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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. Due to the volume of submissions, comments will be limited to 150 words or fewer. Comments are edited. The Herald/Review’s also has a policy regarding On Your Mind comments due to the primary election on Sept. 2. On Your Mind comments on the primary were accepted until 5 p.m. on Aug. 20 and printed on Aug. 25. This policy is to allow candidates time to answer any comments that might be made.
Aug. 21
I think Bush and his wise men and one woman in the White House need to check the light bulbs at the West Virginia (nuke) bunker complex. Putin’s threat is real, and I think his finger is not too far from his nuclear missiles arsenal. The secretary of state recently said on TV that this is not 1968. Putin not only thinks it’s 1968, it is also 1956, 1979-1989 and 2008. Bush, our war president, has stepped over the line once more. His cowboy attitude has brought us closer to war with Russia. Both of them are bullies. Why have the Russians been violating U.S. airspace with their bear bombers in Alaska, the back door to the U.S.? Here is another red flag, and it is yet another intelligence indicator to things to come.
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Aug. 22
This is in reference to the Burquist siblings who have raised nearly $2 million from donations and the sale of recycled cell phones to purchase more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards that allow soldiers to place calls without incurring any charges. These children are very industrious and should be very, very proud of themselves.
I was watching one of the presidential candidates and one of the planks of his platform will be reducing unemployment. This same candidate has sided with the teachers union and the NEA to do away with school vouchers even though they have proven to be a God send for parents stuck in a low performing school systems. You may ask, what is the connection? Well a person seeking employment will have a much better chance of finding a good job if they are able to read and comprehend what they have read. My suggestion is that any school system receiving government money be required to have every student completing second grade, if he is both mentally and physically able, to be able to read English and comprehend what he has read. If that child doesn’t show proficiency by then, he must repeat the grade as many times as required until he does.
I saw an article in the newspaper the other day about the minimum wage and I found it very confusing. I would like to know what exactly is the federal minimum wage now and is it going to go up soon? Also, what is the Arizona minimum wage and the California minimum wage and are they going up soon?
Editor’s note: The federal minimum wage is $6.55 per hour as of July 24, 2008. That wage is to increase to $7.25 per hour starting July 24, 2009. In Arizona, the minimum wage is $6.90 per hour and will rise based on cost of living indexes on Jan. 1, 2009. California’s minimum wage is currently $8 per hour.
I just got some information that erectile dysfunction kits for men are covered by Medicare, but eyeglasses and hearing aids are not. I would like something done about this. What is more important, hearing, seeing or sex? This is outrageous.
To all you folks who have had trouble getting a cab, it is time to celebrate. We have a new cab company in town. It’s called Huachuca Shuttle and Taxi. Their phone number is 439-0439. They have three brand-new vehicles and extra drivers. They are very courteous and get to you within 15 minutes. I believe they charge $7 anywhere in Sierra Vista. Support them. They are brand new and their vehicles are clean. They need you as much as you need them. Use them.
I tried to contact the Bisbee fire chief. I left at least five messages and have been by the fire station three or four times to talk to him about a fire-related issue. He is never available and he has never returned any of my calls. Is this a public servant that is responsive to his constituents or the people who pay his salary? I don’t think so. Tell him to rethink his position.
Let’s start a campaign for “thank you and come back.” The clerks say, “Have a happy day.” Maybe the customer is not having a happy day.
Is there an able-bodied botanist who could save the seeds for the wild flowers before the city destroys all the plants along the roadsides? Our ignorant city fathers and mothers have obviously forgotten that plants previously considered weeds have been the source of beneficial medicines. Examples are the purple foxglove, the source of Digitalis, the best and most useful of all heart medications. And the willow tree bark that gave us aspirin, an excellent analgesic that recently has been prescribed with morphine to increase the narcotic’s pain relieving effects. Aspirin also can efficiently prevent fatal intra-vascular clotting or a thrombotic stroke.
Regarding destruction of our priceless environment: Smokers are the worst polluters known. Their smoldering butts tossed along the roads cause fires that kill people as well as destroying property. The smoke from cigarettes thrown out a car window onto the streets is sucked into the following vehicle. The poisons in the cigarettes tossed onto the ground eventually pollute the city’s water table. If smokers only knew how bad they stink, they’d quit cold turkey. If they knew how horrible their breath smells, they’d ditch tobacco on the spot. If they knew how wrinkles around their mouth destroys their looks and their love life, they’d never touch another cig except to throw them all away. Smokers’ children are susceptible to asthma for life. Smoking is a distraction to drivers. The nicotine in tobacco is the most addicting substance on earth, and the most expensive habit causing health problems more costly and devastating than the other causes of cancer.
