Leonard Muller’s April 22 letter to the editor included a quote attributed to Adolph Hitler suggesting that gun registration led to the rise of the Nazis and World War II. An internet search reveals that there’s no factual basis to the quote. Although commonly repeated, it’s an urban legend, bogus, fake. The whole argument, again often repeated, that gun control somehow aided Nazi Germany in its atrocities has been repeatedly debunked by Politifact and Snopes. The gun supporters need to find better quotes to prop up their Minuteman fantasies that somehow they are the only thing standing between us and tyranny. I don’t buy it. The Canadians, British, Australians and Europeans don’t buy it, either, yet they seem to enjoy as much freedom as Americans and are much safer in the bargain.Coincidentally, about the time the April 22 Gazette was loaded into the delivery trucks, four people were murdered in a Nashville Waffle House by a nut with an AR-15. How did he get an AR-15? His father allegedly gave it back to him after the police had taken it away because he was a nut. Exactly how does that protect our freedom? Are we reduced to having to arm ourselves to get breakfast and hope we aren’t shot down before we can get off a few rounds? Are the dead of Aurora and Las Vegas and Orlando and Sandy Hook and Sutherland Springs and Parkland and on and on just collateral damage to those who insist on unfettered gun ownership? Is this any way for a strong and free people to live?I grew up as a country boy surrounded by guns and was a pretty good shot in my day. I understand exactly what guns can do and why people like them. But even I can see we have descended into madness. Enough.James E. PickettNiskayunaMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsPuccioni’s two goals help Niskayuna boys’ soccer top Shaker, remain perfectEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesEDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidation Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Norwich Union is planning to convert a 1970s office block in Leeds city centre into 130-bedroom hotel and leisure scheme.The office, Dudley House, is adjacent to Halifax’s St Anne’s Quarter retail and leisure development on the Headrow.It is understood that Norwich Union will submit a detailed planning application to Leeds City Council early this year to redevelop the 10,870 sq m (117,000 sq ft) office to create a two- to three-star hotel, and 5,574 sq m (60,000 sq ft) of licensed leisure and health and fitness.Norwich Union hopes to create bars and restaurants which will complement the Halifax development, and the estimated end value of the scheme is £20m.Knight Frank is the letting agent.
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After emerging intact from his impeachment and trial, US President Donald Trump can now trumpet his economic record as he battles to win re-election in November.The businessman-turned-politician inherited an economy in the upswing from his predecessor Barack Obama, recovering from the ravages of the 2008 global financial crisis.And rather than falter or die of old age, the expansion has continued through Trump’s first three years in office, giving him a trump card in the campaign to win a second term in November. But there are some chinks in his armor, as well as growing fears about the economic damage done by the coronavirus outbreak in China, which raise doubts about how long the good times can last.- Jobs gains continue -“JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!” the president tweeted Friday following a blockbuster employment report showing the US economy created 225,000 jobs last month. He used the hashtag #PromisesMadePromisesKept.Last year, job growth averaged 175,000, compared to 193,000 in 2018 and 176,000 in 2017, slower than the final three years of the Obama administration The unemployment rate, now at 3.6 percent, near its lowest point in 50 years, compared to 4.7 percent in December 2016, Obama’s last full month in office.And joblessness in the Hispanic and black communities has tumbled to historic lows: for African Americans, the unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent in December from 7.8 percent in December 2016; for Hispanics it dropped to 4.2 percent from 5.9 percent.Average hourly earnings increased 2.9 percent in 2019, keeping slightly ahead of inflation. Record growth The economy is now in its 11th year of expansion, a record period of growth, but has fallen short of Trump’s lofty promises.After reaching 1.5 percent GDP growth in 2016, the last year of Obama’s term, in 2017 it climbed to 2.3 percent and the following year to 2.9 percent, thanks to stimulus from the massive tax cut aimed mostly at corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and increased government spending, particularly on the military.But growth slowed to 2.3 percent last year after Trump’s trade war with China intensified, which discouraged business investment.While the US is in better shape than most advanced economies — the eurozone grew only 1.2 percent — it is unlikely to see long periods of 3.0 percent or higher as Trump promised.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week the economy could have hit the target last year were it not for the problems faced by Boeing.The aerospace giant has been in crisis mode since its top-selling 737 MAX aircraft was grounded in March 2019 following two fatal crashes, which shut down exports of the plane.The IMF predicts US growth will slow even further this year to 2.0 percent as the boost from the tax cut fades away. Deficits climbing The tax cuts approved by Congress at the end of 2017 — the most significant tax reform in 30 years — helped boost GDP growth but also drove government debt and the deficit higher.The reform cut income taxes on the richest Americans while slashing the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.The budget deficit is projected to breach $1 trillion by the end of September, according to the Congressional Budget Office, while government debt is expected to represent 81 percent of US GDP.Mnuchin said Trump is planning to slash taxes for the middle class as well.Trade tensions eased Trump has congratulated himself on signing a “momentous” initial trade deal last month to end the long battle with Beijing. But at what cost? China pledged to buy some $200 billion in US goods, but tariffs on about two-thirds of the goods traded between the economic powers remain in place.And the conflict slowed US and global growth and sent domestic manufacturing into a recession.Trump did fulfill his campaign promise to renegotiate the 1994 continental free trade deal with Mexico and Canada, creating the USMCA. The new pact, also signed in January, replaces what Trump called the worst trade deal in US history, though experts say it amounts to an update rather than an overhaul. Booming stock market Wall Street has cheered the tax cuts and loosening of regulations by the Trump administration, gaining around 55 percent since he was elected on November 8, 2016.That will be another selling point to Americans whose retirement wealth depends in large part on stock prices.Topics :