Readers’ Column for the week of March 4, 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.

I was wondering if anyone had any free, used chimney blocks that I could haul away for you in the Owego and Waverly area. Please contact Bonnie at (607) 589-6847.

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If only we could get our hands on enough “free” money (i.e., grants, bequests, etc.) to pay for all the Village services we demand. Perhaps we can even get investors who paid for the sewer upgrade to forego the $565,000 a year bond payments for 25 years, beginning this year, so the EDU (sewer) rate wouldn’t have to be increased. If all this happened, we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with the REALITY of a declining tax base and revenue stream, the necessity to consolidate services, and the reelection of an incompetent Clerk-Treasurer incapable of preparing financial reports able to pass state-mandated audits. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get all the services we want, and get someone else to pay for it? Dream on, dream on, dream on….

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Northwest, owners of Fox40 and other stations want a huge increase in fees. Spectrum wants to pay less so they can do a lower increase. Spectrum offered to keep providing the stations, but Northwest refused. So why are people blaming Spectrum?

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I would like to know what is up with this local cable company. First our TV doesn’t work, then the phone doesn’t work, and then we are expected to pay for this! I’m about ready to pull the plug on the cotton-picking thing. I have had enough!

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Does anyone know if we are getting an Aldi’s in Owego?

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Tioga County Rural Ministry currently has an abundance of gluten-free items and would be happy to share them. Call Tioga County Rural Ministry at 687-3021. Ask for Rachel or Sister Mary. 

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Do you want to see some potholes? Drive down the Marshland Road extension by Riverside Cemetery. 

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I think some people need to be reminded that Fox Street is not a drag racing strip. I’ve noticed an increase in the number of speeders. I hope one of them doesn’t hit one of the children going to the school bus in the morning. That would be horrible! OPD, please keep an eye out.

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I would like to ask whoever is throwing the Keystone beer cans all over the Halstead Development to please stop. I’m tired of picking them up and if you have a problem that you have to throw your beer cans out the window and not dispose of them properly at your home, please use the receptacles downtown. It’s a bit much, it’s disgusting and it looks horrible.

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Spectrum is doing it again. Last week I received a phone call stating that from now on you must have a box because they are going completely digital. This is against the law because they didn’t give a 60-day notice. It’s starting March 23, they can do whatever they want because they are Spectrum. What does our government do? Nothing! The New York State Public Service Commission is supposed to deal with Spectrum. Do they? No! What’s next? Will we have to pay for each channel, put a box on the TV and you’ll have to put coins in to watch each channel? I’m still not getting a rebate for Fox, nobody is getting a rebate for Fox. Will Spectrum answer us? No! They have their own people, just like politicians, double talk you.

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Now that March is upon us, I hope that some residents take it upon themselves to remove their Christmas decorations. It makes the village look tacky. 

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I’d like to know why the mail carriers don’t have to finish their route because they don’t have any mail delivered to you, but we have mail to go out and they’re not picking it up. I’ve had this happen several times this year so far. I keep my box shoveled out but he’s turning around before he gets here. I don’t have a computer to pay my bills so I have to use the mail. I was just wondering if anyone else has this problem.

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Does the Highway Department have to pile the snow in one of the handicap spots in a public parking spot since there are very few spaces? 

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Once again, don’t they put brakes on cars any more? You sure wouldn’t know it if you are anywhere near the Newark Valley school and Whig Street. They whiz right by there, once in while someone slows down. You want to know who slows up? The old ladies. All the young people and the men whiz right by. Must be grandmas are the only ones who care if the kids get hit or not.

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We are subscribers to Spectrum and we would like to say how very disappointed we are. Ever since they have taken over they have been decreasing their channels and increasing their monthly payments. We don’t think this action is very fair to keep increasing their prices, yet taking away channels. If you call them their customer service is absolutely horrible! We are currently looking for another avenue to go down for our television service. We’re hoping a lot of other people will join us as well.

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Received a mailing address for the History channel due to the courtesy of one of your readers. Thank you very much!

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If anybody out there has any National Geographic magazines that they plan on throwing away, I’d love to take them off your hands. Call 659-3354.

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Does anyone know where I can find two steel barrels? Please leave the information in this column. 

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The Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau should get after Spectrum. I think it’s ridiculous that they don’t have channels 3 and 8 on there. Something must be done about this. Spectrum is a bunch of pirates.

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I would like to thank my neighbors from the bottom of my heart for snow blowing my sidewalks during the last couple of snowstorms. You all are angels!

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I strongly agree that God belongs back in our schools, our homes, and in public places. Only then will these horrific tragedies end. The breakdown of the family is also to blame. There are too many homes out there without two loving parents. 

