The President, The Man

December 13, 2019

To The Reader’s Forum: Wow! Deann Nelson comes out swinging in response to Derek Smith’s op-ed, “Realizing Trump Is America” (Nov. 16-17, 2019). Citing “mind-boggling stereotypical characterizations and platitudes, lack of critical thinking and statements made without any supporting evidence,” Nelson’s over-reaction is a prime example of the charged environment today in America. And that is just the first sentence of her scathing response! As is her right, Nelson eagerly jumps to the defense of the President, but unfortunately misses the point of Smith’s op-ed. ...

Greed Preserves The Gas Prices

December 12, 2019

To The Reader’s Forum: Why haven’t gas prices changed? Greed! Our so called refining friends to the south fill a tanker truck up with about 8,000 gallons of that precious fuel and then pay a man to drive it 226 miles east to Binghamton and back, then sell it for a full 30 cents a gallon less than in the Jamestown area. I am willing to bet their making pretty good money in the Binghamton market. Imagine what they are making in the Jamestown area? Not exactly the apple of my eye. It smacks of silent collusion amongst them and their peers. Brad Walters Bemus Point

Layman’s Note On Incitement

December 11, 2019

To The Reader’s Forum: A number of months ago a vehicle with the bumper sticker stating “Shoot your local heroin dealer” running around in the Lakewood/Jamestown area caught my eye. Not being a great supporter of the whole heroin dealing business my emotional reaction has been complicated. Sure, heroin dealers ruin countless lives, and we could certainly do with a few less of the kind. However, digging deeper I find a couple of objections to the appeal. The first and obvious is its implication of disregard for the rule of law, both from the poster of the message and the law ...

There Is No ‘Natural’

December 9, 2019

To The Reader’s Forum: Beth Payton’s “How Much Time ?” in the Nov. 23-24 edition of The Post-Journal is a beautiful example of the cult-like aspect of environmentalism and of the logical fallacy of naturalism. She paints all “broadly applied herbicides” with a broad brush, the same one she uses for “deforestation (and) our continued reliance on fossil fuels.” She asks about county officials, “What are they thinking?” I don’t live on the lake or use it much so, like Will Rogers, all I know is what I read in the paper, but I suspect they were thinking they ...

Checks And Balances

December 6, 2019

Checks And Balances To The Reader’s Forum: This holiday, I suggest we give thanks for our mental capacity as humans. Compared to other animals we have been given extraordinary capacities of thought and reasoning. We are able to predict likely outcomes of events and plan accordingly. We can construct moral systems and judge whether someones actions lie within the same. We can create and be entertained by art in its many forms. These latter abilities, the artistic ones, may be by many people considered as the most explicitly human as they require more of the intellect than just ...

Why Hasn’t The Gas Price Changed?

December 4, 2019

To The Reader’s Forum: After a trip up to the Buffalo area this past weekend, I can’t help but wonder why the gas prices remain so much higher here in the Jamestown area. In Dunkirk/Fredonia gas is $2.79/gallon. In Depew/Lancaster prices are $2.59; Cheektowaga is at $2.62/gallon. Even the Thruway is $2.62. Can anyone explain why gas hasn’t moved below $2.85/gallon in Jamestown? Catharine A. Kasparek, Jamestown