Rampell was wrong
to make ‘old’ assumption
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
In Catherine Rampell’s recent column “Trump’s ‘socialist’ rhetoric is lazy name-calling from a lazy thinker” she made an inaccurate assumption when stating “Trump probably already had the old people vote locked up.”
My husband and I are both age 76 — which I imagine qualifies us as old people — and we are totally against Donald Trump with his constant lying, bullying, pompousness and ineptness in his role of president of the United States. We have many “old” friends and acquaintances who feel the same way. Rampell, who was a favorite of ours on the Opinions page, just took a few steps down in our opinions.
Diane Ault.
Manakin-Sabot.
Watson disregarded
Deepwater Horizon spill
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
Regarding Mike Watson’s article in the Commentary section of the RTD, “Offshore program promises benefits”: One quote in particular, “The offshore industry recognizes the importance of a healthy coastline, which it has demonstrated over decades of developing energy on the Gulf Coast.”
Decades? How quickly the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill has been forgotten. Eleven platform workers were killed and an incalculable number of birds, sea turtles, dolphins and other animals died or were sickened. In fact, a movie was made about this explosion.
Decades? No, both the writer of this article and those who chose to publish it should check their facts.
We do not need more oil rigs, we need future technology to help us get away from the oil industry.
Christine Couturier.
Glen Allen.
There’s still plenty
for Congress to investigate
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
In your recent editorial “Time to move on” you write: “We urge the legislators to abandon those calls.”
Really? You want no further investigations in the wake of the Mueller Report? House Democrats shouldn’t intensify their self-destructive public coup attempt against a duly elected president?
And Senate Republicans shouldn’t press for criminal indictments against the Trump-hating cohort of apparent seditionists and traitors in government including James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr, James Clapper, John Brennan, and many more?
Robert “Sarge” Bruce.
King William.
Tax big carbon users
to slow global warming
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
It was surprising the recent article on worldwide student protest activity did not mention the recent bipartisan legislation that was introduced in Congress called the Energy Innovation and Dividend Act. This act is designed to make non-carbon energy — solar, wind and bio fuels — more cost competitive by slowly increasing the cost of non-renewable carbon sources such as coal, oil and natural gas. The fee, i.e. tax, will start small ($15/ton of carbon) and increase each year. The act would use the marketplace to address climate change. It would provide time for businesses and individuals to adjust to higher non-renewable carbon prices but give them a strong signal that the days of cheap fossil fuels are over. Each month the fees will be collected and redistributed entirely by the federal government to each household.
Therefore, this government revenue would not increase the U.S. government bureaucracy, would not be spent on other pet projects and, most significantly, would increase the expendable income of low- and moderate-income families while slowing global warming.
I strongly encourage everyone to call, email or write your representatives and senators to endorse and vote for this legislation.
For the sake of all people and the earth, the time to act is now!
L. Fred Roensch.
Richmond.
Does Israel treat
Arabs as equals?
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
In his letter, E.R. Seidman rightly points out that there is a difference between legitimate criticism of Israel and illegitimate criticism based on prejudicial stereotypes.
He believes the charge of apartheid is illegitimate because Israeli Arabs “enjoy full civil rights and benefits.”
That might be true on paper, but not in fact. Arab citizens of Israel receive fewer medical resources than the Jewish population, experience more restrictions on building permits, and serve longer prison sentences.
According to a 2005 Hebrew University study, Israel invests three times as much money for the education of Jewish children than Israeli Arab children.
Two years ago, Israeli Arabs told me they feel like third-class citizens; they are prohibited from certain occupations and from attending certain professional conferences.
And that’s just the Arab citizens. Seidman fails to mention that 5 million Arabs (better known as Palestinians) living in the Gaza Strip and West Bank are not granted citizenship rights at all, despite the fact that Israel has been occupying their lands and/or controlling their lives for over 50 years.
These stateless people face restrictions and humiliations every day, and a security barrier/wall, along with Jewish-only roads, has separated Palestinian communities and served to consolidate land for the building of illegal Jewish settlements.
