The views and opinions expressed in our letters section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hudson Valley One. You can submit a letter to the editor here.
Encounters with God & Susan Slotnick
“Remember those in prison as if you were there yourself.” (Hebrews 3:3)
I’ve been told by Susan Slotnick (and others) that whenever the word “God” appears in my writings, people stop reading. However, if you’re still here, this letter is not about God but Susan’s memoir Flight and her latest column, “Both sides now.”
I recently purchased Susan’s book after being invited to her home. Although I have written letters in response to her columns, we had never met in person before, despite Susan once expressing a desire to do so. (Because of our differences, I figured such a rendezvous would not go well.) However, our meeting was enjoyable, at least from my perspective, and I’m now reading Susan’s book. From her columns, I could tell Susan is a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, as well as a person of accomplishment who has used her talents in art and dance not only to dispel her personal demons, but to bring light to those living in the dark despair of prison life. Insight into the depth of that despair and the difficulties confronting Susan’s light-bearing mission can be gleaned from a story at the beginning of her book when Susan tells of a young prisoner confessing to her the heinous crime he had committed and Susan acknowledging, within her heart, that she had nothing to offer him except the gift of herself. Flight tells the story of Susan and how that gift proved to be enough.
Through her memoir, the reader learns how Susan became the person she is today. If compassion is defined as “so sharing in the suffering of others that one is moved to alleviate those sufferings,” then Susan’s sufferings – being mistreated as a child and being imprisoned by the emotional instability and abuse of authority figures in her life, as well as recognizing her own failures – have contributed to her becoming a compassionate person. After describing the pre-performance ritual of holding hands and dedicating the dance presentation to those dear to them, Susan writes that standing there, holding hands with her students, is “where I belong,” and notes that everything she ever did in her life “was a step into that room.” She also describes prisoners as fellow human beings, whose suffering includes being separated from their loved ones, “each moment of their lives a constant reminder of a bad choice.”
I recommend Susan’s book to anyone who reads her column, especially those inclined to use it to doodle upon or as a placemat when they eat or even as a lining for their birdcages. Her book will not cause those who dislike Susan’s beliefs to suddenly embrace them, but it will certainly help those who read it to understand why Susan holds her views, as it reveals the human being behind her columns. In fact, anyone who is content viewing Susan as merely the sum of her opinions will be less comfortable doing so after reading Flight.
And now to Susan’s column: Although I had written a long, blistering response to Susan’s “Both sides now,” after writing the above, it seems appropriate to forgo the lengthy blistering and simply offer the following: Despite her column’s unhinged, unfair and dehumanizing attacks against Donald Trump, I believe Susan is sincere in her resolve to assume responsibility for her biases and “see the perspective of the other.” For this reason, I encourage Susan to continue taking baby steps in the pursuit of this noble goal. During her journey, Susan should remember that the life experiences of “others” have also shaped their views and caused them to become the people they are today. Many of those experiences, for better or worse, may even include encounters with God and Susan Slotnick in New Paltz.
George Civile
Gardiner
Breaking mews
Cats’ bodies are their souls.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Opposition to 850 Route 28 project
As a resident of the Town of Kingston, I will be among those who are directly affected by the 850 Route 28 project and would like to express my concern with the town Planning Board.
My wife Diane and I moved into the area 30 years ago. Kingston was a much quieter place then. As you may have experienced, the growth of Kingston and the surrounding area over the years has caused a gradual yet perceivable increase in the overall noise level. Traffic and train noise is now ubiquitous. As such, it is hard, even in this rural environment, to “get away from it all.” Our state and local parks, forests and preserves provide a welcome respite and a chance to decompress from our active lives.
Fortunately, the Bluestone Wild Forest and a few other local preserves and meadows provide an environment where one can experience peace and quiet and have a chance to enjoy nature in our immediate area. After reading through some of the proposed 850 Route 28 project plans and various questions and concerns that have been raised regarding noise levels, it is apparent that the concrete fabrication business is by default a noisy one. Note that the 850 Route 28 project’s responses to the various noise-related questions are based upon an acknowledgment that additional noise will, in fact, occur even with proposed mitigations.
