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They chose the wrong dummy
I’m really upset. The 2024 Woodstock Library Fair this year has decided to give an award for community service and artistic achievement to my dummy Harry. And after all I’ve done for this community. I’ve performed multiple fundraisers for the library for decades. I’ve volunteered at the Historical Society of Woodstock for 20 years. I’ve been involved with Meals On Wheels for 27 years. I’ve promoted literacy in all the area schools with magic, music and ventriloquism. I’ve had a radio show on WDST and WAMC. I’ve written dozens of songs for Jim Henson and Disney, I ran the youth center for six years the list goes on and on and then … they give the plaque to Harry! I’m mad as hell. Of course on July 27th the day of the fair I’ll have to drag Harry up on stage to receive the honor. Talk about irony. And I’ll be discussing this with him then. In public. It’s disgraceful.
Steve Charney
Woodstock
Good questions
Never has Woodstock been under development assault from the outside as it is in 2024. And the door is still wide open thanks to Bill McKenna and his two yes votes on the town board. What have they done?
Good question.
Start by ignoring historic ethics violations against Bill’s handpicked Housing Oversight Task Force (HOTF) who were found to be in conflict of interest by the Woodstock Ethics Board after proposing 800 changes to the town zoning code. Has the town board ever ignored ethics violations by one of its own appointed groups?
Good question.
County planner Dennis Doyle was then asked for financial help pushing through the HOTF developer friendly zoning changes by hiring a National firm called HR&A who have started working to convince Woodstockers that more development is in our best interests. I attended the first HR&A housing forum where I was literally shown pictures of housing and asked which kinds of new housing designs do I like? This triplex? Or that quadplex? Not discussed were where to build, by whom, for whom , how many, is it affordable? Why not?
Good question.
Who is HR&A? From their website it says one of their senior advisors was head of real estate development for Disney Corp. Another ran the 42nd Street Development Corp. project. Another shepherded huge mega projects in Austin, Texas. Why would they have an interest in working here in small rural Woodstock, NY?
Good question.
Add the Pro-Housing Pledge recently rammed through by Bill McKenna and his two yes votes. It’s a state initiative that streamlines the process to allow for more and faster development. It should have been thoroughly vetted by numerous town committees, like the planning board. It was not and no public participation either. Saugerties, for example, is now considering the exact same pledge and the public is being allowed to voice their serious concerns. Why not Woodstock?
Good question.
Ethics violations? Eight-hundred proposed zoning changes? Disney at the door? Pledging to streamline development? No meaningful public participation? Bill McKenna and his two yes votes? Can we Save Woodstock?
Good question.
Michael Veitch
Woodstock
Supporting Sheriff Figueroa’s policy on immigrant Ulster County residents
The executive committee of the Saugerties Democratic Committee repudiates Ulster County Legislator Joe Maloney’s recent statements about immigration and his attack on Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa. (Legislator Maloney is a member of our committee.) Legislator Maloney does not speak for us.
First, Legislator Maloney’s position calling for a countywide policy to report undocumented immigrants and to turn our neighbors in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is counter to our Democratic values of equal protection under the law. It is vital to the safety of the residents of Ulster County that all our neighbors have confidence that they can refer matters to law enforcement and cooperate with them without fear of being reported to ICE. Legislator Maloney’s statements were anti-immigrant, misleading and ignorant of actual facts about immigration. Fostering fear and hatred while trafficking in misinformation has no place in our public discourse. All of our community, including our immigrant neighbors, must feel that our law enforcement community works to keep us all safe. Sheriff Figueroa has stressed this approach based on his decades of work in state and county law enforcement.
Second, Legislator Maloney’s behavior and the disrespect in his heated confrontation with sheriff Juan Figuroa in a recent legislature committee meeting are appalling and deeply unsettling. Instead of seeking to ask questions out of curiosity and interest, Legislator Maloney went on the attack and became aggressive. Political violence is on the rise, and it is incumbent on our elected officials to exhibit behavior that models higher standards of respect and listening, even in the face of disagreement.
