Viva la Beep! Adams right on Cuba
To the editor,
I think it’s good that Borough President Eric Adams flew the Cuban flag at Borough Hall (“Cuban flag flies above Borough Hall in gesture of friendship,” Aug. 7). Some people don’t like that because of Cuba’s human rights abuses. As he said, many countries have abuses and we have diplomatic relations with them.
We have been friendly with dictators for many years. In fact, we have put many dictators in power. In Cuba we installed Fulgencio Batista as president. Then he had torture houses and political prisoners. Before Fidel Castro, Cuba wasn’t free, it seems if a dictator is right wing its okay with us. In Chile, we overthrew Salvador Allende and brought in General Augusto Pinochet, who “disappeared” thousands of people. In Haiti we supported François ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier and his vicious police force, the Tonton Macoute. We supported Mobutu Sese Sekoi in Zaire, though he was a corrupt dictator.
Suharto got our support in Indonesia, though he brutally oppressed the people of East Timor. Ferdinand Marcos had our support for many years in the Philippines. In Guatemala an elected government was overthrown — by Carlos Castillo Armas, who got military training in the US and became dictator.
We overthrew Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and put the Shah in his place. It didn’t bother us that he had imprisoned dissenters and torture houses. We kept him in power for decades. We sent him arms to suppress his own people.
If a country is communist we mention their human rights abuses, if a right wing country has them it doesn’t bother us at all.
Jerome Frank
Coney Island
Oldest stone restored?
To the editor,
I opened the Mill Marine paper this morning to read the cover story about how a few helpful teenagers and others from an architectural school are helping preserve grave stones at Greenwood Cemetery (“Oldest stone restored,” Aug. 28). Being a volunteer historian and archivist, for almost 40 years, for the New York Transit Museum, I really appreciate the hard work that is being done to preserve our history. And then, I turned to page 12 to finish reading.
I admire the hard work the volunteers are doing to spruce up this historic cemetery, but I was shocked to see a fellow pressure washing the writing off a tombstone. The old stones of the 18th and 19th century were usually made of a soft material. The weathering of these surfaces has left many a blank stone leaving the living to wonder who was buried there. I pray these volunteers along with cemetery management take a more conservative approach to the cleaning of these stones, instead of blasting the surface and cutting years of life and information away. It will not only preserve our past but also honor those who have come before us.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Team Trump
To the editor,
We shouldn’t mock those who speak the truth. Donald Trump is to be commended for speaking out explicitly about illegal immigrants who are drug dealers.
By supporting and protecting our leaders who have the willingness to enact and pass legislation on this issue, we’ll be able to successfully overpower evildoers who endanger our safety. This would certainly put us on the path toward normalizing immigration.Amy Kaye
Sheepshead Bay
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To the editor,
Donald Trump, a top contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, had been summoned to appear for jury duty at the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
He claims that the State Supreme Court erred four times until they sent his summons to the correct address.
Had it continued to go unanswered, he would have had to pay a $250 fine for contempt of court due to the ineptness of the Post Office.
The Post Office Department was abolished in 1971 and the U.S. Postal Service is now a corporation without cabinet status.
Postal service has not improved but gotten worse since.
It is true it has been a noble experiment like prohibition, both turned out to be dismal failures.
When mail is delivered to me and I find a wrong party and wrong address, it is possible my mail is delivered to another party and may be thrown in the garbage.
I therefore believe the Post Office Department should be reinstated with cabinet status.
Returning to a Postmaster General who would once again be a member of the president’s cabinet would be a good administrative move.
Since Donald Trump was affected by this, he should make this a campaign issue.
There should be more post office stations as well as more mail boxes for 320 million Americans.
Trying to do more with less has proved unworkable and as Warren Harding ran on the slogan in 1920 “Return to Normalcy,” we have got to try to return the postal system back to normal as best as we can. Remember the population has doubled since 1971 and so has America’s needs.
I believe we need to go through some priority shuffling and think about America First. Elliott Abosh
Brighton Beach
Lenore is crazy
To the editor,
I strongly disagree with Lenore Skenazy who wrote in her column (“New Jersey Ruling Returns Sanity to Child Care,” Aug. 28) that it is all right to leave a baby or a small child alone in a car while running errands. In the first place, how does a parent know how long a supposedly quick errand might actually take — five or six minutes or an hour waiting on line? In the second place, there is another serious danger besides a child’s suffocating in the car or getting injured trying to get out of the car seat or safety belt. I have heard many news reports of carjackers unknowingly driving off in a stolen car with a baby or small child asleep in the back.
I do agree with Ms. Skenazy that driving with a child in the car can also be dangerous, especially if mommy or daddy stops for a few drinks. I have seen horrifying news stories of children being killed or seriously injured because a parent was driving drunk. Therefore, I believe that leaving a child alone in a car for any amount of time or drinking while driving, with or without a child in the car, should be considered serious offenses. Texting or holding a cell phone while driving your child should also be treated as a serious offense.
There is one more offense I think parents should be punished for — smoking anywhere near a child, whether in or out of a car. I believe that if you choose to have a child, and today, in most urban communities and cultures, having a baby is usually a matter of choice, you have to be willing to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to keep that baby safe, including not leaving your baby alone in a car, not drinking when you are driving with that child, and not smoking anywhere near your child.Elaine Kirsch
Gravesend
Background checks
To the editor,
Well folks, congressional vacation is nearly over. That’s a big laugh, because for the past six and a half years they’ve been on vacation — what legislation have they passed? All it has done is thwart President Obama’s policies or to go to court to reverse his agenda — even it’s a ham sandwich they don’t like. I don’t know what planet they’re living on, but whatever they fail to do also effects their own families in the long run. Then again, I suppose these things will not affect their grandchildren. That’s really a shame to have to live that way.
Once again we have another killing of two people in Virginia. It seems like every day another person or person are shot dead by a gun. After Sandy Hook, when so many children and a few teachers were killed, I thought someone would have the guts to put forward a program to finally save lives of people. To my disappointment nothing came of it and I would hope that would really change.
Since it seems that many shooters have major mental issues, it would make sense for real background checks to prevent more and more killings.Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
Hillary pilloried
To the Editor:
How could Hillary remain a popular choice among Democratic voters for president after the poll that shows overwhelmingly that she is thought of as a liar, untrustworthy, and dishonest?
I’m not a democrat, but if I were I couldn’t in good conscience vote for her. Having party loyalty is one thing, but voting and electing someone who is thought of as a liar, untrustworthy, and dishonest before even taking office is plain nuts, stuff like that usually is found out during or after their time in office.
Now, on the other hand, Joe Biden may be nuts but is certainly not a liar, untrustworthy, or dishonest, and he is also likable, unlike Hillary. Run Joe, Run!Peter G. Orsi
Marine Park
