With the gutless coward Robert Card the suspect in the mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine found dead, this is the best outcome that could have possibly happened. The good citizens of the state of Maine are spared the cost of a trial where Card’s lawyers would have played the insanity card. And the state of Maine is spared the cost of incarceration for decades to come. Unfortunately the families of those Card murdered will never learn why this happened . My heart goes out to the families of all those killed and injured.

Paul J. Baranofsky

Waltham

Audit the Legislature

It makes perfect sense for the Massachusetts State Auditor, Diana DiZoglio to lift the veil of secrecy and audit the Legislature.  In our one party, Democrat-led state, there is always meetings held behind closed doors and deals made in secrecy.  What better reason for an audit is what Speaker Ron Mariano and President Karen Spilka say in opposition to opening up the books of their fiefdom.  They howl that the Legislature is a separate branch of government that makes its own rules and governs and audits itself.  Wow, isn’t that a reason enough for another pair of eyes to peak under the rug and see what was swept under it?

Donald Houghton

Quincy

Hamas terror

The White House Office of Moral Philosophy, formerly staffed by Barack Obama and presently by his student Joe Biden, continues to plead for ethical clarity to the theocratic hooligans in Iran. If we just give them a little more, the Obama-Biden thinkers believe, then surely they will meet us halfway. But, dagnabbit, those rascals in Tehran never seem to get the memo. Oh well, better not upset them, after all holy men follow different timelines and patience on our end will gain credence with Russia and China. Yeah, that’s the ticket. I suspect that elimination of this train of thought would go a long way toward countering the moral confusion tangling our nation, especially the anti-Enlightenment antisemitism now raging on our streets.

Paul Bloustein
Cincinnati, Ohio

Biden and oil

Joseph Robinette Biden and his administration has shut down oil and gas leases from the nation’s vast public lands and waters starting on Jan. 20, 2021. Well, I have a question, don’t all military tanks, ships, planes and transport vehicles use fuel oil? So if the United States can’t supply this product who will? There’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, time for America to rethink stopping oil production in our country, being self sufficient is the answer and trusting other countries to step up and help is really scary.

Tony Meschini

Scituate

What’s the biggest lie promulgated by the left?  President Biden’s age is an asset.  What’s the second biggest?  Foreign policy is his particular strength.

Someone needs to remind N.H. Senator Maggie Hassan that the reason this country is confronting “significant problems at home and around the world” is 100% due to the stunning lack of competence and forthrightness of the Biden administration.  Has anyone noticed that the bad actors around the world only began to stir when Trump left the White House?

Sean F. Flaherty

Boston

Renaming Hall

There is a movement to rename Faneuil Hall again. I cannot think of one rational reason to do that. Unlike the renaming of Dudley Square which had no national recognition, people countrywide say if you visit Boston you have to visit Faneuil Hall. At some point we have to let names of places stay as is and don’t cater to special interest groups’ demands.

Paul Quaglia

Billerica

Wars abroad

Peace through strength is not an empty cliché.  Under President Trump, the United States had become energy independent.  The U.S. was able to become an oil exporter,  selling oil to Europe and undermining Russia’s stranglehold on Europe’s oil dependency.  Now, Russian oil sales are funding the war in Ukraine.  In September 2020, President Trump brokered the historic Abraham Accords where countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognized Israel’s sovereignty.

There was relative peace in the Middle East.  Iran’s mullahs were dealing with internal unrest.  Oil embargoes handcuffed Iran’s ability to fund Hamas and Hezbollah.  Along comes Biden who is eager to dump billions of dollars in Iran’s lap.  What could go wrong?  Then we have Biden’s total fiasco of the U.S. pull-out from Afghanistan.  Thirteen marines were killed and $80 billion worth of ammunition, guns, trucks, jeeps and rockets were left behind for the Taliban while our forces snuck out in the middle of the night from Bagram Air Base.  Israel and Hamas are at war.  Ukraine and Russia are at war.  These are Biden’s wars because America displays weakness on the world stage.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

The op-ed “Menthol ban would boost $$ incentive for cartels” omits recognizing the unprecedented scientific evidence-based facts favoring the FDA’s pending menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars ban. A nationwide menthol ban would be the most aggressive and impactful development to diminish the leading cause of preventable death, smoking, in the world.

It is misleading not to mention that the FDA mission is to save millions of lives and the pending menthol ban is expected to have an offramp for smokers by also focusing on nicotine addiction. Reports have suggested that FDA authorized modified risk tobacco products may be exempt from the ban.

A plant biotech company named 22nd Century Group has FDA authorization for the first nearly nonaddictive cigarettes in history, called VLN (Very Low Nicotine) and the FDA requires “Helps You Smoke Less” to be on all their packs.

The immeasurable mortality and enormous public health costs of not banning menthol cigarettes and addressing nicotine addiction makes drug cartel profits miniscule in comparison. The FDA has put a lot of scientific research and resources into the menthol ban decision and evaluated input from a wide range of professionals and the public. Politics and preserving tobacco industry profits shouldn’t play a key role in the decision.

Devender Coleman

Boston

Biden on world stage

During these perilous times, with the world becoming increasingly destabilized, American civilians being killed and U.S. soldiers under attack in the Middle East, people are sharpening their scrutiny of President Biden, particularly given his overt weakness, timidity, and unsettling vacillations in response to ominous global developments. Many political observers can’t help but remember what Robert Gates, who served as defense secretary for the Obama administration, famously said about Biden some years ago: “I think he’s been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

And many Beltway observers are also uncomfortably remembering something that former president Barack Obama, in a moment of brutal candor, privately said of Biden: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to (expletive) things up.”

By all accounts, as evinced through Biden’s unsteady presidency, and particularly through his handling of the unnerving world events of today, it would appear that Gates and Obama were uncannily accurate in their assessment of Biden.

Michael J. DiStefano

Jamestown, RI

I am a proud Jew. And I am proud of my people.  But today, I am also greatly ashamed of many of my people.  Earlier last week hundreds of my Jewish brothers and sisters sat in the U.S. capital and demanded a “cease-fire” between Israel and Hamas.  To them, and to the rest of my Jewish brethren I must make the following plea:

I am tired of this. Wake up. This atrocity happens every 100 years. Whether pogroms, crusades, inquisitions, blood libels, the Holocaust, the Yom Kippur War, or the conflict with Hamas where 1,400 members of our family were raped, burned alive, kidnapped, and shot in mass executions, this is not new.

It has been the role of the Jews in the world to be murdered and then to get blamed for our own killing. This trauma has defined us.  We have holidays to mark them. But for the first time in modern history things are different. Jewish blood is no longer cheap. This was a slaughter of our people. It is happening in real time. It is the event that we experience every century, at least. This is the time to say stop. This is the time to say enough. Why can’t a Jew be proud?  I am proud to be strong. I am proud that murdering my people no longer results in a hall pass. I am proud that I have a state of Israel to stick up for me. That you don’t just go get to kill a bunch of Jews and get away with it. We are not sheep anymore. The loss of Palestinian life that will continue to grow is an absolute tragedy.  But this is entirely preventable by Hamas, and has been encouraged by those terrorist thugs.

I am proud — there is finally a consequence to massacring Jews.  For the first time, war is that consequence. Because when you do not fight back, murderous, slanderous libel just comes back 10-fold.

Passivity as Jews are slaughtered and the world looks on is no longer the norm. Because that is what it means to be a people who have the right of self-determination. You do not get to molest us freely anymore. True, we must hold our values that are undeniably morally superior to those of Hamas. But the answer to killing our people can no longer be silence. Because silence is unacceptable and appeasement is deadly. Wake up. Wake. Up. It is time to demand an end to these murderous thugs. Because appeasement and cease-fires only result in the deaths of more Israelis and Palestinians.

If you support the Palestinian cause and if you support the Israeli cause you must demand that this war be seen through to the rightful conclusion. Hamas must be completely destroyed.  Today, I am ashamed for those of my Jewish family who demand a ceasefire.  But I am also proud.  Because my life, and the lives of Jews, finally have value.  And we will be avenged.

AJ Edelman is an Israeli American Olympian and captain of the Israeli Bobsled Team-Edelman.  When not training and competing he can be found in Brookline. 

I assume this very effective public safety saying no longer applies in the City of Boston (“Mass and Cass crisis worsens,” 10/19).

The picture I saw when I opened the paper was of a man shooting heroin on a city street. This is the part that puzzles me when deciding what should be done with Mass and Cass.

I assume by looking at this picture that the City of Boston is saying it is OK to shoot heroin on a public street or does that just apply to Mass and Cass?

