Real estate taxes, cancel culture, and 'Bull Durham'
Writer-director Ron Shelton, left, and Kevin Costner, on the set of the 1988 movie "Bull Durham." Credit: Orion Pictures Corp./ Everett Collection
Real estate taxes on a merry-go-round
The real estate tax system on Long Island is like a merry-go-round [“Tax firms donate, taxpayers lose,” Editorial, Aug. 22]. It is costly to operate, and the homeowner and counties just keep going around in circles. Neither makes any real progress, and the tax grievance companies get the brass ring.
And by the way, the price of a ticket at Nunley’s Carousel is clearly posted at the ticket window. It is a non-negotiable item.
— Howie Weinick, Woodmere
Republicans also have cancel culture
William F.B. O’Reilly makes valid points in “Anne Frank’s diary was banned in Texas?” [Opinion, Aug. 19]. However, when he infers that the political right is catching up to the “cancel-culture” left, he is being misleading.
Ask the people whose voting rights are being abrogated by the right wing because they do not like the result of recent elections if they feel canceled. Or ask the LGBTQ community, or women whose reproductive concerns are being disregarded if they feel canceled.
How about the Republican politicians who dared to stand up and oppose former President Donald Trump? Many of their families have been threatened and they have lost elections with the support of an out-of-control right wing in Congress.
Although I agree with O’Reilly’s basic premise and believe those who do not heed history are condemned to repeat it, I hardly think the political right has arrived late in the cancel-culture wars. They wrote the book.
— Jerry Giammatteo, Sayville
‘Durham’ actors in a league of their own
How does a book review about the making of a major film, “Bull Durham,” not mention the three wonderful leading actors who made this movie a hit? Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are not mentioned in the body of the review, “In a league of its own” [Books, fanfare, Aug. 21]. They were perfectly cast and made the movie an enduring hit.
— Jack Schwartz, Bellmore
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