Editor:

My response to the previous Letter to the Editor labeling MAGA as a bad, immoral, unintelligent extremist’s movement is laughable.

MAGA refers to Make America Great Again. MAGA is for the People of the United States.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The Constitution reads like a MAGA paragraph. Samuel Adams wrote (from the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston town meeting, November 20, 1772 ), among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First, a right to Life. Second, to liberty. Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.

Colonists refers to the Founding People of the United States who were Christians in one form or another as the previous author also noted.

I, Steven A. Colon, am both a Christian and one of the People of the United States beneficiary of both the Word of God and the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States is a MAGA document.

I make no apologies for my beliefs. Even if I never get elected to a public service position for I am secure in who I am; a Christian and one of the People of the United States. May God Almighty free those who are bound by the Spirit of Passivity and Cowardice, in Jesus’s name, Amen.

Steve Colon

Lyndonville

Editor:

Some of what I recently wrote about MAGA was criticized here. In their general remarks they ignored polling data identifying  groups which identify as MAGA. Particularly that neo-Nazis and racists are big MAGA boosters. Also by supporting a philanderer they cede the moral high ground on marital fidelity.

The writers focused on my on the issue of control of woman’s bodies and my comments on the fall out of the bad laws being passed around the country. The letter claimed that woman with high-risk pregnancies and other issues are not dying as a result. (Besides high-risk pregnancies, in abortion-ban states women are three times more likely to die for reasons related to these restrictive laws. www.axios.com/2023/01/19/mothers-anti-abortion-bans-states-die.)

The letter fully ignored that contraception is on the chopping block. Fully ignored the entire IVF issue. And made claims about the psychology of abortion which, while occasionally true, empirical study shows are only seldom significant.

If the writers had written about their own rights and practices they would found me in favor of their free exercise had they understood the tenor of my letter.

But at the most basic level the writers broad attack ignored that even Christian churches vary on life itself much less abortion. The Bible says life begins when God breathes his breath of life into man’s “nostrils” – Genesis 2:7. Conversely, when one dies that same breath of life returns to God – Ecclesiastes 12:7. That is the viability standard.

The writers praise laws which hold all women hostage to their particular beliefs. That is wrong and not the  false equivalency they claim when I compare them to the misogyny of the Iranian Ayatollahs.

Please do not misunderstand me. I worry about the difficulties surrounding conception and pregnancy, particularly how to deal with the crack-addicted babies I see regularly.  I think it shameful here in the US we downplay public education about sex and responsibility which are proven ways to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

But, BIG picture, by defending MAGA and state’s restriction on medical matters the writers reveal they are indeed MAGA “egocentric” moralists who want to impose their theocratic views on others carte blanche. Abortion is not protected but regulation should be medically, not religiously, based.

The writers in particular praise current state laws I am sure they have not read. They do not seem to know that history shows no political state imposed solution has ever worked without causing its own tragedy.  I mentioned the addition problems MAGA and theocratic inspired laws are causing.

In fact there are different beliefs, different hugely complex social, personal and medical issues to consider which were ignored in the new laws –  and now IVF to create embryos and eventually life is in the balance as well.

Our Constitution bars the establishment of religion. George Washington said the Constitution was meant to protect all beliefs even if those who do not believe. And to pass laws that increase death rates, how do you justify that – religion or not.

How curious to be pro life and anti life at the same time. Indeed almost every Republican member of the House are still today signed onto opposition to IVF – again the McConnell rule in action.

But that’s MAGA for you. Why talk, think things through rationally with input from all (particularly experts) and find a path towards a solution when you can take two steps back, based on rhetoric and fiction, and make things worse by demanding you run every detail of another person’s life.

Per my letters the MAGA takeover of the Republican Party is sad – we needed it until all its politicians sold out. It’s why the MAGA attempt to take over our country and create a theocracy or authoritarian state – depending on which wing of MAGA controls – is tragic and must be stopped at the polls.

Honorable people vote and do not terrorize others into submission. Gerrymandering and disenfranchisement is wrong. Creating a fictional world is wrong.

As Steve Bannon just stated the immediate MAGA objective is power and chaos. That is wrong on so many levels. I will just leave it there, urging people to vote!

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Abortion is health care. Decisions about abortion should only be between a patient and the healthcare provider.

Factors that may impact the need for an abortion include, but not limited to, pregnancy complications, such as placental abruption, bleeding from placental previa, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia.

