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Lack of transparency in the Town of Woodstock
As the PFOS contamination saga grinds on in Woodstock, we find ourselves still at the mercy of town leadership’s lack of transparency. Once again, the critical information the town needs has come from a source other than its leadership, in this case the article in last week’s HV1. However, the article left a lot to be desired, particularly the deference shown to yet another absurd excuse by the supervisor: “Woodstock town supervisor Bill McKenna suspects something used as a solvent in the manufacture of a new pump may be the cause of a new quarterly test which showed high PFOS levels in the newest municipal well.”
Let’s break it down then. McKenna is suggesting that some solvent on the pump they installed years ago has continued to contaminate two different wells since 2021, when the first traces of PFOS showed up, after millions of gallons have been pumped through the system. Really, people, is that what we are expected to believe?
What that article did not mention is:
1. The letter of transmittal for the latest test results shows an August 9, 2024 submittal date, yet none of us Woodstockers received any notice of these results until they appeared in HV1’s last issue. Who is hiding what here exactly?
2. While the article starts by invoking some solvent’s mystical abilities, it never mentioned the concerns by local residents that the illegal dump in Shady, that sits directly above our drinking water aquifer and contains known toxic levels of PFOS, is a most likely source. Note that the Woodstock Public Water System’s well field is located downhill from the Shady dump and draws water down from the upper aquifer at a rate that may exceed 40,000 gallons per day. The Shady dump was also a taboo subject at the “water town hall” conducted by board member Anula Courtis.
3. The NYDEC’s final rulemaking for PFOS last year resulted in a human health limit of no more than 2.7 ppt PFOS. The Woodstock wells are already averaging almost 3 ppt.
4. Although New York has not updated its health department limits on PFOS to reflect the NY DEC rulemaking, the USEPA has made it abundantly clear that there is no safe level in drinking water.
5. Bill McKenna’s smoke and mirrors suggestion that looking at the two wells connected to pumphouse #1 will somehow magically reveal the source of the contamination has no validity at all. Residents have been calling for an aggressive source investigation which would involve testing further up the aquifer supplying the well field.
If we can’t rely on our town government to do the right thing here, and HV1 would rather reflect the supervisor’s incompetence in its reporting than the valid concerns of citizens, who are we supposed to look to for the truth?
Woodstockers United for Change will be announcing a date in the next few weeks for a new town hall for concerned citizens that will explore ALL of the issues contributing to this emerging water disaster. This will include the most important technical questions that were not answered at the previous town hall, either because, in the absence of the expected expert, the panel was ill-equipped to address them, or because, with the townspeople not allowed to speak and instead having to submit questions on cards, a number of the most crucial questions were simply, pardon the expression, filtered out.
Alan Weber
Stephanie Kaplan
Linda Lover
Chris Finlay
Chris Bailey
Vince Mow
Woodstockers United for Change
Thus starts her erosion of joy
The long anticipated Harris appearance in her first interview was exactly what most people expected…….a nothing burger; her weakness evidenced by her mysterious need to have her “emotional support” pet by her side. And, it wasn’t even a live interview; rather pre-recorded, no doubt involving the editing out of substandard responses and even with Harris knowing the questions ahead of time.
The expected non-answers and immediate disconnected diversions from questions asked of her began with the very first question: “What will you do on day one of your presidency?” Her irrelevant vague response was roughly: “I will strengthen and support the middle class.” After that, it continued downhill.
The questions asked about Harris’s flip flops resulted in the same astoundingly illogical response of “my values haven’t changed” and “let me be clear.” If that was true, there would never have been any flip flops because she would have always consistently maintained the same stances and “values” on every issue.
And how about her Rhodes scholar phrase when discussing her “climate achievements” when she said “we must hold ourselves to deadlines … around time.” What other possible measurement of deadlines could there be, other than “around time?” A mini word salad but not as bad as her infamous “passage of time” beauty.
Sadly, Harris couldn’t stay focused on any question to the point of DIRECTLY responding with meaningful intelligence and specificity. Instead, she quickly drifted off into her usual irrelevant general platitudes.
So, the next big test for Harris and Trump will be their September 10 debate because, before then, I don’t expect Harris to participate in any more interviews or meaningful, lengthy and substantive press conferences. Both will have significant challenges. Harris will be exposed, for the first time, to spontaneity without a teleprompter, notes and hopefully not the questions ahead of time from yet another liberal news outlet.
