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.
Is Gardiner asleep to development?
First we had Heartwood, now known as The Wildflower Farm (the name lessens the impact) with their eco-cabins or glamping sites perilously close to the Shawangunk Kill. Now we have the Awosting Club, a work in progress on the banks of the Palmaghatt Kill. This private “wilderness Reserve is dedicated to preserving the natural and scenic resources of the Shawangunk Ridge while continuing its half-century commitment to its conservation and education-based community.” Give me a break, please! The father of the current developer wanted to construct 249 McMansions on the Awosting Reserve property. Locals defeated that proposal and it is now the Awosting Reserve, a part of Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The proposed luxury/rustic development of $300-a-night glamping platforms with modern conveniences and their own outhouses is precariously close to the Palmaghatt Kill. They are couching this development with educational offerings, junior ranger outdoor classrooms and Montessori programs. All of these offerings make this assault on the Ridge more palatable. But most of us know a development for what it really is — a development.
How did these developments pass Gardiner Ridge zoning, and why weren’t there extensive environmental reviews. Why did no real permitting, as a campground or a commercial venture in a fragile ridge zone send up some red flags??
We would like some hard answers from the Gardiner boards before the Ridge is further degraded. The Shawangunk Ridge is a very unique and fragile ecosystem and ecological boundaries don’t stop with preserved areas. Foothills are equally important for the ecosystem and wildlife.
There are no advocates for trees, streams and wildlife. We have to be continually vigilant to protect the Ridge and surrounds from rapacious and frivolous developments that serve so few and enriches others.
Annie O’Neill
Gardiner
The withdrawal from Afghanistan
I fully support President Biden’s decision to extract us from Afghanistan.
The 20-year war was not a Scrabble game. The end was bound to be messy, and the professional chaos-makers will be the first to point the finger. Then will come the ex-soldiers who want to promote their novels (I’ve read one such commentary in The New York Times) and the Republican presidential hopefuls who wish to promote their candidacies or prove their devotion to the former guy. The former guy grumbled the other day that he would have handled the end of the war better (just as he did the pandemic). Let us note that the evacuations are proceeding, that the international financial system gives us broad control over Afghanistan’s monetary reserves and that the Taliban are smart enough to know they no longer have a state to overthrow, but a country to govern.
The Taliban won because they played the long game. We had to leave their country eventually.
Afghanistan did not fall at the end because they laid siege to cities. It fell because the Taliban were busy anticipating the endgame. This spring they practiced what an 8/19/21 article in The New York Times described as “coercion and persuasion.” The Taliban “cut multiple surrender deals that handed them bases and ultimately entire provincial command centers.” They entered cities almost without any need to fire a gun.
What were we doing in Afghanistan? Revenge is never a good foundation for policy. Neither is that other essential American motivator: Let the insiders make as much money as possible for as long as possible. This was true for the warlords and the everyday Afghanis who served as police and military because there was no other way to work for a payday. At all levels, we paid indigenous mercenaries who served simply to make their buck.
The invasion of Iraq and the eventual destabilizing and restructuring of the Middle East, and the loss of many American and Iraqi lives, were premised on the greed of American oilmen and their related industries to grab the oil of Iraq, which they piggybacked on our invasion of Afghanistan. It was all destined to end in Hell.
War is Hell, and the guardian of Hell, Cerberus, had three heads. So did our own recent Cerberus: Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld, a/k/a The Decider/Halliburton’s Hustler/The Known Unknown. Bush could have had Osama bin Laden early in the war, but by that time his two puppet masters had their eyes set on Iraq, with Afghanistan an afterthought. Our Republican-led government lied our way into a second front, much to the surprise of the man they deposed, Saddam Hussein, who despised Al Qaeda – a feeling that was mutual. If you were too young to understand this lie, please look it up: Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11, and he had no weapons of mass destruction. Our Iraq invasion was premised on a lie.
Days after 9/11, the House granted wide latitude to President Bush to wage war against Afghanistan by a vote of 420-1. Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against invading Afghanistan. On the floor of the House, she stood to say, “[Let us] think through the implications of our actions today so that this does not spiral out of control.” She said, quoting the dean of the Washington Cathedral, the Rev. Nathan Baxter, “[Let us] not become the evil we deplore.”
President Biden, you have taken the necessary step. History will remember you well for having disengaged the United States from a moral and financial sinkhole. I fervently hope you aid effectively in the rescue of Afghanis who helped, and whose own sense of the possible had been broadened through their work. I fervently hope the raised hopes and expectations of Afghan women and men will change the facts on the ground within families and tribes, so that the Taliban’s medieval thinking is forced to make accommodations with the modern world. I fervently hope that the Taliban, now returning to power, will find surprising new ways to exist with the community of nations. Our ongoing, worldwide climate catastrophe requires no less of all of us.
