Trump disrespects military, protesters
Have we forgotten the disrespect he showed Sen. John McCain during the campaign or his criticism of a Gold Star father who spoke at the Democratic National Convention? Did we ignore his insensitivity to the widow of a soldier killed in Niger?The NFL players have been clear that they are demonstrating about police violence toward minorities, and they harbor no ill will or disrespect to the U.S. Armed Forces.President Trump has clearly demonstrated that he disrespects the sacrifice of our armed forces, the legitimate concerns of the NFL players, and the intelligence of every American.President Trump has proven himself the disrespecter-in-chief.Ken LarsenSchenectadyMore from The Daily Gazette:Schenectady, Saratoga casinos say reopening has gone well; revenue down 30%Troopers: Schenectady pair possessed heroin, crack cocaine in Orange County Thruway stopEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesSchenectady department heads: Budget cutbacks would further stress already-stretched departmentsSchenectady NAACP calls for school layoff freeze, reinstatement of positions Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion President Trump has been quite critical of the professional football players who have expressed their concern about police violence by kneeling during the national anthem.He, and many others, see this as being disrespectful of current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces.President Trump’s hypocrisy is stunning.
Categories: Letters to the Editor, OpinionDon’t believe all you read about climateThis past September, a group of approximately 500 scientists and professionals, who did not bend to pressure from their employers to follow their “politically correct” view, signed a document called the “European Climate Declaration.”This simple and understandable statement suggests that analysis of any public policy issue involving complex science should be approached from a well-reasoned and fact-based perspective.Politicians and reporters working for major news outlets have little or no personal understanding of the actual scientific principles involved. They point to their preferred expert and declare that we should trust him or her without question, but they don’t know why.This document made three important points. One: The world has warmed at less than half the originally predicted rate. This tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.Two: Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as policy tools. (One major problem is that the person that creates the test model sets all of the test parameters, and they can be whatever they choose. This can skew the result to whatever its creator wants it to be.)Three: There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm.Democrats pushing this are following an agenda used by virtually every dictator in modern history; create a crisis, then step in with a proposed solution. Why? Simple.In order to gain public recognition and support, leading to their ultimate rise to absolute power. You better watch out.James HomanGlenvilleRaise bridge, tracks to eliminate crashesIn the Nov. 22 Daily Gazette, the article “DOT to install more signs near railroad bridges,” makes note of the numerous signs warning truckers of the limited height of the Glenridge Road railroad bridge.Yet despite the plethora of signs, the article points out the bridge has been hit 57 times and there have been approximately 90 near misses. DOT Commissioner Dominguez states that they will improve the signage, but notes that the primary cause is motorists ignoring the existing signs, further compounded by truckers not using commercial GPS systems.I argue that the primary or root cause is the obvious. The bridge, which was recently replaced, is not designed to current highway construction standards for bridge height.At the time of reconstruction, the railroad argued that to raise the bridge another 4 feet or so would require reconstruction of the tracks leading up to the bridge.That certainly is true, but the project should have been done correctly the first time around.It is time to rectify the problem correctly and raise the bridge and tracks and do the job right.And while DOT and the town is at it, replace the Maple Avenue bridge for height and width for the same reason. We no longer are using horse and buggies.Harry DarlingBurnt HillsMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationEDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?