Trump will need to remain laser focused on the facts and statistics that will expose Harris’s flip flops/lies, ambiguities and lack of knowledge on several key issues. He cannot digress into name calling, demeaning, or any other off-the-cuff irrelevancies as well as exaggerations or lies which have always been the strong suit of his opponents and main stream media ever since his first presidency.
John N. Butz
Modena
Class president
Back in 1964, my high school senior class elected Jim as our vice-president. When our class president needed a long visit in a mental health facility, Jim took on the job and he is still our class leader. He still leads us with reunions, votes and monthly emails about our classmates. Ms. Harris does not impress me as someone who would have been a better choice than Jim; he has been both personable and serious about the work.
CNN’s Dana Bash did everything a TV personality could get away with to carry Kamala and Governor Walz into a serious conversation about the very real global problems our next administration is going to face. Bash failed because I believe our vice-president has not learned much on the job, and is, somewhat like former VP Dan Quayle, little more than photogenic. When I am being rushed into the emergency room, I do not want a doctor who looks good, has a great smile and a hearty laugh. I want an experienced doctor who commands the ER staff with clarity and experience. Who saves my life!
As soon as Trump squeaked by Hilary Clinton, long before he moved into the White House, team Obama went to work on him with the muscle of our once great FBI, justice department and continued the shameful lie we will long call the Russian hoax. Can you believe that the Clintons, the Osama’s and the Biden’s told us that The Donald paid Russian hookers to pee on him? That they sent the FBI to tell Facebook to distrust Trump? Our elected president.
That was a dirty political lie designed to create distrust and dislike of our newly elected president. MSNBC barely let a day go by, for over four years, reporting on this Big Lie. If you were to talk like that while under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, you could be charged with sedition and imprisoned if found guilty.
This election may be an actual existential event. Give me the experienced builder, “who stands in the square and takes on all comers” (TR) and kept us safe! Harris lied to us about poor Joe’s brain and became the Democrat candidate without winning any votes at all. Some democracy!
Paul Raymond
New Paltz
Ammonia
This spring we paid contractors ~$166,000 to make improvements to our trickling filters and rotating biological contactors (RBCs) at the sewer plant. Trickling filters handle biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal. The RBCs remove ammonia.
The Village of New Paltz is trying to balance near-term plant investments while we are in the midst of performing a NYS Environmental Facilities Corp. grant funded review (up to $50,000) to study long-term capital planning options, capacity limits, and how to improve protection of the plant during flood events.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
BOD entering the plant was measured on August 8th at 210 milligrams per liter (mg/L), and then treated. Effluent was tested on 8/9/24 and BOD was 3.8 mg/L, an efficiency of 98.2%, well above 85% removal required by the DEC permit. This is calculated as follows: (influent minus effluent) divided by influent. The 7-day maximum level of BOD allowed for effluent is 45 mg/L, compared to our plant’s 3.8 mg/L on August 9th.
AMMONIA
If the plant’s RBCs or Secondary Clarifiers (clarifiers remove solids) are not working correctly, bacteria may grow during the treatment process which can add to ammonia levels. We believe this may have been happening while repairs to the RBCs were being made. The monthly limit for ammonia in effluent for our plant is 18 milligrams per liter (mg/L). We are seeing an improved pattern for influent versus effluent ammonia levels. For example:
(July 3) Inf: 30.7, Eff: 42.6; (July 11) Inf: 26.0, Eff: 7.44; (July 18) Inf: 17.6, Eff: 3.89; (July 25) Inf: 29.9, Eff: 11.5
Therefore, July 2024’s monthly average was 16.4 mg/L, below the limit of 18 mg/L. We will be watching this carefully to make sure continued improvements are being made.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
The Normalization of genocide
Last week Israel directed its hi-tech war machine to attack the West Bank. Never mind that Hamas is limited to the Gaza territory and the West Bank is run by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which had nothing to do with the October 7th attack. Yet, Israel has moved into the northern part of the West Bank with their fighter aircraft, drones and bulldozers and have been attacking refugee camps and surrounding hospitals to cut off access to medical care, which is a war crime.
It should be clear now that Israel’s military aggression has nothing to do with the October,7th event, but is using that as a pretext to carry out its long-desired goal of annexing Palestine for “Greater Israel,” while exterminating Palestinians through genocidal means. Meanwhile, the world looks on and does nothing to stop this brutal, cruel and continual slaughter.