My father used to say when laws are ignored or no longer enforced, chaos will win and it will mark the beginning of the end and that is what is happening to what was once a beautiful city!

Everyone knows exactly what needs to be done but political posturing and non enforcement of laws is how we operate in the city now, thanks Michele!

Michael Westen

Malden

Shooting gallery

I am beyond disgusted with the situation at Mass and Cass, in which you continue to  publish pictures of the people shooting up.  Please, as customers we know what is going on out there. I do not think
anybody needs to see these pictures.  Thank you.

Nancy M. Bower

Parsonsfield, Me.

Foreign aid

Taxpayers should realize that the money our government sends in support of other countries to support conflicts with other countries are real dollars paid into our government through payroll and corporate taxes. This is the only source of federal money used to fund our schools, roads and a myriad of other government funded projects. Assuming these countries are in need of international support, why couldn’t this financial support be supplied in the form of a loan rather than an outright donation. Some of these countries have been around hundreds of years before our country was even founded and should be self sufficient by now.

Jack Moon

Ipswich

Evil of Hamas

If anyone doesn’t believe what Hamas did in Israel isn’t evil, time for them to see a shrink. Growing up and listening to my Dad talk about the atrocities the Nazis did to the Jewish nation during World War II made me sick to my stomach and I prayed something similar to that evil never happen in my lifetime. Killing innocent people is just wrong and whatever Israel needs to do to try stop Hamas, I back 100%.

Tony Meschini

Scituate

Migrant influx

Boo hoo, Governor Healey, I wonder if the southern border states share the pain we are suffering here in the capital of NIMBYism. Not one word was uttered by our state legislature and our congressional delegation for over two years until the illegal immigrant fiasco started having an impact here in Massachusetts. The upside of that is the fact that it kept Senator Warren rantless, and Senator Markey only opened his mouth to change feet. Now, according to Sen. Warren, she and Sen. Markey are working around the clock to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. She would never make it as a stand up comic.

John Lucente

Lexington

The Boston Herald is covering Mass & Cass issues that look like they are here to stay as long as there is no real leadership anywhere on this homeless encampment crisis. It seems to be growing along with the neglect of too many city officials to properly address the hows and whys. This encampment issue never gets close to being resolved. It is all blue smoke, mirrors, press releases and photo ops.

It has taken so long for city officials to notice the growth of mini homeless encampments across the city. The fact there has been a mini Mass & Cass right there by City Hall Plaza for over a year now and finally officials are seeing the metastasizing growth across the city?

Your recent piece on Clifford Park or what I called growing up ‘The  Prairie” – why had it taken the city so long to see this mini homeless encampment? I have seen this spillover grow over the past few years.

News that a 2-year-old may have been sleeping overnight down at this homeless encampment across from Boston Fire Headquarters is being treated as if it never happened before. I am sure kids have been sleeping down there with their parents. Does anyone think this 2-year-old is the first to have had a sleepover at Atkinson Street?

The drugs and violence down there off Southampton Street won’t go away until the large population calling the streets in that area go away. It is time to clear the whole area of tents. Then and only then can we see clearly the homeless looking for a jumpstart in life. We can’t find services or shelter in the middle of street chaos. Offer folks as much help as they need but don’t baby them either. We are all responsible for our lives, all of us. There is no excuse to  live in a tent on the street and wait for the cavalry to arrive. Doing the same thing over and over again means nothing  ever changes.

Allowing homeless encampments to spring up everywhere only makes matters worse. We keep waiting for politicians to fix things. Too many of them simply talk the talk. It is time to move beyond this waffling and move the needle toward progress. The issue of homelessness isn’t really just about finding housing, it’s about dealing with the broken lives of many of these people who live in the shadows of humanity. While we hesitate, the homeless encampments grow bigger and time marches on.

Sal Giarratani

East Boston

Gun control bill

Attaching gun-control legislation to the budget bill is a dishonest way of circumventing the true legislative process.  Massachusetts already has one of the most stringent laws on the books regarding gun safety and gun ownership.  Dave Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League said this Houdini-like approach to sneak gun legislation into law by attaching it to a final budget bill is wrong.  Criminals use illegal weapons.  Law abiding citizens are protected by the Constitution’s Second Amendment.  The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  It’s time for honesty, legislators.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

I am a Jew.

For many of us, this is the first time those words have held such deep and searing meaning that the heart feels an indescribable emptiness, a scorching, aching pain.

I am also an Israeli.  And today, no matter what viewpoint you hold, no matter what “side” you support, you too are an Israeli.  Because you are human.

We have looked evil in the face, and it has laughed at us as it thought it was destroying us.

We shall not turn away.  We shall watch the videos and testimony — to understand evil we must not avoid its ugly reality.  We will confront this evil and it shall be vanquished.

Good cannot be destroyed where humanity is present, it comes back ever stronger.  In health we call this hypertrophy.  In life, we call it Israel.

Today I am an Israeli.  And you are too.

AJ Edelman,

Olympian, Captain, Israeli Bobsled Team Edelman

Echoes from Holocaust

Mr. Robbins’ column “Echoes from the Holocaust,” (10/14, Boston Herald) is to be commended for pointing out the fallacies of self-styled progressives.

The horrors committed by Hamas on innocent Jews a week ago is morally reprehensible and a senseless act beyond any description. Their repeated atrocities against Israel clearly emphasizes the fact that Hamas is not interested in any peaceful solution with Israel nor in improving the plight of Palestinians’ daily life.

Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, simply put is a terrorist organization. It is a pretense on the part of Hamas to act as a legitimate spokesperson for Palestinians and their cause. Hamas is more interested in digging tunnels and building destructive weapons to annihilate Israel as opposed to uplifting the lives of Palestinians.

It is a sad spectacle to watch the demonstrations in our nation’s major metropolis ignoring this fundamental fact.

Student bodies of many elite academic institutions blindly condemn Israel and fail to distinguish the cause of Palestinians vis-à-vis Hamas. Leaders of the elite institutions failed in their “leadership” by not acting fast enough to condemn or discourage their student societies.

In times like this, silence is not an option. It is imperative to speak against the horrors being committed against humanity by terrorist organizations.

President Biden is absolutely correct when he told an audience that “silence is complicity. I want you to know, I refuse to be silent.”

Pichai Gopal

Braintree,

Hamas in Gaza

How Hamas took over the Gaza Strip,  I’m sure was through intimidation, fear and threats to the Palestinian people who live there. How Hamas did a 9/11 type strike on Israel was painfully sickening to see on television and read about. No doubt Hamas’ only mission is to kill Israel individuals, young, old, male or female, doesn’t matter.

Whoever is backing them is as bad or maybe worse. My feelings are, whatever Israel needs, the United States of America has got your back.

Tony Meschini

Scituate

Your recent opinion piece (“Collins: Expanding private jet capacity at Hanscom reckless idea,” 10/6) omitted some key facts about the value of business aviation at Hanscom Field and beyond.

The truth is, Hanscom Field is vital to the region’s economic and transportation systems, driving $6.7 billion in economic activity each year, and supporting approximately 20,000 jobs, including highly skilled technicians, maintenance workers, avionics specialists, hospitality providers, and a host of other area businesses based on the field and in the local community. The airfield is also ideally suited to disaster-relief flights and specialized medical transport – consider Medflight, based at Hanscom, which transports more than 6,000 critically ill patients annually.

Equally important – given the focus of your story on business aviation’s carbon footprint – readers weren’t told about the industry’s sharp focus on sustainability, having slashed emissions by 40% in just four decades, and a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions in the years to come. Progress is being made toward this goal right now – through investment in eco-friendly electric, hybrid and hydrogen power technologies, and the development of sustainable aviation fuels, which can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%. In fact, MIT researchers recently announced their ground-breaking work to convert plant-based lignin into hydrocarbon molecules that could help make jet fuel 100% sustainable.

When it comes to the debate over business aviation, let’s get the facts on the table, with a focus on the real and meaningful actions being taken to support citizens, communities and carbon reduction.

Jeff DeMarey
President
Stonewall Insurance Group, Inc.

David L. Fetherston
Founder and General Manager
NexAir Avionics

Thomas W. Hurley
Executive Director
Massachusetts Airport Management Association

Don McPherson
Manager
Minute Man Airfield

Donald Staszko
Director of Operations
ProAirways

Mac Jones

Before all the Boston genius writers and talk show hosts run Mac out of town, they should check the annals of Patriot history. Many, or all of them never had a chance to watch Jim Plunkett. Jim was a Heisman Trophy winner from Stanford that was the Patriots top draft pick in the 70-71 season. He had a very good rookie season followed by three or four seasons running for his life as the Patriots quarterback, after it was decided that a quality offensive line wasn’t needed. He later went on to win two Super Bowls with the Oakland Raiders.