An ectopic pregnancy where the fetus develops outside the uterus and is non-viable can result in life-threatening conditions for the mother, is another case where an abortion is needed. In some cases fetal anomalies happen such as anencephaly where the fetus does not develop a skull. Abortion can be life saving in this case as well.

Marlena Stell of Texas was pregnant with a wanted child but she had an incomplete miscarriage. The normal medical procedure is to remove the fetal tissue but because of her state’s anti-abortion laws she was unable to have this procedure which put her at risk for infections that could make her sterile or worse could result in multi-organ failure and death.

Kailee DeSpain, also of Texas, wanted to have a family but her pregnancy developed severe anomalies and could not survive outside the womb. Carrying the fetus to term put Kailee’s health and life at risk. A 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio had to travel out of state for medical care. These are some cases we know about; there are many others.

Abortion is healthcare. Studies show that states with abortion restrictions have higher maternal and infant mortality rates than states that don’t have restrictions. Doctors and healthcare providers know how to treat these conditions safely and humanely. What is stopping them is ignorance and prejudices. Abortions should be legal and safe. Abortion is healthcare.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

Leaving aside the typos (“ego-concentrism”[sic]), the logic fallacies (i.e., ad hominem, Trump – “open marriage is his”), the stereotyping (MAGA = “Nazis”) and the scapegoating (“MAGA appeals to hate and religion to further divide and distract”) in Mr. Cropsey’s Feb. 29th letter to the Hub, we can not allow, good sir, your comment about women to go unchallenged.

Women (and men) are made in the image and likeness of God.  Women are blessed with the incredible gift of bearing the most vulnerable of us – precious babies – in their wombs.  Thankfully, the “current post-Roe laws about women’s bodies and pregnancy” are beginning to change in over half of the states because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

These changes are being promulgated by state legislatures thereby ensuring the principles of subsidiarity and federalism are upheld. These states are not “killing woman[sic].”  Nor are these pro-life changes in any way similar to “honor rape, or forcing girls to undergo female castration.”  How dare you draw such blatant false equivalence.

Rather, these new laws are saving babies’ lives and saving more and more women from a lifetime of regret should they choose abortion.

As Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta clearly said:

“Abortion kills twice. It kills the body of the baby and it kills the conscience of the mother.  Abortion is profoundly anti-women. Three quarters of its victims are women: half the babies and all the mothers.”

Jim and Paula Simon

Yates

Editor:

Gary Deiboldt’s recent letter is a microcosm of everything wrong with political debate in Orleans County and, to a large extent, the country. The propensity to attack the messenger and twist the message while ignoring the real issues.

In Mr. Deibolt’s case, he asks, “If things are so great in Orleans County, why did he move to Oakfield?”

Nowhere did I even imply things were “great” in Orleans County, but even if I did, why I moved has nothing to do with property taxes or AIM funds.

I will illustrate my point by noting the fact that my sister and brother-in-law recently moved to Batavia from Savannah, Georgia. In the case of my brother-in-law, he lived in Georgia for over seven decades, and my sister was in Georgia for almost 40 years.

Did they move to Western New York because of the great weather and low property taxes? No, they moved to be closer to family, which is exactly what I did, albeit my move was far less drastic.

I had to move because my children, who grew up in the Village of Albion, moved away. Why? Because like many young people from Orleans County, they chose to go to an area where they had a better opportunity to make a living.

Their education from Albion prepared them for college, and both have four-year degrees, and have been tax-paying, productive citizens, so while Mr. Deiboldt implies that funds for schools are used for frivolous items and “pet projects,” investment in education is the best use of your tax dollars, bar none.

Also, I plainly stated, “If you shifted the school aid to AIM, the school would be forced to raise taxes.” Nowhere did I say the funds were used to reduce taxes, and I think it is safe to say if the Village were to receive an increase in AIM funds, they would be forced to spend it anyway because the main reason taxes are high in the Village is pretty simple: low property values.

Speaking from personal experience, in just over two years, our home in Oakfield has more equity than our house in Albion did after 27 years, both in percentage and real dollars.

Nevertheless, after living in Albion and working in Medina, I still have an emotional investment in the area, so it is frustrating to see the same old excuses rolled out year after year. Until people in Orleans County hold their own locally elected officials accountable, the region will continue to decline, taxes will continue to be some of the highest in the nation, and your locally elected officials will continue to remain silent.