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris turns a blind eye declaring that “Israel has a right to defend itself” as though that is what is currently going on (“not”). Curiously, Harris a former prosecuting attorney familiar with law, appears to have a lack of due diligence for someone in her position to be unaware of the international law of “proportionality,” which Israel led by the monster Benjamin Netanyahu, has been clearly violating for eleven months now. It should be clear Harris is controlled by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC/Israel) as her boss, Joe Biden, was, being the recipient of $5 million from the AIPAC coffers to his campaigns. FYI, New York representatives, Hilary Clinton received $2.5 million, Chuck Schumer $1.75 million, Kristen Gillibrand $1 million and Alfonse D’Amato $1/2 million, Pat Ryan (undisclosed) in AIPAC contributions (https://www.opensecrets.org). So with that all in mind, it should be clear why our elected fat cat representatives are not representing the majority who want the genocide to stop. Meanwhile, AIPAC/Israel uses its influence to normalize the mass brutalization of Palestinians by having its purchased U.S. elected representatives in unison nationwide, mutually call what is clearly genocide, as “self-defense.” What a bunch of pathetic puppets.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
The dysfunction of the rethuglican campaign
I’ve never, never, never seen a political campaign so keen, to display dysfunction and bizarreness as Trump’s, the current rethuglican star. A narcissist so terminally delusional with empathy of a rock, so unemotional. Campaigning for the white house, with all the grace of a rhino, his speeches are a twisted web of lies and half-truths, a verbal ebb. And the flow of nonsense and deceit is nothing more than a siren song of ignorance and conceit.
Yes, human beings can be damaged, it’s true but to support this candidate, who’s so askew, is beyond comprehension, beyond belief. A betrayal of reason, he’s a moral thief. So let us raise our voices high and denounce this campaign, say goodbye to dysfunction, to surrealistic farce. We must strive for better, to surpass the madness, the lunacy, the absurdity of this campaign, so blurred in the eyes of those who see a future brighter and who are full of glee.
A loop of incomprehensible words from this candidate, so absurd. A tantrum-throwing child in a suit. A collection of bluster, an obnoxious brute. How can rational beings believe in this charlatan, who deceives with name-calling, bullying and lies. A failed attempt at being wise. In business, politics and bigly dreams, this candidate’s facade teems with insecurity and inadequacy, a bizarre display of horrific audacity.
I read or see the news each morning with a heavy heart as I witness the Republican party fall apart. It’s a cult — they won’t say anything that goes against the cult. Let us not be swayed by the delusion of a candidate so void of inclusion. Let us stand strong, united and “one,” and say no to dysfunction, it must be defeated and finally done. For we deserve better, we deserve more than a campaign so flawed at its core. Let us rise above, let us be true to the values that make us, me and you.
Now as Kamala Harris rises, Trump falls, his rambling rage fills the halls, unable to handle her success, he spirals into a pit of distress. Once ominous, now just old, weak and tired, his story told. No longer strong, he’s lost his flair, becoming a sad, pathetic rambling nightmare. Cleanup on aisle #45…
Like fat Elvis, past his prime, he’s stuck in a moment, out of time, unable to pivot, unable to see the changing tide is real, and yes, “effn crazy” will be his ultimate legacy.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
A new mess on the Ridge and at Gardiner Town Hall
There is a serious issue before the zoning board of appeals. Can a landowner on the Ridge completely ignore local zoning ordinances and get away with it? The issue is muddied by continuous use of the property in question for activities of a much more primitive nature.
There are complicated legal issues involved as well as issues of environmental degradation and cultural deference to landowners and the upper classes. This is not the kind of small matter homeowner’s regularly bring before the board. It has implications for setting precedents of how sensitive ecological areas will or will not be protected.
This kind of problem needs time to sort through and a very clear and considered weighing of all the issues. Once this deep consideration has occurred a lengthy and clear enunciation of how the board reaches its various conclusions will be necessary to create clear guidelines for adjudication of such situations in the future.
All stakeholders who care about the Ridge will want to be present at the next ZBA meeting on September 5 at 7 p.m. to insure there is no rush to judgement.
Ray Greenberg
Gardiner
That’s Bourgie, II
This is a continuation of a letter I wrote a few months ago.
Activists like Ibram X. Kendi (Harry Rogers) have written books on the theory and practice of anti-racism. I’ve mentioned before that it is said that a cause becomes a business and then eventually a racket. Kendi has an anti-racist institute at Boston University. He has a book and he’s raking in the bucks. I did see that his institute is collapsing and BU is investigating his financials.
