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16 The Courier sun • september 4, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com editorial letters CARTER BOOK NOT THE ANSWER ON ISRAEL In the Aug. 21 issue A.V. advocated Jimmy Carter’s book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid” as a guideline for achieving Mideast peace. What A.V. did not mention was that 14 members of Carter’s think tank quit in protest over that book, citing inaccuracies and distortions. If A.V. would like to see the cycle of violence end, Palestinians must recognize Israel’s right to exist. That has not happened since Israel was formed in 1948. Until then, don’t blame Israel for defending itself. Lenny Rodin Forest Hills ROCKAWAY/BAT FERRY SERVICE A MUST! Once again on Aug. 21 the residents of the Rockaways, Broad Channel, Breezy Point and Brooklyn stood on the steps of City Hall for a press conference/rally to demand the Rockaway/BAT Ferry service becomes permanent. It seems to all of us that Mayor de Blasio and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) do not care about us or our necessary transportation needs. This ferry service is a vital tool in order to improve the terrible transportation that exists here. The residents of our communities are getting very tired of asking. We NEED additional and better transportation options now. Mr. Mayor, we implore you to make the Rockaway/BAT Ferry service a permanent means of transportation and our only means of water transportation, and of course this means including weekend service for the summer months. Danny Ruscillo Jr. Co-Chair CB 14 Transportation Committee Queens BARBARIC ACT ISIS released a new video that has surfaced showing 250 soldiers nearly naked being slaughtered in the Syrian desert. This barbaric act I find most appalling by these depraved individuals. They are becoming very powerful. Their fanatic belief in their religion of hate is far reaching. These evildoers are reaching out to youths in many countries. The ISIS army will be getting larger and threats to our homeland, as well as to the entire world, seem to be imminent. War crimes are being committed with no regard to human life that is precious. These egregious and nefarious acts being perpetrated by the Islamic State militants need to be addressed most aggressively. Before WWII, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime were on the verge of committing a large-scale atrocity against humanity. But if world leaders had acted early, millions would not have died needlessly. Remember this: Evil thrives when good people do nothing! Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village CENSORSHIP AT THE QUEENS LIBRARY To Mr. Bill Herbert of Richmond Hill: NONE of the works you’re interested in listening to are CENSORED (The Courier, Aug. 21). As you very well know you can listen to them to your heart’s content in the library. Your issue is technical- not with listening to them, but with saving them. The library’s policy restricts patrons from downloading software from outside parties to project the library computers from possible harm. The library cannot and should not change this entire system to meet the particular technical needs of every customer. Since March, you have received customer service and technical assistance/information beyond expectation by a great staff. Please feel free to read the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, to which this library and its once independent board of trustees adheres: http:// www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill) As for politics, when they begin controlling the performance of any organization, well, you know what happens. George L. Stamatiades Removed Independent Trustee and Past President of the Board of Trustees of the Queens Library. sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan William J. Gorta Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola, Angy Altamirano Katrina Medoff, Eric Jankiewicz, Salvatore Licata Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Demetra Plagakis Warren Susman Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller Office Manager President & CEO Vice President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 •  Fax 718-224-5441 Sales fax: 718-631-3498 website: www.couriersun.com e-mail:editorial@queenscourier.com ads@queenscourier.com queenscourier@queenscourier.com Entire Contents Copyright 2014 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 office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, 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 S UN within five 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. IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is THE COURIER ENDORSES… The Courier is proud to endorse John Liu in the Democratic primary for the 11th District of the New York State Senate. We have found Liu to be an energetic and responsive candidate who will make an exceptional state senator. Liu is a local boy made good, a public school graduate who grew up in northeast Queens who made it big in the private sector. But financial success wasn’t enough for Liu. He packed in the lucrative life to dedicate himself to public service, first serving in the City Council and then rising to citywide office as comptroller. Liu’s wealth of experience in the world of finance, public and private, will be of considerable help to his district — and to all New Yorkers — during these straitened times. His record of success, including a role in the exposure of the CitiTime boondoggle, makes him a formidable candidate. We expect Liu to be a huge success in the Senate and we urge all Democrats in his district to vote for him. We’re also pleased to endorse Toby Ann Stavisky, the only woman from Queens serving in the state Senate. Stavisky has been at the vanguard of the push for universal pre-K and has been a staunch advocate for passing the Women’s Equality Agenda, the DREAM Act and a higher minimum wage, her first priorities in the next legislative session if she is re-elected. And she should be. She has fought for seniors by securing expansions of the SCRIE/EPIC programs and has secured $9 million for waterfront cleanup. She is a credit to her party and her district and she has earned the votes of her constituents. This was a tough one, but we endorse state Sen. Malcolm Smith in his re-election bid. We have only nice things to say about his opponent Leroy Comrie, who has served well in the City Council and as deputy borough president. We know Smith is facing a federal trial on corruption allegations, but we adhere to the presumption of innocence to which every American is entitled. Acknowledged, there is a lot of uncertainty about Smith’s future, but we know this about him for sure: Malcolm Smith has been a tireless worker for his constituency and has been an effective lawmaker and advocate. His knowledge of the Albany political scene makes him nearly indispensable to his district. We wish Comrie well and hope to see more of him in the political arena, but Smith’s record in his district has earned him this endorsement. EVEN IF YOU DISAGREE WITH US… Vote! Everyone who is eligible — and we mean everyone — should exercise the awesome power of their constitutional franchise. Voter participation is a problem, particularly in primary races. But it shouldn’t be. Millions and millions of people yearn for free elections — and far too many of us can’t be bothered to vote. We urge everyone eligible to cast a ballot on Sept. 9. And we remind our readers that there is still time to register to vote in the November elections. We applaud the steps the government has taken to make voter registration and voting itself easier. But there is more to do, including online voting and voting over several days. We urge lawmakers to consider ways to get more people to vote. It’s an amazing gift to live in this democracy; we hope everyone will participate in it.


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