Fighting Cultural Wars
Dear Editor:
Dr Ford said this! Judge Kavanaugh said that! She said, he said! Innocent till proven guilty? Guilty until proven innocent? Due process is constitutional? Due process is unconstitutional? Rationality prevails? Emotions prevail?
Let’s step back a minute. We are all watching an internal cultural war in action. it was not pleasant. in fact, it was just plain upsetting. More unfortunately, we are fighting two cultural wars at the same time! We are up against the Red/Green alliance. The Reds are the socialists/progressives that make up the left wing of the Democratic party. They use tactics of lying and harassment at levels unheard of in the US. The Greens are the Islamists, who politicize the religion of Islam. They are led by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, financed by Turkey and Qatar. The Reds and Greens have different goals and world outlooks. So why do they often work together? They work together because they are driven by the same lust for power.
Consequently, they both have disdain for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. in other words, they are both trying to undo the rule of law, so they can rule supreme. in the recent Supreme Court battle, the rule of law won! Yea, but we must stop patting ourselves on the back. Our job is to make sure that the rule of law always wins! Get ready for many more battles!! And hopefully the battles stay cultural and not physical!!!
Sincerely
Ken Abramowitz
MTA Bus Line Improvements?
Dear Editor:
Many who complain about ongoing problems with bus service miss potential operational savings and service improvements by consolidation of duplicative routes between NYC Transit Bus 6,000 and MTA Bus 1,300 fleets never took place. (MTA Bus is made up of the old NYC DOT private operator franchised Liberty Lines Bronx Express, New York Bus Service, Green Bus Lines, Jamaica Buses, Triboro Coach Corporation and Command Bus companies). The same was true for reducing deadheading costs by reassigning bus routes between MTA Bus and NYC Transit Bus to closer garages for reduction of operating costs. Work rules and contracts between different labor unions representing employees at NYC Transit Bus and MTA Bus continue preventing any changes to the status quo.
There is seed money in the current MTA $32 billion 2015–2019 Capital Plan to look into the possibility of the long forgotten Flushing, Queens Bus Terminal which closed in 1954. This need has been previously documented in planning studies going back to the 1960’s. Construction of a Flushing intermodal bus terminal could facilitate a smoother transfer between bus and subway. A short term improvement could be construction of bus holding lights at bus stops. This would assist riders transferring from subway to bus when a train arrives several minutes after scheduled bus departures. Missing a bus by a minute or two during off peak hours (when buses operate with longer intervals) is frustrating to riders. Why not also invest in installation of bus holding lights at other major bus to subway transfer connections at other locations as well?
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
(Larry Penner is a transportation historian, advocate and writer who previously worked 31 for U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office.)
It Can Happen Again
Dear Editor:
Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator, Democrat, NY is now campaigning with the likes of Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory, Women’s March organizers, who proudly and repeatedly praise vicious Jew hater, Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, whom Algemeiner rightfully dubs “The Black Hitler.” “U.S. Senate candidate Chele Farley slammed Kirsten Gillibrand for rallying with anti-Israel activists Sarsour and Mallory. Gillibrand’s actions are part of a dangerous and emerging pattern where the far left of the Democratic Party, led by Gillibrand, is becoming highly critical of Israel almost as a default position.”
The deterioration of our moral compass is in full view when someone like Bill Clinton “shook Farrakhan’s bigoted hand” instead of protesting his appearance or refusing to attend Aretha Franklin’s funeral. “Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America, tweeted, “It’s deeply offensive that racist bigot Jew hating White hating Louis (Hitler was a great man, Judaism is a gutter religion) Farrakhan was invited to the great soul singer Aretha Franklin’s funeral.”
I keep waiting for the outraged cries, organized protests, rallies, from our rabbis, Jewish leaders and Federations, community at-large “progressives”, and mainstream media who are once again relatively silent as we witness the drip drip drip of mainstreaming, normalizing and acceptance of anti-Jew, anti-Israel bigotry. If Kirsten Gillibrand stood with David Duke a neo-Nazi, she would be castigated but when she stands with those who openly support a Black Hitler, I hear the usual deafening silence from our sleepy Jewish community. And for those who foolishly believe it can’t happen again and keep ignoring these same brushstrokes which occurred in 1930’s Germany… I have a Brooklyn Bridge for sale.
Ginette Weiner,
Scottsdale, AZ
Rooting for the Yankees
Dear Editor,
The Yankees better start spreading some better news and fast! By the time I read your article “Yankees Beat Red Sox 6-2 in ALDS; Series Tied 1-1,” I didn’t even have a chance to rejoice because the Yankees went on to play such a horrendous game only 24 hours later, and on a day when the transit museum ran a special vintage train straight from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium. If the New York Rangers of hockey continue looking as rhythmless and lost as they have the first few games, and if the Knicks are as bad as they’ve been recently, the New York sports world could get awfully quiet if the Yankees can’t come back and win this series against the dreaded Boston Red Sox, who along with teams like the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, and Penn State football are by far my most despised sports teams in the world.
Clinching their first victory in the ALDS on Saturday night against their arch rival the Boston Red Sox at Fenway, the “comeback kids,” better known as the New York Yankees came on strong late in the game. But then they basically didn’t even show up the next day. Now that they’re down 2-1 in a five-game series, their backs are against the wall. Let’s see what the comeback kids are really made of. Winning the next two games to clinch the series and win that final game in Boston would be priceless. We can only hope. Let’s go Yankees.
Sincerely,
Ralph Ford