There’s the Race2Dinner scam where a white host invites seven guests and pays $2500 to two minority women (black and Asian) to point out their white privilege and hidden bias.
And BLM’s mansions. Investigators are trying to find out where all their money went.
There are many other race hustlers out there.
My point is not just that these concepts are cancerous. Our First Amendment guarantees that these race baiters can spew their lies. We don’t want to infringe. It is important that parents know anti-racism and other ideologies are being used in our public schools indoctrinating students. Telling students that they are oppressors or oppressed based on the color of their skin ignores their value as an individual (racial Marxism). It only divides. The article about DEI in Kingston schools a couple months ago was chilling. Their staff demographics do not match their student demographics. The school superintendent said he was going to hire minority candidates to balance this out. Hmmm. Hiring based on race. I think the Supreme Court just ruled against that. Kingston schools better hope they don’t get sued.
There are some occupations where hiring the most qualified individual is not critical. Not many come to mind, but this could include fast food, custodial and daycare assistants. All worthy jobs that one should be proud of. When it comes to education, health, government, the judicial system, airline pilots, or fixing the brakes on my car, I want the best regardless of race.
The point I want to drive home here is that DEI is harmful. Just ask Bill Maher.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
Re-memorying Shawangunk at the Ulster County office
In their dedication to public service and community outreach, it would be wonderful during this transition if the mythic memory mistresses at the Ulster County office would update the county records on the pronunciation and origin of the place-name Shawangunk. On the recently installed Shawangunk Ridge interpretive sign overlooking the Wallkill River in New Paltz, the Ridge pronunciation appears as “Shongum,” a colonial construct mistakenly codified as the native Munsee name by the Ulster County Historical Society in 1861. In 2005, the Munsee origin, pronunciation and translation of Shawangunk were clarified in separate publications with similar conclusions by both local historian Mark B. Fried and the Shawangunk Conservancy. Please take a look at Shawangunk’s etymology on Wikipedia, which is appropriately referenced: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawangunk_Ridge.
Christopher Spatz
Rosendale
A slippery slope
Statistics show that skateboarding is more dangerous than war.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
A monstrosity in our midst
The fact that the Winston Farm developers are local is irrelevant. The objections to their project would be the same if they were high rollers from NYC or anywhere else. And the objections are paramount!
We’re only recent Saugertiesians, we bought our property in 1982; we recently donated 75 acres to the Woodstock Conservancy, appraised at $320,000 to be forever wild. Winston Farm should not be allowed to be turned into a monstrosity in our midst. The investors should scale down the project for a lesser profit and/or take a tax deduction to recoup some of their investment; public access should be a requirement.
Meyer Rothberg
Saugerties
Our library continues to grow
The Gardiner Library director and staff recently completed an effort to increase the number of library cards in our community. Over 200 new library cards have been issued as our library continues to grow and provide services to the residents of Gardiner.
Thanks to Director Nicole Lane and our dedicated staff.
Glenn Gidaly, Vice president
Gardiner Library board of trustees
Fact of the matter
Gordon Wemp said the reason I point out McKenna’s missteps is that “Bill and Wilber didn’t reappoint him [me] to the ZBA after claiming that his board would vote the way that he told them to,” a claim that if it were investigated would be found to be untrue. Yet, for how many years has McKenna packed the town board with his hand-picked protégés, who voted the way McKenna voted, a claim that if it were investigated would be found to be true. Does that mean he should have been removed from office? It wasn’t until Bennet Ratcliff and Maria Conte were voted onto the town board that things changed and he was no longer able to control the voting.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Understanding misogyny
Misogyny. Definition: Hatred, dislike or mistrust of women, manifested in various forms such as physical intimidation and abuse, sexual harassment and rape and social shunning.
There you have it. The definition of “misogyny” right out of Webster’s dictionary. But the question is, “why do Republicans continue to make decisions as if they hate women?” Could it be because they really do hate women?
When Trump was president, he chose three conservatives to be part of the once-respected Supreme Court. During the past two years that Supreme court made the highly unpopular decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade. This gave the states the power to ban abortions, if they chose. The Republican-run states promptly went into action and passed laws to ban abortions with horrible threats for any women who defied that new restrictive law. Some states have even gone as far as denying the right to have an abortion due to rape, incest, or the life concerns for the pregnant woman. That’s unconscionable. Since those laws were passed there have been thousands of women who are really suffering.
