Letters

Letters: Maybe it’s cats plotting for a dogless future

PECONIC

The plot of a cat

The recent anti-dog rhetoric, be it based on aggressive attacks on hapless beachgoers, unprovoked slobbers on the unreceptive or the dreaded scourge of dog poop, has a fishy smell to it.

Everything poops; birds, deer and worst of all the countless humans who have encroached on every available piece of waterfront land.

Our waste treatment plants dump directly into both the Sound and bay. Lawn care and farm chemicals — such as fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides — excess oils and fuels of the pleasure boating industry all end up in local waters. Yet we have found a new villain — dogs.

This campaign could only have been the plot of a cat, a mastermind with feline-minded human proxies forwarding a vision of a dogless future.

Sound silly? So do dogless beaches as proposed by a few meow-fixated whiners. People are the problem, whether reckless dog owners or relentless complainers. They both need to be kept in check.

Jack Gismondi

GREENPORT

Bag the plastic bags

The excuses never cease to amaze me why people won’t bring their own bags to stores.

A recent Town Hall Notes story reported that “Mr. Schriever is up in arms over a proposed ban on the use of plastic bags to pack merchandise” due to the fact that he needs the plastic bag handles. I would be more than happy to give Mr. Schriever bags with handles that are not plastic and are reusable.

The only way to stop the ridiculous amount of plastic bags taken from stores is to start charging for them. IKEA started charging five cents a bag in 2007 and it didn’t take long for people to stop expecting the plastic bags to put their purchases in.

Joann Tamin

PECONIC

Watch the skies

On Aug. 6 the new mandatory routing for helicopters flying from Manhattan to the Hamptons was supposed to take effect.

As those of us in the path of the onslaught have noticed, there is yet to be full compliance. Senator Schumer was the first to be called when the roar of the rotors invaded sleep at 6:56 that Monday morning. The Long Island office was not answering its phones and Washington referred calls to New York City, where the staff took it upon themselves to have the Long Island office return the call.

Marissa from that office offered up an FAA complaint number of 718-553-3365, found to be yet another recorded line. Frustrated, I discovered the Internet served as a more helpful source and after a call to the FAA’s Dan Hubbard, it was suggested that a call to Laura Brown, assistant deputy at the FAA would be helpful. Email was the communication of choice here and a response arrived by Friday of that week.

She said she wasn’t able to find out the status of the complaints since many people were not in the office.

“I can tell you that we do forward some reports to our inspectors to follow up if there is enough information to look into it,” Ms. Brown wrote. “We have civil enforcement authority and can levy civil penalties if we conclude there was a violation of our regulations.”

The more people who communicate the non-compliance events the better. There are consequences and we must ensure that the FAA follows through. Please call that number and make note of all of the inappropriate flights and report them through that phone number and by email to [email protected].

Remain diligent. This time the outcome is in our hands.

Carla Rosen

GREENPORT

Coverage deserved

What a beastly video!

I give high marks to our hometown paper, The Suffolk Times, and to our community.

Everyone involved with the making of the video reported on in the Aug. 2 issue donated time and space in our community and that was very newsworthy.

Bravo to all cast and crew of “Beastly.”

Carol Allen

GREENPORT

That was offensive?

I must say that I was very surprised to read the letter in last week’s Suffolk Times from Helen Passanant.

I find it hard to believe that someone would be offended by a picture that depicts the creativity of a group of our own young people.

Mike Check (Michael Checklick) was born in Greenport, as were his parents. He graduated from Greenport High School, went to college and most days after working at his full-time job, he pursues his dream of making it in the music industry.

Unlike so many, Mike has never forgotten his roots and came home to do his latest video with his friends and family. The pictures that Helen Passanant find so offensive are made up of our local youth, and the amazing makeup was also done by one of our own. The Suffolk Times has traditionally been a hometown newspaper and this indeed is hometown news.

Thank you for your coverage. It really means a lot to everyone who has worked so hard, and is still working hard, on this project.

Marilyn Corwin

“Beastly” video producer

SOUTHOLD

Good neighbors

Residents of Founders Village in Southold are asking the Peconic Land Trust to not locate their proposed two large plastic greenhouses so close to our patios.

Forty of us attended the public hearing on their site plan on July 9 to voice our concerns of noise, odors and diminished views if these structures are built so close to our border.

We did not come with expensive attorneys or experts but simply to ask the Trust to be good neighbors and find another place for the structures.

We welcomed the Land Trust next door in 2008 and we continue to support their programs and goals. However, the realities of life on the North Fork today call for flexibility and accommodation.

This land had not been farmed in a generation and during that time 92 families moved in next door and forever changed the landscape on Youngs Avenue.

We were back for the Aug. 13 Planning Board hearing to again try to persuade the board and the Trust to locate the 12-foot-tall greenhouses in a location out of sight and sound of our neighbors’ homes.

We want to be good neighbors and we know the Land Trust wants to be a good neighbor.

Please join us in asking the Peconic Land Trust to step up.

Carol Bertsch

LAUREL

Where they belong

Two thumbs up to the police involved in capturing all of the drugs that were being shipped into the Riverhead and North Fork communities.

These men who prey on people who are addicts should be behind bars.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Brenda Casey

SMITHTOWN

Whatta league!