About 15 years ago I heard former Prime Minister Ehud Barak warn a Jewish audience that Israel’s democracy is at stake if it is controlling the lives of millions of people without giving them citizenship rights. He said that if this continues, Israel will be practicing “a kind of apartheid.”
Is Israel guilty of a kind of apartheid? It depends on how the word is understood. But it is difficult to believe Israel grants equal rights to its Arab citizens when the current prime minister insists that “Israel is a nation-state for Jews alone.”
Ryan Ahlgrim.
Richmond.
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(54) comments
Robert “Sarge” Bruce,
Here's a hint…just because someone opposes Trump and his abhorrent and vile policies doesn't make them a traitor…It makes them a patriot….You'd think someone withe the moniker "Sarge" would have read the constitution….In your case…Its evident you're clueless….
Buckles Wrote:Hal, I am curious. Have you ever been over to Islamic nations and tried to say things you say here in the US? I am guessing that you haven't because you are still alive.
I reply: I blog exactly the same from Riyad, or Tel Aviv or Baghdad….I use VPN's and am just fine…I'll be blogging from Baghdad at the end of April…You have a point other than to exhibit your cluelessness?
L. Fred Roensch - From an email from US Senator Burr of North Carolina - "This week, the Senate considered the unworkable, unaffordable, and unachievable Green New Deal. This socialist fantasy is an unrealistic wish list of the far Left and would devastate middle-class and working North Carolinian families. Here are some of the most egregious aspects of this radical plan:
Imposes Impossible-to-Meet Regulations: The Green New Deal would eliminate the use of fossil fuels in 10 years. That means you wouldn’t be able to use your car to go to the grocery store or take a flight to go on a vacation. Additionally, this plan would force families and businesses to update their homes and office buildings to meet Washington bureaucrats’ “greenness” standards.
Bankrupts Our Nation: The U.S. supply of reliable and affordable energy powers our economy. But, if the Green New Deal was enacted, American families could be on the hook for up to $65,000 to cover the absurd price tag. Overall, the Green New Deal is estimated to cost American taxpayers up to $93 trillion. That’s more than the U.S. government has spent in more than 200 years – combined.
Makes Unrealistic Promises: In 2017, the U.S. had the largest decline of CO2 emissions in the world while China and India were the two largest contributors. It’s absurd to think we would disrupt our thriving economy when other countries aren’t doing their part to reduce global CO2 emissions. After all that, the Green New Deal still wouldn’t meaningfully reduce global carbon emissions as American families and businesses suffer.
After weeks of expressing their support for this unrealistic plan, more than 40 of my Democrat colleagues voted 'present' for the measure, while a bi-partisan majority opposed. They had a chance to take a stand for their own party’s proposal, but it’s a shame they chose not to support America’s energy security.
North Carolina’s agriculture industry, manufacturing industry, and small business sector rely on our nation’s affordable energy to allow them to compete and flourish. Greater energy security can be achieved through more innovation, not more government regulation, and I will continue to advocate for policies that achieve this security for our future."
Buckles,
What do we care that Burr and the rest of the GOP hate any action on Climate Change? I mean really? We know that the GOP is the party of big oil and big utilities..Duh….
"Sarge" should be demoted to private for supporting a wanna-be fascist dictator.
"Sarge" should be promoted to General. The wanna be fascists are not in the Republican Party.
Buckles,
You made a funny….The GOP and Trump are the ones who call Nazis "very fine people…You are them and they are you……..
To Sarge Bruce: goi find Where Beetle is loafing and give him several kicks. That will make you feel better !!
"THe Arabs living in East Jerusalem and the Druze in the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed, were offered Israeli citizenship, but most have refused, not wanting to recognize Israel's claim to sovereignty. They became permanent residents instead.[19] They have the right to apply for citizenship, are entitled to municipal services and have municipal voting rights.[20]"
Jordan is the only Arab country to offer citizenship to the Palestinians.
"the Energy Innovation and Dividend Act. This act is designed to make non-carbon energy — solar, wind and bio fuels — more cost competitive by slowly increasing the cost of non-renewable carbon sources such as coal, oil and natural gas."
And there's the rub... thanks for this brief (albeit unintentional) moment of candor L. Fred.
