Readers’ Column for the week of April 8, 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’d sure like to know why some of my messages don’t find their way into print. Is someone at the Pennysaver censoring messages and deleting them if they don’t agree with them? 

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I agree with the comments being made about the properties in the Village of Owego. We have friends actually interested in buying a home on Front Street until they realized the high taxes they would be paying don’t even protect them from living next to a very neglected home. If Owego wants to attract decent homeowners we have to do something about these properties. 

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Why all the media hype about Tim Tebow coming to play for the Rumble Ponies? For goodness sakes, who cares? Big deal! Too much emphasis on sports these days anyway. Did you ever notice all the sports news in the newspapers is just names and numbers year in and year out? What’s so hard about winning this year’s whatever trophy only to be forgotten next year? Sports are a waste of time. 

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So Tim Tebow is coming to town. Ho hum, big deal! He’s just a man, plain and simple. The only one I have on a pedestal is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

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The Owego United Methodist Church presentation of “Is It I”, a living picture of the Last Supper, was expertly done. Congratulations to all who participated!

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What did it cost for all the Two Rivers Greenway signs throughout Owego? 

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Riverside Cemetery in Apalachin is a very nice cemetery. I see people taking their dogs for a walk over there just to do their business and then they leave. I also see a lot of traffic going through the path at nighttime. It should be investigated.   

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About the Christmas lights. I have a couple of neighbors that have their Christmas lights on quite often, and every time I see them I tell them thank you. They are beautiful, they are colorful, there are not a lot, it’s just perfect. At Easter time, Easter is colorful, and we had a white boring dull winter, so to add a little color now and then, it’s very nice. Plus, it’s their electric bill, so who cares if people have their lights on? There’s a whole lot more out there to worry about in this world than somebody’s Christmas lights! Let’s call them Easter lights, and there’s Halloween lights, just enjoy the beauty of the world around you and quit complaining.

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I hope the new group elected in the Village of Owego, to include the Mayor and all the rest of them, realize that it’s a two-year term, and if they keep screwing landlords and business owners on the excessive sewer charges they’ll be out just like the last group. 

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A big thanks to the gentlemen who work in the warehouse at Home Central in Owego! Many thanks! 

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The turf at OFA will be paid for by FEMA as part of the flood repair. It will not affect your taxes at all. And modern turf is NOT more dangerous. It has been dramatically improved over the years.

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I would just like to thank the people who organized the Son-Rise Service at the Indian Girl Monument on Easter Sunday. It was my first time going to a sunrise service and I thought it was great – very energetic and inspirational. Thank you!

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These new farms look very different from the large-scale agriculture that defines much of rural America. California’s Central Valley, for example, is a landscape that feeds millions of people in part by forsaking its own. Although Fresno County gleans more agricultural profit than any other county in the United States, it has some of the most atrocious air quality rankings, highest pesticide poisoning rates, and worst labor exploitation statistics (largely of undocumented Latino workers) in the country. Spend enough time in these pummeled places and one can feel the ecological and spiritual burn of industrial-scale food production. Some also hear a quiet call to arms, the urge to start a venture of one’s own – to do something more than just spend dollars at the farmers market. “The New Farmers” by Lauren Markham. Orion. Spring 2015.

National Political Viewpoints

So the biggest government scandal continues to grow, and to think had Hillary been elected the scandal would never have been uncovered. Obama is only fooling himself when he said there were no scandals under his presidency. 

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If Trump is such a big man as he claims he is, why doesn’t he fire the people under him instead of assigning that deed to Mr. Kelly? I think he is quite the chicken. Be a man, do your own dirty deeds! 

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California’s Governor, Jerry Brown, has now pardoned five criminal illegal aliens. The criminals are dangerous people. Does Brown not understand that? Can someone please explain Brown’s actions to me? 

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Hillary thought she had the election wrapped up, but she was only concerned about herself, New York and California, while being out of touch with middle America. She continues to talk of her loss in her speeches while insulting the American people. When will she stop? What about her own advice, that the loser of the election must graciously accept the outcome? Read her book titled “What Happened” if you want a good laugh.

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You go Roseanne, standing up for President Trump! And the funny part, the mainstream media doesn’t like it. They’re finally getting some push back. 

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To the caller who called in last week stating that people should respect the office of the presidency; respect will be given to the office when the man holding it acts respectful. This man acts like a tyrant and a dictator, and has nothing but trash to talk about everybody. So please, respect is earned not granted.  

