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On Your Mind is the Herald/Review’s telephone opinion line and is intended as a public forum for our readers. Comments represent the opinions of callers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper or any specific knowledge that we have. Readers may share their opinions by calling 458-0332, or by e-mail to svhoym@transedge.com or regular mail at 102 Fab Ave., Sierra Vista AZ 85635. Please keep comments less than 90 seconds. Comments are edited.
March 13
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I read yesterday that Iraq had its highest oil exports recently since the war began with last autumn’s revenue between $35 and $60 billion creating a massive budget surplus for the country. But this is wasted or pocketed by corrupt officials and little is going toward refinancing reconstruction. So, U.S. taxpayers continue to invest in rebuilding Iraq instead, so far spending over $45 billion. The military surge seems to be working so far but U.S. taxpayers will spend an estimated $12 billion per month in 2008 alone. I gassed up yesterday at nearly $3.20/gallon and later read Diana West’s comment in the Herald about the U.S. post-9/11 policy being certifiably insane. Today I read the dollar continues to collapse against other world currencies and reached a new record low against the Euro. The national debt will nearly double in the eight years of this administration. You supporters of Cheney/Bush must be proud.
I wonder if Vladimir Putin’s middle name could be Ras? Remember the “Mad Monk”?
I think Glenn Spencer can take his cameras and his whole organization and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine. The only thing those cameras are good for are targets for his shotgun.
If the gas price is stupid, drill in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge).
March 14
The Bloomberg Report reported today that consumer confidence is at the lowest that it’s been in 16 years. Let’s do the math. Sixteen years ago was during the administration of Daddy Bush. To all you Democrat-bashers who insist on calling in to OYM, it makes you look out of touch with reality. Even you had it better under Clinton than you had it under either Bush administration.
I’d like to know why everybody calls John McCain a hero. I wonder what he did to be called that. Was it because he was in a prison camp like thousands of other Americans? I’m wondering why he is called a hero. What did he do? Can anybody help me?
I’ve been a Democrat since 1951. Now I’m trying to decide what the Democrats are doing. I think they’re trying to elect (Republican Sen. John) McCain. I’m ashamed to be a Democrat. Too bad we don’t have an independent running.
Editor’s note: There are other candidates running for president. For instance, Ralph Nader is running for a fifth time, but again not under the Republican or Democratic parties.
We keep reading about the “historic schoolhouse” by the San Pedro at Fairbanks off Route 82. After five years of driving down 82, we have yet to find it! Is there a sign? Where exactly is the schoolhouse? Also, does anyone know the history of the lovely formations on I-10 at Texas Canyon? (The ones that look like balls of unbaked bread dough?) Being products of the Midwest (where, in Kansas, a “Scenic Overlook” stop left us gazing at a feedlot (beauty is in the mind of the beholder), we expect signs explaining things. We admit there is more beauty down here to identify, but a state which feeds off tourism should provide more info.
Editor’s note: We suggest that you call the Friends of the San Pedro River to get information on how to get to the schoolhouse. You can reach the group at 459-2555, or by e-mail to fspr@sanpedroriver.org.
If we waited for all the illegal aliens to get out of the country we wouldn’t need all this money to fund the English language courses and could use the money for other things.
The story goes that Hillary Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, was interviewing a U.S. Marine who just got back from Afghanistan and she asked him, “What is your greatest fear? What does our country need to be afraid of most?” He said, “Osama, Obama, and your mama.”
The AIMS test was designed to see if the school boards and teachers are actually teaching students what they need to make a living and be intelligent citizens. That’s what we are paying our taxes to get. When citizens make financial decisions and vote they should understand what they are doing and why. Final exams mean nothing if nothing is being taught in the classroom that is useful. Mr. Schapira must be representing the teachers union and is spinning like a top. The AIMS test has been diluted enough. If I must pay high taxes I don’t want straight A ignoramuses as graduates in return.
My husband who has lived in Sierra Vista over 50 years and is of Irish descent is very sad and shocked that this town couldn’t find anyone local who is deserving of this honor to be grand marshal of the parade. This is a slap in the face to many fine people of Irish descent who live in Sierra Vista. Who is this man from New York who doesn’t even live here and why was he chosen? Maybe next year you’ll put in a little thought and feeling for the selection of grand marshal. I, for one, will not be attending your parade.
March 15
If anyone wants to know about Obama’s church they can go to http://www.tucc.org/home.htm and decide for themselves what the church stands for.
Shame on SV gas dealers. I went to Tucson yesterday (March 14) and gas was as low as $3.03 compared to the lowest here of $3.29. Does that tell you anything?
Believe it or not, President Bush actually accomplished some good for our country. He ruined the Republican Party and he showed America and the rest of the world that anyone can become a president of the U.S. no matter what their mental capacity is, and he probably has secured a win for the Democrats come November.
There is no easy answer to a quick fix of high gas prices. Long term — a combination of more nuclear power plants, building new oil refineries, exploration of ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and off-shore oil, and the development of viable alternate energy sources, like more solar and windmill, would be a logical approach to reduce noticeably our dependence on foreign oil and dramatically reduce oil prices. The main obstacles are Democrats and environmentalists.
