Readers’ Column for the week of January 20

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. 

Project 3T – The selected site may wish to consider: possible distraction of and by students, planning that allows the test taker to experience as many of the procedures as possible, modifying protocol to allow completion of two tests in one day, computer based or paper tests, cursive writing, need for translator or interpreter, limits of proctor assistance, and guidelines for activities following test completion. There are others. Try to make this a complete, informational, beneficial, enjoyable and memorable visit to childhood. 

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There is so much to be thankful for in the village of Nichols, however the person killing our cats is a really poor example of the usual kind citizens here. The lack of respect for life, let alone the sadness this person creates, these people love their cats. There are even dog people there; they love their cats and dogs. It doesn’t seem to matter to this resident. We’re starting to band together, we’re beginning to know who he is. Please stop killing our cats!

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Kids today are lucky. I was from a family of ten; for Christmas we were lucky if we got a pair of mittens or socks. Now, look what the kids get today! When I was about ten years old my sister and I would slide downhill on a piece of cardboard, as we had no sled. We got the mail from our old post office and walked all the way back up with our cardboard for next time. When I was ten years old my mother and I would pick strawberries for a little old man named Bert Clark. We then sold them for $.25 a quart and people, of course, in Lisle came to buy them. When was 14 years old I started cleaning homes. I also gave a lady Toni home permanents then. I guess they are things in the past. I got $10 for cleaning their houses for six hours, which then I thought was a good pay. I was happy to get it. I went to tend to fires for another little old lady in the morning before I went to school and I also did those fires at night when I came home from school. In the summertime I would mow her lawn, in the wintertime I would do her snow for her. When I was 16, my sister and I got a job at a perfume factory, that’s all gone now; it was in Binghamton, N.Y. Much later on I got a job at the Lisle Conference Center because my mom had worked there and my two sisters had worked there, and they said they were the good ‘ole days and I believed that. I remember my mother stuffing old rattled windows with a rag with a kitchen knife so they wouldn’t rattle anymore. Now I have a daughter that says to me, you never worked a day in your life mom and she never worked at all. I’ve worked all my life in a shoe factory and everything to help make a living. Now my daughter says, you’ve never wanted for anything and I said, well let me tell you something. I got a real job at 16 years old and I’ve worked ever since and how much have you worked? Hardly at all. Wake up and smell the roses!

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Is Northern Tioga Neighbors Helping Neighbors Network still in operation? I’ve called several times and got no response, not from the community or from the dispatcher who mans the phone. I’m left to believe perhaps it is not in operation any longer. If this is so, respond in this column.

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We attended the public hearing on the proposed Capital Project for the Owego School District and the superintendent seemed sketchy on what the money would go for. He even dodged a question about whether or not the football stadium had been paid for. How do we know he won’t use this project money to pay for outstanding bills? I don’t feel comfortable at this point handing out millions of dollars to this group if they won’t answer questions about current finances?

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I was in the village of Nichols and my neighbor told me her cat was found drowned again on Kirby Street. What’s going on in this small quaint village of Nichols, N.Y.? What’s going on there? I certainly hope someone is looking into it; will it start with pets and go to kids? I don’t know; I’m very concerned and appalled that this could happen in this small village.

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I applied for the regular HEAP program about the middle of November. I’m a senior citizen living on a very low income. I applied hoping I could get a little help paying my fuel bill. I haven’t heard if I’ve been approved and if approved, where my benefits are. Here we are the middle of January and you are supposed to be notified within 30 days if you have been approved or denied. Maybe our Tioga County Legislature could look into this and help people out.

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I’m calling about the person wondering why heating oil is so expensive when gasoline has gone down. It’s called supply and demand, if it were winter we wouldn’t be paying that kind of money for oil but since there is a big demand for it now, of course the price is going to be up. 

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This is to the person who’s hearing was damaged by a hearing aid store. I am so sorry to hear that had happened to you. I wonder if it’s the same place, the hearing aids were too loud for two years. I complained every time I went, they finally turned them down after two years but now my hearing is always muffled with or without hearing aids. That was after the last hearing aid test. I’m still wondering, is the hearing aid test able to damage your hearing?

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Every week someone calls in about the high price of heating oil. I personally am thankful it’s available.

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Did some fact checking and Corey Green was not the superintendent of Sidney school district but he was their financial guy. I’m not sure what’s going on with the school district but I can tell you it’s illegal to use money from a capital project to pay off debt or outstanding loans.

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The Owego village will never control taxes until they control stupidity. The wasteful village police and village court are draining us. I can understand if we were 50 miles from the state police or sheriff’s department; we’re not, they are here. Village court, what’s this? We have county court right here. Let’s stop acting like we are a city of happening things like growth, colleges, universities, hospitals and communities with growing crime rates and homicide issues and get back to surviving little Owego. Cool place, remember? 