Nejla Liias, chair
Kevin Freeman, first vice chair
Kathy Gordon, second vice chair
Bill Barr, treasurer
Louise Bloomfield, secretary
Saugerties Democratic Committee executive committee (2022-2024)
Say it a lot
Lies can be whispers and they can be TV station scripts. MSNBC, and to a lesser extent CNN, have called President Trump “Hitler” for six years. They have misquoted a line he spoke and told us he was going to become a dictator. Some of the grossest of their anchors have told us that he was going to lock them in camps.
Sadly, a sick kid shot the president and killed at least one person in the crowd.
Hitler killed himself after causing worldwide horror. Elite college students parroted some of his worst lines as they protested Israel defending itself from Hamas earlier this year.
A few years ago, the death of George Floyd set off nationwide riots.
We are better than this. We have good foundational documents. A great Constitution. I love America.
And I think you readers do too!
Paul Raymond
New Paltz
Antizionism isn’t antisemitism
Two weeks ago, I urged the community to “resist the witchhunt” by refusing to smear those exercising their right to political protest. Now this newspaper has given a perfect example of the witchhunt by questioning newly appointed New Paltz council member Edgar Rodriguez based on the hysterical actions of one citizen. Where is the standard of fairness and decency any of us deserve?
Lisa Mullenneaux
West Hurley
May time prove me wrong
I decry the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. I wish no one had been killed and he had emerged unscathed and unscarred.
I also wish this event could begin to bring the country together, lead to a laying-down of arms both in thought and deed between warring factions; picture the final scene of West Side Story.
But that’s fiction.
And Marjorie Taylor Greene’s X post is real: “Someone just tried to ASSASSINATE President Trump. The Democrats and the media are to blame for every drop of blood spilled today. For years and years, they’ve demonized him and his supporters. Today, someone finally tried to take out the leader of our America first and the greatest president of all time. Watch the video, President Trump said ‘FIGHT,’ SO WE WILL!!”
J.D. Vance’s post is real, too: “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
They are hardly voices in the wilderness. This event has turned Trump into an even greater martyr than his worshippers already considered him. His raising his fist and, with his face bloodied, mouthing “Fight!” was all rally-goers needed to fire them up enough to scream at the media covering the event — and all, I fear, Trump needed to widen his appeal to include on-the-fencers’ sympathy votes.
The AR-15-style semiautomatic the gunman used is called “America’s rifle” by the NRA, is one of the most commonly owned weapons in the U.S. and has been the killing machine of choice for many mass shooters. But any renewed calls for gun control, which an event like this might in more normal times be expected to inspire on both sides, will be shot down by the right as an opportunistic attempt by the left to take advantage of a tragic event to push its “woke” agenda. Indeed, MTG, referring to the Secret Service, which took out the shooter, repeated the party line: “Thank God for good guys with guns.”
May time prove me wrong, and may it heal this country.
Thomas Cherwin
Saugerties
Political extremes
Interesting article on Edgar Rodriguez and the mention of Leon (Burch) Dener.
Both these individuals are proactive and some credit has to be given them both for their community involvement. However, ironically, both are examples of the political extremes and lack of civility in this country.
Edgar sees racism everywhere and is so far left he probably can’t make a right-hand turn driving! Same with Leon Dener on the right!! Maybe they should carpool?
Neither of them have the ability to see any opinions but their own and are too quick in their self righteousness to lash out in anger.
I saw Leon/Butch at the Main Street protests and even with an Israeli flag in my hand (I am a supporter of Israel but not blind to the issues!)…he was incapable of any rational discussion but rather foul mouthed and angry!
I do fully believe the exchange as described by Joey Garcia and Edgar Rodriguez would not be a good choice for office!
The article on allowing a gym at the Wells Fargo is beyond belief! How could our planning board even consider an establishment like this!?
What kind of traffic study was done?! Was it by the Stevie Wonder Company?
It’s bad enough that New Paltz approved that hideous gray three-story empty and architecturally mismatched building on Main Street, but we also have the Medusa monstrosity that looks like someone puked out a design!
Our quality of life includes driving, shopping, going to stores and local restaurants which will all be severely impacted by a needless gym at that location!
