I have a double car wide driveway. One half is empty of car the other half has a car parked on it. My yard is a 25-foot square rock covered area. Plenty of area for delivery wouldn’t you think? Not so! The newspaper is delivered nearly every morning under the car sitting in the other half of the driveway making it necessary to carry a broom to sweep the paper out from under the car. What gives?

EDITOR’S NOTE: We don’t know the exact situation with the carrier who delivers your newspaper, but we encourage you to contact circulation manager Aimee Fabre at 515-4642 to discuss the problem.

I found the Dec. 13 Herald editorial, “Bush and dealing with Iran,” to have the appearance of being a fairly sober assessment, with this qualification. I was surprised the Herald did not mention that both British and Israeli intelligence services strongly take issue with the latest National Intelligence Estimate, put together by our 16 intelligence agencies. British and Israeli intelligence consider the NIE to be a deliberately watered-down, politically compromised report. It is common knowledge that we have some intelligence analysts in our 16 intelligence agencies who do not hesitate to allow their personal sentiments influence their analysis of the daily bits and pieces of intelligence information they see. My common sense tells me to side with the British and Israeli intelligence services, which believe Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. I find it hard to understand why Iran, the world’s second largest oil producer, needs nuclear power. Also, I find it hard to explain why Iran would bother to stock long- range missiles, which it now has, unless they are meant to carry nuclear warheads. Iran does not need long-range missiles to reach nearby Israel, which the Iranian government has called for its annihilation. However, to reach Europe and the U.S., Iran would require long-range missiles.

In reference to a letter to the editor on Dec. 13, “The God that I worship is different”: Well, praise Jesus that you were all born to the one true religion! How blessed is that? Sarcasm aside, you know that Muslims born into Islam feel the same way — to the death. Buddhists born into Buddhism feel the same way. Hindus born into Hinduism feel the same way. And the ancient Greeks felt the same way about Zeus. Thousands of gods and religions have been created from humans from the beginning of mankind to include Christianity. The only common thing all religions have is that none of their gods ever really show themselves to be real. It’s all a blind faith game! “I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, then you will understand why I dismiss yours.” — Stephen F. Roberts.

I just finished reading Ruth Neleski’s letter in today’s newspaper about calling the season what it is — Christmas. She has really got the right idea. She knows what Christmas is and understands it even though she is Jewish. It’s a shame it has to be “holiday” season. Why can’t we leave Christ in Christmas? Christ is the reason for the season. Are we afraid of offending agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Hindus, etc.? This is our Christmas season. It’s time we acknowledge that and get back to our basic Christian fundamentals.

The Iranians have been testing missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. At the same time, we know they are enriching uranium for nuclear bombs. What is the matter with our military and our government? They need to stop the Iranian nuclear program today, or tomorrow, or this week. They need to get that little twerp in Iran who claims to be president and tell him we will nuke his facilities if necessary. It’s better to do it today than wait two years when they can wreak havoc on the world.

I’m calling about Ruth Neleski, who in her letter questions what happened to the word Christmas in Sierra Vista? It’s easy to see that all the way from the chamber of commerce taking out the word Christmas and substituting “holiday” that it truly tells what type of town this is. Do you ever see a church pastor questioning the word holiday instead of Christmas? Or any business with Christian owners saying they want it called a Christmas parade instead of holiday parade? Ruth asked a very good question. What happened to Christmas tree instead of holiday tree? That’s Janet Napolitano, the Democratic dictator governor, who made a mandate that it would be called a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. That’s what happened to the word Christmas, which means birth of Christ. All you have to do is ask the chamber what happened to the word Christmas. They are the ones who deleted it. Thank you for the letter.

I attended the Cochise College band concert at the mall last night and it was great. It’s too bad that the mall didn’t allow the concert to be held in the food court. It was by Dillard’s, and there was nowhere to sit. But the concert was great.

I want to thank you for your new column on TV and the upcoming sports for the week in your sports section. It used to take me more than once going through the sports pages to find out what was coming up during the next week. Thanks and cheers!

Kudos to the woman who designed and created the Coronado National Memorial Christmas ornament. It is beautiful, and she should be very proud.