In what bizarro universe do you make something competitive by making everything else impractical / exorbitantly expensive? This is rhetorical of course, I'm speaking of the usual suspects - who have zero problems spending the oppositions money on pet projects.
Why not make gas / diesel vehicles 3 or 4 times more expensive in order to increase demand for electric / hybrids? Why have a market at all - simply let bureaucrats decide supply and demand? Sadly, this would suit #resistance JUST fine...
"How quickly the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill has been forgotten. Eleven platform workers were killed and an incalculable number of birds, sea turtles, dolphins and other animals died or were sickened."
Deepwater Horizon was a terrible incident and cautionary tale - but it was not the environmental armageddon that science deniers claim. The immediate and future impact on locals / businesses and industries was vastly overstated by "experts" and the hyperbolic media and seized upon as a crisis to be exploited by useful idiots with anti-science agendas.
Planes crash - doesn't mean that the airline industry should be grounded... despite the best efforts of the GND.
Eaton, you never cease to amaze me and if your post were not so callous and dumb it might even make me laugh. “The immediate and future impact on locals / businesses and industries was vastly overstated by "experts" and the hyperbolic media and seized upon as a crisis to be exploited by useful idiots with anti-science agendas.”
Really? The Deepwater Horizon spill has cost the US economy so far (and the total is going up) $350 billion. Gulf fisheries still have not fully recovered, just now, ten years later, some fish stocks are replenishing, beaches are sorta clean again even though tar balls still wash up, the oil slick covered 25,000 square miles and impacted the shoreline from Gulfport, Mississippi to Pensacola, Florida. Almost 10 million pounds of oily residue was removed from Louisiana shorelines alone, and even after the cleanup, more than 200 miles still has this oily residue embedded in its marshlands.
But, hey, it was a mere bagatelle, a scratch, nothing to worry about. If the same thing happened here and affected Virginia Beach and Cape Hatteras, so what? Right?
1. "Planes crash - doesn't mean that the airline industry should be grounded... despite the best efforts of the GND."
Despite Facebook posts and the ignorant rantings of newbie Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the GND resolution says nothing about "ending air travel."
2. "Anti-science agendas"?
That's rich, given the rantings of climate-change deniers.
The quoted is verbatim from the GND:
The resolution's aims include "overhauling transportation systems in the United States to eliminate pollution and 19 greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector as much as is technologically feasible." According to an overview of the resolution, this will be accomplished, in part, by "build[ing] out highspeed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary."
You were saying?
Eaton,
Yep we're going to take your planes, cows and burgers…Sweet Jeebus but the stupid runs strong in Trump world..
There is a major difference between "stops becoming necessary" and "ending air travel." Say I have high cholesterol and must take a statin drug. But then I change my diet and exercise more and my cholesterol drops. The statins stop becoming necessary, but there's no call to end dispensing statins.
So "overhauling transportation systems" to the point where "air travel stops becoming necessary" does not mean phasing out air travel... nicely done RJ - you've parsed yourself into a pretzel, again.
How many folks these days ride their horses / buckboards to work? Or have iceboxes with YUGE chunks of ice in them? The GND would make planes "necessarily" obsolete - even as it cripples our economy and SOL's. Hence it's failure to garner even 1 vote in the recent Senate showdown.
Replying to yours of Mar 31, 2019 9:40am
What you call parsing I call precision -- "stops becoming necessary" does not mean "ending."
Let me be clear: The GND as proposed will never be adopted. But the rise of the sea level could well cripple the economies and lower the standard of living in coastal states such as Virginia. And Florida. And Texas. And many others.
To make obsolete and to "end" is a distinction without a difference. Seen any Dodo birds lately?
Still, I get your drift. Leftie / do-as-I-say celebs like Al Gore and DiCaprio (and presumably AOC) would get to keep THEIR private jets... it's just the rank and file that would be consigned to riding like human cattle in high speed trains / trolleys - got it. OOPS - there's another American tradition that will go by the wayside, beef cattle, which begs the question - will we all have to drink soy milk in the near future?