For the men and women who served and died in Afghanistan, and their families, I mourn with you. I mourn the loss of life and limb; I mourn the dashed illusions of the nobility of war. On the ground, the shedding of blood is doubtless always accompanied by noble acts and the cementing of brother/sisterhood. But on the day after, while tallying the trillions wasted on a tragic loss of blood and treasure for the enrichment of the influential few, will we have awakened to a new day where our nation’s honor is determined not by the caliber of our guns, but by the actual and highest ideals of our nation’s character?
William Weinstein
New Paltz
Wasted space
It’s too bad that the old College Diner is being torn down to make room for a credit union. I was hoping for a nice breakfast place, since we have so many tourists and parents of college students visiting so often. I’m thinking of maybe a Denny’s or Perkins.
Tom Losee
New Paltz
My body, my choice
Many are vaccinated. Many are not. There are 26 states where the majority of people are not vaccinated. There are many reasons why people are refusing these experimental injections – perhaps because these injections are not true vaccines and do not give immunity to contracting the virus, nor do they prevent the transmission of the virus to others. They are experimental, because there are no long-term studies of the safety or side effects of genetic material (mRNA) being injected into humans.
Perhaps people believe that the government lies about things that result in death and destruction (like the lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq). Perhaps they mistrust the pharmaceutical companies that profit from pushing harmful products like OxyContin and Vioxx. Perhaps it’s because the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) and Eudra Vigilance (Europe’s VAERS) have reported over 30,000 deaths and two million injuries in the last year related to COVID shots and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVCP) has paid out over $4.5 billion for vaccine injuries since 1988. Some have strong religious beliefs and look to God for protection. Some simply don’t want to participate in a government-sponsored injection experiment.
Trust the government? Get vaccinated; it’s your body and your choice, and then you’re protected (even from the unvaccinated). Right? But my body, my choice. The right of bodily integrity and the right to refuse unwanted medical experiments was established at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II. So, get vaxxed if you want, but please leave the rest of us (perhaps the majority of Americans) alone.
Eli Kassirer
New Paltz
Williams Lake Project revisited
In the article “Swing those hammers” (August 11 edition of HV1), Susan Farkas writes about the “long-anticipated Williams Lake project.” Because Ms. Farkas only interviewed project supporters, the significant work done by area activists to push Hudson River Valley Resorts (HRVR) to respond to community and environmental concerns was not acknowledged. Recalling such large-scale grassroots struggles supported by hundreds of people – like the earlier regional effort to save Minnewaska – serves an important purpose by empowering area residents to actively participate in the future of their communities.
From 2007 to 2015, numerous community members and environmental groups (including Save the Lakes and Sierra Club, among many others) provided detailed critiques of the proposed project that ultimately resulted in various community priorities and environmental protections now incorporated in the plan. Well-attended public forums and detailed meeting testimony focused on water quality and availability, wildlife habitat, fiscal and economic impacts and community character. Numerous letters to the editor and to regulatory agencies raised telling critiques. In one case, for example, activists challenged HRVR’s successful application for a $750,000 New York State Economic Development grant that used taxpayer money to subsidize this for-profit resort complex for the wealthy.
While Hudson River Valley Resorts saw the lakes as a “magnet for monied New Yorkers,” local activists envisioned and fought for an alternative that would provide true public access to this community and ecological treasure. This road not taken would have delivered an outcome even more deserving of widespread anticipation.
Nancy Schniedewind
New Paltz
Encouraging news for CCA participants
I wrote, in a letter several weeks ago, a comparison of rates that participants in Community Choice Aggregation would be paying for 100 percent renewable energy at the guaranteed rate of $.0728/kwh, as compared to Central Hudson’s average for the last 12 months for 90 percent fossil fuel-produced electricity, which was $.0589/kwh. The premium for that renewable energy procured through the CCA amounted to about a 7.2 percent increase on your total Central Hudson bill. It was noted that Central Hudson’s default rate, which is variable month to month, for July had risen to $.0697/kwh, which translated to only ~1.5 percent total bill premium for CCA customers.
On August 10, Central Hudson announced its default rate would rise to $.0753/kwh, an amount higher than the CCA rate of $.0728. For whatever period Central Hudson continues that pricing, CCA members would be paying less for 100 percent renewable energy than if they had opted out to stay with Central Hudson’s default non-renewable resourced energy. The sensible environmental choice in electricity purchase had become the more economical choice also.
Who knows if this trend will continue? The market is fickle; but we do know Central Hudson’s rate will change with whatever trend emerges, while CCA’s rate is guaranteed to stay the same for the next 34 months. Right now, the winds of change seem to favor the right environmental choice being the most economical choice, too. If you have decided to stay in, your choice is trending toward that double benefit. If for whatever reason you have decided to opt out, remember there is always the opportunity to opt back in to take advantage of a new economic reality; it’s part of the beauty and fairness of the CCA program.