Dec. 14

Ms. (Jacqueline) O’Connor made some grand assumptions and generalizations about Democrats in her recent letter to the editor: “Democrats are using immigration by urging open borders and amnesty for millions to gain voters and increase union membership.” If O’Connor has some pertinent, substantiated research that brought her to this conclusion, I’m sure the readers would appreciate seeing it. In the meantime, I must say that never, not even once, have I heard any Democrat promote open borders, nor amnesty. Democrats I know favor comprehensive immigration reform to strengthen security on our borders. Democrats have been and will continue to advocate stopping the political games that divide us. Democrats encourage bipartisan legislation that will solve immigration problems. I hardly think O’Connor can be considered a confidante to, nor an expert on, Democrats’ opinions, policies or intentions.

Hey, what’s with this? In previous years when the politically correct crud being shoved down our throats, store employees were instructed to say “happy holidays” if any sort of reference was to be made to the season. Never mind the fact that the stores have been decorated to the hilt for months. I don’t know about you, but when I’m holiday shopping I get in the mood and like that sort of thing. But nowadays it seems the store employees I bump into don’t make any reference at all. “Have a nice day” is about the best I get. Heck, PC was better than nothing! So ya know what I do? I say “Merry Christmas” almost every chance I get and loud enough for others to hear. I usually then get a smile and a return greeting. That’s a good thing. Try it and lets get’em back in the habit of the good old days. Merry Christmas, folks! Pass it on.

How long has the city been trying to install its “plastic bag” recycling system, almost a year? Can we really say that it is a success when at last report, there were only about 750 users out of how many homes in Sierra Vista? I have lived here going on 20 years. When we first came, there was a Dumpster in the parking lot at Seventh and Fry, and I believe it was managed by one of the local service organizations. Later there were bins at several locations around town and also managed by service organizations. For some reason, the city took over managing the bins and they were full to overflowing, and the area was a mess. So the city decided to do away with all of this work and mess and just have curbside recycling. There is probably less than a fraction of the recyclables collected today that were gathered in the old bins. Why? I know I used to collect my newspapers and magazines and aluminum cans and recycle them. Now they just go into the garbage and end up in that landfill that they are always proclaiming to want to protect. When the money for tipping fees is weighed against the cost of recycling, recycling is the loser.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The city has been conducting a recycling survey. We encourage you to go to city hall or call 458-3315 to see how you might participate in giving your viewpoint.

I wholeheartedly agree with the article about the people from the south coming over and buying up all of the goods before we in Sierra Vista even have a chance to get anything. We are the ones who support Sierra Vista all year and should have the right to be able to get in on the good sales. I tried to find some things at Big Lots the other day and to no avail I could not find anything. This is a little bit ridiculous. We can’t get items we need because of people coming from the south. Can’t something be done? They should have a lock down.

Kudos to Ron Murray and his letter to the editor about education funding. He hit the nail on the head. All our educators and school board want is more money, more money. Funding does not equate to excellence. Thank you, Ron, for putting out the very important statistics. Right on.

On pages 13 and 14 of today’s Stocking Stuffer the print is almost completely unreadable. On pages 16 of the TV section the white print on the dark background is illegible. The ad for Premier Homes on page 18 is hard to read. These are paid for but they’re unreadable ads. I’m sure it’s not intentional. But perhaps the Herald could make better ads for the advertisers and more readable for the customers.

EDITOR’S NOTE: No, it’s not intentional. We’re guessing you may have got a copy that was when the press wasn’t fully up to speed. If you’d like another copy, see our circulation department at our 102 Fab Ave. office.

Dec. 15

I want to remind people to please not leave their dogs and cats outside in the freezing cold. The other night we heard dogs howling, and some sounded like pups. They were freezing. Temperatures were below normal. If you can’t take care of them please call animal control. You wouldn’t want to be left out like that.