Today, the existing din from Route 28 is noticeable within the Bluestone Wild Forest. It is in the background, but still there. The identified noise sources (e.g., increased truck traffic, rock blasting, rock crushing/clearing, day-to-day cement fabrication) will only add to the existing noise level and will essentially kill the experience of enjoying the forest for the sanctuary it is. This is a quality-of-life issue. The 850 Route 28 project should not be allowed to proceed.
David M. Christi
Kingston
For the people by the people
Boggles my mind that this needs to be said: Welcome to AMERIKKKA. “We wish to retain not just our supremacy, but also our innocence. It is the challenging of our innocence that so outrages us.”
The United States is a contradiction. Its founding principles embrace the ideals of freedom and equality, but it is a nation built on the systematic exclusion and suppression of communities of color. Sounds about white. They made us pledge allegiance “with liberty and justice for all” every morning from ages 5 to 18, and then they got mad when “we” marched and demanded liberty, justice and equality for all.
With critical thinking being a difficult exercise for small minds, can we save some time and simply refer to “Constitutional Originalists” as racist m*therf*ckers? You know, so we know what the conversation will be. And of course, let’s not forget that the current GOP, they don’t see racism, any more than they see air. They’re grossly tone-deaf and dismissive of centuries of history and refuse to acknowledge how insidious and pervasive the issue truly is today.
When confronted with facts, they stick their heads in the ground like ostriches and simply refuse to acknowledge them. Every so often I see some clown rehashing the “Republicans ended slavery!” argument. So why are you defending Confederate statues as your history and heritage?
Oh, they do know racism exists; they just won’t acknowledge it, because they live in the white realm of denial. Keep denying a truth, and pretty soon it becomes their “truth.” They sicken me. Walking around your entire life with a bucket over your head or being part of that same system you claim to not be able to see – what do you call that? “Asshole” works for me.
Republican lawmakers now attack Critical Race Theory with an outrage that’s really nothing more than today’s faux white hysteria, which is full of lies, untruths and pure ignorance. The Republicans have been given a list of phrases to use on all occasions. This is one. Not one Republican can give a good definition or example of CRT. Some people fear ideas. Ideas are not the problem. Education is liberation; only fragile ideologies are afraid of education.
Yep, this is the new fearmongering that they hope will bring back suburban women voters. Don’t fall for their manipulation. It’s the Republicans’ new boogieman. Last time it was the Mexicans at the border. I reiterate, they’re attempting to use it to drum up white fear and grievance while hypocritically asserting that its purpose is to divide the country. Instead of saying “Critical Race Theory,” say “the truth about American history.” Then have ‘em explain why they don’t want that taught to anyone ever.
Basic history…sans the “gory” details…can still impress upon children from grades six to 12 how and why things happen. History in school (not university or college) has been so homogenized and made “pretty”…rather like Disney’s interpretation of Hans Christian Anderson’s tales…that the whole point of why it’s a messy world has been completely lost.
“The world is a wonderful place, darling. You’re going to have so much fun when you finish school.” Maybe we haven’t been taught “history” – err, just maybe, we’ve been taught “white accomplishments.” If America doesn’t start teaching what really happened and how it impacts on our society, there might be at least another hundred years of systemic racism.
A successful democracy requires the full participation of its citizens. Remaining vigilant against above negative efforts by one political party and rejecting any and all remnants recalling the racist past is not how we, as a nation, should go forward. It’s time for people to have the freedom to learn all of our American history, not just the parts that some have cherry-picked. Pour sunshine on all of it. You need transparency for a good democracy. Hiding the truth won’t make things better – and certainly won’t bring us closer to having “with liberty and justice for all.”
