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U.S. could have upper hand with Greenland

Because of remarks by the Trump administration, there has been a lot in the news again about buying or taking Greenland from Denmark. I think that based on the questionable historical accuracy of Norse sagas concerning the discovery of Greenland compared to the fact based modern historical record that the United States may actually have a valid claim to that arctic island that is better or as good as Denmark’s. Also, the U.S. has considered purchasing Greenland on several previous occasions. The first was in 1866 when Secretary of State William Seward considered buying both ...

‘Values’ need to include tolerance

The letter “We need to maintain values of America” (Dec. 13) is sad and is un-American and is un-Christian. What I read in that letter was anger, disdain, disrespect, and the rantings of a lost soul. The writer makes two mistakes. The first is to claim he understands American culture. He believes it is failing because of immigrants from other cultures — and he implies that he means other non-white cultures. He believes those immigrants from white Europe are the only ones worthy of respect and worthy of admittance. The writer’s disdain for those other cultures reveals more ...

China has the edge on electricity

As Americans we believe that we are always the leaders when it comes to infrastructure and technology. That is not the case with electricity. China already consumes twice as much electrical energy as the United States and is way ahead of us when it comes to the efficiency and capacity of their electric grid to transport energy, including renewable energy, across their country. The most efficient way of transporting electricity anywhere is with high voltage electric lines. The higher the voltage, the more electricity that can be transported. It is hard to build such lines in the ...

U.S. must avoid trap of socialism

Editor, OBSERVER: Why are a lot of people beginning to side with the philosophy of socialism, and where is America going if that continues? It’s very tempting to be a socialist. It’s very tempting to want someone else to pay for something you might want. Free sounds good until you have to pay for it. If you think it’s expensive now, just wait until it’s free. We’ve seen time and time again, leaders try to paint society as utopias, that man can be perfected, and that government as a central body, can then fix the ills of society. What would happen if America continues to ...

State minimum wage values work

As of January 1, New York State’s minimum wage for Upstate is $16, up from $15.50. New York State’s minimum wage was the same as the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 as recently as 2013, 13 years ago. Beginning in 2014, the State Legislature put in place increases in the State minimum wage that has brought us to $16 now. The United States Congress, in contrast, has not raised the $7.25 Federal minimum wage since 2009, 17 years ago. In the face of Federal inaction, at least 30 states have enacted state minimum wages above the Federal $7.25. That means, however, that 20 states, ...

State’s energy policies absurd, costly

Twenty years after “An Inconvenient Truth,” none of Al Gore’s wild speculations about climate catastrophe have emerged, yet people still cling to the climate nonsense, and New York state energy policy remains absurdly captive to that narrative. By way of example, climate fraud led New York to require houses built after Jan. 1 to use electric heat, and required the state have 70% “renewable” energy by 2030. The simple fact that these impossible regulations were devised by Albany politicians demonstrates the absolute incompetence of those who run New York. Reality recently ...