Recently bans on IVF, (invitro fertilization) have depressed thousands more women. Women who were already struggling and tormented with the inability to become pregnant, are now suffering even more. Their fleeting dream of having their own baby has been crushed by their Republican-controlled state governments. Those state governments have even threatened to put doctors and Planned Parenthood workers in jail if they defy their restrictive laws. Why are they being so mean and punishing to women? I honestly do not understand the toxic intensity at the source of all those laws against the female gender in our nation. It just doesn’t make any sense.
In addition, the conservative Supreme Court and those Republican-dominated states are now working toward banning contraceptives as well as the morning after pill. Republicans are at the bottom of all these changes, clearly an obvious expression of their hatred and dislike toward women. But why? There is no rational reason.
It’s not like all women were gaming the system and dominating men throughout our nation. No. Absolutely not! In fact, each year in our country close to one million women are victims of rape. That’s right. One million! Rape is a horrific violent crime that all too often goes unpunished. However, most victims of rape have to deal with the horrible trauma of being viciously violated. That trauma often distorts the rest of their lives in many ways. Once again, each year it happens to about one million women. Think about that.
On the other hand, only a handful of men are convicted each year of rape. Few actually spend some time in jail. I guess it’s possible that the Republicans have little or no problem with the obvious differences between how men and women continue to be treated in our country. Doesn’t that make most of them outright misogynists?
Donald Trump boasted about how proud he was that those conservative justices who overturned Roe vs. Wade were appointed by him. That’s right. He was proud. He’s been convicted of sexual harassment of women. He’s a convicted felon, fairly tried by a jury of his peers. He is a sexual predator of women. He certainly expresses his dislike, hatred and mistrust of almost any woman he comes in contact with. His thoughts and constant behavior toward women are proof that he is driven by the actual definition of misogyny.
Birds of a feather stick together. So I understand that about Trump and the Republican Party. But what about you? Are you one of them?
Marty Klein
Sarasota, FL
Business as usual, or a choice to survive?
It’s a hard truth, that some people still don’t get: We cannot go on as we have been doing. We cannot continue to build, pave, destroy natural habitats and deplete aquifers in the name of growth, development and profit, because it’s destroying the very fabric of the Earth on which we depend for life.
The Winston Farm is a tiny corner of the Earth, but it’s a perfect microcosm of the challenge that we all face. The developers want their profit, the town board its potential tax base. It’s the American Way! But we all have to be honest: growth and profit at what cost?
Saugerties is already choking on traffic. Its aquifers are strained and always in danger of becoming contaminated. People need housing, while houses stand empty, because it’s not profitable to rehab them.
Now we are faced with a proposal to build 133 single-family homes, 115 townhouses, 800 condo/apartment units, a campground with 157 cabins and RV sites, 425,000 square feet of commercial retail space, a 150-room hotel, a conference center with 300 more hotel rooms, a 5000-person amphitheater and 375,000 square feet of lab or light-industrial space on what is now pristine woodland and open fields.
In other words, another whole town. Want to destroy the quality of life in Saugerties? This will do it.
There is already plenty of land in Saugerties zoned for commercial development and potentially available for housing projects. We already have a large conference hotel in the village. We don’t need a single inch of Winston Farm to have those things.
I read that last year the Open Space Institute offered $10 million to purchase the property to build a state park. That would have been a $6 million profit over what it cost the developers to purchase it, but that wasn’t enough for them.
What a relief it would be, to have that precious place finally protected as a state park!
I ask the town board to refuse this proposed catastrophic overdevelopment, for the good of the whole region and all the life that it holds.
Susan J Murphy
Saugerties
We can do it!
Well, listening to or reading the news can sometimes make a person wonder. How far have we really come? But, some current events that do not get highlighted much are those that follow. From September 1 through October 4 is a time period called the Season of Creation. During these days we are summoned to focus on care for all of creation, to consistently maintain an awareness of the ecological challenges that require our attention, and the choices that have been and are being made that affect the health of our ecosystems. Whether as individuals or as a global society, we are responsible for guiding how the environment, humanity/animal life/plants/inanimate objects, social systems, and political systems will intersect and affect one another. Climate change, a stray piece of paper, someone needing a smile or encouragement, pollution, supporting inclusiveness, or influencing the ethical functioning of government at all levels are just some of the areas in which we can all have an impact. The website for Season of Creation 2024 contains information and resources to assist in this journey.