Thom Jennings

Oakfield

Editor:

MAGA is unified by egocentrism and moral decay.  It does not represent the vision on which our country was built. It rewrites history to justify intellectual bankruptcy.

I just saw the threats sent to the New York City District Attorney and it reinforced my view there are some low-information, hateful MAGA.

Since the initial Christians set foot on our shores the US has welcomed all regions. No longer with MAGA Christian nationalists. They want to rule just as the monstrous Ayatollahs rule Iran and control all aspects of life there.  At the Conservative Convention (CPAC) the CEO finally confirmed its objective is theocracy – and the undoing of the American Revolution.

MAGA do not believe in stem cell research let alone IVF. But their answer of a ban denies freedom.  The easy fix is to give them bracelets to be sure they get no medical treatment that involved stem cell research.

IVF was opposed by virtually every Republican in Congress. Now they deny it.

It is the McConnell rule. Low-information voters will accept whatever their tribe’s representative said his or her position was – no matter how blatant the lie – and blame the President for the havoc those representatives created.

The current post-Roe laws about woman’s bodies and pregnancy is killing woman. It is no different than allowing honor rape, or forcing girls to undergo female castration. (Justice Thomas also wants to ban contraception.)  (This is a lesson in getting what you ask for when you think you know a lot but are not a real expert.) It’s also misogyny. Work real problems, not rhetoric.

MAGA is gerrymandering states and closing polling places in black areas to fix election results. It’s hateful racism – assuming that  blacks cheat. But really it’s no different than how they  fix elections in Russia and China or call in armed militias with guns to kill voters brave enough to try to get to the polls in other places.

(MAGA do not read the election affidavits, court testimony and unedited tapes as our courts do. They are similarly uncurious about the truth and more about the certainty you find in stupid pronouncements you see from a run of the mill loudmouth or drunk.) Biden won.

MAGA has a far higher percentage of high school graduates. Under the Florida book standards, for example, high school graduates can set school book standards. Even the Christian Bible can be banned under their rules – idiocy reigns indeed! Ignoring college entrance requirements will condemn MAGA to manual low-paying jobs. If they were even somewhat smart those MAGA would pay more to properly fund trade schools so their kids can find work when they flunk college entrance exams. (The huge downside is more stratification of society.)

The 17 Republican states that now allow 12- and 13-year-olds to do dangerous work are trying to circumvent that our industrial labor force has been built by immigration for over 150 years. We need growth to pay for a Trump tax cut which accounts for 60% of our debt.  Trump admits he killed the immigration bill to hurt Democrats. He killed more labor to pay the debt and reinvigorate industry. He always lets out his true intentions but see the McConnel Rule above.

Ignoring Trump’s life long history of broken marriages and infidelity sets the new standard for marriage. Open marriage is his – the MAGA accepted – norm. (Curious you get what you say you despise when you’re not honest out of the gate.)

Nazis and white-first zealots support MAGA over non-whites. By 2060 Latinos (by natural birth rates) will be in the majority. In the 1830s and ’40s bias against Italians, Irish and Germans resulted in them being banned from jobs. So in a few years Latino employers will have the right to deny MAGA jobs. (Another example of getting what you ask for. It is a shortsighted game of checkers in a world that plays multiple dimensional chess.)

Rural America is being torn apart by big box capitalism. Rather than pull all races in rural America together for rural programs, MAGA appeals to hate and religion to further divide and distract. Uniting all races in rural America to insist on rural programs is the best and perhaps only solution. We need another Biden infrastructure bill just for rural America – rural America is being divided and subjugated by the super rich who are the true power behind MAGA.

Neville Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler by ceding Czechoslovakia. WWII followed. Trump and MAGA will not fund the fight in Ukraine to keep the war there. (This is Putin’s third land grab.)

MAGA is condemning our children to a war we can avoid by standing with the free world.

With no intellectual humility and it’s need to justify its delusional view of history, it’s complete lack of vision for a free and prosperous future, and pathological need to have things its way, MAGA is the enemy within.

It must be stopped at every level in every elected position!

Conrad Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Thom Jenning’s recent letter regarding state funding to Orleans County is flawed in that monies given to schools are locked up for school use only. Funds given to the schools can only be used for artificial turf football fields, purchasing and holding large fields of farmland, maintaining large cash reserves, maintaining the buildings and grounds and yes some limited educational programs.