Ron Stonitsch
New Paltz
Dear President Biden, withdraw now
This morning I wrote to President Biden at whitehouse.gov, as follows:
“Dear President Biden:
Please cap your extraordinary term as president by withdrawing from the election. The battle against Trumpism, Putin-ism and Xi-ism, and the sinister, domestic machinations of Federalist Society-Koch-Thomas/Alito-Republican fascism, is hardly won. Leave the fight to a younger, more vigorous candidate.
Do not let the nation die on its own sword by carrying your banner. Leave in glory, not egotistical vainglory.
I am a lifelong Democrat. It’s not easy to write these words.”
I urge all of you to write to President Biden as well. It takes minutes.
My thanks to congressman Pat Ryan for making the same plea yesterday.
My lesson from the recent elections in France is that the French, after venting their spleen against problems that are facing lowercase-d democrats around the world — inflation, the combined threats of soulless technological change and the soulless rapacity of a capitalism serving only the needs of the wealthiest — woke with sticker shock on the morning after the first elections. The horror of brownshirts at the helm of power on the Champs-Elysée proved bracing. The left and center swept in round two.
We’ve already seen the brownshirts at the Capitol building.
My lesson from Mr. Trump’s current, protracted VP derby is that headlines count. Mr. Trump is the master of the headline. He is also a master sadist who’s happy to see his seals jump through hoops; thus is a nation held in thrall, as if his VP choice matters. The Democratic Party will grab all the headlines it needs when it reorganizes under the search for a new candidate, which is a choice that truly matters, a race that excites with youthful possibility.
The brownshirts are organizing. Time to get the democratic vote out. Is the voting-booth pen mightier than the sword? We shall see.
William Weinstein
New Paltz
A simple decision
If Biden runs against Trump, I will vote for Biden. If Harris runs against Trump, I will vote for Harris. If Peter Rabbit runs against Trump, I will vote for Peter Rabbit. It’s that simple.
Irwin Rosenthal
Woodstock
Start digging
Since Trump, in his second term, plans to institute fascism … we better start digging tunnels.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Biden fallout
William Weinstein says “Biden won the debate because ‘he spoke the truth.’” What truth might that be? William has the lying scorecard backwards. Biden’s lies, since taking office, are so innumerable that he makes Trump look like a little grade school fibber. William goes on with “Joe Biden loves his country.” That’s why he’s opened our border to criminals and terrorists who have already preyed upon innocent Americans. And the number of these animals included in well over 1,000,000 “gotaways” will spell disaster for our kids and grandkids well into the future. And this intentional calamity, among many others, by Biden is what William calls “Biden’s love for his country?”
And, William’s outlook has been magnified 100 times by Tom Cherwin’s anti-Trump/anti-Republican gross exaggerations and talking points. I’ll have to get back to Tom regarding his “Attention: John and George” letter.
Incredibly, Marty Klein offers all kinds of excuses for Biden’s debate performance and needs “more investigation” as if the debate was a one-time cognitively deficient fluke, when everyone else has been witnessing Biden’s consistent cognitive decline ever since he took office nearly four years ago. I have a question for Marty and other Biden supporters: How come Biden refuses to undergo the same cognitive tests Trump willingly took and passed with flying colors? The answer is obvious to the rest of us. Biden doesn’t want his failing mental state certified in front of ALL Americans.
And, what about all the Don Quixote windmill fear mongering fantasies regarding Trump suddenly becoming a dictator in the eyes of all our TDS sufferers? Pre-pandemic, Trump had a record economy and stock market with the lowest unemployment rates for blacks and Hispanics ever. We also had a strong sense of national security and safety due to Trump’s border policies. Does that sound like a dictator who hates his country and its citizens?
Finally, notice in all the TDS rants that nothing positively and specifically is ever pointed out as Biden’s campaign platform to help ALL Americans. Instead, it’s just constant mindless and unsubstantiated attacks on Trump and Republicans.
John N. Butz
Modena
A tireless advocate for our community
I have known Alex Wojcik since 2013 when she rented an apartment from me in the Village of New Paltz. After being elected mayor in 2015 and she was no longer a tenant, I hired Alex as the part-time assistant to the village board and mayor’s office because I knew she was smart, reliable and committed to doing good work. In 2019, Alex ran for and was elected as a Village of New Paltz trustee. Subsequently, I appointed Alex as deputy mayor in 2021 and she has proven to be a tireless advocate for our community.