Decades ago, September 21 was established by the U.N. as the International Day of Peace. With the idea of this day being rooted in Africa in the late 1980’s, this day provides one of the bookends for the Campaign for Nonviolence Days — this period of time begins on September 21 and culminates on Ocober. 2 (Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday). All of humanity is called upon to respect and care for one another, seek nonviolent resolutions when difficulties arise and promote patience/compassion/ethics/understanding in relationships. Suggestions for specific actions can be found on the website for Campaign for Nonviolence.
The principles and actions during the Season of Creation and the Campaign for Nonviolence Days are meant to be practiced beyond the specific days of each campaign. They are thought to be ways in which all of us can care for and nourish the planet and extend that caring to one another. Each person/social grouping has their challenges but as individuals/communities or as a global family — know your goal and that we can do it!
Terence Lover
Woodstock
Traffic trouble from Winston Farm
The potential increase in traffic resulting from the latest Winston Farm proposal would impact our entire region and make crowded roads impassable. The two-lane section of 212 between Woodstock and Saugerties would become one long traffic jam.
The developers have proposed a plan that would create 799 housing units. They anticipate the buildout would result in 1,746 new residents. Plans also include developing 250,000 square feet of commercial space, a 150-room boutique hotel, a conference center with 250 hotel rooms, an enclosed performance venue with 5,000 seats and a campground with 100 cabins.
Let’s just look at the impact of a 5,000 seat performance venue and forget about the hotels, houses, cabins and convention center. Bethel Woods, another farm that once hosted a Woodstock festival, is a great example of what happens to a community when an enormous music venue is built. Several TripAdvisor reviewers describe traffic caused by the Bethel Woods venue, “It takes an hour to get out of the parking lot. You have to feel for the people who live in this town that have to deal with this traffic every time there is an event here.”
The developers provided a traffic impact study. The only problem is that the study was conducted in the middle of the winter and includes data from December and January 2023. In some parts of our region the summer population is double that of the winter population. The developer offers zero traffic data analyzing the impact on the summer tourism season and the only solution the developers offer is to install traffic lights.
Please get involved in efforts to modify this monstrosity by reading more about what’s at stake on the citizens’ website https://beautifulsaugerties.com and help us preserve what we love about our communities.
Susan Paynter
Woodstock
Trump and character
Gladdened as I was by what I saw as the diversity and humanity of the Democratic National Convention, I was hardly shocked that one of HV1’s dyed-in-the-wool-over-his-eyes Trumpers experienced the same event as an exhibit of “self-aggrandizing horn tooting, faux Democratic ‘values’ and countless lopsided attacks of Donald Trump, including many, many exaggerations and repeated outright lies even though they had already been debunked quite some time ago.”
A Trumper accusing Democrats of “outright lies”? Rich. And of “exaggerations?” It’s impossible to exaggerate a gross caricature of loathsomeness. To support Trump, one must be willing to renounce all the qualities most people seek in a candidate — or in a partner, a friend, a spiritual adviser — the qualities we strive to embody ourselves.
Donald Trump strives to embody none of them and fully succeeds. Aside from his two carbon-copy sons, few defend his “qualities;” even the (forbidden) apple of his eye Ivanka seems to have fallen, or jumped, from the tree. “Character is destiny,” Heraclitus wrote, and Trump’s reelection would certainly bode ill for America’s destiny. If we vote him back into office, despite having witnessed, daily and for years, his ruthlessness, his narcissism, his crudity, his vindictiveness — the negatives spring to mind faster than I can write them down and in greater abundance than HV1 has space for — the American Experiment may well be blown to smithereens, with Donald Trump the missile that annihilates it. But we’d have launched that missile.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are not without flaws; no politician can stay a saint for long. The Democrats cravenly kept Bernie Sanders off the ballot in 2016 and Palestinians off the DNC stage in 2024, conveniently sweeping the detritus of Gaza (and the West Bank) under the rug.
But a flawed character is one thing and the lack of any character quite another. And Americans need to recognize the difference before it’s too late.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
The revolution will not be televised by Gil Scott-Heron
Elder is a word I never imagined myself becoming. When I was a boy, my elders sent me to war. In the war, I learned that my elders had sent me to fight an unjust war. So, I became a living capital, like cows and chickens. When I came home, I wrote “Old Men Can Be Bastards.” The first line in Robert McNamara’s book In Retrospect is: “This is a book I planned never to write.” My question was, “What was he planning on doing with the memories of his 58,000 dead Americans in the unjust Vietnam War?”