Marcus Arthur
Saugerties
Comeau addition building project
If I were an architect or owned a construction company, I would have realized that the initially proposed Comeau building plans, aside from other issues, were not ADA-compliant and made the corrections. This would have made it unnecessary for Howard Harris to point out the lack of ADA compliance in one of his letters to Hudson Valley One’s Feedback section. Also, I would have wondered why it took Howard almost two years to realize there was that lack of compliance and whether, if he didn’t write that letter, anyone would have noticed that lack of compliance.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit law for Village of New Paltz
We recently received support from the Ulster County Planning Board (UCPB) for the Village’s proposed zoning law update to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The UCPB said they were “pleased to see these proposed changes, which purposely seek to expand available housing options Village-wide, allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in all residential districts.”
The Village’s public hearing for the law remains open and we are still seeking your feedback. Please share comments about the Village’s proposal to assistant@villageofnewpaltz.org or at the next Village Board meeting on August 25.
The draft law proposes to allow dwelling units accessory to the principal permitted use of a building in all districts where residences are permitted. The intent of this provision is to allow more efficient use of buildings, especially large existing residences, and to expand rental housing opportunities, particularly for families, seniors and young professionals.
ADUs are compact and intended to provide practical and affordable housing. In furtherance of this objective, an ADU can be located within, attached to or detached from the main residence, without an increase in lot area.
The Village’s proposed regulations and standards for ADUs: https://tinyurl.com/nn2sejda.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Joe Biden’s performance
I enjoy Hudson Valley One for local news. I am very disappointed with Feedback and the hate that is leveled at various political figures. There never was anything right with Donald Trump as president. Media went out of their way to paint him as such a bad person, yet most, if not all that was spun was proven wrong. Now we have a president whose actions in these past seven months have been:
1. Chaos at the southern border. Very to absolutely no vetting of illegals streaming through the border. How many carry COVID? How many could be terrorists? We don’t really know. All at the same time that Biden et al tells Americans to get their vaccinations and we (Americans) should be concerned with domestic terrorism!
2. Defund the police and rising crime. Last year, nothing was said by the Democratic Party concerning the falsehood of “defunding” police. Yet less cops usually means more crime in minority or low-income areas. Where is the concern from Democrats and Joe Biden on this one?
3. The handling of COVID. Can anyone believe this administration when the “science” seems to be constantly changing? How is it the Americans need to be vaccinated, yet those streaming through our southern border need no vaccination? Which is it?
4. CRT (Critical Race Theory): a proven Marxist doctrine that encourages class warfare. CRT blames everything on race. So now we are back to the 1950s!
5. BLM and ANTIFA: These “organizations” seem to be supported by the Democratic Party, but the hypocrisy displayed by these “organizations” is overwhelming: How many “bigwigs” in the BLM movement have profited by the “woke” corporations which have funded them? ANTIFA is anything but “anti-fascism.” It is fascism in every sense of the word; ANTIFA is the SA (Sturm Abteilung) of the Democratic Party, ready to crack heads and hinder free speech.
6. Joe Biden admitting that allowing the CDC to legislate the extension of prolonging evictions is unconstitutional, but that he’ll do it anyways! This is dictatorship (something the left always branded Trump with).
7. And now the utter chaos of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. To listen to the president, the secretary of defense, the joint chiefs of staff and others lie to the American people is just amazing.
I’m not writing this letter with hate, but with wonderment. For those who voted for Biden, this is what you get. For those who didn’t, we just hold our breaths.
Joseph Jauer
Kingston
Trump’s reinstatement into the White House
He’s asking, “Do you miss me yet?” I have two answers; I can post one of them here. Cue the Dan Hicks song, “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?”
The “whoop-de-do” had been scheduled for Friday, August 13, which also happened to be National Kool-Aid Day! Of course, he said it would happen. When has Trump ever lied about something important? Well, I’ve been channel-surfing to see if I could find it; turns out I don’t get the Nazi Channel. Has he been reinstated yet? What’s the opposite of “Hell freezing over”? Might explain the heat wave…
Of course he’s coming back! The “My Pillow Guy” (hah) foretold it! I’m beginning to think Mike Lindell was wrong. Just maybe, we should invest in a pillow for him to cry into. Could it be that “far right” and “far wrong” are synonymous? Hmm, I’m gonna sleep on that.
Now waiting for right-wing HV1 letter-writer George Civile, a Trump-lover extraordinaire, to address above typical cult behavior/magical thinking with a usual piss-poor singalong bewailing, probably titled, “Oh, the ‘Great Reinstatement’ happened, but the lamestream media refuses to cover it.”
No, I don’t understand. It seemed like a sure thing. Wait – reinstatement has now been rescheduled for September 30…of never! Of course, 2525 might be the right time for reinstatement if he is still alive; however, I don’t know how long pond scum can survive.
Get ready! The goalpost is being moved again. I am urging batshit crazy MAGA supporters to be “careful in what they believe,” since a new list of “other days” have now been floated for Trump’s reinstatement. Just an FYI, he can’t even get reinstated on Twitter.
It’s all about fundraising for Donald Trump. This man has ripped off, scammed, manipulated and deceived his own supporters. He never self-funded his campaigns; he continues the con, and a brainwashed cult gives their hard-earned money to this fraud. He’ll keep running this “grift” as long as the idiots send money.