Worried about the truth causing mischaracterization of the USA? To paraphrase Bob Dylan: “The times, they need t’be changin’…”
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Extraordinary generosity
After 15 months of virtual fundraising activity, Diamond Mills hosted the 24th annual Boys & Girls Club fundraising live auction on May 21, 2021. The post-Covid crowd was pumped and all the items were enormously popular. In conjunction with the live event, we held a two-day virtual silent auction, which closed prior to the live activity. These combined events resulted in a huge, record-breaking success!
We are incredibly grateful to the Saugerties community, who month after month, year after year, come out to support our fundraising activities. Whether we are selling holiday poinsettias or rounding up teams and sponsors for our golf or bowling tournaments, Saugerties opens their wallets and their hearts. It is impossible to operate an organization like the Boys & Girls Club without tremendous community support. We would especially like to extend a huge thanks to the following corporate sponsors: Kiwanis Club, Markertek, Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, M&T Bank, Naccarato Insurance, Sawyer Motors, Sawyer Savings Bank, Town & Country Liquors and Ulster Savings Bank.
Additional thanks go to all the wonderful guests at our event, many of whom attend year after year to support our club. We are blessed to call you club friends and hope we will continue to count on your extraordinary generosity.
Sue Worthman on behalf of the Saugerties Boys & Girls Club
Response to Matt Rogers of New Paltz
I don’t disagree with anything you wrote in your letter included in the June 16 issue. I do have a few comments and queries for you regarding cyclists riding in and through villages and towns.
I am mostly a pedestrian, so therein lies my concern. I’m sure you are as frustrated as I am by cyclists who don’t obey traffic laws as required by VTL 1231, pursuant to which cyclists “must obey the rules of the road just as motor vehicle drivers do.” (NYS DMV Chapter 11, Sharing the Road) I assume you do so.
Unfortunately, many, many do not, putting pedestrians at risk. Too often cyclists do not stop at stop signs. Even more common are cyclists ignoring red lights. This is especially dangerous to pedestrians, particularly the elderly and those pushing children in strollers, who may be crossing the street at that moment, assuming they are safe. Modern bicycles can and sometimes do exceed the speed limit, especially in residential areas.
Would you be amenable to an addition to the VTL requiring every bicycle to have visible on their bike a registered license plate, as cars must? I think that is the one way to ensure accountability of the bicyclists who don’t obey traffic laws. If there is a different solution, I’d be interested to hear it. I am not preferring cars here. I am in favor of traffic cameras, but that’s another topic.
Stay safe on the roads and off.
Carolyn Simpson
Shokan
Victory in Woodstock for 5G activists
Last Thursday night, July 1, the Woodstock Planning Board rejected cell tower proliferator and 5G propagator, Crown Castle’s (“CC”) application to modify Woodstock’s town-owned cell tower. The packed meeting room broke into a standing-room ovation and loud cheering as everyone had been working on this issue a long time. Among our many efforts on this issue of defending ourselves against the 5G invasion happening nationwide, we had hired the best lawyer in the nation on telecom issues, Andrew J. Campanelli Esq., out of Merrick, Long Island. He has litigated 7,000 telecom cases over 28 years and has been 75% successful. He trains NYS elected reps to comprehend the complexities of Telecom law. We had Mr. Campanelli come to Woodstock and present to our Town Board. He was clearly proficient in laying out the legal strategy do deal with our particular situation. In our case, the Town of Woodstock owns the cell tower and leases it to the cell carriers. Not many towns own their cell towers. Because of previous Woodstock cell tower activists, it was resolved by the Woodstock Town Board that the cell tower would be of the stealth type disguised as a pine tree, called a “monopine.” That significant feature led to our ability to reject CC’s application because the additional equipment would “defeat the concealment element “of the stealth tower, a criteria for rejection proclaimed in the federal law called “Spectrum Act” section 6409 that deals with modifying existing cell towers. Mr. Campanelli has interceded on behalf of residents all over NYS and across the nation and has stopped cell towers in Saugerties and New Paltz recently also. Thanks to benevolent residents, we paid $8,500 dollars for Mr. Campanelli to analyze Woodstock’s zoning law, regarding wireless facilities and draft his recommendations to strengthen those codes. We have shared that expensive document with the towns and villages of Saugerties, New Paltz, Gardiner; the town and city of Kingston; and the towns of Hurley and Olive. Hurley was the only town to thank us thus far since December of last year. Now for Woodstock residents, our task is to lobby the Woodstock Zoning Revision Committee to incorporate the Campanelli analysis into Woodstock’s town code. To review the presentation by Andrew Campanelli Esq. and the decision by the Woodstock Planning Board rejecting Crown Castle’s application for 5G antennas, please visit : https://www.thetruthsayerswoodstock.com/news.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Actions speak louder than words
I enter the fray in support of George Civile’s two recent letters re: Israel and in response to the Women in Black’s denial and mistruths.
