Readers’ Column for the week of Feb. 5, 2017

You may call the Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or e-mail comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.

To the person who found my high school class ring in Price Chopper’s men’s room and was honest enough to turn it in to customer service – THANK YOU. Thank you for being honest. I’ve had the ring for 60 years and would have really felt the loss if not for your honesty.

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I just read the Pennysaver and someone posted they found a ring in the parking lot of the Dollar General in Spencer. You looked up what someone else’s property was worth, and are holding it ransom, giving them two weeks to pay up? Suppose that was your ring? Or better yet, what if a loved one gave it to you? This should be viewed the same as having stolen property!

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Please respond in this column as to why all the green lights are on? The holidays are over.

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ATTENTION Tioga Central VOTERS: get informed and VOTE on FEB. 21.

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It is unbelievable that the Town and Village of Spencer cannot come to an agreement regarding the Fire Protection contract. This is a little more serious than not controlling the Towns gas pumps. The Town Board needs a good shake up and to be replaced. A contract for fire protection is just the normal course of doing business. Spencer is so far behind the times. The Board believes that they are saving money, but in reality they are depriving the taxpayers of a good government.  

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I wonder which engineering firm the Tioga Central School District used for the last major construction project. Why was the pool NOT BUILT REGULATION SIZE so that it could be used for sporting events? We have a beautiful spectator area that is virtually useless. The swamp has been across from the fire station forever, why wasn’t the drainage problem addressed when the parking lot was built in front of the Elementary school? There hasn’t been any professional maintenance done on that driveway for years. Has it been that the problem has been ignored so the taxpayers can replace the entire parking lot? MAYBE THE TAXPAYERS SHOULD START DOING A LITTLE DIGGING and get some value for their money! The “virtual no cost” to the taxpayers for $6.9 million at five percent simple interest for 20 years adds up to $3.64 million in interest; do the math.

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I read in the paper where Ithaca is going to have smart meters installed for utilities. It all started many years ago when it was explained very quietly. At that time they said that the meters would cost the household about 50 bucks a year for 12 years. There was no mention of NYSEG repairing the outside of your house after the changeovers. What it boils down to is this: NYSEG cannot supply enough energy for businesses and individuals, so guess who gets the short end of the stick – the individual homeowners have got to pay the price. We become second-class citizens to industry. Another point that never is addressed is if NYSEG will stop charging local residents the basic service charge for reading meters. The charge, currently, is $31.41(both meters) for 12 months each year even though they only read the meter six times a year.

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The new bridge in Campville is a mess on the road. Why isn’t there two bump signs?

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I am so glad the Town of Barton did not join up with Waverly. All I remember is that big word, “misappropriated funds”, and you find out that it would cost a fortune for Barton to come in and settle in with Waverly. So whose pocket is really getting padded again from the taxpayers?

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I’d like to comment about the person who found the ring in the parking lot of the Spencer Dollar General Store. The person was demanding that they get a reward and they also said they know its value. That to me sounds very selfish and greedy. I think they should not expect a reward, just give the person back the ring out of the goodness of their heart. Being selfish and greedy is wrong.

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Wow! Pass out the Prozac. Doom and gloom hour every week on the Owego Village financial situation. No one has the guts to do the right thing, dissolve the village, cut jobs and services, or better yet take the $3 million from FEMA and level it with a bulldozer. You can’t fix it.

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I could not believe a comment in last week’s column. The caller is holding a ring hostage, wanting a reward. How greedy can a person be? The reward is in returning it willingly and making someone happy. I hope the caller never finds anything I may lose. I pray the comment was a joke and not for real.

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This is to the Tioga Zoning Board in Nichols regarding Jeff Gural and the sign he wants to put up. That man at Tioga Downs has done so much for Nichols. Back when we flooded he sent trucks and men out to help people, for free, he paid for everything! It’s unreal! Our beloved school and our kids, which are our future, he’s helped them, helped our school. He’s done so much! I don’t know why they don’t let him put the sign up and it would be for Amber Alerts also, if needed, which God forbid. This man has done so much to help our little town. There is going to be a meeting on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m., so people please come and help! We need to respect the man and help him back.

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Looking to get rid of a wood pellet stove. If interested, call 687-1512.