But seriously, I heard on Damage Report that QAnon is now saying that imPOTUS #45 is not going to be reinstated as president of the United States because when he left office, he took the government with him and is creating his own country. Gee, did he get enough donations from his supporters to buy Greenland?
Reality is not his friend. Never has been. “And in other news, Generalissimo Franco is still dead!”
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Re: the Good-Cause Eviction Bill
Why should any property owner be forced to accept a tenant for life?
Leases have been used successfully for centuries between two consenting parties. Leases are by definition “a contract by which one party conveys land, property, services et cetera to another for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment.” At no point should a month-to-month lease or a yearly lease become a “lease for life.” After the lease expires, either party has the mutual right to continue or not continue.
If this law is passed, a lease is practically worthless, as any tenant can effectively “own” your property forever in exchange for nothing more than one month’s rent as security. Can I just tell the car leasing company after the three-year lease term is up, “I feel like continuing the car lease, as you have no good cause to take it back?” Can I tell my life insurance company that “I have chosen to continue my 20-year term life insurance policy for the rest of my life?” Can I tell the hotel where I book for one night that I have decided to stay for 50 nights or for 400 nights? Where will it end?
Landlords have to make everyday decisions for the betterment of their property, business, tenants and neighbors. The choice to renew a lease due to a problem tenant is something that property owners are entitled to. We certainly do not welcome tenant turnover, but sometimes it is a necessity for a myriad of reasons. The same entitlement goes to the tenant, as they have a choice to renew at the end of the lease or not. Taking this right away from landlords is the equivalent of telling the tenant that they must renew their lease. Landlords should be able to operate without constant government interference and mandates. This is not a safety nor a monetary issue. This is a basic right that any business or property owner is granted.
Local investment and development are needed to meet our growing local housing demand. If this is the direction residential housing laws are headed in, I’m not sure if landlords will continue to choose to invest in or develop new housing. If this bill is approved, it will be the start of an exodus of many mom-and-pop landlords and will accelerate corporate landlord ownership.
Who is looking out for the small landlord who is trying to make a living, provide decent housing, contribute more than a fair share of local taxes and provide countless jobs for the community?
Please say no to this “tenancy for life” bill. It will cause more harm than the “good cause” it is intended to provide.
Paul Knobloch
New Paltz
Repowering Danskammer not fair nor reasonable
During the week of August 8, two reports came out with good news for opponents of repowering Danskammer – and bad news for all of us if the project is allowed to proceed with plans to provide baseload electricity by burning natural gas or, later, hydrogen. Based on new studies, neither of these methods will meet New York’s climate goals or help salvage our civilization in the face of accelerating climate change. Neither are they likely be profitable, meaning that once again ratepayers could get stuck with the bill.
First, Standard & Poor released a report stating that “a review of markets with strong renewable mandates and carbon emissions pricing indicates much of the US fleet of recently built natural gas generation could come under pressure…. Market Intelligence estimates that $34 billion in coal plant investment and another $34 billion in new gas plant construction could be at risk.”
Second, an August 12 New York Times article, headlined “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts,” reported on a new study showing that so-called “blue” hydrogen (hydrogen produced using natural gas with carbon capture and storage) would actually produce more greenhouse gases than burning fracked gas by itself.
There are plenty of other reasons to oppose the repowering plan, including the extreme environmental damage to which the people of Newburgh have already been subjected through PFOS contamination. The new projections should convince the Public Service Commission, which has the final say on the project and is expected to rule soon, that the project is neither fair nor reasonable. The owners of the Danskammer plant – New York City-based Tiger Funds – would do well to heed them as well.
Susan H. Gillespie
President of the Board
Citizens for Local Power
Community news
When we lost the Woodstock Times, as it was merged with the other local papers into the Hudson Valley One fold, we had something taken from us that was an important voice of our community. We’d hope that post-pandemic times we will have our individual community newspapers restored.
In the meantime, Hudson Valley One should consider the reporting of our local news in community sections. There is some news that relates to all our communities, and that could still be combined.
Specific news relating to our individual communities, calendar items, advertisements, letters from readers that relate to a specific community et cetera should be segregated to simplify the focus on our town’s news. The four divisions of the paper should be New Paltz, Kingston, Saugerties and Woodstock.
Just a thought to hopefully make things better for our town and the other towns of the Hudson Valley.
Jim Dougherty
Bearsville
Bathroom problem
There was a short note in HV1 dated August 4 pointing out that there were more Republican politicians committing offenses in bathrooms than transgender people. To be clear, truly transgender adults are not a bunch of predators, but allowing men who identify trans into women’s spaces creates the opportunity for voyeurs and sex offenders to enter these spaces.
See the link here: https://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF16F27.pdf. It lists bathroom incidents where women’s spaces are not limited to women. That’s more incidents than the Republican congressman playing footsie in the Minneapolis airport.