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Never mind watching for robins and geese for signs of spring. I’ve seen motorcycles out on the road this week. It’s a new sign of warmer weather. 

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National Political Viewpoints

Five states have more voters than people eligible to vote, New York State being one of them. Gee, does that mean we ought to demand voter I.D. at the polls?

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It occurred to me that the news media, Hollywood, and the liberal Democrats have a lot in common with Communists. They are stirring up turmoil in or country, whenever they can. They censor Conservative speech on campus. The news media grossly favors one side much like the Russian newspaper, Pravda. They love Socialism. They are doing everything they can to stifle Trump, a Capitalist. They are in bed with the Russians, with the Trump dossier, and selling them uranium. They are fawning over the North Korean sister of Little Rocket Man. They want to confiscate guns. I don’t think there are a lot of guns floating around in Russia and China, as it is harder to control armed citizens. 

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The students, juniors and seniors, who survived the awful shooting at the school in Parkland, Florida, make more sense than most of the adults in government when it comes to solving the school-shooting situation! Those like Maxine Waters would do really well to keep their mouths shut and stay out of the limelight.

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In the process of learning more about the effort to stifle protests against the gas and oil industry in Wyoming, I came across the Chicken Freedom Act. Wondering if the governor had made Animal Farm required reading for the legislature, I learned that this was a bill that would allow anyone to keep at least six chickens on their property following certain restrictions. You can read the specifics online at http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2018/Introduced/HB0134.pdf.

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We used to watch Johnny Carson; he was literate, entertaining and humorous. Jack Benny, Jay Leno, and others of like talent were interesting to watch; then we have the current lot of illiterate, self centered, insignificant late night “hosts” who are not at all entertaining, funny, or worth watching. Pity. Someone with talent is going to pick up the ball and run with it and garner a huge audience with no worthy competition.

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On March 25, 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village in New York City resulted in the deaths of 146 workers, 123 women and 23 men. The women were almost all Italian and Jewish immigrants, ages 16 to 23. Many New Yorkers watched these women jump to their deaths from the 8th, 9th and 10th floors rather than be consumed by the flames. Although thousands of workers had died up to that point from unsafe working conditions, this particular incident finally brought about legislation that became the touchstone for workplace safety. This incident keeps coming to mind when I hear that the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School may be a tipping point for some kind of gun control legislation in the U.S. News at 11.

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Did you ever notice? Liberal Democrats / Socialists, like Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer, always look unhappy about something? They look like a sour pickle, from the facial expression.

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I would ask many who are writing into this column about guns to PLEASE educate themselves on the subject of firearms as they are, at best, misinformed and thus misinforming others. Since I cannot tell is if they are simply ignorant on the subject or intent on propagating misinformation to further an anti-gun agenda, I am assuming the former and am writing this to try to correct much misinformation. It is very difficult for a law-abiding citizen to obtain an AUTOMATIC firearm. To do so legally, you must fill out extensive paperwork, be photographed and fingerprinted, endure extensive background and reference checks by the FBI and pay $200 for the license to purchase and own – and they cost thousands of dollars. These are not the firearms used in school shootings. The term “assault weapon” does not exist in the lexicon of gun terminology; therefore, it has no standard meaning. It is a political term used by politicians’, news media and anti-gun people to vilify any firearm they wish to ban. The AR15 rifle is NOT an Assault Weapon, it is NOT automatic, and it is NOT even an “Assault Rifle”. An Assault Rifle has a very specific definition in the lexicon of gun terminology and the AR15 does not fit any of that definition. The AR15 is a SEMI-automatic firearm and functions just like many other semi-automatic rifles in civilian use, but is being vilified because it looks different. Also, many claim that it is a “High Powered” firearm; but it is less powerful than almost all rifles used for and legal in deer hunting. I can also tell you that the much-maligned NRA IS a “grass roots” members’ organization. It DOES support background checks, and DOES support “real” solutions rather than the political, emotional “feel good” solutions the politicians and anti-gun folks are proposing. It is NOT a “shill” for the gun industry, does NOT support illegal guns, and does NOT condone or support illegal use of firearms. Lastly, I applaud the writers that are proposing meaningful solutions like: stop giving school shooters fame with all the news coverage, stop allowing schools to be “Soft Targets”, fix the broken background check system we have, enforce the gun laws we already have before making new ones that will only be ineffective; and finally, let’s put God and Godly values back into schools and society in general.

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President Jimmy Carter wasn’t actually going to build houses; it just shows concern, caring, and focus about humanity; just a slight difference in perception than Donald Trump’s.

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To those who believe Mr. Trump is responsible for the stock market increase and your 401K; remember there is a higher power who doesn’t care about your checkbook.