National Political Viewpoints

I am fed up with the democrats and the Hollywood actors. I for one am not watching any of the award shows. I don’t go to the movies and am selective about what I watch on TV. The only news channel I watch now is Fox news and all the news shows on Fox, especially the O’Reilly factor. I used to watch The View, and those women are mean and the show should be titled “my view is the only one that counts”. Whoopi and Joy walked off when Bill O’Reilly was on the show viewing his point of view, and because it wasn’t how they looked at things. To all the people protesting about women’s rights, what rights don’t we have? Go live in one of the foreign countries and you will beg to come back and realize just how good we have it in the USA. I am disappointed in the fact that they took God Bless America out of schools. People say happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas. President Trump is trying to help protect us from terrorists and may have not gone about it the right way and it wasn’t directed at Muslims. It’s to screen out the terrorists. People, open your hearts and give Trump a chance. It’s more than some of the other presidents did. Obama released bad prisoners out of jail and did some other things in the last two months he was in office to harm the USA. I am proud to be an American and you people who protest are just hurting other people; and if you don’t like it here in the USA, then move to another country.

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Ridiculous how the Dems are throwing a silly little temper tantrum over having lost the election by holding the country hostage and not giving the okay to President Trump’s cabinet choices. They ought to be held accountable, and will be in the next election, complete with Chuck Schumer’s theatrical tear display.

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For months I haven’t been able to stand Trump. I thought the slogan for 2017 should be DUMP TRUMP! I am starting to have a change of heart. The world is being destroyed by over-population, lack of food, pollution and endless wars. Trump can end all of this misery with a push of a button, and I think he will. Isn’t it better to end this self-destruction with a bang, instead of dragging it out?

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OH poor Chucky pooh, crying because Trump did something he thought was mean. And I thought Obama was a wimp. What a bunch sissies you Democrats have for leaders, if you can call those delicate snowflakes leaders?

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I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s been a real joy to hear our current President speak, and NOT to hear the words me, my, I, and my administration, as we were subjected to constantly under Nobama!

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Putting Donald Trump in the Presidency is like putting a 10-year-old boy in the cockpit of an airliner in mid-flight. He’s gonna try to find out what all the buttons are for.

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There is a contributor to this column who constantly hallucinates about parallels between Hitler and the Republicans, so lets examine that issue. The word Nazi comes from the German name Nationalsozialistiche Deutche Arbeiterpartei. Translation: National Socialist German Worker’s Party. So the key word is Socialist. In our recent history we had a party that ran a Socialist candidate in the primaries who got almost half of the votes among registered Democrats. Democrats voted for a candidate who promoted confiscation of property, such as firearms, a policy identical to the weapons control of the Nazi’s. Confiscation of property is directly from Hitler’s playbook when he robbed the Jews of their property. Nationalizing of heath care was also on his program. Similarities are endless. We should be on our guard now that we have established the ideological closeness of half of the Democrats to the Nazi ideology.

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Wow. Two pictures side by side, both taken from the Washington Monument; one of Obama’s inauguration, the other of Trump’s inauguration. And we get maybe eight column inches claiming that the crowd comparison is just a perspective difference. Wow.

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Protesting is not rioting. Yes there were arrests in D.C. on Inauguration Day. Two hundred and seventeen was the announced number. The total number of protesters on that day is undetermined. The next day for the Women’s March several hundred thousand marched in D.C. and another one to two million marched across the USA with zero (as in no) arrests. So stop lumping millions of well-behaved people in with 217 arrested hooligans. It’s an inaccurate, completely off base association. But please answer this. How many “liberals” are complaining about people protesting? How many “conservatives” are complaining about people protesting? Then explain why protesting is a bad thing.

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I somehow remember when conservatives were demanding the impeachment of President Obama for his use of executive orders, which they claimed were an abuse of power and a threat to the Constitution.

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Notice how the media makes no effort whatever to show the record turnout in the march for life parade in Washington, D.C.? What does that tell a thinking person? Why the constant drumbeat in favor of abortions?

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Question: Why is Trump asking the director of the National Park Service to dispute widely circulated photos of his inauguration? Answer: You fools have elected a fool and this crazy train will only get worse.

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Trump is using an unprotected cell phone to tweet, day and night. The White House staff is using a private email server. Oh my goodness! Hurry! Hurry! Get those lights back on. Get that Comey guy back in here to talk about being careless with national security. Get the committee back in here to investigate private email servers. Just kidding, rubes. 

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President Trump wants to bring back waterboarding. I think that’s a great idea. That’s the only way we’d get the truth. If we waterboard just the president himself maybe he can actually tell the truth for a change because he doesn’t seem to want to tell the truth any other time. Nothing but a compulsive liar.

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Secrets are coming out of the bag in Washington. The wall in Mexico is going to cost taxpayers $15 billion. Mexico will not pay for this nonsensical venture but you and I will. This is another idea, if you will, from the mind of a mentally ill person. His obsessions with numbers with the great I am and so forth, with which we are all familiar, are classic signs of either early dementia or full blown pathology. Speak to your member of congress about your fear of a mentally ill person having access to our nuclear weapons. Your life may depend upon it.