So, before we run Mac out of town let’s try to get him some good protection. One of my first suggestions would be to charge Trent Brown admission to the game or replace him with one of the statues that have been removed locally.

John Lucente

Lexington

As I recently read two news stories in the Boston Herald, one by Joe Battenfeld (Sept. 30) and the second the day before by Gayla Cawley (Sept. 29), it seems clear that not much is getting accomplished  lately at Boston City Hall between the mayor and the city council. The city’s health department has been almost as useless when it comes to workable strategies or actual solutions.

Seems everybody keeps yelling at each other or into the wind. It’s the mayor versus the council. Everybody likes pointing fingers but nobody seems to be lending a hand at arriving at a decision that ends this ugly status quo. We cannot seem to move from words of which there are plenty into actions that bring solutions because the bottom line is we must end this forever homeless encampment which has already lasted far too long. We are not helping anyone down there in a tent or on a blanket whose life just continues in visible misery.

The cleanup of this area must begin. We cannot have people living like this whether they want to or not. If the city government has become helpless to act, how can we call ourselves a livable city?

Election time is coming up. Check out all the candidates on the ballot for city council, both citywide and district. Make good choices and hope things improve as quickly as possible. Government is our business. It will be as good as we want it or as bad as we allow it to be. Vote on Nov. 7 as if your city depends on your vote because it really does depend on all of us.

Sal Giarratani

East Boston

Our economy

I had to laugh when reading the opinion piece from Salena Zito of CNN. Middle class Americans like myself who don’t have trust funds or six-figure stock portfolios are continually amazed when we get told by people who DO have such financial advantage that the economy is fine.

Such persons are financially insulated from the consequences of the policies they espouse and put in place. That ignorance — and many other reasons — is why Trump is running away in the polls despite his numerous character flaws and legal problems.

Patrick Moore

Oxford

N.E. Patriots

The New England Patriots, after embarrassing losses to the Dallas Cowboys and a mediocre New Orleans Saints team, changes need to be made.  First, Bill O’Brien should be named the interim head coach. Second, Bob Kraft needs to fire Bill Belichick as both head coach and general manager. Matt Groh needs to be the new general manager because, unlike Belichick, he is in tune with how football is played and managed in the 21st century. Finally Mac jones is clearly NOT the answer at quarterback and neither are any of the two remaining quarterbacks on the team. Bailey Zappe should start against the Raiders then against the Bills. I would deactivate Mac Jones the next two weeks. And finally when the Patriots finish 4-13 and get a top ten pick they need to draft a new quarterback and also a head coach who can teach modern offensive football like Doug Pederson does with Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville.

Paul J. Baranofsky

Waltham

Enough is enough. Our governor and legislators are placing blame on everyone: feds, hotel owners, police. They need to look themselves in the mirror and realize a good portion of the Massachusetts immigration issues are caused or exacerbated by their own actions, or lack of action.

They won’t change the right to shelter law (which was originally put in place for homeless citizens), have not even thought about creating Massachusetts’ own laws to limit immigration to LEGAL immigration. Instead, they offer illegal immigrants free housing, free medical, driver’s licenses, breaks on education and then they limit the information our RMV can give out to law enforcement!

Now they are kicking our service men and women out of hotels for housing for illegal immigrants, causing our schools to be overburdened and allowing children who are not completely vaccinated into the schools.

Where is the common sense!

I do not blame the immigrants – why wouldn’t they come?? Anyone in their situation would. I do blame our state AND federal government for allowing our borders to be overrun, for the increase in crime in our cities, towns and schools and for the undermining of our police and justice system.

Stop the blame game and use the laws we have or change them as needed to get control of our state back before it is too late! Then collaborate with other states to force the federal government to close our borders and bring back the immigration laws that worked.

Joan Gonfrade

Ashland

Building wall

I’m really trying to understand why President Joseph Robinette Biden’s first objective when he was inaugurated as president was to stop building the wall at our southern border. Now look what’s happening, an enormous number of immigrants on a daily basis crossing illegally in our country and on the border and then many being bused throughout different states for shelter. Now the burden of housing, feeding, healthcare and education is the responsible on towns or cities who get these immigrants with no plan on what to do going forward. Mr. President, question is, what is the master plan for these immigrants?

Tony Meschini

Scituate

Full disclosure

Maura Healey won’t tell us how much money is being spent housing illegal aliens in our state.  Treasurer Deb Goldberg won’t tell us why she kicked out Shannon O’Brien off the cannabis chairmanship post, while still allowing O’Brien to keep getting paid a salary north of $180,000 a year.  Not a bad deal to say the least. Climate honcho John Kerry won’t disclose how much his office spends globe-trotting around the world while his rich friends buy waterfront property. If the world will end in 9 more years because of a warming planet, it seems odd not to be buying mountain-top mansions while the average person drowns in rising oceans.  What’s with these Democrats?  Transparency is a joke and Democrats keep voting Democrats into office.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

It’s bad enough that Massachusetts foolishly decided to become a haven for every so called migrant by giving them shelter at taxpayers’ expense. But to slap our many brave and often injured veterans in the face by taking away some hotel reservations for the upcoming Army vs. Navy college football game is unforgivable and unacceptable. We need to take care of all veterans first in all things they should be getting after serving their country. Shame on Governor Healey for not telling the federal government to shove off and go to hell.

Paul J. Baranofsky

Waltham

McCarthy out

Re: “McCarthy becomes the first speaker ever to be ousted from the job in a House vote,” 10/3/2023.

The Biden administration, RINOs and Democrats have been put on notice.  The American people are thoroughly fed up with “leaders” who are more focused on funding Ukraine when we have suffering Americans in East Palestine, Ohio and Lahaina, Hawaii. They are done with “leaders” who are more obsessed with provoking wars thousands of miles of away all over the world in places such as China, Russia, Serbia and Georgia that may cause WWIII, but could care less about the civil war on our streets.  Americans cannot accept the fact that we are $32 trillion in debt via uncontrolled and irresponsible spending, and that we have a completely open, dysfunctional border allowing millions of unknown, undocumented and unscrutinized illegal immigrants in.

Americans are waking up. Ousting Kevin McCarthy as House speaker is a sign of many more good things to come as Americans take back their country and elect true patriotic leaders who will put America first!

Dr. Michael Pravica

Acton

Border wall

So Joe Biden’s handlers have turned a 180 and now say we need a border wall.  Make no mistake, the Obamaworld string-pullers that really run the White House are not concerned about the crime and poverty that has flooded Main Street America, they are indifferent to kids in West Side Chicago being kicked off soccer fields and veterans having their reservations in Mansfield, Massachusetts hotels cancelled to make room for the world’s poor – only when it became a political liability heading into an election year did these craven, Machiavellian swamp dwellers take notice.

Nick McNulty

Windham NH

Migrants in Massachusetts

Taxpayers of Massachusetts, our governor, after meeting with the state legislators and a portion of our Congressional delegation has decided that we have a migrant problem in our state. The same legislators that have known about this for two years finally admitted as much. A larger problem is that they have no one to blame, that is why no Republicans were invited to their awakening. No problem, just keep reelecting the same perpetrators.

John Lucente

Lexington

For sure there’s a problem with the New England Patriots, a record of 1-3 and it doesn’t look good going forward. So that being said, it’s time for a change and I’m saying General Manager and Head Coach. During the first four games it’s obvious that the Patriots offense has many holes in it and as a great Coach William Stephen Belichick has been in the past, the General Manager oversees draft picks and trades. Hate to say it, time for a change.

Tony Meschini

Scituate

Term Limits

Whenever Congressional Term Limits are brought up, two weak straw man arguments are quickly erected by pro-incumbency, pro-lobbyist, pro-pork barrel spending types. The first is “We have term limits, they are called elections.”  Various organizations such as Ballotpedia and the 538 Project analyze election data for trends and generate reporting on competitiveness of races and responsiveness of government.  In states lacking local term limits, those numbers are always poorest for the governed, but one stat really debunks this pull-string response; in 2022, a year with 18% of Americans polled having a favorable view of Congress, 100% of Senate incumbents running were reelected.

The other toddler’s response is that of “institutional knowledge.” With a president in his 80s that has been in Washington a full fifth of the Republic’s entirelife span, with California’s senior senator dying in office at 90 a day after she was casting votes last week, and having just watched another “Continuing Resolution” slush fund get jammed through at the 11th hour, pushing us closer to a national financial death spiral – all from the oldest, most “institutionally knowledgeable” Congress in history –  I think we can all agree there is more political red ink than black on the political ledger from “institutional knowledge.”.

