DAN'S PAPERS, February 13, 2009 Page 47 www.danshamptons.com
Letters THE PARTY’S OVER Dear Dan, To the gluttonous CEOs of America’s failed megacorporations: The party’s over. Cork up the Chivas Regal and drink some Kool-Aid. Put your polo ponies out to pasture. Sell your yachts to the United Arab Emirates. Downsize your corporate jet fleet. Plow under your private golf courses and plant a Victory Garden. Avarice and conspicuous consumption are no longer in vogue. Paul G. Jaehnert Vadnais Hts., MN Via e-mail I’ll drink to that. – D.R. ANOTHER POV Dear Dan, We understand that leftist ideologues do not allow logic, rationality or facts to alter their beliefs. So your response to Stuart Gillman’s e-mail (January 16), “Before you get here, you’re an illegal,” was not surprising, just pathetic. Ken Niehaus Via e-mail TROUBLE IN PARADISE Dear Dan, I am writing to you after years of trying to get the attention of the person responsible for road hazards in Sagaponack. The buck is simply passed from one person to the other with no one willing to take a look and make a decision one way or the other. A guardrail was built on both sides of Hedges Lane at Old Barn Lane (West of Town Line) to keep vehicles out of a small culvert. The guardrails are a greater danger than the problem they are intended to fix. A vehicle – anything smaller than an eighteen-wheeler – hitting it head-on would be impaled by the cross-member (similar construction existed on the Parkways – Northern and Southern State – many years ago). Please drive by at your convenience and see for yourself whether or not you agree.
e-mail Dan at askdan@danspapers.com
I called the Town about it years ago and they did nothing. – D.R. GIVING THANKS Dear Dan, On behalf of the staff and clients of The Retreat, I would like to thank you for your generosity and support this holiday season. The holidays can be a particularly difficult time of year for our clients and their children. Every donation that is received on their behalf, both big and small, is greatly appreciated. We wish you and your family a joyful, healthy and peaceful new year. Michele Halusic The Retreat East Hampton I played Santa Claus there this year. – D.R. WHO WON AT MADOFF? Dear Dan, Your “take” on Madoff ’s $50 billion was very well thought out. In using your term of “follow the money,” you did leave out the big winner – namely the IRS. Take, for example, Carl Shapiro, who reportedly lost $400 million. His yearly profit on that sum, based on Madoff ’s typical returns, would have been approximately $45-$50 million in highly taxable short-term gains. I’m sure, like most of Madoff ’s victims, he took some or all of his tax needs to cover Madoff profits out of his Maddoff account. It would seem like the IRS made billions and was, as stated above, by far the big winner. In all fairness, taxes paid to the government on non-existent gains should be refunded as promptly as possible since many of the victims find themselves in extremely difficult circumstances. Donald Maharam Hauppauge, NY Absolutely. – D.R.
Joe Rubio Via e-mail
DON’T DRINK THE WATER Dear Editor, I think your readers that have to drink Suffolk County Water Authority tap-water should be advised that the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) for radioactive compounds is ZERO, yet [the published] tables indicate the SCWA blends radioactive water to meet EPA’s flawed Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - even for radioactive compounds. Since SCWA water mains began interconnecting dozens of wells in some areas after 2001, many became radioactive too. After smoking, Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer and the tables show there’s lots of Radon in public wells serving Bridgehampton, Westhampton, Sag Harbor and other LI towns. Before 2001, we had one well in Patchogue (Waterworks); thereafter 37 – so we switched to purified water. (LOEW'S sells the PRIMO brand in 5 gal jugs.) In stories extolling the SCWA's “pristine” water, Newsday, NY Times and Town officials appear to consider radioactive water to be “pristine” simply because God created Uranium, Radon, Strontium, and other radioactive ...ium’s. They also advertise free, re-usable plastic bottles developed by the SCWA to save our landfills by filling them with tap water; neglecting to mention the SCWA’s radioactive wells. Of course, those lucky enough to be on private non-radioactive wells only have to worry about drinking toxic leachate blends from landfills that were supposed to be closed in 1990 to protect our ground water. Since most of Long Island’s western most farms are gone, radioactive irrigation wells are no longer a big problem for wildlife. Dr. Carmine F. Vasile Patchogue, NY To see the published tables, go to http://gfxtechnology.com/WD-00.html http://gfxtechnology.com/WD-01.html and the same prefix with /WD-02.html; /WD-04.html; /WD-05.html /WD-06.html & /WD-07.html. – S.G.
Police Blotter Speedy A man from Florida was caught driving 49 miles per hour in a 20 miles per hour zone in East Hampton. After police pulled the man over and looked into the matter, they learned that his license to drive had been suspended. I’m not going to tell you why. Chef And A Cow In Southampton, a chef and a cow were spotted dancing outside of a restaurant. Well, it was really just a few folks dressed up in a giant chef and cow costume who were having a hoot of a time outside in the cold. No arrests were made. The cow and the chef are living happily ever after. Thief A man who resides in East Hampton part of the year reported to police that his house had been broken into while he was away and had been ransacked of nearly every valuable item, including an expensive flat screen television and, quite myste-
riously, a breadbox.
evidently has only half a brain in his head.
No Escape There was simply no escape for a man in Sag Harbor who was bombarded with snowballs thrown by who witnesses believe to be local youths. The man, who was driving his car at the time, was walloped with what was counted to be five incoming snowballs. His car did not receive any damage from the incident and the man was not injured. He did need a few minutes to cool off his temper, however. Luckily, it was pretty cold outside that day.
Sexual Assault Well, things are really not looking so good for the former East Hampton basketball star Michael Russell, who ended up in the slammer for two burglaries that occurred in East Hampton. The former star is now facing felony sexual assault charges in New Hampshire and could end up with a 30-year prison sentence.
Not So Pretty It wasn’t a pretty day in Hampton Bays when a woman was charged with assault against a man who was her former boyfriend. The incident occurred after the woman asked how she looked in a specific piece of clothing, to which the man responded, “You look kind of hefty in that.” Needless to say, it was lights out for the man, who
Guess He Was Hungry A driver crashed right smack into a general store in Sag Harbor, completely destroying the entire front of the store and nearly injuring a woman inside. The driver of the car was allegedly drunk at the scene of the incident and was taken to the hospital. Reports indicate that he was not seriously injured, nor was anybody else, thankfully. The storeowner, however, was one really, really, really, really angry dude that day. - David Lion Rattiner