I am deployed to Iraq from Fort Huachuca. Whenever possible, I enjoy keeping in touch with events back home by reading your newspaper online. It was interesting reading the article about the West Gate and how funding was “appropriated” for it to remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the remainder of the fiscal year. It’s amazing what happens when a community (i.e., special interest groups, a politician) comes together! Hogwash, we (post residents) were sold out! Last year the post library was closed because it was not up to standard. Truth is, it was neglected and became an easy target. We were told the future Army will tap into resources with adjacent communities and form “partnerships” to save money. How is it we can deploy soldiers, leave their families behind and still take away our facilities? During deployments, it is important that a military community comes together and provides support. This is what sets us apart from our civilian neighbors. Fort Huachuca has room for improvement. As a career soldier, I am appalled the Army can pour billions of dollars into Iraq, but can’t fund something as important as a library. Somehow money is found to keep a gate open that does not directly impact the young soldier and his family who, quite possibly, would like to walk to the library.

I read in the Dec. 15 Herald the front page article “Fort gets funds to help keep gate open” till next September. As a citizen and taxpayer, I consider the $327,000 in federal money that will be used to keep the West Gate open for the convenience of the 600 residents living outside the gate to be a boondoggle. I always thought the original offer by the fort to meet their emergency medical needs was a reasonable solution. But it was not enough to satisfy them. We always decry all the “pork” the federal government spends and wastes elsewhere in the country. But when the “pork” is wasted in our own back yard, it’s perfectly OK. That smacks of hypocrisy.

Dec. 16

It was interesting this past week to see Nancy Pelosi get up and vow to not give President Bush any more money this year for the war on terrorism. One has to wonder what country she plans to live in that is immune from terrorist attacks. The war is expensive as all wars are, but to deny our troops the best that money can buy is verging on the edge of treason. The congress just passed a Farm Subsidy Bill in the amount of $286 billion, most of which will end up in the pockets of the wealthy big agribusiness companies. If Congress was serious, they could clean up the waste and corruption in our own government spending and still have more than enough to fight the war and for legitimate domestic programs without breaking the bank and raising taxes.

The Herald editorial (Dec. 16) “Busy week on climate issues” is slanted reporting. It gives the impression that scientists believe global climate change is man-caused. The truth is many scientists believe global climate change is cyclical. For example, scientists have debunked the idea that the Arctic ice is melting as a result of human activity. The warming is mainly the result of ocean currents. The Arctic seems to be undergoing a warming phase, similar to the one it experienced between 1920 and 1950. This was followed by a cooling phase between 1950 and 1990. There is the claim that polar bears will go extinct. Earlier this year a Canadian Press Newswire story reported that in three Arctic villages polar bears are so abundant there’s a public safety crisis. And for the Herald to use Al Gore as an authority on global climate change is ludicrous. Scientists have riddled holes through his recent book on global warming, classifying it as pseudo-science. Furthermore, the science on global climate change is changing at such a fast clip that so-called scientific reports are outdated by the time they are published. The data in them may not be reliable. I wish the Herald would try to give readers the balanced reporting it pretends to practice.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The reference is to an editorial, which is supposed to be slanted to give a point of view. It is not a news article.

Dec. 17

People need to read the U.S. Constitution. Amendment 14 says you become a citizen in two ways: being born to American citizens abroad or being born in the U.S. It doesn’t matter where your parents’ home is. America has survived 200 years because of that document. To say people who are here illegally but are born here are not citizens is wrong.

I think Sen. (Barack) Obama is wasting his time trading barbs with the Clinton camp. The few men in this country who would vote for Sen. (Hillary) Clinton may be those who view her as a mother figure, and there are certainly not sufficient numbers of women to cover the loss in male votes. All that aside, no woman would be capable of handling the war against Islamic terror, and the number of men who might be able to wear those shoes one could count on one hand. Even the male presidential candidates are going to have to step up to the plate and spell out their proposed plans for protecting the country and quit acting like a bunch of pussycats with worries about the other guy’s religion, his position on taxes, and whether he was tough on crime.

The Santas of the World display in the park is beautiful and inspiring. If you, your family and friends have not seen it do take time from the season’s commercialism and enjoy the nostalgia. Thank you to the volunteers who worked so hard to create this Sierra Vista tradition. Especially thank you to the city employees who did a professional job putting up the display. Merry Christmas.

School will soon be out for the holiday. In the past, our schools have been vandalized during this vacation time. It is hoped that school administrations have a security plan in place. More important, parents, be aware of your children’s activities and whereabouts during the holidays. You are responsible for their behavior. Thanks.

LOOK FOR more On Your Mind in Friday’s edition of the Herald/Review.