The problem is not transgender people, but the activists fervently working to undermine traditional values. Edicts from Washington threatening states support these activists who hate our country and its values. Between support from media and celebrities, gender dysphoria, which genuinely affects less than one-tenth of a percent of Americans, mostly male, a new phenomenon is now spreading like an epidemic amongst teenage girls. This is called late-onset gender dysphoria and is glorified by our schools and medical communities. This was reported in a study by Brown University researchers in 2018 (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202330).
Now, in some states, children can go to a Planned Parenthood and get puberty blockers without parental knowledge. This is not transgender people encouraging this; it’s the activists. Most children outgrow gender dysphoria when they reach puberty. Some of our new generation of medical professionals are more interested in being woke than healthcare. The ones who don’t are afraid of the cancel mobs.
Now that a male prisoner in California can simply state he identifies as a woman, he can be placed in a women’s detention facility. It doesn’t matter what he did to get incarcerated. Women inmates are being reported pregnant. The California authorities are not commenting on this, but now birth control is available in the women’s prisons. Why would they need that?
Regarding the letter to HV1 from the person who was complaining that letters express viewpoints that differed from his being published, maybe HV1 shouldn’t publish letters contrary to leftist ideology. It worked for Hitler, Stalin, Mao, the North Korean Uns, Pol Pot and Castro. George Orwell wrote a great novel about this. We need a Ministry of Truth to determine the truth and eliminate debate. The Thought Police could then Unperson those guilty of wrongspeak or thought crime. Oops, I guess Facebook and Twitter are already doing this.
In a related story, did you hear that Donald Trump got back on Twitter? He faked his identity as a Taliban spokesman. Remember earlier this year he got back on Twitter as a Chinese Communist Party spokesman? Jack Dorsey kicked out the president, but he’s okay with the Taliban and the CCP. Also remember he suppressed the New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop contents last October.
By the way, if George and John are elected president and vice president, I’d like to be their chief of staff. Neil could be our press secretary.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
Way to go, Joe
President Biden has been secretly flying illegal immigrants into Westchester Airport at night, hoping no one would notice.
While insisting that we all get vaccinated and reemploying mask mandates, he allows illegals who are unvaccinated and 20 percent test positive when testing is available. As facilities in Texas are overwhelmed, many go untested. New York is not the only destination; they’re being sent all over the country. Florida is one of the top destinations.
I saw a hospital administrator on TV yesterday and she said 80 percent of her COVID patients were illegals. Way to go, Joe; with over 1,200,000 illegals you let into the US, you are now the number-one superspreader, and we don’t even know how many sneaked in without being counted. You say your policy at the border is humanitarian. I don’t consider spreading disease among the native population humanitarian.
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Spirits run high during annual Artists’ Studio Tour
The 19th annual Saugerties Artists’ Studio Tour, August 14-15, our annual townwide open studio tour, was a huge success. Spirits were high throughout the weekend, as visitors traveled to meet the artists and talk about art. We, the artists who proudly call Saugerties home, are so grateful for all the support we received in making the artists’ tour a reality.
On behalf of myself and all the participating artists, we would like to thank: Sawyer Savings, Kiwanis Club of Saugerties, 98.1 WKZE Radio, Marge Block and the Saugerties Historical Society, Saugerties Tourism, Saugerties Chamber of Commerce and Arts Mid-Hudson. Our tour map sponsors, and Saugerties village businesses that graciously allowed us to show our work in their windows and their help to distribute tour maps. Hudson Valley One for covering our events. Our families, friends and supporters, who are too numerous to mention, who help us make the tour an outstanding celebration of the arts. We couldn’t have done it without your help.
Barbara Bravo
Tour coordinator
Saugerties Artists’ Studio Tour
Hurley supervisor elections
The last two elections for Town of Hurley supervisor show how every vote counts. In each race, Democrats lost the supervisor’s race by only a few votes. This November, Hurley Democrats can use our majority and elect Melinda McKnight as supervisor. Melinda is a woman with 30 years of executive experience in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors and a proven track record of budget management.
Let’s also elect Jana Martin and reelect Mike Boms to the Hurley Town Board to ensure local government will act for all residents. For the future of Hurley, help elect Democratic candidates.
To help, contact Hurley Dems at hurleydemsny@gmail.com. On November 2, vote for Hurley Dems on Line A.
Tobe Carey
Glenford
Honest talk about Israel
Let’s try an experiment: Pretend that a population of Jewish refugees lives in the West Bank and Gaza, and an Arab government (backed by the United States) bombs Jewish Gaza on a regular basis. Arab defense forces use white phosphorus, kill civilians indiscriminately, provide no medicine, impose an embargo, block food and cut electricity. In Gaza, the unemployment rate is over 48 percent, life expectancy plummets and malnutrition soars. One of the major policymakers of this hypothetical Arabic/Palestinian state says: “We need to put those Jews on a diet.” In the West Bank, Arabic settlers (backed by donors in the US) destroy Jewish farmers’ crops and terrorize them while security forces break their children’s bones. When these refugees need emergency medical treatment, they are stopped at checkpoints.
