JUNE 4

I just finished reading today’s newspaper about placing the Boys & Girls Club on Paseo San Luis across from Paul’s Pub. This is a good example of city fathers and government people doing whatever they want. This has got to be the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard of, putting a Boys & Girls Club across from a smoke shop and a pub. They better reconsider this. This doesn’t make any sense.

 

For the first time in this country’s history someone other than a white man has received a presidential nomination by a major party and your headline is about a new building for the Boys & Girls Club. Barack Obama’s achievement, although I’m not a fan of his, is historical news, not only in this country but also throughout the world. Small-town rag, small-town mentality. Get a grip or close down.

 

So just what is democracy about? Isn’t democracy supposed to be the majority rules? The majority of the popular vote goes to one candidate but the delegates go to another. That’s not democracy. That’s a bastardized system that needs to be done away with.

 

When John Kennedy was running for president the question was asked, how much would the Catholic Church influence his presidency? He replied that it would not affect any of his actions or performance. I think Barack Obama’s church has had a large adverse affect on his career even before he is elected. He has had three clerics humiliate him and all he does is mildly rebuke them and deny that they will have any influence on his presidential performance. All civilians black or white must be concerned. Can we trust him? I don’t think I can. We know what McCain and Hillary will do. He is a large unknown factor, with little experience, a questionable voting record in government, and a lot of unsavory associates in his past. Stop and think carefully. Race is not the most important consideration. Trust is.

 

Let’s do the math. One dollar per mile for the Phoenix Mars Lander and $3.2 million per mile for the border fence. Which one is worth more? It’s obvious to me the space exploration opens our horizons. This ignorant border fence closes it.

 

Yesterday my boyfriend won $300 on a lottery ticket. He went to cash it in at a grocery store and then went to his bank to deposit it. One of the $100 bills was a fake one so he did not get reimbursed for the $100. The store should be more careful in checking out larger bills and, of course, the bank didn’t reimburse him because it wasn’t their fault. I just want the public to be warned there are fake $100 bills going around. My boyfriend is out $100, and he is very, very mad.

 

I would like to respond to the letter to the editor about how children need to learn respect for our nation by Pam Saderup of Hereford. I totally agree with her. The letters from the fifth-grade students were very disrespectful to our country and are written by children who do not have the maturity or knowledge to make such statements. This falls back on the teachers. The teachers should have never allowed the students to make such comments. They are not qualified to and have no business writing about things like that. They should write about matters they know about. Let children be children. This was a sad commentary and very disgusting to read. Shame on the teachers for putting the children in a position like that. They should apologize to the community.

 

It says in the latter days there will be scoffers, and we have plenty of them. Evil will be good and good will be evil and it’s here.

 

It is still unethical, if not illegal, for a teacher to push his or her personal political or religious beliefs in a classroom. The fact the Bisbee Middle School teacher apparently violated that trust does not mean she represents all of public education. As a member of the public school force (and AEA and NEA) I know that while most teachers follow the rules, there are a small number who do not. Teachers who cross the line should be disciplined. I encourage parents to contact the school when they believe this is happening even if they agree with the teacher on the issues. Parents should also keep in mind that it is the role of high school teachers to help students become aware of all political viewpoints and to challenge the students to support their beliefs. Fifth grade, however, is not high school.

 

Cell phone users, this is a “call” to you. Listen up! Just because your phone is mobile doesn’t mean your conversations should be public. Doesn’t it embarrass you to have total strangers hearing your business? Publicly holding private conversations while in a line at the store, seated in a restaurant, or waiting in a doctor’s office is not appropriate. We do not want to hear about your latest troubles, gripes, romances, or run-ins with family or the law. We do not want to hear what you did last night, or what you plan to do tonight. If you must use your cell phone, please move to a more private spot and lower your voice. If you need to shop, shop; if you need to take care of personal business, do so before or after. Cell phone owners can possess common sense as well as a phone.

 

The abrupt takeover of LimeLight Productions by the for-profit Off Broadway Theatre strikes me as unethical. LimeLight should be ordered to regroup and all of its assets should be returned. I encourage all former students and supporters to call in or write to this newspaper and make their voices heard.

 

I know three people who may or may not be qualified for the federal stimulus payment program. I know it’s not too late for them to sign up but I don’t know where to get the tax form that was sent out in the mail specifically for those people who don’t file taxes. Could you please leave a name and address after my comment in OYM so I can get those forms? Thank you.

 

I knew the Boys & Girls Club would get approved for the Paseo San Luis location, even though as many folks in this area do not want it there as the prior location. I have lived off Snyder Boulevard for over 25 years. The traffic is horrible, with so many cars using it for a short-cut, speeding, cutting through the neighborhoods. Regardless if they plan on being a good neighbor, the number of vehicles during the day in that area will cause traffic and congestion and impact our quality of life. I am tired of the vehicles speeding, drag-racing, people jumping over the fences and cutting through yards, etc. This is a family neighborhood and only residents should be using Paseo San Luis. Every time the blotter is printed there are accidents and crime in this area. How about a little consideration for the neighborhood?

 

Many of us are now discovering that although the values of our homes are dropping, the amount of our property tax bills will most certainly be rising next year, as they did this year. If you wish to halt these outrageous tax increases, go to www.prop13arizona.com and copy a petition for the Prop 13 initiative. Certainly most of your neighbors and friends will “thank” you for the opportunity to sign it. Deadline for mailing it in is June 27, so don’t wait!

 

Bartack the Munificent, eyes shut tight with prophecy-page to side of head, sees September as a remember and November as the ember of Hill ’n’ Bill’s December in the run to back to fun, back in the White House. Hill can start again in Jan. to build up another fan base with the slogan “Yes, I ran I think I can I know I can. Oh yes, I can be Prez in 2010.” (Pause for no applause.)

 

If children in middle schools like the ones from Bisbee are being indoctrinated by their teachers into partisan politics, I think we need to change the rules. Religion has been banned from our classrooms and our schools and so should partisan politics be banned. This would not stop the teaching of the history of our form of government or how it works, but only the philosophies of the political parties. These children are probably too young to understand the differences. If the teachers want to teach government, that is fine, but start teaching the background of our system from the founding of our nation, and how and why our form of government is different from those of other nations. I am afraid that most teachers will have to go back to school for a refresher course or take government history 101 which they skipped the first time