Speakout: March 10, 2010

Ortloff
Can anyone tell me what is happening with Mr. Ortloff? He was due to be sentenced long ago but to date, we have seen nothing. Could it be that he will remain in the Albany County lockup until he can simply be sentenced to "time served?" He betrayed the people of New York in one of the worst ways possible and deserves to be in prison. If this had been you or me, we would have been sentenced to the max long ago. Maybe it's time for some pressure on our current representative.

Outside
Kids these days need to go outside more and stop being such zoids. Think of where our planet Earth is going to go.

Detained
The ungrateful government of Haiti is still detaining two Americans. Tell you what: We will give them 200,000 Haitians who are here illegally for the two Americans. That seems to be a good trade to me.

Competition
What is it with our world and the spirit of competition lately? Is it really that necessary to make sure everyone gets to play and we don't have to keep score because it may damage their psyche? Even in the Olympics, baseball and softball have been taken out because some teams were too dominant; Team Canada was taken to task for running up the score in women's hockey. Having someone hold back or downplay their talent so someone else can feel better about themselves is not in the true spirit of competition, it's a sad commentary on where we're headed.

Ticket
The SUNY officer who gave the fellow employee a ticket around Christmas is not a Scrooge. He or she was just doing their job. Yes it was a very inconvenient time, but let people do what their supposed to do.

Pizza
Pizza is not always unhealthy, unless of course you eat an entire 12-inch pizza by yourself. It's not always what you eat, but how much, that leads to obesity. If the notice went out in advance about the rules, anyone with dietary restrictions had time to make arrangements. Instead of whining about it, be thankful that not only was there food to eat, everyone was healthy enough to be there.

Home bound
Regarding "Hair" Feb. 20, 2010 — Mrs./Mr./Ms. Hair, you fail in your irate tantrum to understand that there are several of our young and elderly that are home bound and therefore cannot get to your salon or the one in town, as travel is painful at best. Shame on you for assuming that taxes are not being paid and for thinking that all in home salons are looking to cheat the government of their taxes. This is not the case in most cases, and for the odd few, they will eventually get caught, they always do. Think/Speak!

Legal
Rent to own is legal. If you don't like the conditions, get your own attorney.

Job
No job is a bad job as long as it's an honest, legal job! Those words spoken many times by my folks. Now that I am working in a job they "don't care for," it's all of a sudden a bad job. Caring for people is not a bad job but sometimes thankless. Being a clerk in a store, being a night clerk in a hotel, chambermaid are not bad jobs, yet sometimes thankless. Please be proud of your work, and remember to say thank you to those who serve you and to those you serve.

Salon
Be careful what you say — you never know who is listening, and a lot of petty people are out there! Many can't afford the salon prices and to do someone's hair at home. So be it — lower your prices and prices of hair products! Why should I pay $20 for bottle of shampoo when I can buy the same product for less? I used to get my hair done for $20, cut, styled, washed — not anymore; $40 to $60 maybe once a year, OK, but not every month. Lower their prices, and cheers for home doers! Some won't give you a discount for being a loyal customer, not even at Christmas time. Take care of your customers.

Cuts
It seems like we are getting hit especially hard by the budget cuts. I haven't read anything about cuts per capita — would be interesting to see if the losses are spread equally around the state.

Closures
In regard to the closing of Crown Point and Point au Roche — I was furious when I read the stories. I visit both parks quite often and have particular fondness for both. On the other hand, we are in an extreme fiscal crisis. When I thought a little more, I realized that both parks are accessible throughout the year. If the state could spare a little change to keep things tidy, I might be able to live with the closures for a year. If need be, open these and close others the following year — rotating basis.

Bowling
The talk at intermission at a large local high-school bowling event should have been about sportsmanship of the adults. I spent five years sitting on the floor for this event. This year, we moved a table and went to move the chairs, and a grown man sat in the chair and refused to move. Their team had 12 seats for their adults; we only wanted five. In the afternoon, the same adults moved a lady's belongings off a table and put their feet up on it and refused to move. Next year a table should be assigned to each team.

Parking
In response to the suggestion for a parking garage at P-State by Myers Fine Arts building: ridiculous suggestion. First, a parking garage at this location would be a hideous eyesore. Second, additional parking at PSUC has not been necessary for a few years. There is a large parking lot behind Sibley Hall within a five-minute walk of most buildings on campus. This parking lot is never more than half full. Parking is always available near Redcay and Hawkins Hall along Court Street. A block or block-and-a-half walk might be necessary but hardly a hardship.

Lights
"Take down your Christmas lights because my young children think it is Christmas again" is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Who are you to tell someone else what to do with their property? I agree that it is silly to still have them up, but whatever.

Bust
So you do not think the pot bust was worth the time and effort? This was an international bust involving the FBI and DEA. When you are hit by a driver stoned on pot or lose home value when the drug dealer move into your neighborhood, then tell me about the waste of time. I am willing to bet that you are one of the dealers that lost their supplier. The only waste was the waste of space for your ignorant rant.

Athletes
On this day — a few months running, you have failed to acknowledge the achievements of many schools other than those of local city schools. Let's do a better job in remembering the feats of athletes in the entire area that your paper covers.

Losing
Amazing how when we hear about job cuts in the North Country, the first thing people do is talk about how overpaid or how lazy the workers are, whether it is teachers, correction officers, mill workers, etc. These are good-paying jobs the area is losing. We should be focusing on how our politicians are fighting to keep these jobs or how they are replacing the jobs, which I do not see happening. Stop all the jealousy and stick up for North Country jobs.

Private
New York wants to close parks to save money. How about selling them and put them in the private sector to be run? The first thing New York does to save money is cut jobs, hike fees, close things and tax everything, affecting the average working person. How about cutting pay for our part-time politicians, stop giving them extra pay for serving on committees that benefit them, stop buying up land, and cut the waste in Albany. Just doing these things would save millions. We will never see it because it affects the corrupt New York politics.

Parking
I made comments not too long ago about the block areas of Champlain Street, Montcalm Avenue, Lafayette Street, Palmer Street and any other surrounding streets close by. The parking is unacceptable and in case an emergency vehicle needs to go by, how could they? Will someone Please step up to this problem and contact the mayor about this problem?

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