You’d have no problem understanding this situation as an outrageous violation of human rights. One group has all the power; the other group has none. And no matter how flagrant its crimes, the group in power is never held accountable. I’ve used Michael Brooks’ “thought experiment” here to underscore the absurdity of Israel’s claims to democracy and the danger – as US taxpayers – of refusing to acknowledge our complicity in Israel’s policy of apartheid.
Lisa Mullenneaux
West Hurley
Who is accountable for the enemy’s dead?
Is it the man peeling potatoes in the mess hall
Is it the clerk who typed the orders
The recruit climbing the boot-camp wall?
The airmen sweeping the hanger
The general pushing map pins in
The CB nail banger
The drill instructor on the rifle range
The guard that stands alone
The sailor making his bunk
The PFC on the battlefield picking through the bones
Did you forget what I said?
Who is responsible for the enemy’s dead?
The recruiter at the school
The GI who’s out getting drunk
The Humvee mechanic who’s reaching for a tool
The grunt who pulls the trigger
Who is accountable for the enemy’s dead?
Is it the young couple who have paid their taxes?
The housewife food shopping
The secretary sending faxes
The college kid who’s out barhopping
Wall Street’s white-nosed money-takers
The CEOs whose heads rest on pillows of crank
The new car makers
The man at the race who fires a blank
The Congress and Senate whose children hold no rank
Let’s not forget those vets
Who come home and start pumping H
Into their veins
To kill the battlefields pains
And when they contract AIDS
It’s you and me who wave at them
In the parades
And go home feeling good
That we did what we should
They die alone often without a home
Hold on a minute don’t run away
This has taken me a long time to say
Stop holding your head
Take your hands from your ears
What you need to hear is that
It’s the soldier in the front
And the soldier in the rear
The bomber in the sky
The protester who questions why
It’s you, it’s me who is accountable
For every single one of the enemy’s dead.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
In support of Good-Cause eviction
I write to express my support for the Village of New Paltz’s Act to Amend Chapter 129 Housing Standards, a/k/a Good-Cause eviction. I am a former New Paltz tenant. I have rented apartments as an undergraduate student at SUNY New Paltz and later in life as a working professional. I have called New Paltz my home for the better part of a decade. In 2018, I left the Village to pursue an advanced degree. Now, as I attempt to make my way back, I am finding myself in the middle of a housing and affordability crisis. Recent mass migration into the Hudson Valley has had a major impact on the Village and surrounding communities. The cost of housing has risen tremendously. Today, it is not unusual to find advertisements for one-to-two-bedroom apartments in New Paltz that cost the same if not more than comparable housing units in New York City.
On August 11, I virtually attended the Village’s public hearing to make a comment in support of the Good-Cause eviction law. I believe that the law gives New Paltz residents the opportunity to slow the damaging impact of rapid gentrification. I also believe the law will promote healthy and safe housing. As the country continues to battle COVID-19, healthy housing should be everyone’s priority.
Due to the combative nature of the hearing, myself, as well as many others, were unable to adequately share our support. I was disheartened to hear falsities and misconceptions about the law paraded as fact. Those in opposition to the law incorrectly categorized the proposal as giving tenants an “automatic renewal lease.” This is not true. The law does provide tenants with the right to renew their leases, but such right is not automatic. The proposed law merely states that landlords who do not wish to provide their tenants with a renewal must appropriately inform their tenants of that decision in writing at least five months in advance. Tenants must consent to the landlord’s nonrenewal in writing.
Generally, leases between landlords and tenants are contracts where there is unequal bargaining power. Landlords often have more information, resources and legal expertise at their disposal. This right provides the tenant with more agency. It levels the playing field and gives tenants the power to decide whether to renew.
Many of those in opposition to the law communicated that their opinions had not been considered when the law was drafted, yet this was a public hearing specifically to hear these opinions. The Good-Cause eviction law is a proposal, and it has not yet been passed. It is false to state that this law has been ushered through in the dead of night.
For current New Paltz tenants, speaking out in favor of this proposed law is risky. Many fear that their support will result in retaliation from their landlords. Laws such as this will allow tenants to organize and speak freely. I urge all New Paltz residents to support Good-Cause eviction.
Victoria Morrell
Queens
(Almost) the leader of the pack
President Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan has invited criticism throughout the world and even from his own party and the once-completely supportive mainstream media. This criticism has come not because of the withdrawal decision itself, but because of the manner in which it has been executed. For some reason, Mr. Biden closed all the air bases and evacuated the remaining military forces before providing a means of escape for American citizens and Afghan loyalists. (It should be noted that this abrupt withdrawal resulted in the Afghan army fleeing and their weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban, making them, now, one of the best-supplied armies in the world.) Consequently, it is quite possible that Mr. Biden’s presidency is in jeopardy, at least in the sense that he has lost the confidence of much of the country and its foreign allies.