First off, it is so nice to know that the Women in Black stand vigil every Saturday in New Paltz. At least they have something to fill their calendars 52 weeks of the year.
Their denial that they are anti-Semitic flouts the commonly accepted definition, which is feeling or showing hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a cultural, racial or ethnic group. Why do they have an almost single-minded concentration on Israel while ignoring, for example, what is happening in Myanmar, where the government is systematically practicing genocide against the Rohingyas? Or their not focusing on Xinjiang, where the Chinese government’s actions against the Muslim Uighurs are described as genocidal? Not to mention Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan and about 26 other countries.
They do not see that their focus on Israel while ignoring the many real major immoral and brutal attacks on the world citizenry lays their specious claims of not being anti-Semitic to be as truthful as the Aryan Nations or Ku Klux Klan saying they are not white supremacists.
While the Women in Black can deny as much as they want that they are not anti-Semitic, their actions speak louder and reveals something abhorrent in their motivations.
Susan L. Puretz
Saugerties
NY State land “belongs to all of us”
It is bewildering why – when the world is burning – the New York State Department of Conservation, who tell us “State lands belong to all of us” and “Leave no trace of damage to our shared lands and waterways” at “one of the most popular gateways to the Catskill Forest Preserve,” seem so willing to leave it to the Town of Kingston Planning Board to determine the fate of the irreplaceable 3,000-acre Bluestone Wild Forest and its precious waterways, Pickerel Pond and Onteora Lake.
Without the DEC taking on this crucial and moral issue on behalf of all of us, the town’s volunteer Planning Board are increasingly stuck between a rock and a hard place, as for two years we opponents have made our case against the proposed polluting and inevitably damaging expansion of the 850 Route 28 industrial project. Predictably, we are up against the well-financed developer and slick attorneys who cleverly interpret many laws now outdated in the context of prioritizing the existential climate change which is upon us. By contrast, we volunteers and local non-profits are fighting to protect what belongs to all of us. Surely it is more than a small town should be solely responsible for. Is it not all of ours to ensure the consequences of further environmental destruction in this region do not materialize?
Of course, many complex contextual arguments apply on either side of this, but consider the negative effect on property values; or the many businesses, farms, orchards and restaurants who cannot find help; or the economics of diminishing this major natural asset; or the loss of the mental and physical health benefits of this region’s offerings for residents, visitors; and for income-generating tourism, preserving what we have in this special and unspoiled and beautiful place is of inestimable value for all of us.
Laws are inevitably and craftily being played up in favor of permitting this 850 project, which is entirely inappropriate here. Likely in 1997, when the DEC took on this unique Catskill Park, the permit limitations may have been right for that very different time. Thankfully, with no grandchildren, perhaps it is easier for me to call out the harm we’re doing if we don’t adapt for the sake of younger generations. Our accelerating climate crisis today demands change from our current short-sighted thinking in the context of this greater existential global threat.
