Readers sound off on Keir Starmer, orange air and a handheld fan ban
Edinburgh, Scotland: It was only a matter of time before U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer went down the predictable Tony Blair route of mistaking himself for a latter-day military messiah. 'Peace through strength' (Starmer at a Dublin steel factory, backed by unimpressed workers) is word-waffle, mind-bending nonsense, up there with Blair's weapons of mass destruction as a motive for diverting significant tax income from helping people to hurting people.
Recent shameful figures show that Starmer's refusal to move the two-child benefit cap has plunged even more children into poverty. Add to that the betrayal of the elderly, women done out of pension entitlement, the young (Starmer abandoned a previous pledge by the Labour Party to ease student debt) and Labour's shocking role in the slaughter of Gaza — Starmer's ridiculous saber-rattling is clearly a WMD moment.
Whereas the lunatic drunkard woman-abuser U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is touting China as the existential threat, Starmer has Vladimir Putin as the main bogeyman already under our beds. That would be the same Putin who has entirely failed to overrun Ukraine, despite thinking he'd have it all done and dusted in a couple of months. Instead, he has — yes — killed many thousands of innocent people, but also decimated Russia.
We should all worry, but not because of Starmer's fear-mongering. We should remember just how far weak leaders are prepared to go to cover their failures. Amanda Baker
Bronx: Voicer Tal Barzilai thinks Zionists shouldn't be criticized for their reprehensible behavior, but their genocide speaks for itself, and the efforts to starve Gazans is further cruelty. This has been the terrorist Zionist plan all along. Tal then makes specious claims about Jews being the so-called true indigenous people of the region. By that reasoning, since I have Celtic heritage, I should be given free rein to kick a Jewish family out of a European home simply because Celts occupied that area 3,000 years ago. Tal, for 2,000 years it wasn't your land. Time moves on. Please stay relatively safe and secure in New York, the real promised land. You are the unreasonable one. Nick Smith
Bronx: To Voicer Jessica Balter: You got it all right on 'actions speak louder' than Mayor 'Avarice' Adams' rhetoric. He runs as an 'Independent' to give folks like me a bad name, skip debates that might show the truth of his corrupt administration and disinvite media events where he can't direct the narrative. It is so telling that as he runs NYC as if it is his private taxpayer public zoo, Greta Thunberg, recognizing the intersection of social issues, braves the open spaces with an international group of do-gooders sailing forward with donated aid for Palestinians under the threat of being 'blown out of the water' with them. It is so telling that other N.Y. officials are also speaking the ills of Adams while operating in his same contaminated, incandescent, yet camouflaged dark space. Dale Benjamin Drakeford
Howard Beach: If New York truly wants to keep the city more affordable, why don't they stop increasing property taxes twice a year? Victoria Costanza
Manhattan: Though we still think Canada and the Midwest are far away and not part of our lives here in New York, thank you, Daily News, for continuing to confront us with our reality ('City girds for bad air from Canada fires,' June 4). Twenty-five thousand Canadians fleeing their homes, air rated as 'very unhealthy' in Minneapolis — 'Eh, tough!' Wait a minute! 'City girds.' Is that New York City? Is that us? You mean our air could be turning orange again because of Canadian fires ignited in too-dry underbrush? Too dry from carbon dioxide emissions bouncing the Earth's heat back to itself? Same old oil and gas at fault? Wait a minute! Our legislators better not return home from Albany without first passing the NY HEAT Act and convincing Gov. Hochul to unleash the Cap-and-Invest program. Thomas A. Caffrey
Brooklyn: Does anybody know what the tariff rate is for the smog Canada is exporting to the U.S.? Damo Baliga
Wappingers Falls, N.Y.: I am appalled that Direct TV's charming 'chatty pigeons' TV ads were followed by an ad from Dish Network featuring a child gleefully throwing stones at representations of pigeons while an adult urged her on. Indeed, this company's website features targets on the same pigeons. Pigeons were hailed as heroes who played an important role in World War I, relaying vital messages, saving lives and contributing to the Allied war effort. An award for bravery was bestowed on 32 pigeons for their wartime service. Unfortunately, due to ignorance, prejudice and wrong information, pigeons, like many animals, subsequently became subjects of derision and mocking. Think what Dish did is allowable because they only use statues? If Dish showed ads of kids throwing stones at statues of any ethnic group, it'd be shut down immediately. Please boycott Dish for wanting to capitalize on teaching cruelty. Yliana Franco
Merion Station, Pa.: Now that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has chosen Pride Month to remove the name of Harvey Milk, a gay Navy veteran, from a ship, will he also remove the names Kościuszko and Pulaski from military assets during October's Polish American Heritage Month? Will he dare erase African-American names during February's Black History Month, women's names during March's Women's Heritage Month, or those of Asian/Pacific Islanders during May's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month? Native Americans should beat Hegseth at his own game and demand that the Defense Department stop using tribal names and symbols on its weaponry. Gone would be helicopters named for Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook, Lakota, Kiowa, Comanche, Creek, Cheyenne, Little Bird and Arapaho tribes as well as Tomahawk missiles. Paul L. Newman
Milford, Pa.: I was sorry to read about Voicer Mahatma Kane Jeeves's problems running his business in the current economic climate. I just watched President Trump on Fox News, and he let everyone know the American economy is booming. So hang in there, Voicer Jeeves. The Trump economic boom should be heading your way soon. Trump, the businessman with so many successful business ventures on his resume, surely knows what he is talking about. He would never mislead or lie to the American people. John Hirt
Linden, N.J.: Different news sources and S.E. Cupp ('Trump just can't deliver on any of his promises,' column, June 5) keep stating that the Big Beautiful Bill is loaded with 'pork.' How about illuminating these frivolities and their contributors so that we uninformed taxpayers can remember them when it's time for reelection? C. Olbrys
Hammonton, N.J.: S.E. Cupp forgot that Trump did fulfill his promise to secure our border and deport illegals. No bill will reduce our deficit because nobody in Congress wants to risk their jobs to save our nation. We need term limits for that. The Ukraine war will only end if Vladimir Putin withdraws or the Russian army is destroyed. Presidents not keeping promises is not our biggest problem; the impotent, self-serving Congress is. Cupp's hatred for Trump really is an unhealthy obsession that undermines her credibility. I have never liked any presidents in my lifetime and certainly have never trusted Congress, but I don't obsess over it. I just work and try to live a productive life. William Cook
Whitsett, N.C.: Handheld fans are a newly banned item on ships. If you cruise and plan to line dance with a handheld fan, it's now banned from use in the club on Carnival ships, and I'm sure that if one ship brand does a ban, then others will follow. So no 'Boots on the Ground: Where Them Fans At?' song line dance with a fan in your hand will be allowed. Perhaps the company has either discovered or suffered a liability when someone gets hurts by someone using the fans on the dance floor, which I can imagine if one accidentally hits someone in their eyes, for example. It can cause a lot of potential damage for someone, indeed. Dee Neveu
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