Letters to the Editor August 11

Posted 8/21/12

[The letter below is a response to our invitation to the community to join in a conversation with regard to the Black Lives Matter movement and the shootings of black people by policemen. The …

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Letters to the Editor August 11

Posted

[The letter below is a response to our invitation to the community to join in a conversation with regard to the Black Lives Matter movement and the shootings of black people by policemen. The invitation remains open: send your letters, 300-word limit, and sticking with facts rather than pejorative comments about individuals or groups, to copyeditor@riverreporter.com.]

Some relevant facts about police shootings

Eric Holder once referred to Americans as “cowards” for their reluctance to participate in an honest conversation about race, and to a large degree, he has been entirely correct. For three years now, Black Lives Matter (BLM) has been giving us all a firm one-sided-tongue-lashing, and their angry domination of the narrative is so complete that most people (especially those of us under 40) seem to be crippled by an odd, Stockholm Syndrome-like, knee-jerk revulsion to say anything that contradicts them. Like all honest conversations, though, this one ought to start out with facts, rather than feelings.

Some of these facts are:

In 2015, 990 people were shot by the police, and of that number, 494 were white and 258 were black, and out of that number, 32 were unarmed white men, and 38 were unarmed black men. How do we know? Because we know all of their names. Due to the uneven numbers in each racial demographic, blacks were, indeed, 2.45 times more likely to get shot by a cop than a white person was. However, blacks were also 4.46 times more likely to kill a police officer than any other race, and they resisted arrest 9.6 times more than whites and Hispanics combined. Furthermore, the Holder/Lynch Department of Justice found that black police officers were twice more likely than a white officer is to shoot an unarmed black person.

Trying to have an honest conversation about race has become a rather frightening and risky endeavor for many of us who seek to know more than just the orthodoxy. So, let us step away from our feelings and the tempestuous currents in the atmosphere, and spend some time with the dispassionate data and facts.

Mike Abel

Staten Island, NY (and frequent visitor to Minisink)

[For more context on these statistics, visit https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/07/11/huckabees-claim-that-more-white-people-were-shot-in-2015-than-minorities]

Ethanol mixtures: a good intention with bad results

In 2005, the President and Congress through the Environmental Protection Agency mandated that renewable fuels must account for a certain percentage of total U.S. fuels, and that the percentage should continue to rise. Most Americans embraced the concept that this mandate would help cut down on fossil fuels and help the environment.

Unfortunately, as with many mandates, the consequences soon became apparent. Damage occurs to engines, fuel efficiency is no better and the rising price of corn, used to produce ethanol, adversely impacts farmers who need to purchase corn for their animals. Ethanol is expensive to produce and mixed into our fuels raises the price at the pump. Until 2010, the limit on ethanol as a percentage of any one batch of gasoline was 10%, a level low enough that it won’t damage engines, but in 2010 that ceiling was raised to 15%, far too high not only for older cars but for lawn mowers, boats and the like.

As the Renewable Fuel Standard mandates continue to force refiners and blenders to raise the ethanol mix in the national fuel supply, consumers are increasingly encountering gasoline mixtures with more than 10% ethanol in them.

Only Congress can stop E15 (15% ethanol fuel mixtures). Write or call your legislator today. Your representative must hear from you. Ask him or her to support HR 5180 (the Food and Fuel Consumer Protection Act), which would cap mandated ethanol volumes at no more than 10%. If the bill fails, the consequence will be significant damage to any older vehicle engines, including your mowers; you will pay more at the pump; food prices will rise; and you will do nothing to save our environment.

Jane M. Varcoe

Waymart, PA

Talk the talk; walk the walk

Re the recent meeting the Highland anti-gas compressor folks had with Congress candidate Teachout: I didn’t even have to break out my solar calculator to add up all the kilowatts of alternative energy this group has invested in and install in their homes or businesses. If I’m not mistaken, the total sum is close to zero, if not actually zero.

For instance, according to the public mortgage records and building plans I have reviewed, it appears that ringleader Jim Gutekunst is building a million-dollar facility in Mamakating that utilizes not one alternative energy or truly energy-efficient product, in effect, talking big politically, but using different logic and criteria when making real-life business decisions.

It appears that Mr. Gutekunst had a great chance to lead by example and power these new buildings with the sun, but he appears to have chosen the low-cost fossil fuel route when we are talking about his pocketbook.

I’m not sure how these people think we move towards alternative energy when given the opportunity to make a big statement, they fall flat and don’t walk the walk.

Charles Petersheim

Eldred, NY

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