Taxpayers have been pecked over by Ravens

What a wonderful piece of news for the citizens of Baltimore and the state of Maryland! Once again, the local taxpayers are being pillaged by the Baltimore Ravens, this time to the tune of $430 million. What will the taxpayers get for this gargantuan outlay of tax dollars? They’ll get a cutesy little club area which will only be populated about 50 hours per year by only the rich and beautiful people who can buy $20 beers (“Here’s what’s new — so far — at upgraded Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium,” Aug. 5).

Meanwhile, the Baltimore police and fire departments remain woefully short on manpower. This is not to mention the many city schools that have struggled through heating or air conditioning issues. Finally, the Baltimore Department of Public Works is a disaster. A DPW worker died on the job due to the heat and a lack of hydration facilities. In other words, the city and state will not hesitate to raise money via bonds, use lottery funding originally earmarked for the schools, and even borrow money at today’s highest interest rates to please those non-taxpaying freeloaders, the Baltimore Ravens. What are the real priorities in city and state government? Money talks.

This news is disgusting, and I find it disgraceful that the city and state governments kowtowed to appease billionaires and the wealthy patrons of the National Football League while claiming to have no money for vital services for their constituents. Elected leaders seem to be all too willing to buy the status connected to the almighty NFL with that priority taking center stage to everything else. Status seems more important than needs.

— George Hammerbacher, Baltimore

With children or without, people can be kind if they choose to be

Thanks to Candy Woodall for her recent well-thought-out column in The Baltimore Sun (“IVF is hard. The 2024 presidential race is making it harder.” July 26).

First, I find U.S. Sen. JD Vance’s comments about women without biological children to be ignorant, insensitive and insulting to all women, whether or not they are mothers or ever wanted to be mothers. It’s wrong in so many ways. I don’t know where to begin, and I’m not sure I would know when to stop.

So, let me say this: I was 47 years old, five years into my second marriage, when my husband and I adopted a 5-month-old baby girl who was born in another country, on another continent. She is now 29, talented in any number of ways, athletic, kind, insightful, and her beauty is show-stopping. I can’t imagine loving any daughter more than I love her. I am grateful to be her mom.

But even if we had not been graced and enriched by becoming her parents, even if we had never become parents at all, both my husband and I would continue to be the kind of people who think beyond ourselves.

— Sandee Lippman, Baltimore

Harris should pledge a new course on Gaza

There are victims and villains on both sides. The Hamas attack was barbaric. The ongoing response by Israel makes them war criminals. Both sides take the position of “Look what they did to us” and “Anything we do is now justified.”

So, what is Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, to do (“Harris is soaring. Could pro-Palestinian protesters drag her down?” Aug. 13)? For one thing, she should abandon President Joe Biden’s statements that he supports Israel unconditionally. This gives Israel a green light to do anything it wants without worrying about consequences. Should anything ever be “unconditional?” More and more, I think not. It sounds like a person is willing to abandon all their principles if the offending party is favored.

Justice is supposed to be blind and impartial. Yes, Israel should get the hostages back, but this unrelenting slaughter of Gaza residents has got to stop. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to destroy Hamas. Apparently, his idea of “Hamas” includes every human being in Gaza — women, children, old people, aid workers, medical personnel, etc. In actuality, he is probably creating more members of Hamas with these tactics.

Let’s not let Netanyahu drag us and the rest of the world into a larger conflict.

— Sidney Turner, Catonsville