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The adults and children who marched for change in gun laws, there were about 200,00 protestors and only 10 percent were kids. The majority of the marchers were Hillary resistors and Planned Parenthood women, so children were only a small part of this march.

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Can anyone explain the purpose of the recent school walk out protests? There was nothing accomplished. I guess Cuomo has nothing better to do than to lie down on the ground and shake. These kids need to work towards peace. The protestors appeared to be nothing more than shouting matches. Not the memorials, I did not hear any mention of those who tragically lost their lives. These children could do much better if they could work with the children who are struggling in school, the ones who have difficulty at home. There are different things they can do to stop violence. 

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If I knew someone who lies incessantly like Trump, I’d send them to therapy and probably never believe them again. It’s not normal to lie. 

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What a hoot! President Trump wants big bucks for infrastructure repair and replacement – roads, bridges, etc. Oh, wait, wasn’t that what Nobama got the Stimulus Bill passed to do? You know, “shovel ready jobs”. Turns out that money did nothing but fund Nobama’s union buddies for a couple of years – at taxpayer expense!

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It really grieves me the insulting and disrespectful things that people say about President Obama in this column. I think that even though you don’t like Mr. Obama, you should at least have respect for his office of the presidency.

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Let’s reverse last week’s comment. Clinton’s affair with Monica was also consensual and he was impeached. Why are Trump’s multiple affairs okay?

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On a serious note, I wonder if Mr. Trump is bi-polar?  He should be tested, and there is medication for it.

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You have got to be kidding me, insulting and disrespecting Mr. Trump. Have you not heard or seen his actions? His lying and then admitting to it (Canada’s Prime Minister). Making fun of his cabinet and calling them names. Respect is earned, not demanded. Mr. Trump is a disgrace to America.

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In response to last weeks comment about being able to respect the president even if we don’t approve of him, I wish with all my heart we only could.

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To the reader that asked, “What do you do with an AR15?” The answer should be obvious. Any legal activity that can be done with a rifle! Examples include hunting, “plinking”, target practice and competitive shooting. Competitive shooting is a vast arena with just some examples being all manner of target shooting, Silhouette shooting, Rimfire Challenge, Steel Challenge, Tactical / Action Rifle and Precision Rifle. And that is just a scratch in the surface of the possible competitive venues. It is time to stop vilifying the NRA in general, stop vilifying the AR15 platform in particular, stop the AR15 discussion all together, and start addressing real solutions to the problem of mass shootings. Banning firearms such as the AR15 and creating more gun control laws will NOT solve the problem. If laws could stop the problem we wouldn’t have the shootings now. Think about it. Assault and murder is against the law but criminals do not obey the law, so what makes you think more laws will work. It is time to fix what the government has really failed to do. Let’s require all federal, state and local government agencies to report disqualifying activities / conditions for inclusion in the Federal Background Check Database (NICS). Let’s appropriately fund and staff the division of the FBI responsible for handling the NICS so it can do the job. Let’s get more mental health care programs to detect and treat the mentally ill and to detect and report those mentally ill who are at risk of violent behavior to the NICS Database. Let’s harden our theaters, churches and schools so they are not “soft targets”. Let’s put School Resource Officers (SRO’s) in schools. I have personally seen the fringe benefits of SRO’s in schools, as they are not just a “good guy with a gun”. They establish rapport with the teachers, students and staff that facilitate better police and community relations. The “Never Again” movement is a great idea, but if all it is going to do is focus on gun control, then it is doomed to failure in accomplishing its objective of no more mass theater, church or school shootings.

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It’s not bad enough that they are removing part of our history (whether it be good or bad) by taking down statues (the latest one being McKinley in California), their is a group of women who want us to not use the word man or men in any words. Such as mailman, they said call them postal workers. What will be next, taking president’s day away from us or removing the green Statue of Liberty? They just don’t get what Trump is doing. He doesn’t mind immigrants coming to our country, but do it the legal way. Hooray for the some of the cities in California who do not want to be part of the sanctuary state. They voted 4 to 1 to not be an anti-sanctuary city. Keep standing up to Jerry Brown (whom I’m sure has armed protection). And this Stormy Daniels person, what’s with that. It happened over 10 years ago and if true, was consensual. She must be desperate for money to show up on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper. He had a smirk on his face the whole time interviewing her as if oh boy, I’m really sticking it to President Trump. How pathetic.

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Could someone, using logic, please explain to me why the mostly young adult immigrants are leaving their home country and trying to come here? Many of the males are military age. Why are they not working in their own country to change the situation instead of coming here so we get to support them, or is that the idea?