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Dozens of bird species endemic to Sumatra Island are closer to extinction because of habitat loss from land use change as well as illegal hunting.According to bird conservation NGO Burung Indonesia, 42 bird species have been listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Meanwhile, nine species are listed as critically endangered.“Most of the species in the critically endangered category are losing their habitat [and are] illegally hunted,” Burung Indonesia spokesman Achmad Ridha Junaid said on Tuesday. For example, cucak rawa (straw-headed bulbuls) were often hunted to be sold as pets, despite their limited number remaining in the wild, Achmad went on to say. The IUCN red list in August 2018 estimated the number of cucak rawa in the wild at 600 to 1,700.Some experts believe the species is extinct by now.Similarly, the rangkong gading (helmeted hornbill) is often hunted for its bright red and yellow solid casque. The species has been included in the critically endangered category.Read also: Man nabbed in Riau for allegedly slaughtering, cooking hornbill Achmad said the rangkong gading had been considered vulnerable until 2015, but its status had been increased to critically endangered ever since, because of rampant hunting.“Such a case, in which a bird species jumps by two [categories on the endangered species] lists in a very short time is very rare,” he said. “It is regrettable that we have little to no information on the exact helmeted hornbill population in Sumatra, as that would require a large-scale field study.”Changes in forest cover across Sumatra have contributed to the vulnerability of these bird species. According to environmental group Warsi Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI Warsi), the total forest cover on the island was around 11 million hectares in 2015 – down vastly from 20 million ha in 1990.“Meanwhile, the areas of plantations as well as industrial forest have increased by 141 and 381 percent, respectively,” KKI Warsi director Rudi Syaf said.He added that Sumatra was predicted to lose another 9 million ha of forest cover within 25 years if no action was taken to preserve the forest. (dpk)Topics :
A resurgent Joe Biden was projected to win seven large states on Tuesday, and front-runner Bernie Sanders captured two states with several others too close to call on the biggest day of voting in the 2020 Democratic presidential nominating race.Edison Research and the main television networks declared Biden the winner in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama based on exit polls on Super Tuesday, when Americans in 14 states voted for a Democratic challenger to Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.Fox News projected Biden would also win Oklahoma. The Associated Press projected he would also win Arkansas and Minnesota. NBC News reported that Bloomberg would reassess whether to stay in the race on Wednesday, but a campaign official said it was inaccurate to suggest his White House bid could end on Wednesday. The official said the campaign reassesses everyday.Biden, former President Barack Obama’s vice president, has enjoyed a burst of momentum since a blowout win in South Carolina on Saturday, which led to endorsements from a flood of prominent party officials and former rivals.Broad Biden coalition He entered Super Tuesday hoping to muscle aside Bloomberg and consolidate support from moderates in Tuesday’s voting, turning the race into a one-on-one contest against Sanders.Biden’s showing in the Super Tuesday states was fueled by strong support among a broad coalition of voters including women and men, white and black, those with or without college degrees, and those who considered themselves liberal or moderate.With 100% of the precincts reporting in Virginia, Biden was winning more than half of the votes in that southern swing state, well ahead of Sanders. In Alabama, he was winning 69% of the vote, and in North Carolina he was winning 34%.Edison Research forecast a record turnout of 1.3 million voters in Virginia, well ahead of 986,203 in 2008 and 785,041 in 2016.Early exit polls by Edison Research showed Biden was winning large majorities of African-American voters in the South, including 72% in Alabama, 71% in Virginia, 63% in North Carolina and 62% in Tennessee.In Virginia, Biden won the votes of more than four of 10 white college educated women, compared to about two in 10 each for Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts.Bloomberg was a wild card heading into the voting, as he joined the competition for the first time. In early results, he was winning more than 15% of the vote, enough to pick up some delegates, in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado and Arkansas.The moderate Bloomberg skipped the first four contests and bombarded Super Tuesday and later voting states with ads, but saw his poll numbers slip after coming under fire during Democratic debates over past comments criticized as sexist and a policing policy he employed as New York’s mayor seen as racially discriminatory.Biden is trying to build a bridge between progressive Democrats’ desire for big structural change and more moderate Democrats yearning for a candidate who will be able to win over enough independents and Republicans to oust Trump.Fresh momentum That effort gained fresh momentum on the eve of Tuesday’s voting as moderate presidential rivals Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, endorsed Biden after withdrawing from the race.The pace of the Democratic race begins to accelerate after Super Tuesday, with 11 more states voting by the end of March. By then, nearly two-thirds of the delegates will have been allotted.Sanders headed into Tuesday with 60 delegates to Biden’s 54 in the state-by-state nominating fight. Sanders managed a virtual tie with Buttigieg in Iowa and wins in New Hampshire and Nevada.Besides leading in polls in California, Sanders also is ahead of Biden by a smaller margin in polls in Texas. Sanders’ strength with Hispanics should pay dividends in that state, where Latinos comprise one-third of the Democratic electorate.Biden, whose South Carolina win affirmed his popularity with black voters, hoped to win five states where African Americans make up at least a quarter of the Democratic electorate: Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas.Democrats living abroad began voting in a primary set to run until March 10. The last polls will close in California at 8 p.m. PST (0400 GMT on Wednesday).The next contests, on March 10, will be in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state. Topics :
Sanders was projected to win in Colorado and his home state of Vermont, expected outcomes for the self-described democratic socialist and independent senator who hopes to take a huge step toward winning the nomination on Tuesday.More than one-third of the delegates who will pick the eventual nominee at a July convention are up for grabs in primary elections on Tuesday that could provide some clarity at last in a muddled race for the White House.Early results showed Sanders holding a narrow lead over Biden in Texas, while Biden had a narrow lead in Massachusetts and Minnesota.The rush of early results left Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor who spent more than half a billion dollars on advertising, largely out of the running, with his only victory coming in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.