As a local mayor and eternal optimist, I believe in each of these:
1. We need to be vigilant because antisemitism can be insidious, bigotry against Jewish people is intolerable, and unfortunately antisemitic incidents are on the rise.
2. Opposition to war is important and warranted.
I do not always agree with Deputy Mayor Wojcik’s style or approach, but time and again I have seen that her heart is in the right place and she cares deeply about New Paltz and our residents. I also know she regrets unintentionally hurting her neighbors and feels mortified that she let down any Jewish members of our community during the recent protests at SUNY New Paltz.
I support the community members who have asked to address the information that Alex shared on social media and how it was felt. Calling each other in and having difficult face-to-face conversations is more important than ever during this challenging and upsetting time.
In response to the May 28, 2024 board of trustees of the Jewish Congregation of New Paltz issuing their statement, Alex shared the apology on June 15 that is copied below. There have been fits and starts related to creating the appropriate spaces to discuss this further. I’m relaying my note and Alex’s statement to help make sure her apology has been shared widely.
New Paltz deputy mayor Alex Wojcik’s apology to the board of trustees of the Jewish Congregation of New Paltz
Dear Rabbi Adam and JCNP leadership:
I am circling-back, and hope this finds you well.
I know that my board colleagues are working with you and others to hold a series of healing circles, but I want to reiterate that I’m open for a conversation anytime.
Antisemitism is an often insidious, and always grave concern that should be scrutinized alongside racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and all other forms of hate. Like I previously mentioned, I try to center actively being anti-hate in all that I do. It is unacceptable for anyone to feel unsafe here, and I am sincerely sorry for causing some Jewish members of our community to feel unsafe.
Since receiving your open letter, I have gained some understanding that I did not have before. I have always been an activist striving for justice for all, and I dedicated much of my graduate studies to Holocaust Literature, so I’m mortified to have let down Jewish members of our community. However, I do sincerely appreciate the learning opportunity this situation has provided me.
It seems like the problematic terms and phrases were reposts via Instagram stories (that were copied to Facebook stories) of student organizations’ statements condemning the horrific police actions that took place on campus the evening of May 2. I sincerely cannot recall nor find any time I’ve ever written or said anything about “geopolitical interests,” but similarly appreciate the newly gained understanding about why such a phrase or line of thinking is horribly wrong and potentially dangerous.
When I reshared those student organizations’ statements and other posts, I was doing so in the spirit of solidarity, in hopes of amplifying the voices of the Black, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, housing unstable, working class, Jewish, Muslim, and otherwise marginalized voices involved in those student organizations. At that time, the press was wrongly reporting out misinformation, and the student leaders were asking me to use my platform to help get their statements “out there.” I’m so sorry it didn’t occur to me that in doing so, it could feel like an endorsement of more than simply the spirit of those statements and posts. I am so sorry that I didn’t take the extra time to consider each student organizations’ statement through a variety of lenses including that of Jewish New Paltzians. It is not my place to condemn any of those statements made by my more marginalized constituents, but I do hear and understand the condemnations of me that have come out of the JCNP open letter and subsequent statements and sanctions.
Again, I offer my deepest regret and apologies for unintentionally hurting my neighbors. I am always open for a conversation. My cell is [redacted].
Sincerely,
Alex
New Paltz is a rare community where we can actually pursue this difficult work instead of fixating on disagreement or exacerbating divisions. We may not sort things out easily, but we can try hard to hear each other with the intent to increase empathy and understanding while reducing harm and pain.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Beautiful Saugerties!
I’m a relatively new full-time resident to Saugerties but I have been happily spending over half of the last ten years here. I was very active in my old (city) neighborhood and am now trying to get up to speed about how things roll in the small town of Saugerties. Oh yeah, village or town? It’s confusing to say the least, but some things are starting to become clear to me.
A few years ago, I learned of a developer plan for the former site of the historic 800-acre Winston Farm just down the road from me. At the moment, my understanding is that the five members who make up the town board, which is the “lead agency” for this proposal, will decide how and if this development plan moves forward. The developers have a website that unpacks their intentions, which will require a zoning change that they have requested. The town board, five people who know the developers personally, is going to decide — albeit based on reports that are being prepared in response to issues raised by the plan — whether or not to grant this zoning change. IF the town decides yes, we could easily be seeing a development that belongs in New Jersey and not in the small town of Saugerties, the beautiful gateway to the Catskills! I shudder to think. The developers propose clearcutting over 200 acres to realize their goals.