I have sent in two comments for the On Your Mind column and neither has been printed? I wrote in to let the people of Sierra Vista and surrounding area know that the Marisco’s Chihuahua that opened by the Main Gate has fabulous seafood and great prices. The family-owned restaurant has places in Tucson, Phoenix and Nogales, and all belong to the same family, wonderful people with great food from recipes that date from way back in their family. Thank you Marisco’s for coming to SV.
A person of “character” running to represent me would not knowingly take $100,000 of taxpayers’ money for his/hers own benefit. That is what Tim Bee has done by spending taxpayers’ money when President Bush came to Tucson for a Tim Bee fundraising event. Your friends in Cochise County had me convinced that you are a moral, upright nice guy. I was starting to doubt this when you shamelessly used your “adopted foster daughter” in your TV ads. Now that you have cheated Tucson taxpayers I know beyond any doubt that you are not a person I would trust to be my representative to the U.S. Congress. Shame on you, Tim Bee.
Which candidate lacks judgment? “We won a massive victory in a few weeks, and we did so with very limited loss of American and allied lives. We were able to end aggression with minimum overall loss of life, and we were even able to greatly reduce the civilian casualties of Afghani and Iraqi citizens.” — John McCain from the Senate floor on May 22, 2003, two months after the initial invasion. (Congressional Record) Sen. Obama has been against the war from Day 1.
Aug. 23
I would like to respond to a recent comment criticizing my letter and my point of view. He may disagree with me, but he missed my point on the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It didn’t matter that the tank ran aground and sprang a leak. What matters is that 11 million gallons of crude oil was spilled into the water and across 1,300-plus miles of coast line. Hurricane Katrina did not destroy any oil platform, not this time. Katrina did cause prices at the pumps to soar. The go-ahead by our president for off-shore drilling is only one of many reasons why oil prices dropped so sharply. According to the news, Americans are driving less, therefore less demand for fuel. Our president and the Republican Party certainly don’t deserve a medal for this. I am with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and many others who don’t believe off-shore drilling will benefit the public in cheaper oil prices.
Liberals who have permeated the Democratic Party want the redistribution of wealth which is a classic Marxist principle. The redistribution of wealth embodies class warfare, another classic Marxist principle. Barack Obama is a classic liberal who is clamoring for the redistribution of wealth. Check his meager political experience, his past voting record in the Illinois Senate and present voting record in the U.S. Senate, and he earns the title of Mr. Liberal. Obama would raise taxes of only people who earn more than $250,000 to pay for his many proposed government programs. This spells redistribution of wealth and class warfare. The moral of an Obama presidency is: It is plain stupid to earn over $250,000. Small businesses, the source of most jobs in America, suffer the most and unemployment rises. Guess who will lose jobs. That’s right — the middle class.
I read the Aug. 23 front page article “Giffords talks about U.S. energy woes, campaign.” Will the Herald give Republican Tim Bee equal front page space for a similar interview? I read Giffords supports what appears to be limited oil drilling on land. She never mentioned off-shore oil drilling. Bill Hess was either asleep at the wheel for failing to ask this key question or deliberately avoided it. Giffords actually parroted the usual Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid Democrat line about drilling oil only on land. I want to know her views on off-shore oil drilling because on our off-shores is where we have enormous oil resources. Is she against drilling oil off our shores or isn’t she? And it’s hard for me to picture Giffords as a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of so-called moderate to conservative Democrats, since she votes with arch-liberal Nancy Pelosi 93 percent of the time.
Editor’s note: The Herald/Review has interviewed Tim Bee in an editorial board meeting, and a story did appear in July regarding similar issues to what was discussed in the August meeting with Giffords. Bill Hess covers the congressional race and has written stories about both Bee and Giffords. On Aug. 27, he covered a meeting in which Bee talked with local residents about his views on a variety of issues.
Kudos to Sierra Vista Herald reporter Laura Ory who scooped Lou Dobbs, his staff and his army of CNN reporters. They missed her interesting “Lifestyle” feature on Aug. 3 with beautiful color photos of Sierra Vista and Tucson citizen volunteers clearing the Arizona Trail path from the Mexican border to the Utah border.
Never have I seen such disorganization at the front end of a business much less a front end at a grocery store where service can make or break an operation. There are more managers than there are cashiers none of who could find their collective way out of a paper bag. As someone who has spent large amounts of money in that store monthly, this grocery store has ensured I shall now travel to Benson to shop at the new Wal-Mart Super Center. A novel concept in the new millennium — customer service. Get it or get out.
I’d like to know where the county assessor thinks that property values in this area have gone up? He bases assessments on only a few sales for any given neighborhood but what of the foreclosures? All it takes is for one to decrease one’s property value. Perhaps, with the current investigations of the home loan industry, assessors need to be brought into it as well as it is quite apparent that in many markets, including Cochise County, that something doesn’t smell right. Once again, demanding full disclosure by all those running for public office of their personal income would shed some light on the faulty nature of assessments, not to mention some of the questionable decisions made by those governing our lives here in Sierra Vista.
