools money that could have lowered our public school property taxes; blame local governments for state government's dysfunction; and — oh, yes — do all this damage with great pride and four-color, taxpayer-funded, postcard braggadocio. The boys in the Albany sandbox have done it again.

And all this in an election year. So imagine how much worse it could have been if they weren't up for re-election.

Think on all this, my fellow taxpayers, when you cash in your $19.95 "property tax relief" check ... and weep.

Gioia Shebar
Gardiner


More Thoughts About The SAFE Act...

There is a lot of information out about repealing the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act. Some times when an act like this is enacted, it is actually a good thing. In this instance, the passage of this act has focused a brilliant light on our government in Albany.

The SAFE Act decreases the number of rounds you can carry in a magazine. This act actually decreases the ability of a law-abiding citizen to defend himself should he suddenly be in a hostile situation. The members of the criminal element will, of course, ignore the law and carry as many rounds as the magazine will hold. The law-abiding citizen that is armed for self-protection is, therefore, limited by the law in his ability to respond to a serious violent attempt to take his life and/or the life of others.

So, who benefits from the passage of the SAFE Act. Correct! The criminal element of our society.

The law also wants every law-abiding citizen to declare and register whether he owns a specialized (assault) rifle. Do you care if your neighbor owns an assault rifle? Do you care if someone in the town of Ulster owns an assault rifle? Who is interested in knowing the location and owners of assault rifles? Correct! The criminal element of our society wants to know who owns them and where they are located.

Do you now see who benefits from the passage of the SAFE Act? Can we conclude that the criminal element has bought and paid for the state Assembly, Senate, and Governor's Office? Preposterous? Think it through carefully and see who the members of the state government have supported by passing this act.

What can we do about this?

Marlin Klinger
West Hurley


The Health-Care Debate Is NOT Over

Our president really outdid himself in the spirit of April Fools' Day this year. Magically, through the miracle of fabrication, he has declared that 7 million people have "enrolled" in Obamacare and that the "debate is over."

There have been at least two studies by prominent research management firms (McKinsey & Co. and the RAND Corp.) that have shown that only about 11 percent to 23 percent of those who have "enrolled" in Obamacare were previously uninsured. So even if you are gullible enough to believe on April Fools' Day that the 7 million is correct, probably only 1 million were actually uninsured.

The studies show that the rest are just shopping around to obtain individual coverage since their policies were either canceled or dramatically increased because of the Obamacare debacle. The president and his administration have touted that 46 million are uninsured and we must allow the government to take over our health-care system to "fix the problem" at the expense of the other 270 million insured.

In the delusional world of the president and his administration, the 1 million, which is only 2 percent of the 46 million "uninsured," rises to the level of "success" and the "debate is over."

The cost of this "success" ranges from $1.8 to $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years before the tax-penalty waivers, which will increase costs even higher.

Wait a minute: Wasn't the purpose of Obamacare to cover the uninsured or, was it to lower health-care costs; oops, Happy April Fools' Day.

Carmine DeRubeis
Monroe


Who Can Have Enough Of Miley Cyrus?

As a senior citizen in his late 80s, I have survived many hard knocks through the years, as many of that age who are still around have.

As a sensitive artist and lover of beauty and to finally see spring about to "spring" forth after a harsh winter, why do we, as regards the entertainment industry, have to be absolutely disgusted and revulsed by Miley Cyrus, a runner-up to Madonna and Lady Gaga. What have we come to?

I realize what "different strokes for different folks" means or, as Thoreau put, "we all walk to a different drummer."

But I have to force myself from reading such garbage in the newspapers. It's a free press and all that but I can't imagine what our Founding Fathers would think.

Robert Milroy
Rhinebeck


Suggests More Oversight Of Corporate Cheats...

Former Gov. Mitt Romney bemoans the 47 percent who do not pay taxes. It seems when the poor use the tax code to reduce the taxes owed, they are basically called moochers. But, when Caterpillar Corp. uses the tax code to reduce its tax burden ($2.4 billion since 2000), Sen. Rand Paul said it should be given an award for its tax strategy.

Corporations use the tax code to lessen their burden (one in five do not pay any tax) and then play states, counties and towns against each other to get tax relief, usually over decades, and then lament how much they are paying. They move their headquarters overseas, where they claim their profits and say all their losses were here in this country. In the last few decades, corporations have had their burden lessened in most states and localities and shifted to individuals. I have seen it here.

People like Mr. Romney and Sen. Paul should give us a break and applaud the poor for using the same tactics.

Don Mahar
Albany


All Of Us Deserve Protection

I agree with the letter writer who spoke to why the government should allow same-sex marriages. I agree that the government needs to protect all its citizens, and the right to marry the one you love should be all citizens' right.

While there are churches that condemn same-sex love as not from God, there are many other churches that understand God's love and God's mercy to be wider than we perhaps can even comprehend. We do not interpret Holy Scripture, God's word to us, based on one or two texts; rather, we speak to the overriding message of the word: that God has created and loves us, and desires a relationship with us, as we seek to be community for each other.

"God is about to do a new thing ... do you not perceive it?" Isaiah (43:19) asks. And many of us, as we faithfully look to reflect God's radical love for us, are always looking for ways to welcome, nurture and love all of God's children.

Patt Kauffman
Port Jervis



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