Here’s to the town’s decisionmakers, along with DEC professionals, taking a firm stand for the principles to help protect this region over the next years and centuries. Let’s root for the values that will ensure conservation of this most treasured, natural, historic, archeological, recreational and environmental resource and for the NYS-DEC to take on the responsibility that rests now unfairly with the Town of Kingston alone, as this decision is one that impacts this region far and wide.
Jude Asphar
Woodstock
Spike in crime
I watched President Biden’s speech on combating the spike in crime. Once again, he blames it on guns. Sorry, but while there has been a spike in almost all types of crime, including murder, shooting, rapes, carjacking and knife attacks (how can that be caused by guns?), what has changed is how we deal with criminals. In over 25 cities and states run by Democratic governors and mayors, the rules have changed. Among the highlights: no bail for career criminals, convicted felons release early, closing jails while crime goes up, police told to ignore certain crimes (turnstile jumping and petty theft). Chicago police are told even if they see the perp, if they run, don’t pursue; and, of course, we have district attorneys who will not prosecute violations or reduce felonies to misdemeanors. What we have is the decriminalization of crime. If you break the law but the DA refuses to prosecute, is it still a crime? We won’t even mention riots, which are now mostly peaceful demonstrations.
So, Mr. President, the cause isn’t guns; it’s Democrats’ incompetence. Enforce the law, treat criminals as criminals and watch crime decrease.
John Habersberger
New Paltz
The big show?
Supervisor McKenna called for a special Town Board meeting to discuss the Crown Castle application regarding the installation of equipment, three 12-foot by 8-foot arrays, on the town-owned cell tower. This application, if allowed by the Planning Board, would have, as the Planning Board determined, undermined the original Planning Board resolution that limited the visual pollution the planned lattice tower would have created.
Although I believe the decision was in the purview of Planning Board and not on the Town Board, the calling of a special meeting might be a new approach on McKenna’s part in confronting and dealing with a problem. Who knows, the next step might be McKenna coming up with a viable solution, to among other town issues, the rubbish strewn about the Big and Little Deep.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Supporting Palestinian rights is not anti-Semitic
New Paltz Women in Black hold a vigil every Saturday on Main Street in front of Elting Library, from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. We stand for an end to all kinds of racism, including anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and white nationalism; for protection of the environment; for women’s equal rights, including the right to choose abortion; for LBGTQI equality; against US militarism and bullying of countries around the world (and our 800 bases in 70 countries); and for human rights over private profit everywhere.
This includes Palestine and Israel, where the indigenous Palestinian population has been and still is being driven from its homes and lands, subjected to second-class citizenship and oppressed by a brutal, degrading occupation that has lasted 73 years, not to mention Israel’s criminal blockade of Gaza, now in its 13th year.
International law recognizes the right of an occupied people to resist; if the Palestinians stopped resisting, they would disappear as a people overnight. It does not recognize the right of the occupying force – Israel – to steal Palestinian lands and homes and resources, build Jews-only settlements on occupied land, refuse to vaccinate the occupied population against Covid-19 – in effect, to try to eradicate the Palestinian people.
Were you shocked by the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, which wiped out an African American neighborhood? Israel carried out such massacres on 500 villages in Palestine in 1948, killing thousands and expelling 750,000 people from their homes; and it continues to destroy Palestinian villages and neighborhoods throughout the region.
Do you think redlining and discriminatory mortgage practices to prevent racial integration in the US were deplorable? In Israel and in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli government builds homes that can only be occupied by Jews. Because of these settlements, the dream of a two-state solution is dead. If you read the daily newspapers, you can see that the current unrest was ignited by Israel’s evictions of Palestinians from homes in Jerusalem, where their families have lived for generations, turning those homes over to Jews from Brooklyn.
Do you believe in religious freedom and separation of church and state? Israel invades mosques and other holy sites at will.