Nick McNulty

Windham, NH

Economy

Just like the Titanic, the U.S. economy is heading for trouble and the only answer is for the Federal Reserve to keep adding more interest-rate hikes to the equation.  This spells disaster for the American consumer because the cost of goods and services will increase.  Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was a big lie.  Adding an additional $1.5 trillion into a bloated economy did not reduce inflation.  Mortgage rates are at a 23-year-high and the trajectory does not look good for people who want to purchase a house.  Our paychecks will buy less at the grocery store and the gas pump. Bidenomics spells trouble ahead.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

Aiding Trump

I am reminded of the fairy tale of the seven dwarfs who aid Snow White when I see seven aspirants for the Republican presidential nomination aiding Donald Trump by not criticizing him harshly for all his policy and behavioral errors. The debate stage seven are afraid of the former president and can only hope that a judicial or health stumble will lay him low. As the stage wagon moves on toward the third debate, perhaps a profile in courage will emerge.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati, Ohio

Rep. Michael Day took an oath when he was sworn into office, this oath was to the Constitution of the United States, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Neither he nor anyone else gets to pick and choose which rights they want to infringe upon us, we the people. Prior to obtaining a license to carry, I and many others, depending on where you live had to jump through hoops.

All LTC candidates had to demonstrate that they were proficient in firearm safety. We further had to live fire qualify – demonstrating that I could handle firing a firearm and grouping my shots. If Rep. Day doesn’t like firearms, may I suggest he read the Constitution before he tries to infringe on our rights. Remember that he can’t pick and choose which rights he wants to protect and which ones he’s doesn’t, you swore an oath to all our God-given rights  now uphold the oath that you have taken.  All LTC holders in Massachusetts are law-abiding citizens who had to be a citizen in good standing before being issued an LTC license.

Mark Howland

Weymouth

Elizabeth Warren

Yet again Liz shows where her loyalty lies and figuratively gives the Massachusetts voters the bird. She’s out in Detroit protesting with the auto workers, bucking for national media coverage.  Meanwhile, back in Massachusetts, where she is the “senior senator,” the Cape Cod bridges are about to literally collapse, Long Island and its bridge need funding, birthing centers are being closed, the T needs more federal funding, etc., etc.  But, Liz has never been about serving her constituents, it’s always been about her and her national ambitions.

Someone, somehow, needs to start a campaign to rid us of this blight called Liz.

Tom Buffinton

Plymouth

Oil prices

I’m not surprised to see another article about the price of oil (“Oil prices have risen. That’s making gas more expensive for US drivers and helping Russia’s war,” 9/26). As long as the global economy is fueled by petroleum, such articles are inevitable.

But imagine a world where we didn’t have to care what the sheiks of Saudi Arabia or the plutocrats of Russia were doing. Imagine a world where national economies weren’t jerked around by dictators in Venezuela or Iran. Imagine a world where oil spills don’t darken the seas, and there are no tailpipes that spew toxic fumes in our cities and countryside.

That’s the world we are moving toward. The mega-corporations that sell the oil don’t want us to go there, but kicking the oil addiction must happen. Electrification, powered by non-carbon fuels, will free us from the tyranny of global oil markets, give us energy security, slow down the warming of the atmosphere, and give us cleaner air. Getting it done won’t be easy, but if we keep our eyes on that goal, we can get there together.

Frederick Hewett

Cambridge

Any replacement span should have the necessary breakdown lanes and shoulders, and add at least two additional travel lanes in each direction, for a total of ten lanes in total, five lanes Northbound and five lanes Southbound, and possibly three additional lanes (6) lanes Southbound. These are my recommended minimum requirements, to allow for future growth in traffic over the life span of the new bridge. In addition, US Route 1 should be widened to match and upgraded to Interstate standards at least as far north as the Route 99 Interchange on the Saugus-Malden line, and possibly as far North as the I-95/Route 128 interchange in Peabody.

Finally, may I suggest re-routing Route 1 to eliminate the vicious “Chelsea Curve” that seems to exist for no reason other than to torture out of town drivers and is yet another accident waiting to happen. US Route 1 was already carrying traffic volumes double its design limits of 75K cars per day (150Kk) when Gov. Frank Sargent cancelled I-95 in 1972, now the Saugus-Peabody section of Route 1 carries 250K cars per day, over three times its design limits because I-95 was never built. Upgrades to Route 1 to support those traffic volumes will be increasingly critical to prevent a choke point for Northbound traffic coming off of the new bridge.

With all of that said, however, let me propose an alternative to a new bridge that offers significant additional benefits, albeit at a higher construction cost. How about replacing the Tobin Bridge with an immersed tube tunnel? Each tube (one northbound and one southbound) could be floated into place on either side of the Tobin Bridge’s existing support piers, keeping the Tobin in service until the new tunnel is ready. It would allow the existing Route 1 to be buried at least as far North as the Cutler Circle (Route 60) interchange, and possibly as far North as the Route 99 interchange on the Saugus-Malden line. It would also eliminate the steep grades on both approaches to the existing bridge, which may exceed the maximum 7% grade allowed on Interstate highways. There’s no reason that an immersed tube tunnel has to have a circular cross-section (like the Ted Williams Tunnel), but could be built using a rectangular cross-section, allowing for a wider cross-section with room for as many lanes as required. I offer these suggestions for consideration before a new bridge is built, so that MassDOT doesn’t make the same mistake they always do, failing to allow for future growth that yields infrastructure that is at capacity and obsolete the day it opens.

Robert G. Atkinson, Jr.

North Reading

It seems evidence of mainstream media’s bias and favoritism toward the Democratic Party is everywhere; including SNL broadcasts.

When President Trump was in office,  SNL productions spoofed him weekly, via the Alec Baldwin parodies.

As for President Biden, as easy a target as there ever was …. Crickets!

Lee Lessard
Dracut

Migrant funding

So the Mass. Congressional Delegation is looking for us the taxpayer to provide for the people who are entering our country illegally, with more money. I have a simpler solution. Do your job and secure our borders from illegal migrants who you told to come here. You provide other countries with American taxpayers’ money to secure their borders, where no one is looking to escape climate prosecution.

All Democrats are complicit in the destruction of our country, economy and our constitution. Millions of people are illegally crossing into America and politicians are complaining to the taxpayers to give more money to people who have no legal rights to be receiving free housing, health care, schooling, food and are given more money than someone who’s collecting Social Security, when we the taxpayers are struggling to maintain our own homes and the welfare of our own families.

Gov. Healey and our state legislators are complicit in this mess, we the taxpayers did not ask for this. Mass. congressional leaders see no problem with illegal immigrants crossing our borders every day, only to be worried how the taxpayers are going to provide for their political agenda to destroy America from within.

Mark Howland

Weymouth

Long Island Bridge

I will never understand why the Long Island Bridge has to be located where it is now. Long Island is located in the Suffolk county area of Boston and not a part of the city of Quincy. Plans to rebuild the bridge have it ending up in the Squantum section of Quincy. I feel the bridge should be located in the area of Boston, Columbia Point to be exact. If I’m correct, we are talking about two different counties, if the island is located in Suffolk county, why then build the bridge and have it end in the Norfolk County area? Doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m not a politician, just a taxpayer of Quincy.

Charles Dennehey, Jr

West Quincy

Carter prices

I was sitting in a line for gas this week up here in New Hampshire – an occurrence we’ve become accustomed to now as we did in my youth under Jimmy Carter’s stagflation – and the line seemed to be moving particularly slow.  Then I saw what the hold up was.

With gas prices in southern New Hampshire dipping to $3.27 – 23 cents lower than the average price of unleaded under President Biden, and a full 70 cents higher than the average price of gas under Donald Trump – every other driver in line had a gas can in their trunk that they were filling up to hoard until the end of the second Carter term under Joe Biden. Maybe Carter should have had a better marketing team, he could have called the economy his policies flattened “Carternomics” and the media would have left it alone, too.

Nick McNulty

Windham, NH

It’s no surprise that the Malden City Council will not recognize the citizens’ petition to ban bicycle lanes. (“Bike, bus lanes increasing” Boston Herald, 9/09/23). Bike lanes are deeply unpopular.  If the matter ever went on the ballot, it would be the end of bike lanes. Even Michelle Wu, while running for Mayor of Boston, never mentioned to the electorate that she would buck public sentiment and Walsh administration policies in West Roxbury and the South End.

