Readers’ Column for the week of September 1, 2019

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 Village of Newark Valley Public Works Department, thank you! To Bill, Steve, and Scott for your hard work and dedication to clean up after the storm. Again, thank you, and thanks to the village for giving us a place to dump our debris.

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First of all, when the road was closed and drivers were told to use South Apalachin Road as a detour, it would have been nice if the potholes were repaired. It was and still is like a minefield when driving on this road. Second, after the Culvert was repaired they put up signs that said Bump. The signs should have said ramp because it was and still is a car rattler. Well, it’s been over a month now and the repair area is still a mess. I do hope when it does get paved they make it a smooth transition. It seems whenever work has been done the repaving is uneven and still gives you a little jolt. But on the plus side, the repair was done in the allocated time frame. I hope the repaving is done soon. 

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Free Lowery organ with bench. If interested, please leave a number in this column. 

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Those who put unwanted items in the St. Pauly Textile Shed at St. Margaret Mary Church, you need to understand that dealing with such items are an expense and a hardship for us! PLEASE be considerate and donate ONLY the items listed on the shed. THANK YOU to the countless folks, who DO follow the guidelines, and, by their donations, help many in the United States and around the world. 

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Taxing Tioga County residents through sales tax on fuels to heat their homes is just plain wrong! It’s not a luxury; it’s a must! A Tioga County Legislator told me many years ago that it was started in the 60s to offset the sales tax and goes into general fund. Please correct me if any of this is not true. Our so-called leaders should figure out a way to remove, or at the very least reduce this burden on all of us that heat our homes, apartments, and businesses. Are we not taxed enough? The county should do with a little less so we can keep a little more.

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OMG people. An Owego resident became the first woman to practice before the Supreme Court and the first woman to run for President and you oppose honoring her. Seriously?

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To the fellow who just bought Green Valley Trailer Park, I like the idea that you want to turn it into a community and are tearing down the junk trailers, but why are you cutting down all the trees?

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As a result of the response to my comment about carbon monoxide (CO) detector placement, I have been educated to the fact that I was laboring under a widely held misconception, often repeated in magazine and newspaper articles about carbon monoxide poisonings, especially in households. Which is that CO is heavier than air. In fact it is lighter than the common air mixture. It WILL rise to the ceiling of most rooms, but, as a scientific article points out, in household rooms that tend to have drafts that cause the air to mix, it will disperse throughout a room fairly quickly. The conclusion of the article was that it makes little difference where in the room the carbon monoxide detector is placed. I stand corrected. However, either by mistake, or misprint of the reply, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) was mentioned at least once in place of Carbon Monoxide. They are not the same. Although Carbon Dioxide is getting a lot of press as a “Greenhouse Gas,” contributing to Global Weather Change, it is part of the “normal” air mixture (.035 percent), which CO is NOT, generally speaking (at .000025 percent, 1/1400th as much as CO2). CO2 is very common and not nearly as dangerous as CO. We breathe in Oxygen and exhale Carbon Dioxide; plants consume CO2 and release Oxygen. It is often used for things like spooky “fog” effects (haunted houses, etc.), but it can cause death when the body cannot get enough oxygen (oxygen depletion), especially in small enclosed places, as we often see (over-) dramatized on TV. However, the process is slow and reversible by simply breathing normal air. Carbon Monoxide prevents the red blood cells from receiving oxygen by replacing it with CO. CO can kill slowly over days, weeks or even years, as it not only starves the body of oxygen, it also causes permanent damage to the body – organs, brain tissue, and such. Symptoms of Carbon Dioxide poisoning are shortness of breath, and eventual unconsciousness, possibly leading to death. Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning are harder to recognize and include reddening of the cheeks, stuffy or runny nose and other common symptoms that can easily be mistaken for a cold, sunburn, windburn and other less dangerous conditions. Advanced symptoms can include memory loss, confusion, loss of coordination, weakness, intense headache, etc. That is why CO detectors are important and why it is not required to have CO2 detectors in homes.

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I’d like to know, how does the Southern Tier get away with discriminating against those over 50? Don’t they realize these people want to work and they are good workers? They need to have a chance.

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I belong to the Sayre American Legion, the reason they had the legion act up until just lately, congress controlled who could belong to the American Legion and they had to serve certain times during the war. They didn’t have to serve in the war and fight but they had to be in the military during a certain time. The legion has been fighting congress for years to get that changed and they now have it changed so anyone that was in the service that’s active duty or has been honorably discharged can join a legion. 

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I see the mayor of Owego wants to make world peace. He needs to make peace in his own village by billing people fairly for sewer.

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I heard that the new Owego town garage is already way over budget and I was just wondering when the figures would be released to the public.

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I’m calling in regards to the Belva Lockwood situation. She really did nothing for the town of Owego. Please forget naming the post office after her. If anyone deserves that recognition it should be someone who has lived, worked, and volunteered, etc. for their whole lives to make Owego a better place, that’s their hometown. Please take Belva Lockwood off this.

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If you are tired of robo and other sales calls using your local exchange and an area business name, call the Binghamton Attorney General’s office at (607) 251-2770 and let your voice be heard.