Replying to yours of Mar 31, 2019 12:45pm
1. About the private planes: Isn't that what capitalism is all about?
2. I spent much of my time as a child, teenager and young man on my grandparents' farm. So here's a news flash for you, Tom: Beef cattle are raised for -- wait for it -- beef. Dairy cows provide milk. We country boys always knew you city folks couldn't be trusted to understand concepts such as that.
The Obama administration to the Deepwater Horizon release increased the spread and damage of the spill through its insistence on an unrealistic cleanup standard.
For Sarge Bruce, I recommend Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth": "Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look - what's going down? Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid."
Ryan Ahlgrim,
Good Letter that accurately describes the situation...
Diane Ault,
i thought the Rampell letter was accurate and spot on…The majority of older Americans are conservatives who've drunk the Trump Kool Aid...
Kind of like you, Hal, who guzzles the Hillary Kool Aid.
Buckles,
My party is not the one infested with White Nationalists or called Nazis "Very Fine People"
Hal, replying to yours of Mar 30, 2019 8:04pm
Hal, my comment was a response to Buckles, not you.
Plenty of people -- me included -- have never been admirers of either Clinton, but we assessed Trump as infinitely worse. Can you not see the difference?
RJ Stafford,
I am not a Hillary cheerleader…She voted for the war that took my son…... but the choice between her and Trump was easy...
Diane Ault’s experiences reflect our own. We live in a 55-plus community of 138 homes, and after the 2016 election we had many who proudly proclaimed their allegiance to, if not their admiration of Trump. That cohort seems to have shrunk considerably since January 2017 as the effects of a Trump administration make themselves felt and we see the lack of morals and character that emanates from this White House. Fewer and fewer people speak up for Trump these days. In our community he doesn’t seem to win many converts and that gives me hope.
It will be interesting to see how it goes with a Trump vs Biden contest in 2020, huh?
Jeff, my money is on a Biden-Harris ticket, but I have been wrong so often that I just don't make predictions anymore. But yes, it will be interesting.
Biden-Abrams? I could see that one happening.......to quash the "too old and too white" crowd. But it is anybody's guess how it will go.
I remember Joe Biden running for president way back in 1988.
Jeff, yes, maybe Biden -Abrams. My son has met her and was quite impressed, smart and personable and a demon policy wonk. We’d do well with her on either end of the ticket, but I am hoping for Kamala Harris.
Jeff Kleb,
Biden won't make it past Super Tuesday...
Don't underestimate the old war horse. It could be a very contentious race.
Jeff-Have you seen today's comments by Elizabeth Warren on the Biden allegations?
It may get very lively!
Fauxahontas vs Uncle Joe. Hmmm!!
L. Fred Roensch writes about the Energy Innovation and Dividend Act. If anybody wants to see the positive effects of a similar piece of legislation look no farther than our Northern neighbor. The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act will go into effect on April 1. Canadians will pay an estimated $233 per year more for their energy needs but that will be off-set by a government rebate of $366 (also estimated).
For details see:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/oct/26/canada-passed-a-carbon-tax-that-will-give-most-canadians-more-money
Norbert Mayr - The Canadian law hasn't even gone into effect yet. Declaring that it's a resounding success for us to emulate is, well, a little premature.
British Columbia and (I believe) five other provinces have implemented the carbon tax a couple of years ago. It will go into effect in the other provinces on Monday. The provinces that have it now seem to have no problems with it.
Norbert Mayr - British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta put the tax in place in 2017. The rest of Canada will do it on Monday (April 1). It's a very small tax that will rise annually. Pronouncing that it's a success (or failure) will taker at least another 4 or 5 years.
Steve, my post was in response to your claim "The Canadian law hasn't even gone into effect yet."
Just by magic the tax will not increase prices to the consumer, will not add to the bureaucracy required to take in and distributed the money, so this is all for free. Neither you nor Mr. Roensch tell us just how much this piece of magic will reduce global warming? Those that support stuff like this ought to come up with a global temperature reduction and time we will see the results and be held accountable for the results. If not, this is nothing but feel good virtue signaling.
Christine Couturier writes: “We do not need more oil rigs, we need future technology to help us get away from the oil industry.” Kudos and thanks. The nascent technology is already out there, primarily overseas, and we just need to get in on the drive to refine and start using it. It won’t be easy, or even cheap, but we all will benefit and leave our children a better and cleaner and safer world.
We need to resist the calls by our established energy companies that warn us that “this can’t be done.” Nonsense, others are far ahead of us because we let firms like Dominion and Exxon lead us down the garden path. The only reason they decry new technology is because they can’t charge us for sun and wind. Yes, we need to continue to rely on natural gas and even coal (even as eventually we will phase out coal). But the time to transition to renewables is NOW.
Ryan Ahlgrim is correct, his opinion mirrors my personal observations and experiences in Israel (which are largely anecdotal). The most serious disadvantage non-Jews face in Israel is the simple fact that they don’t have access to much usable land, for residential, agricultural, or commercial purposes. Since 93% of all real estate in Israel is held by the state in a socialistic fashion and leased to Jewish applicants only, Palestinians can’t build homes, own farms, or practice trades that require buildings—it primarily restricts many of them to be common laborers. Israeli Jews are offered land for long term leases, most up to 99 years, and sale of their holdings are restricted and controlled by the state. Try making a home in a nation where you can’t own land, it doesn’t work. Such across-the-board discrimination carries strong tinges of Apartheid.
Great letter, Ryan Ahlgrim. When Israel's staunch advocates present their mantra-like narratives, they depend on ignorance perpetuated by most media outlets from which Americans get their news. But it's obvious from recent letters that there are more and more Richmond area folks who have taken the time to actually meet and get to know Palestinians. There's nothing like those real life experiences to refute the perpetuated myths.
Lots of squabbling and conflict in that area. Always has been and always will be. It is easy for some Israeli Arabs to feel mistreated, but oddly, they often have greater civil liberties under their Israeli citizenship than they would in Arab countries. They also has the right to vote and can be elected to public office. There are even Arabs who serve in the Knesset [Israeli legislature]. They also do not have to serve in the military forces, which is understandable. It is easy for us to criticize the Israeli government when it is warranted or when they act wrongly, but there is still a lot that goes on in that region of the world that is beyond our understanding. If one were to do comparisons, I wonder what life would be for Jews who live under the hegemony of Muslim governments.
Jeff Kleb,
I spend months in Israel and the way the Israeli's treat the Arabs is abhorrent…Here's an example…After Brown V Board schools were supposed to be integrated and equal…After the Voting rights law was passed African Americans had the rights you reference….How'd that work out for them?
I am sure it is not a bed of roses...........but would it not be out of the realm to ask how Jews are treated in Muslim nations? Can they vote? Do they have freedom of worship? Can they run for elected office? I do someday (probably after retirement) want to visit Israel, Chile and Australia -- all places on my bucket list. I would love to see these things for myself.
Hal, I am curious. Have you ever been over to Islamic nations and tried to say things you say here in the US? I am guessing that you haven't because you are still alive.
Jeff Kleb, in Iran there's a community of between 15,000 to 20,000 Jews who are allowed to worship in synagogues. In the Iranian parliament there is a seat for a Jewish representative as a recognized minority. Jews are allowed to vote. Does all this mean that Jews are not an oppressed minority in Iran? Of course not. Democracy and freedom are relative terms. And by the way, Israel and Netanyahu are certainly not promoting freedom and democracy in the region when they curry favor with the region's Arab dictatorships by selling them phone spyware technology that aids them in further repressing freedoms. And it's this technology that enabled the Saudis to spy/track/murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Just like most of Israel's apologists, you engage in deflection with the usual, "don't look here, look over there," statements. I criticize the Iranians, the Saudis and every oppressor nation, and yes, that includes Israel. How often do I hear Israel's supporters ask why Israel is singled out and expected to adhere to a higher standard? There's a simple answer: because we give them the equivalent of 1 million dollars of aid every day, that's why.
I am NOT an Israeli apologist at all and dont believe their government is entitled to a single American dollar of "foreign aid" at all.......outside of a treaty ratified by the Senate. That being said, the same also applies to Israel's enemies. Let them fight their own battles with their own money.
As far as oppressor nations go, our government has been culpable of doing some pretty nefarious things & getting into bed with some bad actors around the world. Sad.
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