Immigrants unfairly targeted

My wife is a minority. There are still misconceptions directed at my wife’s minority group. I am hoping these comments were expressed because of naivete.

We are all immigrants, unless you are an American Indian.

Could racism directed at minorities be resentment or self-hatred playing out, or just some backwards notion to just hate everybody else who looks different than myself?

With more places becoming inhospitable due to climate change, the U.S. perpetuating global conflict, and our continuing to ignore current genocides elsewhere, there will be more refugees. The U.S. accepted 202 Iraqi refugees in 2006. This year, we are on track to accept even fewer, even though the government supposedly budgeted for 54,000 last year. No candidate nor the president dares to address this. Our economy, like it or not, cannot run without immigrants, from education to agriculture.

Wake up; this is a global society. Contempt and scorn for others without basis is inappropriate anywhere. We will become more multicultural. Whether we can progress as a nation is another story.

I will fight discrimination directed at my family or others, even in a racist town, no matter the consequence. Long-term, I will have peace in my soul and not have anger. I will always do this, even though others are apathetic. Change is what you make it.

I am not a practicing Christian because of the hypocrisy I have seen. Universal tenets in the Bible have been abandoned. Also, no church/state separation; no constitutional law.

I do not believe in crusades against other sovereign nations after we squander our own resources. I do not believe in mastery over the whole planet and animals to the point we are all extinct. If I were a Christian, I would say forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Jason Smith

Oneonta

We need real property tax relief

Just some thought on tax relief:

On July 29, The Press Sun-Bulletin ran a front-page headline story indicating that property tax relief was on its way to Broome County residents adversely impacted by last June’s flooding.

Is anything coming to the residents of Otsego County, or other affected counties? Could it be that the debacle in the Otsego County Treasurer’s Office overshadowed an opportunity to see some real tax relief? Was the treasurer too busy trying to protect her career to be bothered exploring some much-needed property tax relief from the state? A little dose of investigative journalism might make for some interesting headlines of your own!

And since I’m thinking tax relief, has anyone thought about putting those controversial windmills on state-owned land? If energy companies are willing to reimburse individual property owners for placement, might they also reimburse the state (revenue) and maybe in turn reduce our property taxes?

Gretchen Monser

Otego

Hall not at fault for parking woes

Several people have complained publicly about difficulties related to transportation to and from the Hall of Fame Induction site from private parking lots.

We at the Hall of Fame would like to set the record straight. Not one of these complaints has to do with the Hall of Fame; the parking lots were owned and operated by private landowners, and they contracted with a private transportation company to bus people to and from the site.

We had absolutely no involvement in how these private lots and the related bus service were handled.

Because we care deeply about the experience of every one of our visitors, we are distressed that any fans who came to Cooperstown for the inductions of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were disappointed by the less-than-satisfactory service of these private lots.

Dale Petroskey

Cooperstown

Petroskey is president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.