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I have a question regarding the green vegetation on Route 38 across from West Creek Road where the corn used to be planted every year. I’m wondering what that is. I am very curious; it’s so beautiful. I hope someone can answer my question.

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People who have cancer are lauded and applauded if they do everything they can to survive. We with chemical sensitivities are denigrated, criticized, deliberately sabotaged, considered selfish and mean, unsocial, paranoid, crazy, etc. when we take necessary precautions. All we are trying to do is to survive this day and to be able to be alive when the sun comes up again. Every day for us is a life or death situation when one breath of the wrong thing can kill us. 

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With regards to naming the post office after Belva Lockwood, why not name it after an actual life long resident of Owego? The man who actually built the post office, James Reicher Ford, he also built the library along with his father, Lucious Ford, and many other buildings still in use in Owego. A better choice no doubt. 

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Everyone says where did the drug problem in Broome County come from. The drug problem came from doctors and hospital physicians pushing opiates. The more the doctors and the hospitals gave them out like candy; their profits are soaring. They really push fentanyl because they charge big for the drug. 

National Political Viewpoints

I am totally disappointed in the democrats’ Green New Deal. It is nothing but a power grab and Climate Porn. Ninety percent of greenhouse gases, by volume, consist of dihydrogen oxide, a.k.a. dihydrogen monoxide and hydric acid. This accounts for up to 85 percent of global warming. If the democrats really care about the planet, then they need to get serious and address the real problem of global warming – hydric acid. The ignorance created by our educational system and the fake climate scare scientists they produce is dangerous. A climate scientist is a graduate in biology who can neither do calculus or differential equations. We must remove atmospheric hydric acid or we are quite literally toast. Fact check: www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2008/02/common-climate-misconceptions-the-water-vapor-feedback-2/.

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Mr. Trump is appalled that Puerto Rico is having another hurricane. He called the mayor incompetent and the country corrupt. He has taken money from FEMA for his immigration policy. This man has zero empathy and it’s all about him. This is all before the hurricane arrived. Fortunately there was minimal damage. Wouldn’t it be a shame if it hit Mar a Lago.

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Once again Mr. Trump amazes me, gives instructions to do whatever possible to complete the border wall before his 2020 election, even if you need to break the law. Pardons will be available if needed. When the white house aides were questioned about his statement they replied he was just joking and never would consider it.  White house aides were right; Mr. Trump is quite the jokester. Ha Ha!

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Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find their parents have disappeared.” – Anne Frank. Those should be sobering words for anyone paying any attention to what the Trump administration is doing today with thousands of immigrants (whether they are legal or not). This is reminiscent of Germany in 1939, do we really want to go there again?

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Today it was announced that the Trump Administration will no longer allow children with life threatening medical issues to stay in the U.S. and must leave the country within 33 days. Essentially giving these children a death sentence. So now Trump is killing children, what does it take for a Trump supporter to say, “Enough is enough.” Are all Republicans this inhumane? I remember Sarah Palin saying the the Democrats would institute death Panels. Well Sarah you were almost right, it is the Republicans that have done that. How much more despicable does this Administration have to become before Republicans say, “Enough is enough?” When did it become okay to kill children, no matter whose children they are. If you condone this behavior you are as sick as Trump and his minions.

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Today it was announced that Deutsche Bank would be turning over Trump’s Tax Returns to several committees and courts. A source inside Deutsche Bank is saying that much of the hundreds of millions of dollars that they loaned to Trump were co-signed by Russian oligarchs. Putting the President of the United States under their thumb, is there any wonder why Trump is so “in love” with Putin? Putin has him in his pocket! Now Trump wants to hold the next G7 meeting at HIS Doral Golf Club and invite Putin to attend, and can you guess why. Two reasons – Trump is under Putin’s thumb, and two, the Doral has lost 69 percent of its revenue in the past two years and is in trouble of failing; so I’m sure Trump wants to prop that up with our money. Isn’t 108 million dollars spent on golf in past two and half years enough taxpayer money? So for all you Trumpsters who call liberals commies and snowflakes, I have to believe that Karma is about to take a large bite out of your backside. If you continue to support an obvious Russian sympathizer like Trump, you are not only a hypocrite, but un-American as well.

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Pretend I’m Presidential Wannabee Elizabeth Warren. My platform is if you work hard and go the extra mile to provide a better life for you or your family I will take that extra income and give it to people who refuse to do the same for theirs. I became a Harvard law professor as an affirmative action cheat, and plagiarized recipes to write my Pow Wow Chow cookbook. I will tax ammunition and firearms so that only the elite can afford them. The Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) established beyond all doubt that using taxation to deprive rights is unconstitutional. Despite this, Attorney Warren has announced her intent to use unconstitutional means to deprive all but the rich elites, like herself, ownership of firearms. Removing firearms from public ownership must be done by constitutional amendment. How in God’s name can anyone support an affirmative action cheat, plagiarizer, and dishonest lawyer who would be a tyrant?