Today’s youth may use the internet as a distraction from their elders’ plans for the rest of their lives. Instead of war rhetoric about protecting women and children from enemies, they listen to news about school and parade shootings daily. So, who is left for them to trust? The answer must be Google and Amazon, which deliver more dependability than our government elders ever will.
My generation was given moral blueprints for living that came from family values, churches, Boy and Girl Scouts, ball teams and Walt Disney films. All this was delivered to keep the young on a course to becoming good consumers who would shun rebellion because we were the only genuinely moral country on the planet.
I am hanging out with my black brothers and Marines in Vietnam. I was introduced to Gil Scott-Heron’s song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” The song was banned from the radio, but it carried more truth than politicians could tolerate.
“You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You cannot plug in, turn on, or cop-out.
You will not be able to lose yourself in skag
And skip out for beer during commercials because
The revolution will not be televised.”
This song helped me see that the black community understood why we were sent to war by politicians’ way beyond the white protesting college students. Today, the black community understands why our Civil War body count statistics rise daily in America. All wars are driven by capital — Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and race wars. Frontline soldiers alone carry the country’s guilt, lack of moral responsibility, and shame for destroying humanity, while the wealthy make sure “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” These power brokers protect blacks like Clarence Thomas, our only black Supreme Court judge, in the back rooms, so they appear to support blacks.
My generation swept Vietnam, the lost war, under a thick carpet of cash and has never uncovered what that war did to the soul of our country. Our politicians learned that if you can hide the inhumanity of war with money, you can cover up the destruction of the environment in which you live. Today’s computer wars, drone wars and race wars are all feeding capital to the engines of progress. So don’t bother turning on the TV; our wealthy own the media, and “The revolution will not be televised.”
Larry Winters
New Paltz
F — The future regarding our present benefit state, #2
By now the reader should be acquainted with the damage that could be unleased upon our benefits, if D. Trump is re-elected. I have submitted 16 letters, from the date of 5/15/24 -8/1/24 to Hudson Valley One, alerting the reader to this fact. In addition to this newspaper, from 2016 when Trump became POTUS, I submitted over 50 letters to the New Paltz Times, regarding what I believed the Trump administration would be like.
The facts are clear. From the introduction of the Supreme Court Decision of 1886 of Santa Fe County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, the United states began its journey toward FDR’s socialism and liberalism.
The progress of human kind has been one of progressivism. From the stone age to the present, mankind has journeyed forth albeit with social calamities, depression, recessions, wars. These all contributed to the advance forward. Out of each of these calamities, there arose a better way. A case in point is the Great Depression of the late 20s and early 30s. It was the capitalistic grab, grab, everyman for himself, that pushed the country into this depression.
The six Republican presidents: McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, were all business and business only. The GOP knew if Hoover was re-elected, his previous four years reflected little addressed to stem the tide of the Great Depression. Therefore, by a vote of 81 percent Republican and 87% Democrat, FDR (Democrat) was ushered in as the 32nd POTUS. The Republicans played a major role in creating the Great Depression and played a major role in getting the country up and running again. With the advent of FDR into the oval office, the country was introduced to the social and liberal philosophies that pulled the country out of the Great Depression. And this has continued to the present.
But the GOP is in lockstep with Trump even though he is out of office. Why? He is still controlling the party and telling them what he wants and does not want. Why? A case in point the immigrant problem at the Rio Grande. He did not want any solution from Biden’s administration, despite a bi-partisan agreement, as he wants to solve this, his way, once back into office. And not give Biden credit. Why? His trillion-dollar tax cut to the wealthy and corporations, 35% down to 21% is another example, increasing the debt, Why? His attack upon our benefits with the executive payroll tax eliminating FICA, thereby not funding Social Security and Medicare. Why? Why? It goes on and on.
Donald Trump is the first POTUS who has the total support of the Republican Party; the party bosses made and make sure of that. Mitch McConnell, 39 years in Congress, has been influential in getting three conservative nominees elected to the lifetime positions, giving the Supreme Court a conservative majority. If the Republicans can gain control of both chambers of Congress, with a Republican president and a conservative Supreme court, our benefits are going to go like ‘the wild goose in winter. Gone.
