four astronauts who were launched into space<\/a> earlier in the day. He proceeded to display his particular brand of boldness (hubris?) in explaining to the American people all the things he has personally achieved in that senseless conflict in the Middle East. What a juxtaposition of the profound and the profane, comparing the unchallengeable success of four courageous souls being launched into the unknown and his failure to achieve the original goals of his big, beautiful war. As if we needed to be reminded that there\u2019s been no regime change in Iran, no elimination of their nuclear material and the world economy is on the brink. Bob Ory<\/p>\nA fool & a ghoul<\/p>\n
Whitestone: If I were to think of two movies that symbolize the character flaws of Trump, I\u2019d choose \u201cBananas\u201d with Woody Allen (Fielding Mellish) playing the president of the fictional republic of San Marcos to represent Trump, the narcissistic fool. To represent his evil side, I choose \u201cScarface,\u201d with Al Pacino playing a ruthless killer who has no respect for human life. Trump clearly has no respect for human life, as was clearly shown in killing people in Venezuelan fishing boats, in supporting Bibi Netanyahu in killing tens of thousands in Gaza, and starting a war with Iran with no apparent justification or legitimate purpose. Michael J. Gorman<\/p>\n
All lies<\/p>\n
Cranford, N.J.: Trump has threatened Greenland, Canada, Mexico and our NATO allies, amongst others. He called Sen. John McCain a loser for being captured in Vietnam, said he\u2019d end the Ukraine war in one day, promised no overseas wars, said we\u2019d have the best affordable health care ever and lower food and energy prices immediately. He campaigned for a Nobel Peace Prize and has two fake ones. Trump is the ultimate compulsive liar. He\u2019ll go down as the worst president of all time. Bob Hubiak<\/p>\n
Major mitigation<\/p>\n
Scarsdale, N.Y.: While we\u2019re living in troubling times, New York has an amazing opportunity to pass groundbreaking legislation. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act bans 17 harmful chemicals used in packaging, reduces plastic packaging by 30% over 12 years and requires 75% of packaging to be reused or recycled. It saves tax dollars by shifting the cost from taxpayers to companies who create it, and protects environmental justice communities by reducing waste going to incinerators, landfills and transfer stations. This last detail is critical for Westchester County, which, unbeknownst to most residents, burns trash in Peekskill, creating toxic ash and air pollution for us all to breathe. Studies now prove that plastic interferes with our health in myriad ways, so eliminating toxins is critical. The best part is the bill saves $1.3 billion in the first 10 years. Jennifer Horowitz<\/p>\n
Paid our way<\/p>\n
Whitestone: Dear Mayor Mamdani, you should not raise taxes on us seniors, who have paid taxes all our lives. We don\u2019t ask you to support us. I\u2019m 95, raised nine children and have more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You\u2019re getting more than enough from this family. Sally DeFelice<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been done<\/p>\n
Manhattan: Mamdani is asking the City Council and state to increase taxes slightly on corporations and our wealthiest New Yorkers to cover the budget deficit and support his affordability agenda. Maryland did that. Last year, it enacted a 3% sales tax on specific IT and digital services, a 2% capital gains surcharge for high-income individuals, and two new individual income tax brackets on high earners. Individual filers with income between $250,001 and $500,000 will remain subject to a tax rate of 5.75%. Individuals with taxable income of $500,001 through $1 million are subject to a new rate of 6.25%, and taxable income exceeding $1 million will be subject to a rate of 6.5%. Joint filers with income between $600,001 and $1.2 million and joint filers above $1.2 million are subject to the new 6.25% and 6.5%, respectively. Why can\u2019t Gov. Hochul and City Council Speaker Julie Menin support something similar? Jeff Natt<\/p>\n
Data sharing<\/p>\n
Cincinnati: It\u2019s weird how data centers are always built in poor to middle-class areas. I propose that a data center is built here in Cincinnati in Indian Hills (a millionaire neighborhood). I proposed this for the soccer stadium but they built it in the inner city. Ask residents of Indian Hill if they\u2019d be OK with a data center. Mark Jessee<\/p>\n
Dangerous distraction<\/p>\n
Clearwater, Fla.: Besides driving under the influence, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if Tiger Woods was distracted by his cell phone, as he told the arresting officers<\/a>. He wouldn\u2019t be the first and he certainly won\u2019t be the last. In the meantime, Woods may as well be the poster child for why it should be illegal for cell phones to be on while behind the wheel. A real smart car would not function unless cell phones are turned off. JoAnn Lee Frank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At long last, give Tommy James his solo credit Hartford, Conn.: We are definitely a country in crisis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,264,56,63,65,64,299],"class_list":{"0":"post-186833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-county","11":"tag-ny","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-nyc-headlines","14":"tag-nyc-news","15":"tag-opinion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}