My first thought after reading Thom’s letter was that if things are so great in Orleans County, why did he move from Albion to Oakfield? Tom Rivers is taking up the right cause in seeking more AIM funds to be used by towns and villages as this money is for the benefit of the citizens at large, not just for pet projects by school districts in the county.

Taxes in the village of Albion are extremely high partially because funds that should be available are locked up as well. There exists a seven million dollar perpetual care fund for the expensive upkeep of Mt. Albion Cemetery, however only the funds derived from the interest on that money can be used. It is hardly enough, leaving village residents to pay the true cost, which contributes to higher taxes.

Government by itself produces nothing, much like accounting to a business for tax purposes. Citizens and business owners are the ones who have to pay for these services. The burden of government and business expenses are forever growing, like the IRS, which means you are having to ante up more and more of your hard earned money to pay for everything.

If the school districts that are receiving all this money were to reduce taxes, perhaps parents could afford to provide a nicer homes to raise their children, provide better quality food and clothing, pay for their children’s own breakfast and lunches and maybe even save for college.

School districts that take too much are causing parents to have fewer children due to the increased expense, which will spell the slow demise of the schools they are trying to fund. If there are fewer children to teach, there will be fewer teachers and administrators needed to educate them. In essence they are cutting their own throats by keeping taxes high.

Government has become a greater problem for citizens over the years in part because of voter apathy and ignorance. Government likes it that way. When you are working multiple jobs to make ends meet, the last thing you want to think about when you come home is politics. I’ve been there, I know.

This only perpetuates the mindset of people in government today who put their own interests ahead of yours because for whatever reason, there are too few voters to make a difference. “People Increasing Government Spending” or P. I. G. S. are much like the animal that doesn’t know when to stop feeding. “Citizen Activists Reducing Expansion” of government, or  C. A. R. E., like the farmer, need to oversee activities lest they become bloated and fat like P. I. G. S.

Recently, the County Legislature voted to purchase land and buildings to further expand county government. With school enrollment down in Albion, as in most districts, it would make sense for the county to share services with school districts by converting empty classroom space into office space for county workers. After all, schools are off the tax rolls and are already being paid for by residents. Why not use the empty space and save the taxpayers some money!

Gary Deiboldt

Albion

Editor:

The recent editorial entitled “Where is outrage over state shafting villages, towns with AIM funding?” by Tom Rivers, certainly fits the “big bad Albany Democrats giving Orleans County the shaft” but at best it can be called a partial truth, because, while there is undoubtedly a shortfall in AIM funds received by Orleans County, the State more than makes up for the shortfall in school aid and grants to Orleans County.

The property tax levy is made up of school tax, local tax and county tax. Everything the state provides to any of those line items reduces the tax burden, not just AIM funds. So, while Mr. Rivers paints a bleak picture to elicit a Rosa Parks-style protest, school aid and AIM funds both come from the same source and have a direct impact on property taxes, one only needs to look at the math to paint a clearer picture.

Here are a few stark examples, if we look at Chautauqua County, Mr. Rivers points out that AIM funding in Salamanca amounts to $156.54 per capita. Now that number is an outlier, but we can use it to demonstrate Orleans County is not being short-changed by the State of New York.

The total school aid for Orleans County is roughly $114 million, and the population is 40,000, which amounts to a per capita of $2,858. In Chautauqua they receive $345 million with a population of 127,000 which is a per capita $2,716 per capita. That number applies to residents of Salamanca, and residents of Medina.

The difference amounts to $142 per capita, in favor of Orleans County, and if we use Mr. Rivers example of the Village of Medina, they receive $6.88 per capita in AIM funds, which is inaccurate anyway because he didn’t include AIM funds given to the towns that are part of the Village so it should be doubled to $13.76 per capita.

$142 + $13.76= $155.76 which means Medina receives more per capita in school and AIM funds than Salamanca, which is the city in Mr. Rivers example with the highest per capita recipient of AIM funds.

If you shifted the school aid to AIM, the school would be forced to raise property taxes, so there is no real disparity, and Medina’s firehouse conundrum would not be solved by more money from the state, the state is clearly providing equitable property tax relief.

If anyone should feel shafted it is Genesee County. Mr. Rivers also pointed out that the City of Batavia receives $112 per capita in AIM funds. Total school aid to Genesee County is $134 million with a population of 59,000. That is $2,271 per capita, and $587 less per capita than Orleans County.

