To the editor,
I am heartsick over the men and women we’ve lost in a war that we cannot win. Our service members are returning with mental issues and are being sent back with emotional problems. This should anger each and every person with a heart and soul.
How do we justify the suicide rate of these fallen soldiers? When will we tire of wasting billions on a war that can’t be won? Look at history: the British couldn’t win in Afghanistan in the 1800s. The Soviets couldn’t win the 1990s.
I for one would love to see a Department of Peace to promote humankind. Just imagine how many programs we could have that would help many became part of society?
Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
Ari Kari
To the editor,
For the past 10 years, I have represented the 45th Assembly District as the female district leader and the state committeewoman.
Your article, “Kagan on Kagan” (Oct. 4), as so often happens with women in politics, ignores the role of the elected official equally responsible for the political decisions that occur in our community.
I have decided to separate myself from Mr. Kagan because of the scurrilous campaign piece sent under both his name and that of the losing candidate for the Assembly. Mr. Kagan refuses to accept responsibility for the attack on Mrs. Cymbrowitz.
If he wants to be in politics, he should know that any communication where his name appears as party to the literature indicates his tacit approval of the entire piece.
Your readers might also want to know that, under my leadership, our High-Way Club will continue to support our constituents as part of our 100-year-old tradition.
Pearl Siegelman
Sheepshead Bay
Israel ‘no schnorra’
To the editor,
To Henry Ranz, (“Hey Shavana, get one thing straight,” Letters to the Editor, Oct. 4), as an American and a Jew, aren’t you ashamed to have written a letter like that?
It’s nice to be liberal, but you go way too far. How dare you call our beloved Israel a schnorra? Look at all the technological advances that country has made since its inception? For starters, how about the cellphone you’re using?
Of course, we have to respect President Obama, but we also have to give respect to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Israel has a major crisis on its hands with Iran. We’re not going back to 1938 when the world kept quiet as Austria and Czechoslovakia were grabbed up by Hitler.
You probably would have never accepted the Balfour Declaration of 1917, but would have been gung-ho about the British White Paper of 1936, which abrogated it.
We saw the tragic results when the world was apathetic to the Jews in the 1930s. We will never allow that to happen again.
Israel is our ally, the one true democracy in the Middle East. We’re not ready to have it go the way of 1939 Poland.
As for our president, he and Michelle spent the post-debate hours celebrating their 20th anniversary and dancing to the following tune: “There may be trouble ahead. Let’s face the music and dance.”
He needs less fund-raising with Jay-Z and Beyonce and more time pounding the books for the subsequent debates. It might also be the time to meet with Bibi Netanyahu. Another performance such as that first debate and Obama will have plenty of time to appear on “Dancing With the Stars” after Jan. 20, 2013.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Terrific teachers
To the editor,
Veteran teachers are in a class all by themselves. They are rewarded in so many different ways after many years of hard work, dedication, and working in public schools.
The biggest reward for them is the memory they have of all the children they have taught in their classes. They touched many lives and their names will live on through their students.
Teaching is an art and every teacher is an artist molding children. There are all different kinds of artists, and the same goes for teachers. They all have different teaching styles, but they accomplish the same goal: they all want their students to achieve, academically.
Teachers who have acquired longevity in the school system are the ones who can rattle on and on about the past and present systems. They have experienced so many different fads in education, and have watched them disappear. Teachers who have a long shelf life in a school remember when reading was taught using phonics and reading laboratory kits.
Teaching is a lifelong journey. Every teacher starts his journey being new with little experience. Then, through the years, teachers are able to polish their skills. It’s like riding a bicycle. They both are learned through trial and errors, and then finally you master the skills.
There is never an expiration date on veteran teachers. The older they get, the more depth of knowledge they have acquired over the years. They may be like old furniture, but they are made well from years of experience. Some veteran teachers are priceless in every school building!
Barbra Nahoum
The author is an Absent Teacher Reserve in District 21
Trade cha-cha
To the editor,
I watched the first Obama–Romney debate, and found that Mitt Romney was more suave and clearly impressed about increasing trade with Latin America.
This would help revive the Monroe Doctrine, since we have a debt to pay Latin America for past misdeeds, like Teddy Roosevelt building the Panama Canal without the advice and consent of the Senate. We must revive the goodwill policy established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Republican presidents impose a high tariff upon foreign nations if they want to trade with us, and while this may be unfair to other countries, in certain instances this might help restore prosperity in America.
Grover Cleveland, who was both the 22nd and the 24th president, was adamantly opposed to high tariffs, and the country suffered from two great depressions. William McKinley supported high tariffs, sponsoring them in Congress and supporting them as president. And when Woodrow Wilson defeated the incumbent, William Howard Taft, in 1912, the 28th president immediately lowered the tariff, which led to an economic crunch. It took U.S. involvement in Worl War I to stimulate the economy.
Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge also favored high tariffs and America prospered, but although Herbert Hoover signed a high tariff, the depression of 1929 was worldwide, not solely American.
Elliott Abosh
Brighton Beach
Wal-smart
To the editor,
I speak for my friends in Canarsie.
Your article, “Walmart won’t open on Belt Parkway (online Sept. 14),” caught my eye, and caused lots of conversation.
We want a Walmart. Why not? Why should we be the only place without one?
Brooklyn is full of money-spending, yet thrifty, people. We need this store, once and for all. Just me writing this shows me that I, as a little nobody, really would like it.
I have to beg someone to take me to the Island to shop. Why not spend my money in Brooklyn?
Sandy Weinzoff
Canarsie
Howl-oween
To the editor,
According to a recent news item I heard on the radio, some people have declared Halloween to be “Kill a Pit Bull Day.”
If your pet is a pit bull, please be extremely careful when walking your dog on Oct. 31. If you have a yard, do not leave your dog in the yard.
Be a good neighbor. Even if you do not own a pit bull, be alert for any signs of suspicious activity and report it to cops.
As for the misguided people who want to participate in this violent activity, please be advised that when treated as a normal animal companion in a traditional home environment, pit bulls are extremely sweet and loving dogs!
I have met many of these wonderful animals when their owners were walking them, and they were all extremely friendly and affectionate. It is when violent people train them to be vicious that they become dangerous.
Even many of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s fighting ring have been rehabilitated with medical care and gentle training, and have been adopted into loving homes.
Who is more violent and dangerous? The people who wish to needlessly kill innocent, beloved pets, or these wonderful dogs?
Sarah Vogel
Sea Gate
Reach reporter Shavana Abruzzo at sabruzzo@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2529.