Editorial: Zurlo for Saratoga sheriff
THE ISSUE:Two Republicans offer distinctly different approaches on enforcement of gun control laws.THE STAKES:Don't like the law? Don't run for the office. Imagine an applicant for a police officer's...
View ArticleLetter: Christian right poses dangers
The situation in Egypt shows us how dire a threat to democracy a theocratic government can be. Religious zealots used the democratic process to gain power in Egypt, then, predictably, imposed a form...
View ArticleLetter: Tonko's bill offers hope for good jobs
Failing infrastructure, new technologies, increasing populations, for all these reasons, we need STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in our schools from the kindergarten to 12th...
View ArticleLetter: Materialism isn't the route to take
I agree with Diane Cameron's commentary, "Feeling secure is an inside job," Aug. 9.As long as we continue to identify ourselves with the materialistic world, we will continue to satisfy our sensual...
View ArticleLetter: 'Haves' becoming too dangerous
Those "who have" in this country are becoming dangerous because they refuse to help those "who have not." We desperately need to have our government act fairly to all.Yet, the haves are quick to...
View ArticleObama needs sure footing in Syria
There's a lot of chest-thumping certainty over President Barack Obama and Syria, on both sides: He must attack. He shouldn't. It would dangerously undermine U.S. credibility for the administration to...
View ArticleLetter: Colleges create debt for the middle class
Colleges expect middle-class families to be able to pay for most of their child's college education. They prefer to save their financial aid for those coming from lower-income families. This is...
View ArticleLet therapy survive the budget fight
Nearly three years ago, I remember standing by my wife's hospital bed as she asked the nurse, "Is our son OK? Is he going to survive?" My wife was still numb, weak and shaking in recovery from her...
View ArticleLetter: Voting Rights Act must be restored
Congress must act quickly to restore the Voting Rights Act that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. The Supreme Court's decision erased fundamental protections against racial...
View ArticleBrooks: Sectarian war the real danger
What's the biggest threat to world peace right now? Despite the horror, it's not chemical weapons in Syria. It's not even, for the moment, an Iranian nuclear weapon. Instead, it's the possibility of a...
View ArticleLetter: Challenge validity of secret court
Edward Snowden's release to the public of a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court order, which grants the federal government the right to collect telephone records and emails on all...
View ArticleLetter: Sisters of Mercy celebrate 150th
Last year, Kathy Schongar wrote a poignant article about the Sisters of Mercy ("Sisters of Mercy a model of ministry," Aug. 25, 2012). In September, the Sisters will celebrate their 150th anniversary...
View ArticleSomehow the swallows know when it's time to vanish
The swallows have gone, and I do not understand it. How do they arrange to depart? At one moment the birds are here, chattering in and out of the barn, arcing across the pasture. And the next moment...
View ArticleCongress product of the people
Congress will return from its summer recess next week to another record low in approval ratings. Blaming Congress for the dysfunction in Washington, however, lets off the hook another culprit:...
View ArticleEditorial: Mr. Shahinfar in Albany
THE ISSUE:A wide open race for city treasurer awaits Democratic voters.THE STAKES:What will it be? Professionalism? Or a return to the days of mismanagement? It's only in the past four years that the...
View ArticleLetter: Scaffold Law is costly to us all
Daniel R. Santola's letter ("Safety devices an absolute must," Aug. 27) repeats an oft-parroted fiction about the Scaffold Law by implying that the law is simply about safety devices. The law creates...
View ArticleDowd: Iraq infects judgment on Syria
Washington It's a bewildering time here.Nancy Pelosi is the hawk urging military action. Britain refuses to be our poodle. The French are being less supercilious and more supportive militarily....
View ArticleLetter: Obama must back Gillibrand's efforts
A while back, I was published in these pages praising President Barack Obama for tracking down Osama bin Laden. It's unfortunate that this level of leadership doesn't extend to other areas of the...
View ArticleActions can speak volumes
When a middle-aged Albany woman, a computer technician by trade, walks 133 miles during the hottest week of the summer to deliver petitions for retrial to a judge on behalf of a Kurdish father of four...
View ArticleAlbany's prudence in finance
Richard Brodsky's assertions in his Aug. 26 column — that Albany's budgets have been balanced by gimmicks, that we have received special treatment from the state, and that our financial challenges are...
View Article