Let’s not forget that Salamanca has a casino, and Batavia has a racino, both of which generate a significant amount of income for the State.

So, is Orleans County really getting “shafted” by New York State? Nope, not even close, and those numbers don’t take account of huge grants in recent years, including a $4.5 million one to The Village of Medina.

As for the Villages, one of the major sources of revenue to the county, that stays in the county, is sales tax. Orleans County has seen astronomical gains in recent years, and could provide some form of relief to Medina, perhaps in the form of a no-interest loan.

While it doesn’t fit the hyper-partisan nature of politics in the region, the outrage should be with the county government, which has hoarded its sales tax largesse for decades.

Thom Jennings

Oakfield, formerly an Albion resident

Editor:

I have to agree with Andina Barone’s letter to the editor in which towns should seriously look at the health effects of adding Fluoride or (Hydrofluorosilicic Acid) to our water.

There is a reason its scientific name is classified as an acid. Because it is just that. An acid.  During my work in the water treatment industry, I learned many things about Hydrofluorosilicic Acid that was quite concerning.

As we all know using fluoride in dental practice proves quite effective in helping to prevent tooth decay. But what most people don’t understand is once it passes your gums and is ingested you’ve pretty much swallowed a poison. It has no medicinal value past your teeth and can cause a multitude of health problems.

In 1945 the fluoride revolution began and a barrage of hired guns disguised as scientists and dentists convulsed on small communities to sell more Hydrofluorosilicic Acid. Armed with incomplete and inaccurate information they proceeded to scare communities into believing they could save children’s teeth by adding this acid into drinking water.

Over the next 25 years or so the fluoride industry showed data proving the induction of this acid in drinking water was working. It was the big lie of the ’50s and ’60s. What these studies failed to inform us of was that the dental industry also took on the use of fluoride in a big way and toothpaste started to add fluoride to their products. Also, during this time education about the benefits of good oral hygiene created a huge shift in the way we took care of our mouths. The 6-month dental visits became the norm.

Too often doctors are afraid to call out the health problems we see from this every day. Too often acid reflux, heart burn and even ulcers are blamed on coffee or soda, But yet we add acids to our diets every time we drink water. Drinking bottled water won’t save you either because Hydrofluorosilicic Acid is hard to remove from water. We’ve added so much of it over the years it can actually be detected in lake water.

Now if you look at new data over the past 25 years you can see that communities that do not add fluoride to their water show NO signs that their children’s teeth are worse off than those that do. A little known fact that the fluoride industry spends millions of dollars to keep quiet.

Now that the lion is out of its cage putting it back in will be difficult. Whenever communities even breath of removing it from drinking water lawyers will descend upon that community with motion after motion until the community can no longer afford to fight them.

But the truth is it is truly the vote of said community that determines fluoride in water treatment. In October of 1965 Albion voters, with inaccurate and incomplete information voted to add this acid to our water. To my knowledge no vote has been handed out since then.

I did try a few years back to get the Albion Village Board to consider putting this out to the public for a new vote with more up to date information. I was shut down by the next regular meeting and it was never even brought up again in a public forum.

The bottom line is it is up to the community whether this acid stays in your water or not. Voice your concerns, have a say. Let’s educate ourselves and convince Albion and all water treatment facilities in Orleans County to at least put this back up for debate and vote.

Mike Clemons

Certified Cross Connection Control Specialist

Albion

Editor:

On February 22, 2014 Hub Editor Tom Rivers convincingly made the case state leaders should increase the amount of AIM funds coming into the county.  He suggested organizing a march across the county to generate publicity.

As a profound sense of inertia seems to have engulfed Lynne Johnson, Skip Draper, Bill Eick and the others in the county government, I don’t see them leading anybody to help secure the money, let along actually walking in a march.

Now is the time for the Democrats to seize the initiative, move into the power vacuum created by Republican inaction, and help coordinate the AIM March. Democrats should help Rivers organize the AIM march by: handing out flyers for the march to the public, contacting media outlets with the route of the march, and inviting Congresswoman Tenney, State Senator Ortt, Assemblyman Hawley and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer to join in.

Who knows, once county leaders hear that high-level political leaders and the media will be at the march, they may put on their hiking boots and join in

Jack Capurso

AHS 1960

Ashburn, Va.