But one has to be aware that it will not happen overnight. It will be a gradual chipping away until they are eliminated, not only with our benefits but other aspects of this socialistic, liberal government. The GOP is on the cusp of getting out from under this socialistic, liberal involvement and into the heretofore capitalistic environment of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Robert LaPolt
New Paltz
Some plans need changing
This parody is dedicated to those who voted for Joe Biden because “anybody would be better than (fill in your favorite pejorative here) Trump.” (I suspect that many of these people are planning to vote for Kamala Harris for the same reason.) With this in view, despite the fact that CNN’s presentation of Harris/Walz’ first softball interview was tantamount to an endorsement of their candidacy by the station, this song suggests that maybe it’s time for such voters to change their plans. (To the tune of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm”)
(Stanza)
I wasn’t gonna vote for Joe Biden no more 2x
Joe told us he’d unite us when he
ran for president
but “MAGA voters are fascists” was the message that he sent
Now the country is more divided than before
So, I wasn’t gonna vote for Joe Biden no more
(Stanza)
I can’t endorse Joe’s replacement no more 2x)
Joe made Kamala Harris, his VP running mate
She was the last person in the room
and helped brings us the disaster at Abbey Gate
It’s a shame the way she helped shove Joe out the door
So, I can’t endorse Joe’s replacement, no more
(Stanza)
I ain’t gonna listen to Joe’s VP no more
2x
She says the economy is doing, oh, so well
but the rising cost of living shoots my budget right to hell
She said BIDENOMICS is working and that just makes me sore
So, I ain’t gonna listen to Joe’s VP no more
(Stanza)
No, I ain’t gonna support Joe’s VP no more 2x
The great crisis at our borders has made me lose all trust
Now she wants to build Trump’s Wall though she once called it a bust
The way she covered up Joe’s decline I just abhor
So, I ain’t gonna support Kamala Harris, no more.
(Stanza))
I ain’t gonna work for VP Harris no more (2x)
Joe lied to us at breakfast; he lied at dinner too
Seems every time he talked, Joe lied to me and you
But Kamala knew that he was lying
and that’s for sure
So, I ain’t gonna work for VP Harris no more
(Stanza)
I ain’t gonna root for Kamala Harris no more 2x
Most liberal pundits call her the candidate of “hope and joy”
They say “She’s who we need” but I think it’s just a ploy
She made her VP years seem like such a chore
So, I ain’t gonna root for joyful Harris no more
(Stanza)
I ain’t gonna gonna believe Kamala Harris no more (2x)
She says that Donald Trump, is the cause of all our fears
She acts like he’s been POTUS for the last four years
She says “Vote for me and good prospects, they, will soar”
But I ain’t gonna believe Kamala Harris no more
(Stanza)
I ain’t gonna vote for VP Harris no more 2x
I said anybody but Trump would really be okay
But now the song I’m singing is “I wish Kamala would go away”
The job that Harris did was just so poor
So, I ain’t gonna vote for VP Harris no more
Yes, no more: yes, no more; yes no more
George Civile
Gardiner
Ribbons
I am thinking of nights
still bright with the power
of stars.
Thinking of bright nights
still lingering with laughter
on the air.
Thinking of the still
grass, dark paths not filled
with dark thoughts of winter.
I am thinking of illuminated,
sparkling ribbons of light
in late summer’s pre-dawn sky.
Patrick Hammer, Jr.
Saugerties
Israeli genocide
Are you okay with your tax dollars paying for genocide in Palestine? The Zionist state of Israel has bombed, burned and buried 42,000 innocent Palestinian women, children and men in the last ten months. The Zionist project of Israel is continuing acts of unspeakable violence and cruelty. Slaughtering and wantonly exterminating women, men, children, babies and killing, wounding and maiming anything that breathes — like donkeys, horses, dogs and cats. There are truly no words. It is all being done before our very eyes. There have been genocides before, but never seen in real time with real images on screens in our hands or on our laps. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are trapped, terrified and homeless due to relentless bombing (much of it with US supplied bombs). There is no safe place in Gaza and children are dying from planned starvation, dehydration and disease. Our government supports and funds these atrocities with your tax dollars. If any of this bothers you, maybe it’s time to call the White House: 202-456-1111 or Pat Ryan:202-225-5614 and say, “No U.S. weapons or money to fund Israeli genocide.”
Eli Kassirer
New Paltz
Retraction
In our letter of 8/28 entitled “Woodstock is not all peace and love,” we carelessly used the word “guilty” (as in “guilty of”) in referring to the sexual harassment charges made against the Woodstock police officer now on paid administrative leave. It had been our intention to use the term “accused” instead, but the phrasing of a previous draft inadvertently slipped by. We did not mean to imply that a guilty verdict has yet been determined, and apologize for the error.
Alan Weber
on behalf of Woodstockers United for Change
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