Bike lanes are destroying city life all over greater Boston and other American cities.  Progressive Democratic politicians are eager to please their leftist base.  The urban bicycle is the uber symbol of Liberal Democracy.  The bicycle is an anachronism. Bikes are literally a historical disorder that depends upon hijacking the infrastructure of the modern city and rerouting it to their own limitations under the banner of “progress.” The MBTA is bleeding ridership.

Walking from the North End to the Seaport in South Boston this weekend I experienced the inconvenience and brushes with safety pedestrians in Boston face navigating the bike craze.  The dearth of car traffic during the COVID lockdowns only escalated these nonsensical policies much to the chagrin of the working classes.  Politicians like the Malden City Council and Mayor Wu continue to cynically grab public property from citizens and car commuters. The loss of travel lanes and parking spaces hurts the shoppers and small business owners that make up the fabric of our neighborhoods.

As a former president of the Roslindale Board of Trade, I remember Mayors Menino and Flynn championing local businesses.  Who is Mayor Wu and the Malden City Council really championing as the bike lanes put local retailers out of business?  That’s right, the corporate elites of American e-business. Those trucks and vans further clogging our narrowed streets with their double-parking should really be emblazoned with “Vote Wu” as a thank you.

Boston area drivers can expect more of these poorly received bike lanes and bus lanes, but the politicians must understand that many voters will see this farcical road regime for what it is: class-based politics aimed first at those who can’t afford real estate within biking distance of the downtown center, and secondly at those (largely parents) wed to the old car regime because of sports and school activities who will be hounded out of the cities so the bicycling elite can buy their family homes.  It’s a sad joke that Boston was once known as the Hub of the universe.

Lou Murray

West Roxbury

Re: “Biden sending aides to Detroit to address autoworkers strike, says ‘record profits’ should be shared,” (Sept. 15., Boston Herald).

We need a shake up in our zero emissions manufacturing sector.  Maybe automotive workers should form an auto manufacturing co-op that is devoted to providing highly affordable zero emission transportation for low income people. Ford and GM have developed crate motors to make converting their vintage internal combustion engines (ICE) to EV easier.  Why can’t conversions be expanded and made highly affordable?  It’s better than seeing new ICE being advertised on television.  Maybe a co-op of employee owned auto workers is just what we all need.

Jan Kubiac

Hyannis

Hunter Biden

Re: “Dems shut out Hunter Biden to bolster president,” editorial, (Sept. 15)

Democratic bigwigs and their smaller party siblings maintain fidelity to a DNC narrative that gives new credence to our lying eyes as we view President Biden’s fibs and confabulations. The party tale is that there is nothing to see in the investigations of multiple House committees which have disclosed tantalizing evidence about potential skullduggery about and within the Biden family. They will sacrifice Hunter to preserve the Big Guy by claiming that there is nothing sticking to the president. How these claimants maintain a straight face when parroting party propaganda that defies common sense is why most citizens detest our politics. A formal impeachment inquiry will force Democrats of all sizes along with media toadies to put their long pants on and take care of important business.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati, Ohio

Climate change

It is alarming to read your article (“US sets record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a year — and there’s still 4 months to go,” Sept. 11) about the increasing frequency of disastrous weather events due to climate change. As humans are responsible for much of global warming, we also possess the capability to reverse it. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has noted that the number of catastrophes resulting in more than $1 billion worth of damage is escalating. Examples of such destructive events include the recent flooding in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the Hawaiian firestorm, Hurricane Idalia’s storm surge, and the devastating droughts that have hit the South and Midwest.

We must invest in renewable energy and establish more resilient infrastructure in order to reduce the effects of climate change. Additionally, to combat the current economic crisis, we should stay away from approaches that will only contribute to the problem, such as fracking and burning fossil fuels. Above all, we must prioritize protecting the planet and its people. We must recognize the potential of renewable energy sources and take the necessary steps to mitigate climate change now. This will not only decrease the likelihood of extreme weather disasters in the near future, but also foster a better, safer, and more secure future for us all.

Laurie Woodward Garcia

Westboro

Re: “Cities see migrant crisis, Harris sees ‘progress,’ ” Boston Herald editorial, Sept. 13

Along with her supporters, Vice President Harris seems to view illegal immigration as a minor inconvenience as opposed to a serious domestic policy miscalculation by her party.  Even more worrisome is her belief that throwing money at the problem via direct federal government support to migrant host countries will reverse the influx of illegal immigrants to the United States.

In her unique way, Harris seems to misunderstand human behavior.  If you offer migrants free food and shelter, they will come.

We’re now beyond the point of securing our southern border.  Biden’s Justice Department has sued the state of Texas for establishing a floating barrier in the Rio Grande.  Harris herself referred to the barrier as “inhumane, outrageous, and un-American.”  Apparently, the vice president has no love for America’s sovereignty or the safety and well-being of its citizens.

Sean F. Flaherty

Boston

Biden corruption

I applaud the Boston Herald in the Sept. 16 edition that points out there is ample evidence that President Biden was involved in corrupt activity. After watching Senator Warren ranting that the investigation into the president was pointless and there was no evidence of wrong doing, it is really disappointing when there are so many documents presented to support the wrongdoing. Democrats don’t do what is best for the country but just circle the wagons in denial.

Paul Quaglia

Billerica

Red Sox

The team continues to prove that the manager can’t win if he can’t cheat and they fire Bloom. Are you kidding us? John Henry needs to concentrate on his Penguins

Stephen Lynch

Middleton

Impeachment

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted to the news that President Joe Biden would be subjected to an impeachment inquiry – after being found to be tied to 20 shell corporations, having used a secret email address to correspond with his son as Vice President, and having left hundreds of classified documents lying around his garage  – thusly; “(S)ometimes you (Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy) have to tell these people who are way off the deep end and have no interest in helping the American people, who just want to pursue their own witch hunts, that they can’t go forward with (impeachment).”

Sen. Schumer had a quite different reaction to the first impeachment of Donald Trump, an impeachment now shown to be an actual witch hunt,  the product of falsified documents and unsubstantiated partisan dirty tricks. In December 2019 Schumer said, “Leader McConnell claimed that the impeachment of President Trump is illegitimate because the House voted along party lines. Forgive me, but House Democrats cannot be held responsible for the cravenness of the House Republican caucus and their blind fealty to the president.” How ironic.

As with everything in our modern politics, Democrats have no credibility and no shame, only craven partisan ideology and an insatiable lust for more broad and less assailable consolidated federal power over the American citizenry.

Nick McNulty

Windham NH

As I read the news (“YOU’RE OUT! Arroyo ,Lara ousted in preliminary,” Boston Herald, Sept. 13), my faith in our democratic system was given a necessary boost.

Both District 5 councilor Ricardo Arroyo and District 6 councilor Kendra Lara were fired by the respective constituents.

Now voters in both districts will in the November elections elect a new voice on the Boston City Council to represent them. The voters were the biggest winners of the night. The biggest losers? The woke liberal types like JP Progressives who blindly had the back of Kendra Lara because after all, the agenda is so much more important than, say, a car crash involving a driver with a revoked driver’s license in a vehicle reportedly without insurance or RMV registration.

The same kind of progressives over in District 6 stuck to their agenda too and went down in flames when the votes were counted. Agendas hit the road and now the voters will be getting a chance to elect new voices representing the actual issues facing both districts.

Government is our business and voting is our duty. The results in both these elections proves either we run the government or it runs us. On to November.

Sal Giarratani
East Boston

Migrant housing

First of all, these cities and towns’ leaders have to shut up and stop complaining and follow Martha’s Vineyard’s lead and just ship/ bus the migrants out.  These officials have been advocating that they are sanctuary cities where love trumps hate.  But now it’s different. Governor Healey was welcoming migrants into the commonwealth, but now she’s declaring a state of emergency. There is no emergency, just lack of common sense. Where are all these people who have love trumps hate signs in their yards, they should be opening their hearts, home and wallets to these migrants. But like Martha’s Vineyard leaders and residents, illegal migrants are welcome just not in my backyard.

Who would have thought, that opening our borders would have been huge and overwhelming drain on our local communities.

Political leaders and liberals activists are void of a gene, that most people possess, called the common sense gene. Now stop complaining and put on your big pants and deal with the consequences you advocated for or adhere to the oath you took and enforce the law.

Mark Howland

Weymouth

Tax relief

Tax relief has been at the top of the agenda at the State House for two years.  Returning dollars to citizens is getting a very slow walk and is stuck in committee even though both the House and Senate have bills that provide some relief to taxpayers. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says it’s time to put tax relief into law because the state is swimming in cash and state revenue is at an all time high.  Aren’t you glad that our state is basically a one-party (Democrat) run conglomeration.  Things would not run so smoothly if the opposition party had some power.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

Here’s my response to the Boston Herald article “Silvergate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s political execution,” written by Harvey A. Silvergate in support of RFK Jr. who is a major anti-vaccine advocate.