Do you believe that all people should have equal rights? In Israel, the law guarantees the right of self-determination only to Jews.
Israel’s right to exist is not being threatened. It has accords with all the major Arab countries and enjoys a lively trade with them and with the rest of the world, giving Israelis the highest standard of living in the region. But the right to exist of the Palestinians is at serious risk. Should they just shut up and submit to another 73 years of occupation, ethnic cleansing and degradation?
Until Palestinian refugees have the right to return to the land of their birth, there can never be peace. The refugees of 1948 and 1967, and their descendants, still living in squalid refugee camps throughout the region, must be allowed to go home.
Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian human rights must be called by the correct name: apartheid. The whole world can see this. Israel claims to speak for all Jews everywhere, but it does not speak for us, or for the increasing number of American Jews who reject Israeli human rights abuses and stand up for the rights of Palestinians.
Naomi Allen
New Paltz Women in Black
To Kingston Planning Board re: 850 Route 28 zoning change
As residents of Kingston, living in close proximity to the proposed zoning change you’re considering for the 850 Route 28, LLC, we ask that you do the responsible thing and consider not only the desire and wishes of the owner of that corporation, but the broad social and environmental impact the project will have on our community and adjoining land, preserved and put aside for our enjoyment and peace and mind.
New York State is clear in its State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) that requires “all state and local government agencies to consider environmental impacts equally with social and economic factors during discretionary decision-making.” Please do an independent environmental study that can be weighed on the SEQR scale to be certain this project adheres to its standards for the overall good of the Catskill community. Should the independent report find no significant environmental impact, we certainly won’t be happy if this project moves forward, but we can acknowledge that you’ve done your due diligence and taken the critique of this large-scale industrial project in the backyard of a forest sanctuary seriously enough to leave no stone unturned in making your decision.
Please do the right thing here. We trust that you will, and thank you in advance for doing so.
Jim and Joanne Savio
Kingston
The caring parent
We’ve seen many beautiful pictures of caring between a mother and her child. It’s truly special. Most parents who haven’t been hurt and confused from one thing or another from their past are usually able to express that pure kind of caring for their children, and the children often respond with similar affection. This is the beauty of caring and the positive effects of caring, at its best.
When I was about five years old, my mother needed to go to work to help with the family bills. This change of life was painful to me, but I did my best to get by. I remember hanging out in the backyard of my house after school, playing with the flowers and the bugs and creating games to pass the time.
But at a certain time each day, I’d go out to the street and gaze down the road. People were all coming out of the subway on their way back from work, and I knew that one of them soon would be my mother. I’d watch patiently until I saw her. But the moment I got a glimpse of her, I’d start running toward her as fast as I could. When I’d get pretty close, she’d start running to me, and I’d leap in her arms, and all life was good again. That’s a precious memory of mine, and I believe a great picture of the expression of love and caring.
Then there’s the caring that’s not so great. Anybody ever experience caring that felt like you were being choked? The term “smother mother” reflects a mother’s desire to micromanage everything in a child’s life, and usually causes a kid to freak out. Oy! You can bet that the mom had some weird childhood events. Now she’s acting out of fear. She’s scared of something horrible happening to her precious child, and will do her best to protect her child from any imagined negativity. Overbearing caring is to be avoided at all costs.
On the other hand, those who insist on parenting with no limits for their children, and have a “laissez-faire” attitude, may find that their attempts can turn out to be just as harmful as the “smother mother.” They both find themselves on opposite ends of a spectrum.
Take a few minutes to think about how you are as a parent. Where are you on the continuum between obsession and denial with regard to your children? Everybody benefits if parents take the time to question ways to be a better parent. The only down side is your kids might enjoy reversing the roles on you, and start encouraging you to take “time out” more and more.