This was my first year involved with Hamptons Collegiate Baseball, with my son playing on Riverhead Tomcats. It was the experience of a lifetime. Not only was my son on the team, but we were fortunate enough to host a young man from Louisiana. This gave my son someone to drive back and forth with, since we live 45 minutes from the field, and someone to practice hitting with on those rare off days. They were able to share and blend together the coaching tips from the Northeast and the South. This benefited them both tremendously.

The league gave each player a gym membership for the summer. Here again, these young men shared their collective knowledge and all became bigger and stronger. Also, I could not believe all of the people who became host families when they did not even have a son on the team. I have never met such nice people on any previous league. The coaches, assistants, managers and administrators were all exceptional. This is a team that my son, my husband and myself will remember forever. Thank you, Hamptons Collegiate Baseball!

Diane Gorecki

Brooklyn

They gave great care

I am writing to express my gratitude and appreciation to the medical and nursing staff of Eastern Long Island Hospital for their professionalism and care demonstrated during my stay in early July.

I would also like to commend the emergency medical team of the East Marion Fire Department for its dedication and diligence.

I hope they will accept my sincere thanks.

Robert Halikias

NEW SUFFOLK

GOP in a nutshell

Romney and Ryan: The perfect embodiment of the 2012 Republican platform.

Solicitude for the rich, indifference to the middle class and contempt for the poor.

Stanley Brown

GREENPORT

What we’ve become

I’m coming into my 89th year. I’ve had a long, full life, supported by a democratic government that provided for the needs of the country and thrived on the creativity and industriousness of the people.

World War II was everyone’s war. The draft providing the armed forces, the government rationing foods, materiel and gas, Rosie the Riveter and many others, working in the factories, growing vegetable gardens, knitting warm socks and baking cookies to send to the troops, volunteers acting as community wardens. Sharing the news and the terrible lists of the dead and the missing.

After the war, the G.I. Bill sent the men to college and they came out as scientists, engineers, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. They propelled the U.S. into an age of economic growth and national dominance. Social Security, to protect the elderly from destitution, Medicare to protect the ill from bankruptcy because of medical expenses. the Civil Rights Movement and later, the Women’s Movement, bringing us closer to becoming “the land of the free.”

Not only a long life, but a grateful one. I am not afraid of dying. But I am dreadfully worried for my children and grandchildren and yours. We are no longer a democracy, providing for the needs of the people, the infrastructure of the country, or all levels of education to build for the future. We have become a corporate oligarchic state, governed in their financial interests, like the Third World countries we used to disdain.

This government cuts food stamps when more people are in need, cuts food and health programs for children, denies money for states to provide teachers and firemen. Wants to cut Social Security benefits and turn Medicare into for-profit enterprises.

Having exploited our natural resources to fill their coffers, they have not put any of their profits back into restoring the land or repaying the workers.

It’s no longer the America I lived in, thrived in and was proud of. I pray that the decent people who are working courageously to bring back our democracy will succeed.

I pray that my children and grandchildren and yours will be able to lead decent and satisfying lives, supported by the essential and humane programs that all other industrial, advanced nations provide.

Merle Levine

LAUREL

Over the cliff

As Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan press for ever-lower taxes and massive spending cuts while praising entrepreneurialism and the beauty of ever-growing profit-making business unfettered by government and regulation, let’s look at the whole picture.

As the CEOs and financiers grab theirs and competitive pricing continues to be a part of the equation, wages and benefits become further depressed and economic inequality increases. Taxes are lowered, government expenditures are cut and government aid to the disadvantaged, the sick, the poor, the elderly and the unemployed is reduced.

Aid to those trying for college entrance is eliminated, government-financed infrastructure improvement ends and the United States slides further toward mediocrity. This is America’s decline, about to happen in our lifetime. Is this our America? Will we watch or will we act?

Follow the arguments, get mad and get out and vote. With Paul Ryan added to the ticket ,the Romney express will take us all right over the cliff.

Howard Meinke

AQUEBOGUE

Undecided?
Just vote Republican

As we all know, there are those of us who are staunch Republicans or totally loyal Democrats. People choose the party lines, regardless of the ultimate results.

Many people are undecided. In order to guide those of you who are questioning whether we are going in the right direction? The answer is a resounding “NO!” If you wish runaway inflation, higher taxes, municipal layoffs while salaries stay the same, or in many cases these days just fade away. If you wish to continue this trend, it is easy. Just vote in the present failed administration.

Regardless of our political affiliation, the time has come to employ our common sense. We need lower fuel prices and lower food prices, coupled with a realistic increase in the value of dollars we spend.

We need affordable health care, however, not this ridiculous plan this present administration has concocted. As usual, the working American pays for the rich and the poor. What else is new?

The real solution to this dilemma is simple. Cost of pharmacy should be much less, medical malpractice limited to gross negligence and redundant testing limited. These items I just mentioned will save millions in real numbers.

Since the Supreme Court dubbed health care a tax, let’s do it right. A graduating tax just like Social Security would be exacted based on one’s individual income. This would be paid through the working years of the individual. If he or she were laid off for awhile, this person would keep his or her individual care. As far back as I can remember, people were in some cases afraid to change employment. The reason would have been the fact that they would lose their health insurance. Under this plan, they would keep their standard package. I must point out, these thoughts are just highlights. Many other factors go into the final equation. Something like this is far better than “Obamacare.”

All things considered, we must open our minds and hearts. It is time for changes. I urge you to consider Romney for president, Long for Senate and Altschuler for Congress. They will work tirelessly for you.

Frederick Rodgers