My brother, who was battling cancer, was sickened by COVID-19 in February of 2022  but since he was fully vaccinated and boosted against that hideous disease his symptoms were mild and short lived.

My brother died of cancer on July 27, 2023. If he hadn’t been vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, he probably would have died of that disease last February.

Mike Rice

Wellfleet

Climate activists

These climate change activists are so guided by misinformation they can’t be helped. They are just seeing climate changes that have been ongoing for centuries. In Hong Kong a recent rainstorm was said to be the worst in 140 years. So it was worse in the 19th century. Also they think they can make life-saving changes by protesting. I just saw a National Geographic program that said the fuel used to refuel a commercial jet is the same as for 4,300 motor vehicles. Do they think we can use the wind or the sun to fly that plane? Our current failed leadership is responsible for this misinformation.

John Maxwell,

Marshfield

Meeting on migrants

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll held a closed-door meeting in a members-only lounge inside the State House.  How convenient for the elected elites to meet in secret about a crisis brought on by the same people who created the problem.  The politicians work in the “peoples house” but the people are not allowed in.  Our National Guard has been called up to assist in handling an influx of illegal immigrants across our borders.  Where can we dump this influx of people?  It’s a question that never should be asked in the first place.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

Citizenship

One of the most inspiring spectacles that makes this country so special is when there is a swearing-in ceremony for those folks that are becoming United states citizens.

It is not hateful to call this the “right way,” as part of the process is ensuring those that are coming in have good intentions, will follow our nation’s laws and be good, hard working citizens and not burdens on society.

When you foolishly allow people to walk into your home and know nothing about them you take the chance of bad actors whose first action is breaking into the country and now they are not vetted in any way.

To the sanctuary cities and towns and those that voted for that lunacy, feel free to take the risk and invite them into your homes and towns as you wish.

I prefer shaking the hands of and whole heartedly cheering on those that did it the “right way” as so many of our grandparents did decades and decades ago.

Thomas C Wahlberg

Dedham

As I read the latest news on the so-called Mass & Cass issue (“Mass & Cass emergency sought,” Boston Herald, Sept. 2), I wondered why all of a sudden have politicians everywhere been pushing for states of emergency, whether it’s Gov. Healey over a migrant influx thanks to our U.S. border crisis or four members of the Boston City Council calling the chronic homeless encampment down by Atkinson and Southampton streets a “crisis” too.

Where are the other nine city councilors, do they not see an emergency down near the Mass and Cass intersection? What does such a declaration by the Boston Public Health Commission do for the situation of human misery that exists as upwards of hundreds live in tents surrounded by violence, drugs, mental illness, etc.

The four city councilors who signed on to the letter, what do they hope to accomplish? They write “dramatic intervention is vital” and they criticized attempting “politically expedient solutions that do not address the underlying problems.”

Here’s a question to be answered. What are the “underlying problems” that need to be addressed? Asking the public health folks to declare an emergency while the city council itself holds off on the mayor’s tent ban ordinance until October? I thought we were in an emergency now?

Declaring a state of emergency is a political cop out. Act now, do something, otherwise it is all smoke and mirrors. There are two choices available. Do something today or send out press releases and worry about how things pan out tomorrow. Tomorrow’s solutions tend to be easier.

The homeless encampment didn’t happen yesterday. People didn’t just show up with their tents and sleeping bags. City officials both elected and appointed have seen this encampment area metastasizing for years until they could no longer  stay oblivious  as to what was happening down there. They let the area continue to grow  and grow until those living in the shadow of life consumed the whole area. “Mass &  Cass” isn’t just a highway intersection, it isn’t just Atkinson Street.. It is by Clifford Park and Edward Everett Square and the “Big Pear” too.

Actions speak louder than words, louder than press conferences and louder than emergency declarations too.

Sal Giarratani

East Boston

Biden’s background

It’s interesting to listen to President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. talk about how awful and despicable Donald John Trump and his Mega MAGA followers are. Well Joe, you have been a United States senator from 1973 through 2009, vice president from 2009 through 2017 and sworn in as president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2021. So with all this governmental background you possess, why is this country going in the wrong direction since your presidency and your approval rating at around 40%? You really don’t need to answer, we all know why.

Tony Meschini

Scituate

Of course Mayor Wu never mentioned taking vacation (“Leadership drama: Wu gone, Flynn in,” 8/30/23). One thing people in Boston need to know is that Michele Wu has no accountability, no oversight and no managers to report to.

Given these parameters she can (and does) whatever she wants to do with no approval or input from anyone she does not want involved.

That being said I am not condemning her for this, the reason she operates this way is because that is the way the country is run now. The president has no more power, governors and mayors have the same power as the president (and use it to deny federal laws put in place).

Bottom line, we are not the United States of America any longer, we are now just called States of America.

Michael Westen

Malden

Justice system

Reading the news item under the banner “Ballot Question: Trump’s NH eligibility under review” in the Aug. 30 Boston Herald, I cannot help thinking the fact that the justice system in our nation is sliding down the slippery slope of chaos, corruption and one of revenge politics.

The elected public officials like Secretaries of State and Attorneys General should focus their energies and attention to stop real crimes that are plaguing most corners of our beloved nation as opposed to vilify one individual, namely ex-President Donald J Trump.

None of the 91 indictment brought against him by self serving district AG of NY, a local AG of Fulton County, GA and a partisan prosecutor (all of the opposition party to Trump) ventured to use the term insurrection. Why then are the Secretary of State of NH and its AG going on a fishing expedition to keep Trump out of the upcoming 2024 presidential election? Is it a preemptive strike against him?

Hope, our nation’s much enviable justice system remains true to the visions and abiding principles of the creators of our Constitution.

Pichai Gopal,

Braintree

National Guard

How nice. Gov. Healey is calling up 250 National Guard to help 700 migrant families locate to 40 different shelters. It would have been nice if she sent a few of the Guard to East Boston to help with the traffic madness when the Sumner Tunnel was closed on weekends and for two months in the summer. I’m sure the East Boston families and travelers using Logan Airport would have been pleased as punch. But did she send anyone? (Crickets).

Jack Zaccardi

East Boston

Back to school

Now that our students are returning to their classes our hope is that they remain safe and learn the essentials that will be required to succeed in life.

Life as a student is still one of learning, acquiring new friends and participating in extra curricular activities such as: sports, band, theater or any of the numerous choices that are available.

When returning to grade school or university the challenge is always the same: Attempt to exceed your perceived limitations. By determination you will succeed and then become a productive contributor to our country’s future.

Bob Sweeney

Warwick, RI

For the second quarter in a row, a “strong jobs report” was trumpeted from the rooftops by the Biden media while the president’s surrogates spiked footballs on cable news, and then quietly, the reports were revised down, with CNBC reporting the news that the White House released on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day, “Unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 3.8% in August as payrolls increased by 187,000….up significantly from July and the highest since February 2022. The “real” unemployment rate jumped to 7.1%.”

What an Orwellian shell game these crooks are playing with our economy and our country.  Where is that impeachment, Mr. Speaker?  Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Nick McNulty

Windham, NH

President Biden

Troubling signs continue to emerge showing that the American electorate is souring on a second term for President Biden. A recent Associated Press/NORC poll found that 77% of voters think he’s too old to serve again, including 69% of Democrats. These concerns are driven largely by Biden’s unsteady performance and increasing frailties.

As informed political observers know, in order to ward off criticism over Biden’s advanced age and obvious decline, Team Biden and their coat holders in the liberal media like to publicly portray Biden as vigorous and engaged. To drive this narrative home, Biden’s handlers like to show him riding his beloved Trek FX hybrid bike, the very same one he embarrassingly fell off of during a transparently staged photo-op in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware last year.

One thing has become abundantly clear. Biden is far more adept at peddling influence than he is at pedaling bicycles.

Michael J. DiStefano

Jamestown, RI

Alex Cora

Once again, I am disappointed with the Red Sox this season (“Kick in the gut,” 8/31/23). I am curious to see if the Red Sox finally will fire the self-confessed cheater or will they continue to be “politically correct” and keep Alex Cora.

Here is a novel thought, get a manager who will do a good job, or are we doomed to another 86-year curse because management cares more about perception than winning. My father always said cheaters never prosper but then again he never met the Red Sox management and Alex Cora.