I won’t bemoan small town politics yet, as I’m too new, but I hope everyone is aware of what’s at stake. Those five people hold a lot of power over the future of this region. I pray every night the town board says no to the zoning change (which would essentially give a green light to the development plan on the table), but obviously praying is not enough. I’ve joined the local group “Citizens for a Beautiful Saugerties” to help get the word out. Wouldn’t you like to have a say about the future of your town? Personally, I like the vision being floated for a state park and regenerative garden. But the only way that vision, or any other alternative vision has a chance of being realized, hinges on the town saying no to the zoning change.
Keep Saugerties beautiful! If you want a theme park, go to NJ or even better, visit all the ones of old still mouldering away in the hills here. People come to this area for its natural beauty and biodiversity. Winston Farm is one of the last big parcels of unspoiled land left in the area. The benefits of that are endless.
Say no to zoning changes for massive development in Saugerties!
Sarah Vogwill
Citizens for a Beautiful Saugerties
The real “Clown lyrics?”
When I recently wrote that Steve Romine only pretends to believe Israel has a right to exist, he responded that I was accusing him of being antisemitic. However, like so many of his previous assertions about my comments, his statement is false. For example, Some Orthodox Jews in Israel don’t believe that modern Israel is a legitimate nation and no one considers their belief in this regard to be antisemitic.
Moreover, Steve accused me of wasting readers’ time with my “clownish lyrics” when offering opinions in my song parodies. With this in view, since Steve justifies his and his experts’ definition of the most serious charge that can be leveled, genocide, and claims it to be the only acceptable one; I’m offering the following, shortened version, of a song “parody” I wrote (pre debate) to the tune of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” in order to give Mr. Romine (after consulting with his experts) the opportunity to explain why he considers its lyrics “clownish” as well as time wasting. Although Steve hasn’t accused me of supporting “genre” genocide (unless he’s claiming that by presenting parodies my purpose is to deliberately and utterly destroy the “parody category” simply because I hate parodies) I eagerly await the “whys and wherefores” justifying his lyrics charges.
(In all the stanzas Trump is speaking to Biden.)
(Stanza)
Your cognitive perception is
dangerously low
Your voice is growing weaker and your
gait is slow
The speeches that you give are not your own
You lose your train of thought: your gaffes have grown
A biased press defends all that you do!
And, Joe, you’re making Democrats
feel blue
(Stanza)
Your immigration actions, simply, made no sense:
unless your border crisis was no coincidence
Alejandro, still, says our borders are secure;
but only fools believe him anymore
Lookout now: a mob is breaking through!
And sanctuary cities are blaming you
(Stanza)
The wise know that divided kingdoms always fall
And calling evil good will hurt us one and all
“Freedom must have constraints” was once thought true
But “freedom at all costs” now seems your view
The bell that’s tolling loudly tolls for you!
And the message that it rings is “
Joe, you’re through”
Yes, the message that it rings is “Joe you’re through”
George Civile
Gardiner
The NYS Assembly must reconvene to pass critical environmental bills
As the last session of the legislature was coming to an end, Gov. Hochul’s sudden cancellation of the NYC Congestion Pricing bill threw things into such a furor that several important environmental bills failed to come up for a vote, including:
• The Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246-b/A5322-b) and
• The Bigger Better Bottle Bill (S237-b/A6353).
We are in a crisis that burgeons every day, with no end in sight: Plastic! It’s everywhere! Cheap to produce, used for a few minutes and lasts forever. Remember the good old days when we worried that it was filling up our landfills? Now, finding that microplastics and nanoplastics are literally everywhere, including our hearts, placentas and breast milk, carrying with them a host of toxins, that concern seems quaint.
We have a huge uptick in neurological problems, cancer, autism, ADHD, diabetes, etc. At the same time, we are saturating our world with pollutants that we don’t understand and can’t get rid of. How can anyone not put one and one together?
