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Miserable
Lives
To
the Editor:
Once
again, Metroland gets to snuggle up to the black racemongers
in that whining little story about Aaron Mair and the money
he thinks is owed [Newsfront, Aug.15]. Which is irrelevant
because most of the money for the bridge came from private
sources.
First off, is a Mair lie shoot down: Arbor Hill is undesirable
because of all the punks, bums and hostile low-class people
who don’t have any standards: It’s the people, stupid! There
are plenty of places, like tourist villages in the Adirondacks,
where poor people live in pleasant, desirable low-crime places,
so it’s not a money or class problem. Quit blaming someone
else for your own problems.
Second off, maybe the city shouldn’t waste so much money on
downtown, but unfortunately that’s where the workers and government
buildings are. Simply stated, it makes sense because it’s
the city center. Tourists go downtown, not to Arbor Hill to
see a depressing, rundown black ’hood—that’s a fact one better
get used to. I lived in Arbor Hill for two years and I failed
to see any charm in the people or the streets.
Which leads to the third point: Aaron Mair and his band of
pathetic whiners should emulate the bridge patrons and find
both private and public money for a worthy neighborhood project.
There is plenty of money in the black community that could
be tapped for a good redevelopment project. Instead, they
want to pretend that all blacks are in abject poverty and
need government handouts for coffee and busfare while they
wear gold and drive Lexuses. But for the project to work and
the neighborhood to become a black Chinatown or Little Italy,
they must clean all the punks and bums off the streets so
people will feel not only safe, but welcome. Come on, with
all the taste for ethnic foods, the West Indians seem to be
the only blacks who try to market their ethnic cuisine. I
can imagine an Arbor Hill district full of jazz clubs, restaurants,
and sports establishments where suburbanites feel comfortable.
Though it would be mostly small scale, the money and business
savvy would spill over into the whole community. But all this
flies in the face of the Marxist and racialist fantasy people
at Metroland who enjoy pretending that black bums are
victims, black punks are revolutionary heroes and the police
are the Gestapo. Their idea is large-scale government-funded
failures like the now-empty community shopping center and
the charter schools or a new welfare handout program so the
residents can learn to be more dependent and arrogant.
But the whole depressing familiar tone of the article is worthy
of note: A bunch of idiots blame someone else for their problems
and expect those guilty people to come in and fix their miserable
lives. At best, it sounds like Billy complaining that Bobby
got a better Christmas gift than him.
Jeremy
Freedman
Albany
Shades
of Green
To
the Editor:
I
was heartened to read that the New York Greens have finally
joined the Marijuana Reform Party in supporting the end of
marijuana prohibition [Letters, Aug. 22]. It is important
to note, however, this was not always the case, and their
apparent reverse on this issue may not be genuine.
Prior to 1998, I was the only Federal candidate for the New
York Greens. Because the Greens would not support marijuana
legalization, in 1998 I founded the MRP. Subsequently, the
Greens tried to throw the MRP candidates off the ballot by
challenging our petitions.
Contrary to Mark Dunlea’s claim, the MRP is not limited to
medical marijuana. The single main goal of our organization
is the end of marijuana prohibition. However, we understand
political reality and realize the end of prohibition is not
coming soon. Let us remember the Chinese proverb that says,
“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.”
Our message to the Legislature and governor is, “If you are
not ready to reduce penalties for minor marijuana offenses,
at least please relieve the suffering of sick people who can
benefit from the medical use of marijuana.” Denying doctors
the ability to practice medicine and making sick people suffer
needlessly is both unconscionable and also one of the worst
excesses of the War on Drugs.
We are focusing on medical marijuana because (1) this goal
is achievable and (2) New Yorkers who are suffering right
now are in dire need of substantial political support from
the electorate. Nine other states and Canada have already
established medical marijuana programs. It is reasonable to
ask the state Legislature and governor to provide the same
relief to New Yorkers. Moreover, we are concentrating on medical
marijuana because New York does not allow voter initiatives,
and the only way to advance the issue of medical marijuana
in New York is by voting for the MRP.
Finally, our campaign platform is not as limited as Mr. Dunlea
suggests. We also advocate a complete repeal of the Rockefeller
Drug Laws and the growing of hemp. Hemp can save struggling
New York farmers while also providing a new industry upstate
and preserving valuable farmland for future use.
Our three issues all deserve to be on the ballot individually
as initiatives. Because we cannot do this in New York, I hope
to offer New Yorkers a real choice on these issues in November.
Unfortunately, that choice may not be available to the voters
because the Green Party is making yet another effort to disqualify
our petitions again this year.
After reading Mr. Dunlea’s letter, one might have believed
that the New York Greens really do want to end marijuana prohibition.
However, their effort to remove the Marijuana Reform Party
from the ballot gives new meaning to the phrase “Actions speak
louder than words.”
Tom
Leighton
Marijuana
Reform Party candidate for governor of New York State
New York
City
To the Editor:
“The
Grass Is Greener” [Letters, Aug. 22] is more Mark Dunlea fertilizer.
The “marijuana reform party” just got hijacked by Mark. Someone
is blowing smoke. The “maijuanaites” are not high on Mark
or the Greens.
The Greens are a feeble bunch of malcontents who hate life.
A Greens vision of paradise is a Garden of Eden, full of snakes,
devoid of people. People have a nasty habit of subverting
nature to their own purpose: survival.
Mark was correct on reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, but
then who is not talking about that? Nothing original or unique
there.
I ran into Mark the night of Aug. 21 at the City of Rensselaer
Riverside Park. The event was the Wednesday evening music-in-the-park
summer program. Mark was handing out literature. He was so
busy handing out literature he had no time to chat. Typical
lefty, so busy helping people he has no time for people. Mark
is reflective of the philosophy of the left. A philosophy
that produces a society of worker ants, all sharing equally,
and none being recognized as an individual.
The Green Party is like a watermelon, green on the outside,
pink on the inside.
Edmond
L. Day
Republican
candidate for New York State Assembly, 106th District
Watervliet
Metroland
welcomes typed, double-spaced letters (computer printouts
OK), addressed to the editor. Or you may e-mail them to: metroland@metroland.net.
Metroland reserves the right to edit letters for length; 300
words is the preferred maximum. You must include your name,
address and day and evening telephone numbers. We will not
publish letters that cannot be verified, nor those that are
illegible, irresponsible or factually inaccurate.
Send
to:
Letters, Metroland, 4 Central Ave.,
4th Floor, Albany, NY 12210
or e-mail us at metroland@metroland.net.
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