Just Sayin': Too bad fact and fiction are paired up 

An alarming number of people believe in jaw-dropping conspiracy theories fueled by right-wing “news,” ever-present rants on social media, and fearful politicians. These theories cater to gullible voters by digging a rabbit hole so deep that many people cannot discern truth from fiction.

If these same destructive forces were around in the 1950s, they might be calling for the imprisonment of Dr. Jonas Salk while falsely claiming that the polio vaccine caused everything from blindness to baldness. There’s little doubt that polio would have taken more years to be eradicated if confusion and mistrust were spread by social media.

Throughout history, the castigation and persecution of scientists were mainly driven by religious dogma. Today, they’re driven by politics.

— Martin Geller, Manhasset

An appreciation of views on mascots

Finally there are a couple of well-thought-out, common-sense opinions on the renaming of school mascots [“Should we change our town names, too?,” Just Sayin’, Dec. 10].

These questionable policy decisions that have been enacted or debated are discussed in much of the media today. Perhaps the “woke” advocates can think more about these concepts before they pander to their followers.

— Ken Duffy, North Massapequa

If we are removing all references of names that might be offensive to people, it’s time to change fire and police “chief” and commander in chief.

Next, let Notre Dame know that Fighting Irish is an offensive stereotype. Yankees started out as a derogatory term used by the British against Americans, so that needs to be changed, too.

— Rick Jordan, Levittown

America should keep supporting Ukraine

Two months ago, I put a Ukraine flag next to my American flag on my fifth-floor balcony, visible to anyone passing by on the street or walkways. To my surprise, there have been no comments.

Does that mean that the man in the street has lost interest in Russia’s aggressive war on Ukraine? I fully support America’s donation of many millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.

But others are starting to say that we should spend our tax dollars here, not overseas. The brave Ukrainian people are sacrificing everything to maintain their freedom. We should continue to help them.

— Joseph P. Marron, Long Beach

Tax both deforestation and the use of coal

Coal and deforestation contribute to the climate crisis. There should be worldwide taxes punishing the use of coal and deforestation.

We should invest now in fusion and fission nuclear energy. When we have energy from fusion and fission nuclear energy plants, we will be far less dependent on oil.

— Steven Ross, Kew Gardens