Since I’ve moved here over two years ago, I’ve seen the city of Sierra Vista test and promote from within the organization a police chief and a fire chief. Why doesn’t the city save the taxpayers and the applicants money and just keep it in-house. One thing I learned after 25 years in law enforcement, when you promote at this level with the same employees, nothing changes. When you bring in qualified people from outside the organization, fresh ideas are brought in and changes are made for the better.
This is for the editor of the local Sierra Vista cable TV guide printed by the Herald. It continues to boggle my mind that when we go on and off Daylight Savings Time the people who edit your guide are continually at a loss to figure out the time difference. Your TV guide continues to be wrong for all cable programming especially cable movies that are typically two hours off on the start time. It would be nice in the future if every time the time zones change they would get it right. For the last three to five years this has happened. How hard is it?
March 16
If I could talk to Spc. Monica Lin Brown who recently was awarded a Silver Star for her brave actions in Afghanistan I first of all would say thank you for your unselfish actions. Second I would tell her that if she continues her service in the Army and retires she will be forced to give up 50 percent of her retirement pay to her (former) husband if she ever marries then divorces. Most active duty military members are not aware of the USFSPA law that allows their retirement pay to be divided to their civilian (former) spouse for life. So if you do 20 years, you will only be rewarded for 10 of those because the rest will be given to someone who has no idea what you went through while you were active duty. Military members beware.
Why do you think President Bush thinks torture should be in our arsenal of interrogation techniques? He must or why veto a bill requiring the CIA to adhere to interrogation tactics which preclude such torture. If that isn’t the $64,000 question, why do you think Sen. McCain would agree with him? Didn’t he vote against such actions as water boarding previously? I guess getting elected triumphs ethics and moral rectitude. As a retired officer, I tried to draw the line and stand by it. My respect went to those who did the same. Needless to say, neither President Bush nor Sen. McCain has my respect.
One more opinion on heroes. A hero is someone who is courageous. For a military combatant, courage is not dependent upon being wounded, shot down, captured or even surviving. Courage is a common commodity in combatants. It takes courage to ride a chopper into a hot LZ. It takes courage to fly your aircraft into a nest of air-to-ground weaponry. It takes courage to ride in a convoy in Iraq. It takes courage to assault an enemy position in the face of heavy fire. It takes courage to hold your position when things really look bad. It takes courage to do it over and over, because now you know what hell looks like. These types of deeds are performed continually by soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines during combat. Think about it. Someone is outside waiting to kill you. What would it take to get you out of your house? Senator McCain and virtually every other American warrior is a hero.
Sheriff Larry Dever’s letter today on the opinion page was open, honest, and appreciated. We have lived in Sierra Vista for seven years and are impressed by Dever’s competence and abilities to keep our county on an even keel. He is a solid, stable individual and never shoots from the hip but takes an even, calm, middle of the road attitude concerning law enforcement.
The city government is ripping off the citizens of Bisbee; to wit, the fire chief. He’s the second highest paid department head in the city, and all he does is show up at social functions. He doesn’t do his job, he doesn’t train his department and he’s a poor manager. He should be impeached or fired.
March 17
Not content with 4,000 U.S. casualties in Iraq and several hundred thousand Iraqi civilian casualties in “collateral” damage, and the complete loss of moral authority throughout the world due to Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and waterboarding, and thousands of our own citizens on 9/11 when warnings were all about, the failure that is George Bush (check out his own failed companies before becoming president) has leveled his sights on the American economy, with predictable results: Those who are marginally placed will be pushed off the edge into poverty, the number of uninsured will grow, personal bankruptcies will soar, and even the top 1 percent, who have loved him for his tax cuts and cronyism, are now suffering, forced into speculating in oil as a last refuge, with dire results for us peasants at the pump. We are all casualties of this moron. That 29 percent of the voting population still supports him shows indeed that rationality is another casualty of these troubled times.
I was glad to see there are some landowners in Texas with enough guts to stand up to the government about the stupid fence building project. The government will have to steal their land like they have from others, I suppose. At least they have enough guts to try to stand up against them instead of lying down like the weak acquiescent sheep like the landowners around here who let the government waste our tax money in the biggest fiasco I’ve ever seen.
Everyone here is flummoxed about why the president is in such a fine mood. The dollar’s crumbling, the recession’s thundering, the Dow’s bungee-jumping and the world’s disapproving, yet George Bush has turned into Gene Kelly, tap dancing and singing in a one-man review called “The Most Happy Fella.” … The more terrified Americans get, the more bizarrely carefree he seems. … In on-the-record sessions with reporters — and more candid off-the-record ones — he has seemed goofily happy in recent weeks, prickly no more but strangely liberated and ebullient. Maybe the president is just putting on a good face to keep up American morale, the way Herbert Hoover did after the crash of ’29, when he continued to dress in a tuxedo for dinner. Or maybe the old Andover cheerleader really believes his own cheers, and that prosperity will turn up any time now, just like the WMD in Iraq. Or perhaps it’s a Freudian trip. Now that he’s mucked up the world and the country, he can finally stop rebelling against his dad and relax in the certainty that the Bush name will forever be associated with crash-and-burn presidencies.
Here you go... wrote on Apr 7, 2008 2:46 PM: