Mailbag

To The Editor:
It gave me a chuckle to read that Tom Dee didn’t take his own advice. His letter ran for two long columns, ranting on and on for 14 paragraphs. In case Tom doesn’t know, it’s called freedom of speech.

To The Editor:
Is it as topsy-turvy as it seems? Or is it just me? Minimum wages are increased ... availability of jobs decline. Price of postage stamps increase ... post office closes from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The value of the dollar goes down ... taxes go up.

To The Editor:
Regarding John Cerullo’s letter of last week; it seems we share common ground in that we are both passionate in our view of the unsustainable growth of world population.

To The Editor:
I hate long-winded, long-sentenced, run-on paragraphs in which the writer espouses his or her personal viewpoint concerning a current political or environmental issue that they feel they ‘have to take a stand on’!

To The Editor:
 Rose Dorn, wife of former Shandaken Town Supervisor, Peter Disclafani, writes in the January 14 edition of the Phoenicia Times, that she is upset because she didn’t receive a thank you from the new Supervisor, Rob Stanley, for the countless hours she worked on the town’s Web site.

To The Editor:
In his letter to the editor in the January 6 issue, Stuart E. Buswell makes the point that human breathing accounts for a large amount of greenhouse gas emission. The most reliable statistics I have been able to obtain indicate that fossil fuel burning accounts for approximately 12 times the amount of greenhouse gas emission accountable to human breathing. The crush of human population is a problem for our species and for our planet. In fact, it is probably the greatest threat of all.

Editor’s note: The following letter was written to New York City Mayor Bloomberg. The author asked that it be reprinted here as a letter to the editor.

Dear Mr. Bloomberg,
I am writing from a small town called Andes in the Catskill Mountains, a place I call home, and you and your constituents call your watershed. My wife and I are landowners here having purchased 370 acres, some of it 24 years ago, and are planning to keep it as open space maintaining fields and forest. What I am writing to you about are two things, natural gas drilling and fairness.

To The Editor:
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the holiday collection for the Heart of the Catskills Humane Society. Thanks to you, the staff at the shelter is able to worry less about supplies they need to provide the excellent care the cats and dogs receive while waiting to be adopted. So that everyone will have a chance to help the shelter, the special holiday collection will continue through Jan. 15.

To The Editor:
As the South braces for another snowstorm I thought my old Yankee friends would like to know how Virginians “handle” this winter weather. Firstly, when there is a threat of snow, there is a run on in the local grocery stores of bread, eggs and milk. The latter two are a puzzle since they can easily spoil if the power goes out, which it is most likely to since we get more ice than snow, which often takes down the trees or their parts.

To the Editor:
We would like to commend Freshtown Manager Robert Griffith and his associates and staff for their hard work and extend to them our best wishes for 2010.