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I want to send out a big thank you to the Tioga Theater. Over Christmas they showed really nice family friendly movies at a reasonable price, great popcorn, right in our own community. The marquee looks so festive. I would really like to see some of that money that Owego is getting fix up the theater a little bit and help out. It’s so nice to have a local theater in our area. 

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The Postmark Payment Act of 2014 (H.R.3909) amended title 39 of the United States Code to provide “that the payment of a bill, invoice, or statement of account due, if made by mail, shall be considered to have been made on the date as of which the envelope which is used to transmit such payment is postmarked.” For example: If you mail a check to pay a cable bill, payment is considered made on the date on which the envelope is postmarked. Mail received at the post office generally is postmarked the same day. This means that your bill is legally paid before it even reaches the cable company. This is important because a cable company may have an out-of-town mailing address for paying bills, which may take several days to receive. Moreover, your payment may not be processed for seven to 14 days, pushing you close to or over the payment deadline date. Not to worry. Your bill is legally paid the date it is postmarked. 

National Political Viewpoints

Trump is the most honest and transparent president ever. Just look at the dumb duo buffoons Nancy and Chuckie when they speak. They both voted multiple times for the wall. Now that 60,000 illegal invaders cross the border per month, and Trump is president, Nancy and Chuckie think a wall is immoral. Both have walls around their estates, so I guess they are immoral too. How can Democrats be so stupid as to support such morons! Trump should declare a national emergency and build not a $5 million wall but a $25 billion wall. We are at war with the Marxist Democrats; let’s start playing hardball. Go Trump!

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If Trump wants that wall so bad he can pay for it with his own money, he’s got it; he’d use it for a tax write off. I’m getting sick and tired of hearing about it. 

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Follow the news. The Trumpster has stiffed and conned dishwashers, contractors and everybody else out of their money. Now it’s plain for America to see him stiffing 800,000 of us who may have been lucky enough to have a federal job. There are some real horror stories out there laid right at his feet. Wake up Trumpsters, the guy is no good.

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Some Vietnam vets have a name for that guy in the White House, that draft dodger – it is duma.

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Hey Trumpsters, if Donald Trump is so innocent of being a Russian stooge and all the other scandals like Trump University, why does he have to have 17 new lawyers to defend himself? I’m not happy as a taxpayer to have to pay for 17 lawyers to defend a con man, are you? 

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President Donald Trump does not want to manufacture a border crisis. He wants to manufacture an anti-crisis border wall. 

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I’m not a Trump hater; I’m a dictator hater. This so-called national emergency is a hoax. It’s all political. Trump just wants to be a dictator of America. Mark my words, after this so called national emergency, just a matter of time martial law will be enforced. Goodbye America! Thank you congressmen. 

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I said marijuana should have been legal 50 years ago. That shows you how far behind the times Democratic New York State is.

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Here is the real life scale of justice for the Marxist Socialist Democrats: on one side we have illegal alien children being exploited and sent by their parents alone to the hands of the coyote traffickers. Women being raped on their illegal journey into the U.S., narcotics are being brought across the border, and terrorists are also crossing the border. On the other side we have the option of making a deal with President Trump to build a wall. Guess which side the Chuckie and Nancy Democrats support.

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I am a registered Democrat but have never voted a straight party ticket yet and I am 69 years old. I am so sick of both parties it’s pathetic! As a registered Democrat maybe I ought to have my hearing checked because years ago I heard Clinton, Schumar, Pelosi and Obama say that we need a wall. Whether you agree with President Trump or not, he is our President of the United States. So let’s all get our head out of our [expletive removed] and get this straightened out so you quit this fighting and bickering. We’re becoming the laughing stock of the world. 

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I, too, was very surprised with the vulgar language used by a new elected congress member. Please note, I did not refer to her as a congresswoman, she is not a woman. A woman does not have to speak like that. People who use such language have low self-esteem and no confidence in themselves. They use vulgar language to bring attention to themselves. They like the attention. This behavior does not belong anywhere in our society. What message is being sent? We are in very serious trouble if this is the Democratic path, which I believe it is. I don’t recall a Republican ever using that kind of language against one of their own. All Democrats should be voted out. Let’s start with this congressperson, then Cuomo, De Blasio, Gillibrand and the list goes on and on. 

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Well we all knew it; here comes another caravan. Thank God for Mr. Trump. Let’s build that wall and try to convince Democrats to have half a brain. 

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Can someone please show me where Obama, Schumer, Pelosi, et al, favored a wall? Recognizing a need for enhanced border security does not equate to supporting a Trump style wall.

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The Vatican wall only partially encloses the Vatican. It is unguarded. The Jerusalem wall only surrounds the old part of the city and has been breeched many times in history. Buckingham palace is an individual’s residence, not a city or country. Why is there no demand for a wall on the Canadian border? More terrorists get caught there than on the Mexican border. The 9/11 hijackers flew here and were here legally. Why is it that the farther from the Mexican border, you get more people that want the wall?

