The roaster looks almost like an old steam locomotive, its polished steel drum gleaming under fluorescent light, a hulking American-made machine with heat coursing through its belly. Bins of beans — raw, pale, grassy — wait their turn to be transformed into fragrant, oily perfection.

To the Editor:

In the 2024 Presidential race, 49.8% of the votes went to Donald J. Trump, who promised to reduce the costs of consumer goods, end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and fix our immigration crisis.

To the Editor:

Disappointing national employment numbers were released last week. Estimates were much lower than expected, and may be precursors of a shrinking economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated that 19,000 jobs were filled in May, 14,000 in June, and 73,000 in July (bls.gov/economic news release 8/1/2025).

To the Editor:

It has been refreshing to see so many on the political left protesting tariffs recently.

For anyone who is not aware, it is well documented that tariffs, not slavery, were the primary reason for the Southern States to secede in the 1860s.

To the Editor:

The tariff disaster is the last of three major events that demonstrate that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are incompetent to govern the country. The deportation debacle was the first and the so called cost-cutting fiasco is the second. 

To the Editor:

The other day, while driving to a golf outing, President Donald Trump demonstrated a callous disregard for the suffering his tariffs have inflicted on hundreds of millions of Americans, whose interests he was elected to champion and protect. 

To the Editor:

Despite what MAGA Republicans say, our esteemed president inherited a robust economy from President Biden (except for egg prices, apparently). The stock market was booming, unemployment was low and inflation was going down. 

To the Editor:

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) buys about $2 billion — billion — in U.S. agricultural products per year. American crops like wheat, peas, lentils, rice, corn, soybeans, vegetable oil and sorghum are purchased for USAID programs. 

When I asked a friend in the north of England what people there think of our recent election, he did not hold back. 

“The chief reaction here generally is one of utter incredulity,” he wrote. “There’s a sense of bewilderment at the number of people, apart from his most rabid supporters, who could actually vote for the creature, allied to a sense of wonder at a political and legal system which could allow it to happen.” 

To the Editor:

The economy of this great nation, and indeed, the world, is a huge thing that, like those supertankers and container ships that help keep it all running, does not change direction very fast or easily short of some major shock to the system.