The bottom line about parenting is that it’s not easy. In fact, at times it could be pretty tough. Just when you feel pretty good about how things are going with your kids, something may happen, and then all the best intentions no longer work. One attitude is to do your very best and then hope for the best. And be sweet to yourself, especially when parenting may not be going so well. My mother used to tell me that, since she was my mother, that she had every right to worry about me, if she felt the need. I tried to explain the difference between worrying about me and thinking about me. Worrying is basically praying for what you don’t want. You are focusing on negativity, and that cannot help. At the least it can cause the parent to make themselves sick. My mom unfortunately didn’t understand the difference between worry and thoughtful caring. And yes, she got an ulcer.
Another way of thinking to consider is to make a conscious commitment to do your best to pass on as few hurts to your children as were passed on to you by your parents. Most parents mean well, but nevertheless unintentionally pass on some values, attitudes and behaviors that really don’t serve the child well. Good parents make mistakes, but then actually learn from some of those mistakes. On occasion they might even say “I’m sorry” to their child. Good parents, in spite of those mistakes, continually show up and express deep caring for their children throughout their lives. They do their best and they keep expressing the wonderful quality of caring.
If you get the chance tonight, give your children a few warm hugs and let them know how much you care. It really makes a difference!
Marty Klein
Woodstock
Water costs up 323% over 18 years
Starting July 1, 2021, the cost of raw water (pretreated) that we purchase from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection will go up by 8.8 percent from last year. Over the last 18 years, this water has risen in price by 323 percent, or 8.3 percent annualized.
Fortunately, the Mohonk Preserve and NYC-DEP have been working to help New Paltz site local and permanent groundwater wells. Sourcing more water locally will save our community money to help fund repairs in our conveyance system and pay for our new $5.5 million water filtration plant on Mountain Rest Road.
New Paltz’s municipal water system serves the Village of New Paltz, Town of New Paltz water districts, SUNY New Paltz and our K-12 school district that serves students residing in eight municipalities.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Medicine, science triumph
Thanks to Steve Romine for your response to my letter about your anger at Americans for taking the Covid vaccines rather than other “proven” medical methods…really?
Where are the required case studies, from well-known labs, spending many millions in research (whoa…there’s profit in this, Mr. Romine), presented to the FDA with large, controlled double-blind studies (medicine vs. placebo), completely documented for approval in place of or in addition to vaccines?
Hundreds of millions of vaccinated Americans have become virtually immune, save for the more virulent strains here and there (but not here-and-there for the unvaccinated, as many new cases are from these new strains), making it a bases-loaded triple rather than a grand slam. New York is a very safe place. For us multitudes of the vaccinated, no masks and more freedom are now typical. Medicine and science triumph.
Mr. Romine stated significant deaths are caused by our vaccines: 6,133, to be exact. He quoted the CDC’s VAERS division (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). Yet, I quote from that very system:
“Reports of death after COVID-19 vaccination are rare. More than 324 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020 through June 28, 2021. During this time, VAERS received 5,718 reports of death (0.0018 percent) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine. FDA requires healthcare providers to report any death after COVID-19 vaccination to VAERS, even if it’s unclear whether the vaccine was the cause. Reports of adverse events to VAERS following vaccination, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem. A review of available clinical information, including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records, has not established a causal link to COVID-19 vaccines. However, recent reports indicate a plausible causal relationship between the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine and TTS, a rare and serious adverse event – blood clots with low platelets – which has caused deaths.”
The CDC on this adverse event stated deaths are one in 1,000,000. Logic and common sense show the vaccine to far, far outweigh not taking it.
Yet I digress from the main point. Mr. Romine has the right to present whatever figures are needed to justify his position. A minimal few are listening. This fringe means, fortunately, virtually nothing to us, the vast majority of citizens who are healthy and happy.
Might there be contraindications to the vaccine in the future? Well, again, I mentioned the polio vaccine to Mr. Romine; not a peep.
