Readers’ Column for the week of Jan. 28, 2018

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 that is tired of seeing anti-smoking commercials: I feel that the government has a duty to protect its citizens from harmful substances whether it is in our food or other things we ingest. It should discourage us from risky behavior where it can, even to the point of penalties (i.e. not wearing seat belts). Everyone should stay as healthy as possible because anyone who is sick or injured is a drain on their families, their friends, the health professionals and the community. One problem in the area of smoking is that government makes a considerable amount of money in the short term, even though we all pay in the long term with loss of workdays and the illnesses associated with nicotine. Wouldn’t it be nice to see our hospitals and clinics transform into Wellness Centers instead of Disease and Sickness Centers?

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In last week’s Pennysaver was “Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and causes thousands (.0003%) of cancer deaths each year, according to the EPA.” This is pure 100 percent conjecture. Surprisingly, no research has linked radon to cancer. Consider the logic. If homes contain dangerous levels of radon, then all American miners would have died from lung cancer. This includes the Lansing salt miners. Source – EPA. 

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A drag queen shouldn’t read a story to a child but it’s okay if a giant yellow bird or a purple dinosaur do? A sponge can entertain? A mermaid can be a heroine? A kid can dress as a werewolf for Halloween? Can a girl pretend she’s Harry Potter? Are you offended by these questions? If so, why? Is make-believe unacceptable? If so, don’t ever go to a movie or a play.

National Political Viewpoints

My grand daughter was right; a wall should be built, around Trump.

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You reap what you sew Mr. President; you will answer to a higher court, eventually.

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There is an interesting article in this month’s Adirondack Life magazine about hibernating black bears. This was based upon a study of 199 collared bears in Pennsylvania, but would apply to New York State as well. Black bears undergo a gestation period of about seven months after mating. The bears enter their dens from mid October to late December to begin a deep sleep hibernation called torpor. The cubs are born in January and nurse the sleeping mother until they emerge from the den around April. As part of Trump’s efforts to dismantle every part of Obama’s legacy, he signed H.J. Res 69 last year making it legal to hunt hibernating bears. This way hunters, like his sons, can get their trophies without facing personal danger.

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“Lifestyle advertising has encouraged the proliferation of lifestyle diseases. The existential heartaches of ordinary people have been exploited by advertisers like Leo Burnett Co. to market lethal products like cigarettes and fast food. Rather than cater to consumer demands for nutritious foods, Kraft and other food conglomerates have stepped up, and in some cases tripled advertising expenditures in order to “re-educate” consumers. In response, parents and consumers have organized and won major political victories, initially in Europe, but increasingly in the United States as well. As encouraging as these signs are, a lasting solution to the epidemic of malnutrition and the cultural annihilation wrought by predatory advertising will need to address the systemic contradictions inherent in the capitalist food system. Without access to the means of production, farmers will continue to be straddled with interest payments, which force them to increase production in response to price declines, ultimately reproducing chronic oversupply and creating the raison d’être for licentious advertising ala Leo Burnett Co.” “It’s Time to Confront the Scourge of Capitalism in the Food System.” — Justin Theodra, Truthout

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A 71-year-old president of the U.S. saying, “I’m glad the DEMS came to their senses.” And the recording on the White House answering machine, “The white house is closed because of the democrats’ actions.” How childish. So, so disappointing!

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Sign from the women’s marches of 2018: “Would you buy a used car from a pathologically lying Con man with a raging narcissistic personality disorder?”

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People in Congress would like you to believe people who are part of DACA are pure as the driven snow. Turns out that is not quite so. We’ve inherited folks who have joined gangs, gotten involved in all kinds of nefarious activities, yet they would like to be protected from deportation, but not all. Of course, out of about 8 million, approximately 900 are serving in the military, etc. The interest of the Democrats in not this country and what’s good for the country, but what’s good for their voter registration. They would obviously stand with the DACA crowd rather than the military and the good of this country for their own interests.

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This is America, all people should be TWEETED the same!

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Putting it simply, dump the trump!

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When I was a part of the Army (1964-1966) we were called baby killers because of the Vietnam War; now, those same people are advocating killing babies by supporting abortion (pro-choice). There have been 44,498,750 abortions since 1973. That’s more than the population of Tokyo, which is 38,140,000. 

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Do you think the Democrats are driving the progressive agenda? It’s actually the mainstream media setting the progressive agenda and the Democratic leadership just follows their ideological marching orders. They all speak with the same words and the same tone. When a country doesn’t have a free and unbiased press, the American people are held hostage to whatever propaganda the press is promoting that serves their own ideological causes. Then they marginalize anyone who challenges or disagrees with them. We should all want an honest and unaffiliated press who represents ALL of the American people, not just one ideological point of view. When a free and unbiased press is gone, we are no longer allowed to think independently and are no different than the communist countries that decide what their populations will hear in order to control their minds and hearts. Wake up, America!

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The stock market went from $18,000 to $26,000 since Trump took office? What are you looking at? That isn’t any standard measurement. And none of the standard measurements show anything near that rate of growth.

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It’s a hoot to listen to the Liberal Democrats bewail the shut down. Make no mistake, the Dems are not at all interested in the military, the “Dreamers”, illegal aliens except for one thing – votes. They figure they will get the majority of the 8 million votes from the illegals in this country, which will stop them from ever having to face a defeat in an election like this last one with Hillary. The good of the country takes second place to THEIR need for votes. Good to remember the next time you vote!

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To the Women of America and the World: A Warning and a Rallying Cry From Poland: “We will strike with you as women of the 99 percent. As the mothers, the wives, the sisters, the daughters and the leaders of the revolution for an inclusive, sustainable future for all: one where the remarkable connectivity of technology can spread wisdom and cooperation more quickly and farther than false truths and hatred. A world where the value of human beings is based on what they know, what they can do and how they contribute, not on their gender, the place of their birth or the name of their god. A society, where it is the invisible hand of democratic values that lifts citizens up into equality for all. We strike against the trampling of human rights, hard won by brave men and women of the past, in the name of a new progress. We stand together to take active part in the forming of a new balance, which will emerge from today’s crises on both sides of the Atlantic.” Distributed March 6, 2017

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“It’s the kind of speech a Ritalin-soaked ferret might deliver – if he fell into a heap of uncut cocaine. And though any effort to extract anything that seems like a coherent bit of dialog is doomed to failure, I’m telling you that Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs could not have crafted that with a bottle of tequila and a major stroke. What does it mean, man? What does it mean? And that’s before Trump gets to America’s vicious rivers.” How Mark Sumner in the “Daily Kos” [admittedly the FoxNews equivalent for the Democrats] described Trump’s interview with the WSJ

From the Editor: Due to a technical problem experienced with the recorded phone messages, we were not able to pull the comments that were phoned in. If you phoned in a comment, please call again. We are sorry for the inconvenience.