According to the cover story in Time Magazine, “Designed to last forever but cheap enough to be thrown away, plastic has become an industry worth $712 billion a year, with no signs of slowing down. The world is producing four times as much plastic as it did in the 1990s, and consumption — along with waste — is expected to nearly triple by 2060, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That is by design.”
It is projected that if we continue on as we are doing, and if the petroleum industry fulfills its plan to triple its output of plastics, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Exaggeration? Even if it’s a tenth that bad, is this the world you want to live in, to leave for your descendants?
I urge you to read this article about the plastic dilemma in Fiji; in a nutshell, it shows the trap that we have put ourselves in. <https://time.com/6991350/plastic-microplastics-fiji-water-recycling/>
I laud the NYS senate for passing the two cited bills, and those assemblymembers who persisted in their support of the bills despite heavy lobbying by the accursed oil industry, especially Sarahana Shrestha. Please call or write your assembly member and assembly speaker Carl Heastie to say that you want the assembly to reconvene in special session and pass these bills!
Also check out the websites of Beyond Plastics and Citizens Concerned About Plastic Pollution (your local group) for ideas about how you can refuse, reduce and replace plastics in your life.
Susan J. Murphy
Saugerties
Democracy or Fascism!
In addition to the unequal coverage by the media of the political events over the past few weeks, we now have a clear and important distinction between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party with all its democrats is being observed as openly scared and in chaos. Some of this is true. However, what you are witnessing is how a true democracy functions. Lots of discussions and meetings are taking place. Lots of different points of view are being talked about. Lots of energy and passion about many new and creative ideas. Yes, it’s messy. But this is what democracy looks like. It’s sometimes very messy and sometimes ideas and opinions turn into heated arguments. Sometimes things get worked out and sometimes the discussions go on a bit longer before all the differing points of views are exhaustively expressed. But it’s honest, and real.
On the other hand, the Republican Party appears very peaceful and together with their platform and ideas, tied in a nice and neat knot. But is that true or is it a mirage?
Pull the curtain back and you will find a party of terrified cowards who will comply with whatever the leader asks them to do. Of course, they will agree, because they all know that if they disagree with anything the leader says, they can kiss their political career good-bye. There is no place for new opinions or discussion. It’s all about giving the leader exactly what he wants.
Liz Chaney is the current poster person for resisting the Trump leadership. She was a high-standing Republican in her party until she spoke up against Trump. In a flash she was voted out by the followers of Trump, and now is high on Trump’s list for revenge because of her being willing to voice her own opinions, honest comments that were different than what was “expected” by the all-powerful leader. Vicious revenge is what Trump wants. He doesn’t just want her out. No. He wants to punish her for her standing up to him. He wants to humiliate her, and maybe something even worse. Folks, this is nothing like true Democracy. It’s much more like true Fascism, and a dictator who wants to rule with a vicious and unforgiving hand.
It’s no joke. Come November 5th each one of us will get the chance to make the decision about who will be our next president. So … which one are you going to choose?
Marty Klein
Sarasota, FL
E — The deconstruction of the administrative state, # 1
Previously, I have given to the readers a background to our benefits, how they came into effect, the relationship between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, regarding these benefits and now the future of these benefits.
When Donald Trump was running for president, he had an advisor, Stephen Bannon, who became Trump’s strategist in the White House. He was the editor of Breitbart News, a conservative newspaper, basically for the Alt Right. It was he who coined the phrase that Trump has stated numerous times: ‘the deconstruction of the administrative state’. “To this writer, this means a host of existing protocols, laws, agencies, cabinet appointments, etc., that would go like the ‘wild goose in winter.’ ‘Gone’. In their place would be appointees of his choosing, loyal to him and him only.
He (Trump) was an entertainer and knew how to work a crowd. Once he tapped into the underlying, dormant emotion of anti-immigration, anti-liberalism, he was on his way. MAGA means, ‘Make America Great Again; make America the way it used to be — white, Christian, anti-immigrant, anti-liberal. Hitler had the same problem when he started. As mentioned, previously, he actually was thrown in jail for leading a ‘putsch’, overthrow of the Weimar Republic. He published Mein Kempt (My Struggle) while he was incarcerated. He hit his stride when he tapped into the underlying hatred of the Jew in Europe. And the rest is history.” What does this have to do with my benefits and yours?
