Dan's Papers - April 10, 2009 -

Why is it that Hampton Bays is left out of the Hamptons Subway?

We understand it's comedy but some of us wonder why you left the community off the map.

A lot of stores in Hampton Bays carry Dan's Papers.

We have a big poster promoting Hampton Bays down on the wall on the Hampton Bays platform. - DR

The current issue, April 3, has an article under your byline about Mill Pond.

You should not be surprised that residents around the Pond find the article unfortunately snarky, insulting and wrong-headed.

We are surprised that you did not check any facts, or make an attempt to speak with any member of Friends of Lake Nowedonah (The Environmental Association of Mill Pond).

You may already know that the recent residents didn't rename Mill Pond. Lake Nowedonah is the name on old maps of the area. The Friends of Lake Nowedonah name was used for our association, which was formed long before the majority of current residents moved here. And, Mill Pond is no "modest" body of water. It is 92 acres and the largest freshwater lake in the Hamptons, as well as home to ospreys, egrets and fresh water bass, among other wildlife.

More important, someone obviously fed you the conclusion of this story with a false slant.

If you want to learn about the truth of the matter, I and others who live on Mill Pond are available to you. We have tried, in cooperation with the Town Trustees, to resolve a serious environmental algae problem, which now affects virtually all our land-locked water bodies.

We have invested substantial funds of our own in an attempt (using the solar-powered water circulators) to cure an ecological problem that has been neglected for decades, partially due to the lack of Town funds for anything more than a study. The SolarBee system has proved very effective in other lakes, and should be given a complete chance to resolve the blue-green algal blooms in Mill Pond. (Green algae is not harmful, and the residents did notice a reduction in blue-green algae in summer 2008.)

Furthermore, a credible limnologist has warned the Trustees that if the lily pads are not removed from the large (and growing) section of the Pond, we are likely to suffer another fish kill. That limnologist has posited that an inversion of water (in that portion of the Pond that is blocked from adequate oxygenation at the surface by the pads) probably spread hydrogen sulfide from detritus released from the bottom.

BTW, the SolarBees are not "noisy." Quite the contrary, they emit no noise, and cannot be heard even when you are right next to them.

Someone set you up for this and used you to our embarrassment and to the detriment of Mill Pond.

I still believe it's the lawn chemicals running into the lake. - DR

I know seeing is believing, but when was this underground railway system built? Was it over a period of a decade?

I've been going out to Montauk off and on, since my dad took mom and me for a summer vacation trip back in 1957. That's when my Crayola crayons melted in a pencil case (yes, a case complete with zipper) on the rear package shelf of our 1955 Mercury Monterey! We stayed in Montauk for two nights, ate at the Shagwong and played games in the game room across the street from where we stayed.

I keep reading stories in your paper about a subway and never knew it existed. Am I out of touch?

Buy One Year on the Hampon Subway for $20 total at Bookhampton or danshamptons.com. - DR

With "hate crime" legislation coming before Congress again, we should take a look at this issue to make sure we understand what it involves.

What makes a "hate crime" different from other crimes? The proposed "hate crime" legislation seeks to judge the "evil" of a crime based on who committed the crime and who was the victim, rather than the nature of the crime itself. This divides people in to classes of those protected under hate crime law and those who are not. These "classes" will be based on categories such as race, sexual orientation or maybe even religion.

For example, if an individual in group A (a non-protected class) commits a crime against an individual in group B (a protected class), that would be considered a hate crime, since individuals in group B are considered potential victims of hate crimes. But, if an individual in group B commits the same crime, or one even worse, against an individual in group A, that would not be a hate crime, since group A is not a protected class. Only protected groups can be victims of hate crimes!

To take this even further, if an individual in group B commits a crime against another individual in group B, that would not be a hate crime because only non-protected groups are capable of committing hate crimes. Likewise, if an individual in group A commits a crime against another individual in group A, that is also not a hate crime because only individuals in protected groups can be victims of hate crimes.

The same standard is set in the concepts of "hate speech." If group A speaks in a negative fashion about group B that is hate speech. This is the case even if what group A said was 100% factually true. It would still be hate speech. But, group B can say anything they desire about group A and that is simply "free speech."

Not only are these protected species of people able to have a different legal standing than the unprotected species, they will also become eligible to receive assistance based on who they are rather than based on their need.

Does this sound fair? Does this sound like equality?

Fair or not, hate crime laws have nothing to do with equality. Hate crime laws are simply a means to some political end. But then, where will all this foolishness end?