We finish by pointing out that his thinking is the belief that public safety mandates are imposed due to profit-minded lobbyists controlling government policies. Without these policies, we would quickly have countless deaths and grievous injuries as we abolish requirements for seat belts, biker helmets, vaccines, local speed limits, baby car seats, child labor laws, asbestos remediation, auto safety glass, electricians’ licenses ad nauseam, and that these very old and unoriginal lines of paranoia have no place in either the 21st century or, for that matter, in the universe of clear thinking.
Jay Brick
Willow
This letter comes with a health warning
…as should some recent letters in this paper. My warning is that readers should give no credence to the Covid-19 pseudo-science presented in previous letters, which has no reliable factual basis. As is often the case, supposed evidence referenced in these letters (one example of which comes from an author who uses a medical pseudonym) is invented or distorted to support the use of dangerous therapies that have not been adequately tested.
Ivermectin has not been shown to be an effective Covid-19 treatment, even in one of only a few reliable trials, which used a dose way higher than its approved safety level (this would amount to taking 20 3-mg tablets at a time, rather than the 3 mg required for anti-helminth treatment). The most reliable treatment uses monoclonal antibodies, and the most reliable data probably come from clinical studies in the UK (one of the few areas where the UK has done things well). If you need treatment for Covid-19, you should “ask your doctor if [monoclonals] are right for you”, to paraphrase the industry’s catchphrase. I could cite articles in respected medical journals and other reliable data analyses that contradict what I have read in Hudson Valley One, but I will cite only the CDC which, for all its serious misjudgments in 2020, gives accurate and detailed information at https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/antiviral-therapy/ivermectin/.
I am no shill for the pharmaceutical industry, nor for the so-called medical care industry unique to the USA, but I am qualified to judge scientific data concerning infectious diseases, which these letter writers, and the supposed experts and anti-vaccine organizations (masquerading as ‘safe vaccine proponents’) they cite, are not.
Regarding other issues raised by our Hudson Valley correspondents, the evidence is clear that proper masks properly used are very effective in reducing individual risk and community spread of Covid-19. It is also evident that the precautions imposed to reduce the spread of Covid-19 have also led to an astonishingly low incidence of seasonal influenza in several countries. Yes, estimates of when we might achieve the elusive concept of herd immunity, which has never been invoked for such a contagious disease, had to change as the incidence increased exponentially and more infectious variants emerged. Dr. Fauci was quoted as saying, recently, that “herd immunity is no longer a goal.” I think he might have preferred to say that herd immunity is no longer something we can contemplate.
Readers should be very clear that vaccines are the only way to contain this pandemic. One letter-writer clearly does not understand the complex Vaccine Adverse Effects Reporting System (VAERS). Over one-billion doses of different vaccines have been safely administered. The RNA-based vaccines are amazingly effective. The very existence of Antibody-Enhanced Disease is still disputed, even in the case of Dengue, which is the only viral infection for which it has been seriously invoked. As one of your authors accurately states, “The medical world is still evaluating…the potential for developing ADE after vaccination…” That is the way good science works; by regularly evaluating new data. Reliable estimates suggest that ten-billion people have already died from Covid-19, and an enormous amount of data shows that deaths among Covid-infected vaccinated people are extremely low. Did I really say Covid-infected vaccinated people? Of course! No vaccine is 100% effective and we have not faced a pandemic disease as transmissible as this one since 1918 (my grandfather and one of his brothers died in the second wave of that influenza pandemic).
The good news is that a large majority of our older neighbors in Ulster County have been vaccinated. Regrettably that is not true for the wider USA, and the consequences are becoming very clear. In the UK, the vaccine rate for the over-65 age group is close to 90%. In my workplace, the voluntary vaccination rate among all (~2,200) employees is over 90%. I’d like to attribute that to its mission statement “Science for the benefit of humanity”, and for its significant contributions to understand and develop treatments for Covid-19.
The bottom line is GET VACCINATED. If you don’t, you or one of your loved ones might die. This should not be an issue of individual rights; it’s a community responsibility.
George Cross
Woodstock