Michael Westen

Malden

Donald Trump

Another great column by Howie Carr (Aug. 27) on Trump’s arrest and mug shot. If the latest Democratic banana republic tactic of arresting the leading political rival on questionable charges actually works, America will never be the same. The best way to forever discourage this type of election interference is for voters to rise up against it and elect Trump in an overwhelming landslide!

Bob McCorry

Wakefield

Russia

With all the talk from Dmitry Medvedev of Russia about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine,  Russia should be told now by NATO that the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine will be considered an attack upon NATO member countries. Why? Because the radiation drift will spread amongst adjacent NATO member countries. It is important to let Russia and the world know now, so that Russia can decide if they want a war with NATO. Remember, Putin has nothing to lose.

Paul B. Ahern

Melrose

President Biden is all about clean energy. He has basically closed down the fossil fuel industry which has driven up the prices on everything.

He has spent billions of dollars on clean energy and the only thing green about the “Green New Deal” is the green money lining the pockets of those in that industry. Truth be known the US has over the last 20 years has reduced its carbon foot print by 50% and with technology continue to reduce our foot print. As President Biden grinds the American Middle Class into poverty with his policies, China and India pump out air pollution to which we have no answer.  He has no clue that no industrial nation can survive on renewable energy alone, as it is not a reliable source of energy. He will continue down his “know it all path” until it is too late and destroy our country.

Paul Quaglia

Billerica

War on natural gas

Stephen Moore’s love affair with natural gas continues (“Moore: Why has Biden declared war on natural gas?”), 8/25). The mountain of misinformation he puts out is troubling, to put it mildly.

Why are environmentally conscious Americans against further natural gas extraction? Here are just two reasons. One, it’s estimated that fracked shale gas wells, for example, may have methane leakage rates as high as 7.9%. The leaked gas is methane, a potent greenhouse gas 86 times more warming than carbon dioxide. Two, natural gas extraction itself is hazardous. Drilling and hydraulic fracking expose local communities to earthquakes, significant air and water pollution, and a range of health problems, including headaches, asthma, and cancer.

Fossil fuels, including gas, are anything but clean. Our transition to clean energy sources is necessary and happening fast. Try to keep up, Mr. Moore.

Frederick Hewett

Cambridge

Beer limits

Years ago when seatbelt chimes started cropping up in all new cars, as a principled Libertarian I was not happy. “What do you care,” one friend asked me once during a tirade on the subject at the time, “you always wear your seatbelt.”  That’s not the point, these chimes were installed in ALL new cars sold in the United States, even ones sold in states that do not require wearing a seatbelt, and there was no legislative deliberation behind doing so – it was the Lobbyist-Thinktank Industrial Complex in the Washington swamp overstepping again.  Looking around today, I feel totally vindicated.

Without even mentioning the authoritarian left’s actions during COVID, let’s just look at “regulations” emanating out of Democrat-run Washington in the era of Biden. The federal government now dictates what kind of stove, toilet, ceiling fan or lightbulbs you can use, all of our new cars shut themselves off at red lights, and this week, President Biden’s alcohol czar, Dr. George Koob, told the Daily Mail that the USDA could change their recommendations to 2 beers a week for all Americans.  What is an alcohol czar, why do we need one, and I am sure all Americans will drink less once this authoritarian administrative state is out of power in 2025.

Nick McNulty

Windham, NH

As I viewed the Boston Herald’s ( Aug. 24)  frontpage (“Shuttered Island – A solution to Mass & Cass exists…it just needs a bridge,” I appreciated the Boston Herald’s photo showcase of what exactly is out on this mothballed island. The photos weren’t pretty. Mayor Wu actually believes that these 11 buildings at the old chronic hospital site could be retrofitted to house a new recovery campus in four years.

Dr. Bisola Ojikuto, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission says, “What we are looking for is to create something that’s truly synergistic with what is available on the mainland.” The mayor added the city is envisioning the new campus as less of an overnight emergency shelter and more of a comprehensive campus that  serves the needs of its patients.

Everything always sounds good on paper. Who doesn’t love using the term “synergistic?” However, a new bridge is estimated to cost more than $100 million. The city, according to the mayor, stated $40 million has been appropriated to stabilize the island’s buildings in the city budget. She actually believes construction would start in the spring. There is no way that $40 million will come close to the mark in rehabbing that infrastructure which has been rotting away for a lot longer than 2014 when the old bridge to Quincy had to be closed and demolished

I was last on this island as a police officer for the state Department of Mental Health when I escorted a DMH client to a program out on the island over 13 years ago. It was a deplorable site. Most of these buildings were constructed during the administrations of both Mayors James Michael Curley and Maurice Tobin. The real price tag is no way near $40 million and I believe the rehabbing project could be upwards of perhaps $80 million.

Looking at the photo looking out the window of one of the still-standing buildings and seeing the Boston skyline beyond the waters of Boston Harbor is a view I still remember back when I was about 5 years old. My family often visited the hospital where my dad’s stepfather was a patient. The bridge that was razed several years ago,hadn’t even been constructed then. We needed to take the Long Island ferry on one of the wharfs in the North End off Atlantic Avenue.

If the city sees Long island as the solution to Boston’s opioid epidemic/ crisis, it is indeed years away and just another load of hogwash. The best metaphor of all was the photo printed of an old Irish saying, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

We need to deal with the opioid epidemic that is destroying so many folks but moving them around like chess pieces is not the answer. There is always an answer to a problem, we just have to find it rather than just throwing Band-Aids on it. Long Island is just the latest spin. A new bridge is the least of our problems.

Sal Giarratani

East Boston

I find it interesting that Massachusetts seems to be caught off guard and unprepared for the immigrants recently moved to Massachusetts. Where are all the people who have voted for the Democrats who support our open borders? Where are the people who voted to make their cities sanctuary cities? That is where these people should be placed. They have been asked to open their homes to these undocumented people. I have seen no reports of this happening in any meaningful numbers. Yet they continue to support the current administration which has forced Texas to manage over 2 million immigrants in 2022 alone. Can people not see that this makes no common sense?

Please understand I do not blame the undocumented folks who come here. Our government is basically asking them to come. Why wouldn’t they? Who wouldn’t want to come to America?

Let’s get back to the laws we had in place for sustaining a reasonable flow of legal immigrants into this country. We do not have the infrastructure in place to manage this influx of undocumented people. We are losing our country as we knew it and have only the current administrations; national, state and municipal to blame for it. It is time for people to step up and say enough!

Joan Gonfrade

Ashland

Biden on Maui

The wildfires that destroyed the city of Lahaina on Maui have become a ‘Katrina moment’ for President Biden. For just as with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, where President Bush’s response was inept and incoherent, so too is Biden’s response toward this other natural disaster today. First of all, his visit to the devastated area comes late, more than two weeks after the destruction occurred. Then he attempts to make jokes with survivors and draws lame comparisons to a very minor experience he suffered with a small fire in his own life. This behavior would be comical if it wasn’t so callous and ignorant. I say for shame to all of it. We deserve better!

Sean Coughlin

Acton

Special counsel

Re: “Feldman: It’s time to bring back the independent counsel,” Aug. 23

The pas de deux with newly appointed special counsel David Weiss and the Biden DOJ is a danse macabre. Mr. Weiss is hopelessly compromised by various conflicts of interest. It is profoundly depressing that Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed the compromised Delaware U.S. attorney and that Mr. Weiss accepted the assignment.

More to the point is how compromised the Democratic Party is by politics, the truth be damned. This entire episode is a signal example of how our politics have deteriorated. Perhaps the mainstream media will tumble to the story.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati, Ohio

Re: “Walker: Lightbulbs on the White House chopping block,” (Aug. 19, 2023)

I am writing to express my strong disagreement with the article’s counterarguments to the Department of Energy’s decision to finally make the incandescent lightbulb obsolete. It is clear that climate change is an urgent public issue; small efforts to make a difference should not be belittled.

The incandescent light bulb has been on its way out since 2007 and the Energy Independence Act of 2007 had declared that they had to meet certain energy-saving standards by 2014. Recent studies have shown that climate change-related disasters, such as flooding and intense storms, will bring damages of $500 billion to $2 trillion per year by the end of this century. It is our responsibility to our environment and our planet to try to prevent such catastrophic destruction from occurring. We must invest in more sustainable, energy-efficient bulbs like LED light bulbs that will help reduce our overall carbon footprint and lessen the effects of climate change.

Scientists now agree that the time to act on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is now. Therefore, banning the incandescent lightbulb in favor of LED bulbs is the right thing to do. As noted in the article, LED bulbs have numerous advantages such as being energy efficient, last much longer, and emit less heat.

