Our courts treat animals like they aren’t alive
Tuckahoe, N.Y.: Recently, the New York State Supreme Court thumbed its nose at animal cruelty laws by overruling a NYC ban on the sale of foie gras, one of the more extremely brutal food items. After ducks and geese are yanked by their necks, mush is forcibly piped down their throats until their liver explodes, causing them to bleed and vomit. Shocking video of birds whose throats have been ruptured by the pipes is available online. Food critic James Beard said, “I suspect they secretly enjoy being force-fed.” He should have tried it on himself.
A few years ago, we stood outside Trader Joe’s giving foie gras literature to a receptive public and urging the store to stop stocking it. With us were three tiny duckling foie gras survivors: Their beaks were mutilated, which is standard practice so they can’t attack each other due to intense crowding. This prevents them from ever eating normally, so they must be raised in captivity.
Modern factory farming is inherently cruel; however, there are also legal degrees of abuse. The court decided there is no “degree of abuse” for farm animals — instead, anything goes. This is a pitiful position to take, in deference to the farm lobby or any other reason. Animal protection laws are paltry, and worse for farm animals.
Yet, animals are sentient and intelligent. Birds have been shown to sing to their babies in their eggs. Until the law moves out of the 18th century and accepts current knowledge and consideration of non-human animals, please avoid this sad item. Surely, there is enough to eat without contributing to needless suffering. Kiley Blackman
Rolling stops
Massapequa, L.I.: To Voicer Jim Carney, who correctly states that no one stops for stop signs anymore: The reason for that, Jim, is that people think “STOP” is an acronym for “Slightly Tap On Pedal.” Tom Ascher
Departmental decline
Brooklyn: Re “Commish lets cop’s COVID vax lies slide” (July 1): It’s outrageous! The episode concerning Lt. Brandi Sanchez and Sgt. Lambros Gavalas, the recently reported nonaction by the mayor and others concerning the noncompliance of the brother of the commissioner (re his restaurant) are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Starting with Donald Trump on down, and beyond the police department of New York City, we have nothing but Keystone Kops and a wannabe for a mayor now leading this city. God help us. Henry Brown
Besieged
Brooklyn: To Voicer Marilyn Levin: You have to ask why Palestinians don’t go to Gaza to support their people? Try a few of these reasons: No airport to fly into Gaza. Border crossings closed. No food, water or fuel and almost no health care. Constant bombing that kills mostly civilians. Destruction of all the buildings and roads. Are any of these issues happening in Israel? Greg Ahl
State-sponsored facts
Pomona, N.Y.: Re “The end for terror masters” (editorial, Aug. 1): You celebrate how “a small bit of justice came to two very evil men” while not mentioning that Ismael Haniyeh was Hamas’ chief negotiator for the hostage/ceasefire deal. Are you daft? Are you writing about a complex geopolitical crisis or a children’s fairy tale!? Haniyeh was head of Hamas’s political wing, not a military guy! A politician who reportedly had no advance knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack planned by Yahya Sinwar! Now who’s going to negotiate for the ceasefire that will release the hostages? The guy who ordered their kidnapping!? The whole editorial reads like a press release from the Israeli and U.S. governments! French and U.S. “peacekeepers” in Lebanon “who were there to help”? The French colonized and occupied that place! And a “pogrom” of rape on Oct. 7? The UN investigated — no evidence! Shameful propaganda. Frank Metzger
Victimizers
Pearl River, N.Y.: To Voicer Terry Hansen: You and B’Tselem seem to know so much about the Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu and their prison system. At least they have a prison system. Why don’t you and B’Tselem look into and report on the Palestinians, Hamas and Hezbollah groups’ treatment of Israelis and their own citizens? Stop with the Jewish hatred and one-sided reporting. These groups are more vicious and cruel to humanity than many other groups of terrorists. No form of terrorism or hatred is acceptable in our so-called humane society. Stop teaching children to hate and maybe, just maybe, the hatred of others will end with their parents’ generation and we can learn to live in peace. Robert Brennan
Catastrophe trajectory
Penticton, British Columbia: The death throes of the 20th century Zionist (terrorist?) invasion of a dormant, unsophisticated Palestine, culminating in Netanyahu’s war in Gaza specializing in the terrorizing and elimination of children, Gaza’s innocent population, infrastructure and homeland — supported by the U.S. MAGA leadership, Congress and fractured Christian political peddlers, witnessed in horror and condemned by the UN, international caregivers, the World Court and world audience (including the innocent Jewish community). The climax of this odyssey of evil will be a Netanyahu-enticed U.S.-Iran war and Middle East/world conflagration when the severity of climate change challenges, especially hunger and starvation, leave no time for war. Joe Schwarz
Supervised swimming
Manhattan: As a former lifeguard, I respect the ocean and all of its possible dangers. No lifeguard on duty equals no swimming, period. End of discussion. Albert Johnson
Bee better
Staten Island: To the idiots running my city: You suck. I have an extensive pollinator garden, and the morning before you knuckleheads sprayed my neighborhood for mosquitoes, I had literally dozens of bees of at least seven kinds in my garden. Next day? Not one. Next day, three. And I haven’t had more than two or three at a time since. You morons. There are no ponds in my area, no woods, no reason to spray. The few mosquitoes we had? Still here and thriving. You killed all the pollinators and accomplished nada. Whatever you’re using doesn’t even have an effect on the skeeters, so why are you bothering? This is beyond the abject stupidity of you fools hanging a sign on my corner an hour before the spraying began. This is malfeasance at its best, and a downright scam at its zenith. When will we get a mayor with a clue? Tom McGuire
Off the air
Carmel, N.Y.: Shock, dismay, anger, sadness! Words and feelings that overcame me Monday when hearing that WCBS NewsRadio 880, the electronic voice of news in the greater New York metropolitan area, will soon be no more. Shame on parent company Audacy for making such a decision. I remember as though it was yesterday — Aug. 28, 1967, when NewsRadio 880 went on the air with anchors Charles Osgood, Ed Bradley, Robert Vaughn and Pat Summerall. Later, Lou Adler, Jim Donnelly, Bill Lynch, Gary Maurer and Harvey Hauptman joined the family. Today, Paul Murnane and Wayne Cabot wake me up each morning while Brigitte Quinn and Steve Scott have also become radio friends. Goodbye, dear friends. Shame on ownership for making such a terrible decision. NewsRadio 88 will be missed. Eric Gross
Delusional
Brooklyn: This is it! Donald Trump should definitely be made to take a test to see if he is cognitively impaired. He really did say that his Jan. 6 speech had more people attending it than Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. After I heard him say that, I thought to myself, “Get this man tested!” He is out of his mind! Harvey Kaplan
Mentally unfit
Brooklyn: It is time the Republicans follow the example of the Democratic Party and force Donald Trump from the presidential race. It is apparent that he has very little ability to recognize reality. He claims that his Jan. 6 rally drew more people than the Martin Luther King Jr. speech in 1963. He also still claims that nobody died on Jan. 6 and it was a peaceful rally. Clearly, it should be a concern of all Americans that a potential president is in control of his mental facilities. Alan Podhaizer
Low blows
Medford, L.I.: To Voicer Rich Buttermark: You sound just like Trump. The only way you can make a point is by saying something nasty about Kamala Harris. You’re part of the problem that promotes hate speech. Betty Miserendino