With this in view, it seems prudent to consider the person who is next in line to assume the responsibilities of the highest office in the land, should POTUS Biden’s presidency abruptly end. Indeed, after a disappointing primary campaign for the presidency, the rise of Kamala Harris to being a heartbeat from that office is a remarkable story. During an interview on NPR, Kamala and two of her female staff members told the tale of how she, a flawed and unpopular presidential candidate, was selected for the second-highest office in the land. This selection made her – in a manner of speaking – almost, the leader of the pack. In an unexpected but surprisingly appropriate choice of expression, Kamala, with her staff singing background, relived the saga by singing the following (to the tune of the Shangri-Las’ iconic “Leader of the Pack”) before the startled but attentive NPR interviewer:
(The song begins with Kamala’s staff asking questions)
Is she really gonna support him?
Well, there she is, let’s ask her
Kamala, are you going to support Joe?
Harris: Mm-hmm
But you almost called Joe a racist
Is he going to announce his VP today?
Harris: Uh-uh
By the way why the big change?
(Kamala responds)
I met him on the campaign trail
He said, “I need a black/gal VP”
You get the picture? (yes, we see)
“You could be, almost, the leader of the pack!”
(Song verses begin)
Barack was always putting Joe down (down, down)
He said he’d bring the whole Dem party down
(Barack said that Joe’d bring the whole Dem party down)
It made me feel so numb
When he said Joe was dumb
‘Cos I feared that he’d be…the leader of the pack!
One day the polls showed that I was through
My campaign chief said here’s what to do
(Her campaign manager told her exactly what to do)
I stood there and asked him what?
He said, “Here’s your only shot:
You must support Joe for…the leader of the pack!”
(Spoken slowly by Kamala)
I sort of laughed when he showed the way
The truth was beginning to show
As he left me alone that fateful night
I knew I must go slow
‘Cos whether Joe’d win I didn’t know
(The result of the primary election is announced by the staff)
Joe won! Joe won! Joe won! Joe won!
(Kamala sings final verse)
I felt so helpless but that didn’t last
Joe’s offer of VP it came so fast
My career seemed lost in space
But Joe’s pick put me back in the race
And now I’m almost the leader of the pack!
(Kamala and Staff sing refrain)
Gone…gone, gone, gone!
Joe’s very old and will soon be gone
(Gone…gone, gone, gone)
Joe’s not doing well and may soon be gone
(Gone…gone, gone, gone) repeat to fade
George Civile
Gardiner
Hey, kids!
Want to feel really bad, deeply depressed, want to puke? This Afghan abandonment is the second edition of how America leaves a country it makes solemn promises to; the first time was Vietnam. We abandoned our Vietnamese allies to torture, death, and the lucky ones got out of Dodge in boats. The helicopters were for the embassy people. Those choppers were flying out to aircraft carriers in such numbers we had to shove the emptied ones into the ocean to make room for more to land.
Afghan allies and all Afghan women and girls will be beaten, tortured, killed and you know the rest. You do know!
I am like most Americans: We want our leaders to keep the promises they make, but our president is hunkered down at Camp David, in the wooded compound where some of the great conferences have been held with our allies and with our enemies. He is alone. Lost. I watched only his eyes during his speech. They moved from word to word on the teleprompter. He has become a Disney Animatron! Who is programming him?
Would you choose Mrs. Kamala Harris to be the next president? Joe did, or was told to. I would not, but buckle up. Her plane is about to land. Trump lost, and by his own actions. Now I worry. China and Russia are moving fast.
Paul Nathe
New Paltz
Kimberly Calderone for County Legislature
The people of the Town of Gardiner and the Town of Shawangunk are fortunate to have a candidate for the Ulster County Legislature who is “the woman for all seasons,” Kimberly Calderone. At a time when our whole society has been shaken to its core by a global pandemic, we have a person who has made protecting human life her chosen profession. Kimberly Calderone spent her life’s work as a professional firefighter at West Point, New York. Her bravery and courage and dedication to duty contributed to her rising to the rank of lieutenant. As a line officer, she was responsible for the firefighters of her company.
Kimberly Calderone served with honor and distinction. She faced many dangerous situations in a leadership capacity and always protected the lives of the people of the West Point community and her fellow firefighters. She continues to serve her community in the Towns of Gardiner and Shawangunk as a volunteer firefighter. She brings her years of experience and professional training to the Shawangunk Valley Fire Department and adds to the safety and quality of life in our towns. Her quiet demeanor and warm smile greet all who meet her.
At a time when emergency responders have been tasked to do so much, we have in Kimberly Calderone a person who will ensure these heroes will remain well-trained and adequately funded. I support Kimberly Calderone for Ulster County Legislator, District 16. I encourage everyone to support Kimberly Calderone.
Jack Hayes
Gardiner
Honoring our vets
It was a moral injury to our troops when Trump abruptly pulled our soldiers out of northern Iraq and allowed the Turks to dominate the Kurds. We abandoned them after they fought so hard, side-by-side with us against ISIS. Abandoning the Kurds was wrong, and many vets knew it was wrong, but couldn’t do anything about it. Surely many vets struggled with sleepless nights after hearing about that decision.