Admittedly, LED bulbs have higher upfront costs. According to the Department of Energy, LEDs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last 25 times longer. Making the switch from traditional incandescent bulbs to LEDs will provide tangible energy savings and environmental benefits; it would save consumers $3 billion, cut carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons, and reduce energy consumption significantly. In addition, LEDs do not emit the damaging blue light which can cause macular degeneration, damage photoreceptor cells, and disrupt sleeping patterns. Many more recent models of LED bulbs have been designed with features to reduce and spread out the blue light, thus minimizing its adverse effects.

It cannot be argued that banning the incandescent lightbulb is a drastic move. But when it comes to tackling the climate crisis, drastic moves are necessary. On the other hand, individuals should have the choice to opt for LED lighting or stick with incandescent in order to better tailor the lighting needed for their lifestyle and home. In conclusion, LED bulbs must become the norm in order to make a positive difference in tackling climate change. While there may be certain drawbacks associated with the LED bulbs, the considerable increase in energy savings and the decrease in carbon emission outweigh any of the cons. I urge individuals to make the switch to LED bulbs because we must act now if we are to make substantial progress in the fight against a warming planet.

Laurie Woodward Garcia

Westboro

Donald Trump has been indicted on multiple charges related to his attempt to overturn the election and subvert our democracy on Jan. 6. But Republicans in Congress continue to stand by him. Worse, they continue to push his Big Lie — including through insidious legislation like the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, which would make it easier for Trump and other dishonest politicians to try to overturn election results.

We need to call them out and shine a light on their ongoing complicity in Trump’s crimes.

Laurie Toner

Brighton

State seal

The recent story about the possibility of the Massachusetts State Motto and Seal being changed was interesting to say the least. It looks like political correctness trumps everything, no pun intended. The people who want the name of Faneuil Hall changed because Peter Faneuil was a slave owner are quiet about changing anything that has Thomas Jefferson’s name on it even though he was a slave owner.

Woodrow Wilson was a racist yet there is a school in Boston that bears his name. Let’s consider removing John Singleton Copley’s name from the square that bears his name because he was a loyalist and fled the colonies for England in 1776.

The list is endless yet the PC police are relentless in their pursuit of a sanitized version of history. The legislature can’t pass a budget on time , in part because its never in session, or vote for some well deserved tax relief so how can they be expected to tackle this issue?

Joseph Pecoraro

Stoneham

Uniforms

What’s happened to the uniforms of our local professional teams?  Call me an out-of-touch traditionalist if you will, however, the Patriots traded in a six-time Super Bowl winning uniform for an awful blue-colored outfit with red epaulets. The Red Sox increasingly wear that garish yellow garb that offends the eyes and the Celtics forgot that home whites were the uniform donned by many champions. At least the Bruins, more often than not, still give us the traditional spoked-B.

Paul Stewart

Quincy

Bidenomics

How can anyone say with a straight face that Bidenomics is working? I’m not an economics guru but when I pump gas for my vehicle, buy groceries or pay for house utility bills, the expenses keep on going higher and higher. So my question to President Biden, tell me how you can brag that the economy is much better since you took office. Maybe he’ll explain when he debates this issue with other democratic candidates for the 2024 election, of course we all know that’s not going to happen.

Tony Meschini

Scituate

Kamala Harris

So, this state is shelling out $45 million a month to shelter migrants? That multiplies to $540 million a year. It’s too bad that money didn’t go to the actual hard-working citizens of the commonwealth but, hey, who’s counting? As for VP Kamala Harris not speaking on either the migrant crisis or the Maui fires while she was using the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School to raise funds for her and her boss, it would have been very convenient for her to take a public speaking course while she was at the school. I’m not sure it would have helped her, though.

Jack Zaccardi

East Boston

I normally am totally fine with the current president being on another extended vacation from destroying the country,  but when this supposed leader can only muster  a “no comment” when asked about the fires and death and destruction in Maui, we all should be enraged.

The optics of him and his overly privileged family sunning themselves while one of our country’s treasures is in ruins, speaks volumes on the fraud of the whole “Scranton Joe” everyman myth that he and his media shills have been portraying for years.

His mouthpieces can attempt to clean up the mess and offer false platitudes and laughably only $700 (while sending billions and billions to Ukraine) is beyond the pale even for this crew.

The true judge of a person’s character is not when things are going good, but when they are not and this never-worked-a-real-job phony once again showed his real core.

Thomas C. Wahlberg

Dedham

Mass and Cass

As long as the powers that be in Boston continue to enable the drug addicts on Mass and Cass nothing is going to change.  In my opinion it is time for tough love.  You can not help someone who does not want to be helped. They need to be given 24 hours to move off of Mass and Cass or the entire enclave will be bulldozed away.  The people who are paying for the lax response are the Roxbury families who can not safely use the playground at Clifford Park.  These are the legal residents of Roxbury and it is completely unacceptable how they are being treated. The mayor and city council are only showing their disregard for the citizens of Boston.

Frances S. Parks

Cotuit

Robbins on Biden

Something I thought I’d never see, a Jeff Robbins column that finally admitted the truth about a fellow Democrat. He’s come to realize Hunter Biden is responsible for his own reprehensible behavior. Soon you will find out that his dad is complicit. Why else would the multi-millions of dollars they got go through so many evasive measures for the family of the big guy? if properly investigated forensically, the buck is going to stop at Joe, you can make book on that! After all, he’s running a banana republic, jailing his opponents to silence them!

John Koster

Woburn

Donald Trump

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump proclaimed that he might not accept Hillary Clinton’s victory. This was well before the COVID pandemic and electoral changes made to accommodate that emergency. This is premeditation. He prevailed over Clinton but dusted his plan off when he lost to Joe Biden. Psychology is a wonderful discipline and will accommodate all manner of twists and turns in the human psyche, but it is hardly infallible. If a massive ego tells you his plan not to lose before any “proof” of electoral fraud is adduced, perhaps we should believe him. The plan to defy our Constitution that then Vice President Mike Pence describes is all part of the Trump idea to defraud our country.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati, Ohio

What constitutes a State of Emergency (“State of emergency declared,” 8/9/23)? It is my understanding that this occurs when an unplanned event takes place that puts the state in an emergency situation.

It does not include a “planned” event that we knew about for months and that we actually encouraged. But this is what Maura Healey is all about, the almighty dollar.

Can we actually get a person in office who cares about people? I hope the voters will try to do that in the next election but I do not hold out much hope!

Michael Westen

Malden

Special counsel

The recent appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland of David Weiss, U.S. Attorney to be a special counsel in the Hunter Biden corruption investigation is a total sham. This is nothing more than a political move … NOT a legal one.

Weiss is the same prosecutor who recently made the outrageous sweetheart deal, basically allowing Biden to skate on felonies, only to have it refused by a Delaware federal judge. A special counsel is supposed to be someone from ‘outside’ the government, not someone aligned in the prosecutor’s office.

This continues to be simply another cover-up of the Biden Family Corruption saga by the Biden Administration .. in concert with the main street media.
Truly shameful.

Chris Byrne
Naples, FL

Helping Ukraine

Has anyone questioned why from the start, the Biden Administration always talks about long-term support of the Ukrainians but never has stated that we will help the Ukrainians to WIN. The president always has an excuse on why we can’t give them to tools to win, as far back as the first weeks of the Russian invasion.

Al DePaoli

Woburn

Long Island

Has everyone forgotten about the many tunnels under Boston Harbor, some of which go to Long Island?

How easy would it be to refurbish a tunnel to Long Island?

Don Schwarz

Stoughton

Social Security

Bella DeVaan’s 8/10/23 piece, ‘Young people can’t sit on the sidelines with Social Security’ opened my eyes.  All these years, I never knew that there was a wage cap on social security.   The cap this year is $160,200.   If you make over $160,200 this year, the Social Security deduction is capped at that figure. Even if one makes $1B, the Social Security deduction remains capped.  Since I never came close to the cap threshold, I never gave it any thought.  Save Social Security by eliminating the earning cap so everyone pays the same percentage on income earned.  Now that is equity.

Donald Houghton

Quincy

Rating downgrade

The downgrade in America’s credit rating is overdue. Our governance with respect to entitlements and the federal fisc is, as Vice President John Nance Garner said of his office, “… not worth a pitcher of warm spit”. Both parties are to blame along with voters, for the allure of “free stuff,” manifestly not free, is greater than common sense and the threat of a sliding scale of credit downgrades. So, our budgeteers continue their free spending ways, recklessly purchasing votes.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati, Ohio