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As regards to calling Obama’s $145B bribe to the Iranian Thug-ocracy as a return of the people’s money is nonsense. Get your facts straight. 1. The theocratic dictatorship of Iran is not the people. This is like saying N. Korea’s Little Rocket Man is the people of NK. 2. Obama made this bribe in secret because it can’t stand the light of day. 3. He violated of his constitutional duties. The president “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur” (Article II, section 2). 4. All evidence is that Obama’s bribe paid for the murder of American servicemen, tens of thousands of missiles and rockets for Hezbollah to fire into Israel, funding Iran’s proxy war (against Saudi Arabia) in Yemen, and other terrorist activities. Try getting off the poisonous Liberal addiction of CNN (Continuous Nasty Nonsense) and read some books.

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The next time the media runs the clips of Mr. Trump in Helsinki meeting with Mr. Putin notice the body language. Mr. Trump walks in the room with his shoulders down and body in a drooped position. Mr. Putin has shoulders pulled back; posture is excellent and skips as he approaches the stage. Who has who in his pocket?

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The definition of emergency is: an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for IMMEDIATE action. Mr. Trump’s attempt to close the boarders does not qualify as IMMEDIATE, simply an abuse of power to get his own way.

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Isn’t it a sad state of affairs when everyday we hear yet another block buster revelation about our President. When, in the history of this country have we ever been concerned or even given it a second thought to the prospect that our Commander-in-Chief could possibly be an agent of a foreign government. Doesn’t give you pause to think that the President of the United States could possibly be a Traitor. Isn’t it sad that this same man has daily temper tantrums that now affect over 800,000 Federal Workers as well as the health and safety of millions more? This man has put our food, air safety, farmers, children, the sick, as well as border security (something he professes is an emergency) all at risk. All of this is because he wants a “vanity” wall. History is replete with examples showing that Walls don’t work in the long term. For those who profess to be Patriots, I would ask you to put Party last and Country first and ask the really hard question, how can we continue for another two years with this level of turmoil in Washington. This is NOT making America Great Again.

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If the media were to give you real news about the illegal alien caravan, this info would be included, you’ll note, none is. The new caravan currently in Guatemala is made up mainly of angry males, 17 to 40 years old. It is well organized and funded. Places to stay, food, medical care, rides, water, all provided by someone, somewhere. Women and children are put in front for all to see and gain sympathy. Only certain ones are allowed to respond to requests for an interview. There are known M-13 members, people with criminal records, ISIS members, etc. in the invasion. No crises at the border, yeah, right.

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Let’s see if I have this correct. I checked with a close relative that is a federal employee plus I googled the salaries of many average federal employees. Seems they make up to three times the national average – no, not all, but they are sufficiently compensated. So we are all supposed to believe they are not bright enough to have a bit of savings set aside for emergencies, have no credit cards to make purchases or get cash advances, have no relatives. They are getting kicked out of their homes for not paying the rent / mortgage (it has been about three weeks – last I knew rent / payments are due once a month so they wouldn’t even be due yet) – yep, they’re starving in the streets. How much of this media propaganda are we supposed to bite on? Are we all considered to be that stupid? Really?

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Think your taxes are too high now, wait until the expenses from “governor” Cuomo’s pardoning of illegal aliens and Di Blasio’s two weeks paid vacation and paid health care for all hits your pocketbook. Look at how Giuliani cleaned up N.Y.C. and how things worked, compared to now. Why do people keep voting for these bleeding heart Liberals and their utopian nonsense?

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Yes, Trump changes his mind, backs off, and changes the rules. Keeps you off guard, drives you crazy doesn’t he? It’s the rope-a-dope, and you are the dope!

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The U.S. Census will include the question “Are you a US citizen?” in 2020. Obama appointed Leftist Judge Furman of the U.S. D.C. Southern District of New York, who took it upon himself to declare this illegal, even though it has previously been so. His 277-page opinion is a meandering compilation of judicial nonsense. While 45 percent of the 2010 Census was devoted to racial and gender identification, Judge Make new Law from the Bench defines citizenship identification as illegal. The 2010 Census questionnaire was a farce because race is defined as what you “self-identify” as. Leftist intellectual Elizabeth Warren’s a.k.a. Pocahontas identification as Cherokee is good for government work, despite 100 percent hoax. With this fallacious Liberal logic identification as Neanderthal rather than the multiplicity of racial tribes, the Census Bureau would divide us into, is legitimate. Having California and other like-minded states flood themselves with illegal aliens for the U.S. Census perverts the Electoral College to unconstitutionally benefit of the Libs. What if the Census gave us the tribal choice of “American” rather than force you into their tribal box? For decades I have returned jury duty pre-questionnaires with a nice letter telling them my tribe is none of their business. Should DNA be required so the political apparatchik can assign you to a tribe? While DNA was unknown prior to WWII there was a European Government that required detailed racial identification and history so as to determine your rights or lack thereof.