The fact that Donald Trump tried to pass a Payroll Executive Tax Cut (Federal Insurance Contributions Act — FICA) which would eliminate payroll taxes, is quite clear as to what could happen to our Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. (A woman recently asked me, what about her Medicare and Medicaid? I told her these are not separate from Social Security; they are supplements to Social Security that Lyndon Johnson’s administration passed previously. If FICA is eliminated, there are no taxes contributed by the employer and employee for Social Security as well as Medicare. (Medicaid is not funded by FICA, but is a combination of federal and state funds, not sure of the details.)
Social Security is self-funded through 2034 and in no way contributes to the federal budget deficit, whereas the unpaid for Trump GOP tax cuts that mainly benefited the wealthy, contributed $2 trillion to the federal deficit. G.W. Bush, Reagan and other GOP POTUSs have done the same thing. The NCPSSM has stated this numerous times in their bulletins.
I don’t have a list of the total items or the agenda’s that would fall under the phrase, ‘ the deconstruction of the administrative state’. To be frank, I’m sure there are a host of other items to be addressed, beyond this writer’s purview. But being a rather selfish man, my concern is and has been since 2016, when the term came into being, my benefits, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Between my late wife and sister, Medicare played a major role in my wife’s medical problem before she passed and Medicaid a similar role in my sister’s medical problems, before she passed.
At age 85, I have had my medical problems but with my retirement, Social Security, Medicare and my Empire Plan insurance, I don’t need politicians looking to cut my benefits to reduce the Federal deficit, that if the rich paid their fair share, the deficit would not be the way it is now.
Robert LaPolt
New Paltz
Beauty
I yearn for beauty in this sprawling labyrinth of steel and glass, where every heartbeat echoes the tick of a relentless clock. Not the fleeting kind that adorns magazine covers but a more profound, resonant beauty that whispers to the soul. As I navigate the corridors of my mind, I can’t help but wonder if, in our quest for progress, we have lost the essence of what makes us truly human.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
Is it time?
The Comeau property is 76 acres. It includes two one-acre government areas. We bought it for municipal purposes, but, because of the actions of a previous town board, a referendum was put forth and a stewardship that limited its uses was created. According to the Comeau Stewardship Management Plan, the stewardship plan should be updated no less often than every 20 years.
According to town representatives, the reason the Comeau building addition was designed and located where it is was because the Comeau Stewardship Advisory Committee (CSAC) would not allow the town to expand the government area a few feet into the ”open area“ of the easement.
Many years ago, Woodstock’s youth soccer league made a request to CSAC to add a quarter of an acre to the existing soccer field and, along with other needs, build a pavilion to protect the players from lightning strikes. It took over a year and a lot of compromise on the part of the league to get just the addition acreage.
Dave Corbett, one of the Comeau’s caretakers, may he rest in peace, would have been furious if he had seen the condition of the shoulders of Comeau Drive. Yet for months now, nothing has been done about it. Why?
The mission of the Historical Society of Woodstock is to preserve and share the unique history of Woodstock. Recently, the society was left, by the late Jean White, a large sum of money that they want to use to construct a building to house and protect their extensive archives. What is holding up its construction?
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Two haiku
In Bearsville at dusk
the light fades to long shadows
night lit by fireflies
In Boiceville at dusk
the faint whispering wind chime
under loud birdsong
Patrick Hammer, Jr.
Saugerties
Wasted taxpayer dollars
There was a short notice in HV1 a few weeks ago about a decision by the New Paltz town board. Apparently, the police department replaced some older firearms with new ones. The department members were interested in buying the old firearms at market price. The board felt that the weapons could be resold and used criminally, so they decided to have the guns destroyed.
There’s a few problems with this. First, it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars. Second, it presumes that the police members are irresponsible. Third, this decision is based on feelings. I didn’t see any statistics cited to support the decision.
You folks in New Paltz need to speak up to the town board about this misguided decision. It’s your money they are squandering.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
The court constructed monstrosity…
SCOTUS ruling raises fears of autocracy in America. It gives Trump, if reelected, broad immunity from prosecution if he goes through with his threats of retribution and his dismissal of the rule of law … The Supremes have now thrown coal on the fire.
