Other missing victims of violence, no vax, SALT and more

Find other missing victims of violence

I have been thinking about the missing indigenous women here and in Canada and the  violence toward Gabrielle Petito ["Calls to spotlight missing people of color," News, Sept. 26].

As a survivor of abuse at the age of 28, I am now almost 77 and still get flashbacks. I have thought   about these men who want to control women and when they can’t, they hurt or murder them.

Many missing indigenous women have been precious to their families, too, and no one knows where they are, and the disappearance of some is not even intensively investigated.

There seems to be a different level of investigative involvement for different levels of people in our country.

We must feel the same pain and interest for the missing Native American women and missing minority men as we have felt for the loss of Petito. Each life is a waste of potential and an absence at the family table.

We must try to find the missing. We must not fight each other but focus on the real problems we have.

— Susan Steinmann, Mastic Beach

Mainstream media are reporting how missing minority women do not get the same media attention as Gabrielle Petito. Instead, they should report on the actual missing women.  

— Alex Calvo, Lynbrook

Haitians will blend with other migrants

Your editorial "Desperation over immigration" is on point [Sept. 26]. I believe a goodly number of the approximately 12,000 Haitian migrants "processed" (whatever that means) and temporarily released into the United States have no realistic claim for asylum.

To think that they will report to immigration offices and/or appear at legal proceedings strains credulity. They will simply blend in with the previous 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Should there be no borders? Should some of the $740 billion annual defense budget be used to militarize the border? Would it make a difference if the migrants were blond, white Norwegians? Are the optics of this situation being used to promote an open-borders policy, which is a non-starter with the American public?

— Eric Jurist, Wantagh

Supreme Court does indeed act politically

Justice Stephen Breyer is correct to warn of the dangers of having the Supreme Court viewed as "junior league politicians," as he has long experienced it ["Three high court justices say they’re not acting politically," Nation, Sept. 26].  

Our justices are, and always have been, major league political influences. To imagine the decisions in Marbury v. Madison, Dred Scott v. Sandford  or Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission as divined from the ether is myth.

The current protestations to the contrary are a hypocritical denial of their clear pre-confirmation positions.

The real issue is the distance between the public’s perception and circumstances and the court’s. Chief Justice John Roberts favors a "I just call balls and strikes" analogy for the court’s operation. The crowd is booing the umpire.

— Brian Kelly, Rockville Centre

No vax? Go ahead and quit your job

Regarding the article "LIRR union rep: Quitting is an option" [News, Sept. 14], OK, quit. Give someone else a chance to have a good job and serve the public without infecting them. And that goes for the unvaccinated nurses, too.

— Mary McKenna, North Bellmore

Seniors sure have plenty of creativity

As residents in Nassau County’s senior community, my neighbors and I enjoy Newsday’s Act2 articles and essays. I was especially inspired by the cover story about other Long Island seniors embarking on creative projects ["Author shines a light on creativity," Act 2, Aug. 8].

Kudos to author Lois W. Stern for saying seniors should be judged by what we do, not by the ticking clock. Now, whenever asked our age we can think of her and say, "Age is a number and mine is unlisted."

— Sheila Zweig, Melville

Restoring deduction on SALT helps the rich

Restoring the SALT deduction enriches the already rich.

An increase in the State and Local Tax deduction from $10,000 to $50,000 will solve the issue for working class taxpayers ["Suozzi doubles down on ‘no SALT, no deal,’ " News, Sept. 14].

Does Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) remember when the Democratic Party was the party of the working people?

— Tom Wharton, Farmingville