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I’m not sure why the reader believes that Mexico is suffering economically at the hands of the Trump administration. While Ford decided to build its new assembly plant in China due to sluggish demand for compact cars in North America, it continues to expand its Mexican operations. Honda has just finished a huge plant and has another under construction. BMW and Audi have new facilities in the works. All in all, things are going fine for our southern neighbor. Cemex, the world’s largest cement producer is looking forward to supplying tons of their product for the “wall”. It is sad to see such animosity between countries that have such a long friendship. Our insatiable appetite for drugs causes it all. Mexico has long said that if we solve our drug problem we won’t have a border problem.

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The federal government has had a ban on federal funds being used to study gun violence since 1996. 

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Did you know that Congressional Representative Claudia Tenney, Republican, received $46,529 from the NRA?

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Go Dick’s Sporting Goods! You’ve got all my business! God bless you! 

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How many people saw that big beautiful tax cut in your paychecks this week? Wasn’t it wonderful, all ten dollars of it? I might go out and buy a brand new car now, boy the economy would be booming then. By the way, inflation is starting to go wild Mr. President. Maybe your policies aren’t quite as nice as the big beautiful tax cut and that great big beautiful health insurance plan that you folks came up with. Oh, that’s right you couldn’t come up with one because there isn’t one. Just another lie from you – Trump.

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Cocaine, heroin and opioids are illegal in this country and it hasn’t stopped anyone from getting these drugs. Making them illegal has had little effect. Making guns illegal will have the same results. Only criminals will be able to get the guns and all of us will be at their mercy. It is time to arm our teachers and school administrators because the shootings will not stop otherwise. It’s time to take charge. It’s time to do something about it besides of lay around and grab our cell phones and hope for a miracle. 

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I don’t usually read the political comments, but I was skimming through and I saw a good one. A woman wrote in here, she’s amazing! She’s 65, her husband passed away, and she’s old fashioned. She doesn’t have Facebook, twitter or text. I don’t either; I’m old fashioned that way too. She should send this to President Trump! It’s totally amazing, lady you are right on! It’s beautiful! I’m reading it again, you did a beautiful job and this should be sent to the president. You did a good job lady, whoever you are!

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People have been calling in about Judge Jeannine Pirro. She got a $395 fine and has to take a defensive driving course. 

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Nancy Pelosi suggests we now mow grass to keep illegal’s from crossing along the border instead of building a wall. I think Nancy might be smoking grass to suggest something so insane. Go Trump!

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To the person who wanted to know in last week’s column about Judge Jeannine Pirro and her speeding ticket. She did a plea bargain with the Tioga County D.A. to get the speed dropped from 119mph to 95mph. She paid a fine of $393 and she must take a defensive driving course. She also got 6 points on her license. 

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Judge Jeannine Pirro was illegally speeding to reach her sick mother because she could not schedule a flight to this area at that time. Enough anti-Trump inspired blather about Judge Pirro. Just zip it! P.S., The Pennysaver sensor needs a long vacation.

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As far as banning assault rifles to the general public, what happened to our Democracy? How about a general vote across the nation? 

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Let’s have a parade! Trump can stick his hat out of a tanker and wave his snake around, Pence can keep on smiling, oh what fun that would be to see. It would make America so happy and great again. 

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I think the NRA is on the run. God bless these children who have the gumption to stand up to them because the adults obviously do not!  

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I see in this week’s Pennsyaver an article about school safety. Before this most recent tragedy in Florida I have long thought that we need to hold elections somewhere else besides school buildings. Politics have become increasingly contentious over the last few years. To hold elections in a school building seems like asking for trouble. We need to find somewhere else to hold elections. 

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I’m going to give you non-gun owners a little lesson. First, an AR15 is not, I repeat is not, an assault weapon because it cannot fire automatically with just one pull of the trigger. It’s only one shot for each pull of the trigger. There’s not a switch on it to turn to make it into an automatic. Secondly, you cannot buy a machine gun at a gun show without a Class 3 Federal license. I think there are only a handful of states, I think four or five that allow people to have such a license and own an automatic. In most states you can’t even apply for such a license. Lastly, the cops that stood outside while the students were being shot in the school should lose their pension and be prosecuted. The sheriff should also resign. 

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How brave of Trump to say he would run into a school without a gun and with his bone spurs. He couldn’t serve his country or we would have had a gun. I might add, we called them rifles in the service or you do pushups.

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I think the media should stop talking about the shooting in Florida that happened almost three weeks ago. Them talking about it only encourages a threat to the schools. It’s time for us to heal and move on. 

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Those damn Republicans are such hypocrites, particularly Tom Reed. They make me want to puke.

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Obama recently said there were no scandals when he was in office. Need I remind him about the IRS mess, Fast & Furious, Benghazi, Hillary’s emails, spying on Mr. Trump? That’s just to name a few.