July 4, 1776 (or some say July 2), to July 1, 2024. All that time we did not have a monarchy — 248 years. Now, the Supreme Court of the United States of America decided that a former president is immune. He is a king. King Don John. The SCOTUS decision gives Trump a roadmap for legally turning this country into a totalitarian dictatorship. There’s the truth in plain sight.
Yes, their ruling has effectively killed American democracy, with six corrupt conservative justices realizing the fears of the founding fathers. The presidency has become a king, with absolute immunity. The carefully constructed checks and balances of James Madison got hit with a wrecking ball and stabbed in the heart.
Why should any American believe in the judiciary when any president now sits above the law? Never thought this would happen. It was nice while it lasted. IMO we’re in deep shit. Trump hates the rule of law and despises democracy … but applauds his fucking warring autocratic buddies! They are bullies and killers.
We’ve had plenty of freedom … You won’t appreciate it until it’s gone. Look out, if trump wins in November 2024, there’s a monster coming! If we don’t get it right in November, this past Fourth of July could very well be the last time we get to celebrate our freedom.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
We are all safer because of the Ulster County Sheriff’s office
I want to live in a place where public safety for all is a priority for law enforcement, where all residents are treated with dignity and respect, and where violent crime is vigorously prosecuted.
For almost six years, the Ulster County Sheriff’s office, undersheriff Juan Figueroa’s leadership, has been a key component in making Ulster County just such a place. For one thing, the policy of addressing misdemeanor charges and routine interactions with law enforcement without regard to citizenship status and without involving immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) is beneficial to all of us. All residents can report criminal activity, contribute to investigations and be assured of equal treatment without fear of retribution. As a result, we all are safer.
Carol Nolan
New Paltz
The true scale of the Gaza war
This past July 5th, the Lancet, the world’s leading medical journal, published a peer-reviewed study called “Counting the dead in Gaza, difficult but essential.” The study found that even though it is being reported by the Gaza Health Ministry that by June 19, 37,396 Palestinians have been killed, “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza,” “using a conservative estimate of four deaths per one direct death.” These “indirect deaths” may be caused by destruction of Gaza’s health-care system; severe shortages of food, water and shelter, the populations inability to flee to safe places; and the loss of UNRWA’s humanitarian services due to loss of funding. The Lancet has called for an immediate and urgent ceasefire and distribution of basic humanitarian needs. The Lancet also declares that there is a need to record the true scale and nature of suffering in Gaza, to be able to hold those responsible, accountable in the International Court of Justice under the legal criteria set forth by the Genocide Convention.
Then on July 7th, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, published an article, “The IDF Ordered The Hannibal Directive on October 7th to Prevent Hamas From Taking Soldiers Captive” (haaretz.com). Initially it was only speculation about the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) using this deadly directive inside Israel, that orders the IDF to kill Israeli soldiers and civilians, as well as Hamas in order to prevent hostage taking. Haaretz has now confirmed from senior IDF military officials that the HD was indeed used on October 7th, including Kibbutz Be’eri, and at the music festival, both of which came under heavy attack by the IDF and turning it into a “killing zone.” The burned-out vehicles at the music festivals were obviously caused by the IDFs hellfire missiles following the HD order to “not let any vehicles return to Gaza” as they might be carrying hostages. The detailed plan of Hamas, “Al Aqsa Flood,” known of by the IDF a year in advance, was to “take between 200-250 Israeli hostage” (haaretz.com & nytimes.com) to be able to negotiate for the release of 1,300 Palestinians in Israeli jails being held without charge (https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/22/23972908/palestinian-prisoners-israel-administrative-detention). The HD was put in place to prevent that. It should be clear that Israel’s apartheid policies of unlawful detentions of Palestinian civilians and children, and the murder of over 5,000 Palestinians since 2006 (https://www.telosgroup.org/updates/gaza-before-and-after-october-7-2023/) led to the October 7th Hamas military operation. Considering that the IDF has plausibly caused the direct or indirect deaths of 8% of the Palestinian population, it is high time for a ceasefire now and the arrest of war criminals Netanyahu and Joe Biden.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Join the family! 