Now we’re watching the chaos in Afghanistan as, once again, our troops are pulling out and allowing the Taliban to take over the country. The decision to leave Afghanistan after 20 years was the right decision, although the way it’s happening is very painful to watch. What we are now observing could very well be the beginning of another moral injury for our veterans to swallow, as thousands of loyal Afghans, who helped our troops for years, are terrified of being left behind. They have a deep fear of the Taliban and are literally scared for their lives and the lives of their families.
But now it appears that hundreds or even thousands of our veterans, who are now back in the States, are working tirelessly to help those loyal Afghans get out of Afghanistan. Vets are realizing that they cannot depend on our government to do the right thing. But vets are powerfully stepping up and speaking out to our government, and insisting that those Afghans who were so loyal to them for years get a chance for a new life, away from the constant fear of reprisals from the Taliban.
Vets who are refusing to stand idly by are the salt of the Earth, and deserve support and recognition – not just from our government, but from each of us. They are the symbol of what’s good about the United States, and what’s really great about America. We don’t have to make America great again. No. We just need to shine the light on those veterans who are doing the right thing. We need to take pride in those vets who are acting on their integrity and their deep caring about those loyal Afghans.
And when this chapter in Afghanistan is finally over, those vets who stepped up and made a difference will be sleeping better at night. God bless them for helping us all remember what honoring moral values looks like.
Marty Klein
Woodstock
Antonio Delgado & climate change action
On Thursday, August 19, 60+ people stood outside Antonio Delgado’s Kingston office to tell him the climate crisis is serious; it’s here. Following is a letter to him that was read at the rally. If you think he needs to do something now, please let him know! Our lives depend on it!
Congressman Delgado:
Most of us that were standing here in front of your office on Thursday voted for you in the hope that you would stand up for us, your constituents. Now we need you to stand up for our lives – yours, ours, our children’s and our grandchildren’s. According to the recent UN report on climate change, the time to take action to prevent disaster, not remediation or reversal, is now! It is unthinkable to realize that the time to stop and possibly reverse the damage we humans have done is past! The UN report tells us that if we stop all CO2 emissions immediately, we will still have three decades of increasing warming and extreme weather before we achieve stability. That stability will still be at a higher global temperature than we currently have, but it will prevent us from crossing the tipping point that will lead to environmental disaster.
The time for parsing is done! Stand up for us – support immediate action to stop further damage to our climate. Fight to pass the infrastructure bill and using the 3.5T to start this work before it’s too late. Our lives depend on it!
Amy Kletter
New Paltz
Good-Cause eviction bill
My name is Eunice. I have lived in the Village of New Paltz for five years and I support the Good-Cause eviction bill. I also support the right of the non-property-owning working class to have a chance to support this bill, as well as participate in local politics more generally without feeling threatened with eviction or harassment.
As an artist residing in the New Paltz community, this bill is important to me as many of us have witnessed the de-culturing effects of gentrification in our village by way of (but not limited to) the restaurantifying of a staple community space Cafeteria, the STEM-ifying of SUNY’s campus and the inflation of land, rent and property prices pushing out the very people who make this area desirable.
One of New Paltz’s biggest staples is Deputy Mayor Alexandria Wojcik who I have known and looked up to since I moved here around five years ago. Never before have I trusted and related to an elected official more than her. I have witnessed the relentless dedication, empathy and glam that she puts into this community — often in the face of adversity. Deputy Mayor Wojcik works to represent the most marginalized people, many of whom are actively creating our community’s culture.
I have been extremely disappointed and infuriated at the verbal abuse aimed at Deputy Mayor Wojcik, including but not limited to the spreading of fake news, ablest rhetoric and personal attacks in an attempt at character defamation. Not only are these behaviors immature, but they are also extremely misdirected as what should be the focus of critique is the actual piece of legislature, were the members of the New Paltz “property owners association” interested in collaboration. Deputy Mayor Wojcik has made many attempts at inviting feedback and suggestions, only to be met with more harassment. The village landlords who are against this bill are simply afraid to lose their position in the unjust hierarchy with their ability to price-out the very people who serve them at their favorite restaurants and who lack the resources to obtain legal representation.
Myself and many of my friends have experienced week-long gaps in between leases, losing our minimal savings to relocation costs, non-renewals due to personality differences, the stress of scrambling to find somewhere to live in a short timeframe, settling on the worst conditions or outrageous rent due to sheer lack of availability and time — the list goes on.
We have the power to follow in the footprints of our state government and protect the renters of this village with the Good-Cause eviction bill. Please come to the second public hearing on Wednesday August 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the firehouse meeting room (Plattekill Avenue). Please read the bill at https://bit.ly/GoodCauseNPZ and please speak out at the hearing or submit a comment to assistant@villageofnewpaltz.org. Other ways you can get involved with housing justice are volunteering with Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, contacting Hudson Valley Eviction Defense at (845) 391-0612 and joining the Landlord-Tenant Relations Council.
Eunice Draw
New Paltz
Join the family! 
