Letters to the editor
Tancredo fanned flames of hatred
I was infuriated by former Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo’s comments at the Tea Party Convention that “people who could not even spell the word ‘vote,’ or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House … Barack Hussein Obama.” This is not honest disagreement on issues. This is malicious, hateful demagoguery. I hope our country can survive this lack of responsible leadership. By the way, I wonder how long it took Tancredo’s ancestors to learn English.
—LINDA S. WEINSTEIN
PITTSFORD
Extremists find refuge on the Web
Given the State of the Union speech, the outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race and the fact that the president’s agenda is not a Bolshevik plot; will the slanderous, pass-it-along e-mails against Obama stop now? Extreme right-wing hatred has found its expression on the Internet by calling Barack Obama a socialist, communist, dictator, traitor, antichrist and worse. Some of these zealots spew this vitriol, and then follow their messages with an exhortation to pray for our country. I wonder at what church such people worship.
What should concern us most is that possibly some person, whose mind is already twisted by demons, might take this slander to be true. Would they then try what Lee Harvey Oswald did? Let’s keep this in mind if we receive any pass-it-on character assassination e-mails against the president.
—PETER CIAVARRI
IRONDEQUOIT
City schools have nothing to lose
Regarding the article “Letter argues against Duffy’s plan” on Feb. 4: How can anyone argue against a change to the abysmal track record of the city school system? I find it hard to believe that any school system could even find an argument to continue the status quo. It isn’t working!
If Mayor Duffy wants control, give it to him. How could anyone do worse? The past practice of shoveling bucks at a problem (remember the ferry fiasco?) does not work. We need fiscal responsibility and results. Duffy has proven himself in both respects.
—ROD CUTLER
IRONDEQUOIT
Consumers getting hosed at the pump
At almost every gas station, prices are much higher than a year ago, yet supplies are up, as is production. Now, in a convoluted example of governmental intervention, they keep going after the auto manufacturers to increase fuel economy across the board. At the same time, they have mandated that gasoline be diluted by the addition of 10 percent ethanol, which effectively reduces fuel economy by around 10 percent. Check it out yourself; buy a tank of non-ethanol gas, compute the mileage you’re getting. Next time, do the math with the “new, improved” gas. For commuters and those who drive similar routes on a regular basis, it will become evident something is amiss. And this gas is more expensive!
Add to this the outrageous marketing ploy of that misleading and hypocritical nine-tenths of a cent tacked on to each gallon, a holdover from the days when gas was 25 cents a gallon. Are we perceived as that ignorant not to be incensed by these practices? Where are our elected representatives who are charged with our economic security?
—MICHAEL HANNA
WAYLAND, STEUBEN COUNTY
Deciding with an overloaded mind
How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer, describes how the frontal cortex can be overwhelmed by information — holding seven variables simultaneously is a typical limit — leading to difficulty in making a decision.
In a study by Stanford psychologists, two groups of people, given two or seven digits to remember and sent down the hall to disclose memorized digits to a researcher, were intercepted in the hall and given a choice of a healthy or unhealthy (but yummy) snack. The two-digit group chose the healthy snack and the seven-digit group the unhealthy snack by large margins.
The inference is when the frontal cortex is engaged in a substantial task (remembering seven digits), its role in making rational decisions is overcome by emotional brain responses.
It may be that voters in Massachusetts were overcome by complexities in their own immediate lives as well as concerns about health insurance, mortgages, wars, natural disasters and more, so that a psychologist would not be surprised by the pattern of emotional rather than rational voter response.
—ROGER BUTTON
PENFIELD
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