If somebody asked you, you probably wouldn’t have to think about it. But when a reporter asked John McCain how many houses he owns, he stumbled and said, “I think — I’ll have my staff get to you.” Not only does McCain have trouble keeping track of all his houses, he looks at record gas prices and a crippling foreclosure crisis and thinks the economy is fundamentally “strong.” And last weekend he said anyone making less than $5 million a year isn’t rich. This is the side of McCain his campaign wants to hide.
Aug. 24
I was surprised at Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate. Why? During the primaries Biden publicly told Obama he was too inexperienced to be President of the United States. Also, Biden was a staunch advocate of invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein. Biden, a longtime friend of John McCain, is on record as saying he would be proud to serve as McCain’s vice president. Biden has served in the Senate longer than McCain and is equally identified with “the politics of old” which Obama scorns. With Biden at his side, Obama now looks ridiculous as the self-invented Candidate of Change. To knock McCain now for his age makes Obama look absurd. The real Obama seems to be caught in a contradiction of who he made himself out to be. Political expediency has become his trademark.
Should voters actually get to know John McCain and we should, he has nowhere to go but down. He is old; he gets confused easily. He doesn’t know a Sunni from a Shia. Doesn’t know how many houses he owns. He has major memory lapses and tells outright lies (remind you of anyone?). At Saddleback he attacked a piece of pork for which he actually voted. He had the gall to lie about the crucial details of his marital history in his memoirs, He’s got a hair-trigger temperament; his unyielding and backward policies offer worse than no change. That “drill now” thing is just a band-aid that as McCain himself says, will have only a “psychological” affect on gas prices. Americans need to band together and get on with the necessary changes that need to be made. China is already leaving us in the dust. What we really need is serious economic, educational, energy and health care mobilization.
I see the Herald did it again. Today’s front page says, “Smart Source coupons inside give you the chance to save $100.” Only thing is, my newspaper came without any Smart Source coupons. So did the newspaper screw up or did the carrier get them? Either way, it’s not a very good way to do business.
Editor’s note: If you did not received coupons in your newspaper, call the Herald/Review’s circulation department at 458-9440.
I do not understand why the taxis and shuttles in Sierra Vista want to charge between $70 and $75 to take somebody to the Tucson airport whereas in Tucson itself there is a shuttle service that will take people to the Phoenix airport and charge $68 for a round trip. That’s $34 one way. Is it that our people here are money hungry and they figure they’re going to rip us off, they don’t care either way? Guess I won’t be taking any taxis or shuttles in this town.
I’d like to thank the Palominas PTSA for the wonderful barbecue and back to school event. They have a great new principal, Joe Holder. What a change in the school system. You ought to check it out.
Dear boss, I have enjoyed working here these past several years. You have paid me well, given me benefits beyond belief. I have three to four months off per year and a pension plan that will pay my salary till the day I die and a health plan that most people can only dream about. Despite this, I plan to take the next 12 to 18 months to find a new position. During this time, I will show up when it is convenient. I fully expect to draw my full salary and all the other perks associated with my job. If my search for this new job proves fruitless, I will be back with no loss in pay or status. Before you say anything, remember that you have no choice in the matter. I can and will do this. Sincerely, every senator or congressman running for president. Try that at your job and tell me how it works out.
Support the cancer specialists. Smoke. Big bonus: At the same time, as you smoke each cigarette, morticians get rich too, so you’re supporting the economy.
Aug. 25
Hooray for Parks and Leisure whose upcoming “old-fashioned sock hop” finally offers an evening out for us 50-somethings! Considering how many of us live in this area, there should be many couples (singles too) who, like us, would revel in the chance of a reasonably priced evening out with the music which forms the background of all our milestone memories. Hey, we can’t be the only couple who enjoys dancing to the best music ever made. So kudos to whoever thought this one up. Only catch: They threaten cancellation if not enough advance tickets are sold. So, c’mon, call and get your tickets now so this event will come off as planned.
I am really tired of the smear strategy that the Republicans use. Founier of the AP threw out a sample Aug. 23. It really is the low road and just plain thuggery. If they have something constructive to say they should say it. They don’t and they won’t. They’ve got nothing except lying and distracting slime to sling. If you are a liberal, progressive or a moderate, according to the righteous Republicans, that makes you automatically unpatriotic and a hater of your country. What a crock that is. All this low-life, finger-pointing, hateful campaigning is reminiscent of the days of Joe McCarthy.
Saudi Arabian fathers give their children oil wells. American fathers give their children the national debt.
This is for the person who called into OYM about Iraq and Georgia saying that it was no different us going into Iraq or Russia going into Georgia. I don’t remember Russia going to the U.N. explaining why they were going into Georgia. I don’t remember Georgia having sanctions against it like Iraq did. It’s just an idiotic remark that never should have been made.
hummer wrote on Sep 16, 2008 10:36 PM: