editorial 26 THE COURIER SUN • JUNE 23, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA BRIANNA ELLIS KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS DIGITAL EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE COURIER SUN and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. SNAPS QUEENS PEDESTRIAN PARADE // PHOTO BY ORESTES GONZALEZ Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). Outrage over Congressional insanity Every Queens resident — indeed, everyone who calls themselves an American — should feel outraged by the shameful inaction of the collective United States Senate in the wake of the Orlando massacre. Once again, after scores of American lives were slaughtered by a madman armed with a high-capacity, military-grade assault rifl e that he should never have acquired, the Senate did nothing to prevent the next gun massacre that will inevitably throw this nation into yet another cycle of mourning, public rage, moments of silence and unanswered calls for corrective action. The Republican-led Senate rejected on June 20 four common-sense gun regulations that aimed to keep these killing machines out of the hands of those who would do us harm. These Republican senators, whose party’s presidential nominee shamefully and falsely accused the president of being soft on terror in the wake of the Orlando shooting, rejected two bills aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists. Never again should any of these Senate Republicans say with a straight face that their party is somehow superior to Democrats when it comes to protecting this country, or fi ghting terrorism. Not when they act with the apparent belief that potentially losing the National Rifl e Association’s (NRA) support and funding is a greater threat to the American people than ISIS, al-Qaeda or some lone-wolf attacker willing to slaughter Americans in the name of a terrorist group. Of course, the Senate inaction is not at all surprising to anyone. The Republicans also rejected bipartisan gun regulations in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012, when 20 schoolchildren were executed by a madman armed with an AR-15. It led many to question whether the NRA and its puppets in Congress honestly believe that the blood of innocent, young children is an adequate price to pay for the unfettered liberty of owning a fi rearm. Even with all the death that rained down on Orlando on June 12, even with the noble efforts of Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy and his 15-hour fi libuster demanding a vote on gun regulations, the Senate — dominated by senators who are either too afraid of, or in total lockstep with the NRA and its campaign money — still did nothing. The sad part is that we’ve all come to accept that gun massacres and the resulting outrage, moments of silence and ultimate futility in changing the laws are now a part of American life. If this sounds insane to you, it is — because, as Albert Einstein so eloquently defi ned, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. New York’s senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, were on the right side of this debate. They voted for stricter gun regulations; they didn’t cower in the face of this massacre. We want you to call and thank them for fi ghting for the safety of the American people: Schumer’s number is 212-486-4430, and Gillibrand’s number is 212-688-6262. And we again urge our readers to call House Speaker Paul Ryan at 202- 225-0600 and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at 202-224-2541, and demand that they stand up to the NRA and end the cycle of insanity and inaction that has gripped our government. Ask the MAYOR e Queens Courier and the Mayor’s O ce are proud to present a weekly column in which Mayor Bill de Blasio answers your questions about issues that concern you the most. If you have a question about anything going on in the city, in your neighborhood or on your block, we want to hear from you! Email us at editorial@qns.com and Mayor de Blasio will get you an answer! Some people have been illegally dumping household garbage in public waste baskets. What can the city do to stop them? Illegal dumping refers to someone transporting materials in a motor vehicle and dumping it in the street or another public place, while using a public waste basket to dispose of household garbage is what we call “improper use of a litter basket.” Litter baskets are intended for pedestrian trash — like candy wrappers or other light garbage. When someone uses a litter basket to dispose of household garbage, DSNY personnel are authorized to examine the contents to identify a responsible party. If they nd identi cation in the litter — like a piece of mail containing a person’s name — that person can be ned $100 for the rst o ense, $250 for the second o ense and $350 for third and subsequent o enses. If someone believes they were mistakenly ned for this violation, they can contest the ne.
SC06232016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above