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News flash! It is amazing and wonderful that right before your very eyes, for the first time in decades, honorable citizens can see a president who does what he said he would do! President Trump should be supported by all loyal Americans. He is a dream come true. He is a real leader instead of a clown. The fear mongering Liberal Marxist Democrats are a joke, as everyone can see at this point. Viva Trump!

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I think Hillary Clinton should be blamed for all these recent protests. She painted such a very untruthful picture of Mr. Trump and as a result frightened a lot of people. These people now need to relax. Let Mr. Trump and his well capable cabinet govern our country. Mark my words, they will be pleasantly surprised and Hillary should be ashamed of herself. The Democrats need to now pay attention with less talk and follow the Republican lead. They may learn something that may click with them why Hillary is not in the White House. Seems like right now all they do is hinder progress.

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Colleges, universities, and public schools are providing safe areas and counseling because their students cannot deal with the reality that their presidential candidate did not win. They can’t handle the disappointment. This doesn’t say much for our educational institutions, does it? 

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In last week’s column some callers were asked if us Trump supporters were happy with our selection. We are delighted with our selection! He has done more in one week for our country than the last administration did in eight years. Yes, we are very happy with our choice of Trump and we are going to continue to support him and believe it or not, you mean spirited Liberals will actually benefit by his good guidance. Just wait and see.

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Callers, no matter how much you cry and moan, and how many foul mouth and destructive protests you attend, President Trump will be our president for the next four years. Get used to it! You talk of impeachment. Guess what? Pence will take over and the Republicans will still be in charge. Accept it, as we had to accept Obama when he won. We didn’t protest or cry or carry on. We were patient and well-behaved Americans. Instead of anger, focus on doing something good for our country – it needs it.

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Looking for the same front page coverage for the Women for Life march that was held on the Jan. 27 as you did so well for the pro-abortionists on this week’s front page.

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Democracy is a government by the people, not just one party; that would be a dictatorship. When one party or the other is elected to the White House that does not mean they get to impose their views and ideas of those who lost the election. This is when our democracy is in jeopardy. Our government makes laws and regulations for the benefit and well being of all people, regardless of party. When this is changed to reflect the views of only one party, then democracy is not being upheld and that’s why protests occur. Long standing civil rights are challenged due to a one party view, basically saying I have this lifestyle and I demand you have it too. We must continue to fight for our freedom to choose, as there will always be those who want to take it away.

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The Republicans wrap themselves in a flag and wave their guns around. Then they get in the White House and trample all over our constitution. 

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I’m not sure why people are so concerned about the number of people who attended Trump’s inauguration or the number of people who attended Obama’s inauguration. Could it possibly be that there were so many unemployed people who voted for Obama that they filled the Capital; and maybe because most of the people who voted for Donald Trump were hard working Americans. They had to go to work that day. They didn’t have time to go to an inauguration party. That could be it. But it doesn’t really matter how many people were there, get on to something more important.

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As a woman I must say I just cannot understand the furor over the last of Hillary Clinton. She has been an abject failure her entire career. She was a so-so attorney in what, let’s face it, not the most notable state in the country and never bothered to renew her license to practice there. She was a failure as a first lady, blind to the fact that her husband was using the White House as a brothel, a poor example for her daughter. New York State was and continues to be one of the highest taxed states with some of the highest utility costs to the point where upstate businesses and people who want to work are leaving in droves. As Secretary of State she dismissed our fellow citizens serving our nation in Benghazi. Those who died or were in danger could be your son, daughter, brother, sister, husband or wife. She deleted tens of thousands of emails that were property of we, the people. If done unintentionally then she is willfully ignorant. If done intentionally, then she is willfully criminal. My fellow females, surely we can do better; instead of bemoaning this loss let’s spend our time and energy searching for someone who deserves the office.

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I called in last week with issues about the thoughts I had and was wondering what the people would think of the outcome about men’s rights with abortions. Cuomo says women’s rights, women’s rights for their reproductive system. What about the fathers of those babies that are being killed? What rights do they have? I find this very discriminating between the sexes where the woman has more rights than the man. He does have feelings and cares about his child and he’s turned around and pushed away. Another one is free college. I’ve worked all my life. I’ve worked for everything I got and now they’re proposing free college? I’m retired now, so the students coming up through should pay my retirement, and both taxes on state, school and county should be free. Where are all these rights? How come it’s one sided? I don’t understand. 

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The first regulation the Republican Congress wants to repeal is that you don’t have to report payments to foreign governments. If that doesn’t put a chill down your spine then you are dead. 

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I wish Trump would shut up already, go to his office, close the door and get to work and stay off of the television. So sick of his big blabbermouth, he is so un-presidential and such a show off for a 70 year old. Is this what you Trump voters wanted? Mister tough guy, mister macho? It will never change, only upon his impeachment. Loose lips sink ships, brag, brag, brag. What a gong show this is!