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This whole Presidential travel is getting ridiculous. President Trump traveled more in two and a half years than President Obama did in his entire eight years in office. We are now building two new presidential aircraft for over 5 billion dollars. I cannot understand why a President needs to travel at all. He is able to communicate with anyone without leaving the Oval Office. Such things as the recent G7 conference were a complete waste of time and we have seen what was accomplished by his North Korean trips. I say the next President should sign a pledge never to leave Washington. Surely living in the White House is not exactly “roughing’ it.”

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For the first two years of Trump’s term the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. Blaming the Democrats for screwing things up is ludicrous.

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Aug. 27, 2019: We may be witnessing an inflection point in both climate change and humanity’s capability to address it truly. The Earth’s largest rain forest is on fire. São Paulo was dark as night at noon on Monday, Aug. 19. Indonesia’s forests are on fire – but reports are they are doing a good job putting them out. The Siberian fires are larger than Belgium. Fairbanks, Alaska in extreme drought. Most of this is caused directly or indirectly because men want to extract as much value from Earth as possible, as quickly as possible. What spare comfort there is seems to be in recalling that this is not human nature; it an artifact of our civilization. Indigenous people the world over largely share a teaching in common with all our religious teachings, of humanity as stewards of Earth, living in sustainable balance with her resources, constantly repairing the inevitable damage left by humans.

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Trump has been busy stoking economic instability and division while White House Democrats have been busy passing bills to lower health care costs, raise wages, secure our elections, prevent gun violence, and combat climate change. Mitch McConnell? He’s been busy, doing nothing. Get rid of all the Republicans!

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Why is it so important to move away from animal meat? “It’s four major issues. There is a global problem that we can’t support the number of livestock. There are the human health issues around eating red and processed meat, which is associated with heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Then you have to look at the effect on climate, natural resources and the sheer volume of water it takes to keep livestock. Lastly, there’s animal welfare.” Interview with Ethan Brown, founder of Beyond Meat. Time magazine. June 17, 2019

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After being forced to listen to Barack Obama’s incessant blabber about income inequality for eight too long years, now this! It seems that Barack and Michelle are buying a mansion on Martha’s Vineyard for $14.5 million. Wait a minute; I thought Martha’s Vineyard was supposed to be underwater in ten to 12 years! Could it be that this is an admission that this “Climate Change” is a hoax after all?

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The democrats, media, and Russians will not keep Mr. Trump from winning the election in 2020. Mr. Trump himself will do it with a high poll rating of 39 percent. Just let him keep talking, he’s knocking it out of the park. (Laughing out loud.)

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Mr. Trump does not pull gun triggers; he just pours the gas.

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Well that’s good news, Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out of the presidential race for 2020. What a joke. She spent $7 million and she had zero support. What did she really think? That she stood a chance against Donald Trump? There’s not one democrat that’s going to beat him next November 2020.

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The fake news media was extremely soft on Obama for eight years. The media is extremely harsh to President Trump. Fortunately the American people are smart and they see right through this bias that the media has and will not be voting for democrats. We will be voting President Trump 2020.

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Seems like a community organizer and former president who squawked many times about income inequality just purchased a 29-acre land parcel and mansion on Martha’s Vineyard for $15 million. Must be nice to be a rich hypocrite democrat socialist. 

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I see the stock market is going to pot. That’s the only thing Trump used to crow about. I don’t hear him crowing about it now. It looks like Trump is finally ruining our economy. Trump wins again Republicans. Good job Trump.

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Rich or poor is a government determination, its not how much money you have, it’s how you spend your money. You can be in some category, which some would call poor, but it’s quite adequate if you are very careful about how you spend your money. You don’t have to have a million dollars to be careless with money. 

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The democrat buffoons never met the socialist or communist leader they did not like. Now that their radical left wing goals are out of the closet and in the open I would encourage all patriotic conservatives to support changing the constitution after Trump wins big in 2020 to allow Trump to be president for life, just like the Chinese leader. Go Trump!

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News Flash! President Trump and Japan just signed a historic new trade deal. Japan will become the Asian conduit for corn, pork. wheat, beef, ethanol, wine, etc. I guess the Chinese now will starve unless Japan offers them the leftovers. President Trump is one superb negotiator! Oh, and Japan wants the U.S. to disengage from China’s 5G technology infiltration.

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This is to the caller who thanked God that Trump ran on the republican ticket. I too am glad he ran on the republican ticket, as it appears through my eyes he is destroying the Democratic Party as we speak. Just look at him unraveling. You would have thought in 2016 they would have got their train back on track, sharpened their pencils, get ready for 2020. But no, they continue with their attack against this president, resist everything he says and does, and twist his words around to make it sound bad. No, he is destroying the Democratic Party; thank God he did run on the republican ticket! 

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Trump, the great chosen one, skipped the climate change meeting this past weekend. There was an empty chair for an empty brain. He thinks he’s a scientist and knows everything about the climate. We need a president who cares for the health of the people of this country. He is shameless for so many things.

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Right wing populists are being pushed by oligarchs to divert the disillusioned and angry masses away from left wing populists who are threatening to change the broken capitalist system. Trump won the election by telling voters he was going to provide universal healthcare, rebuild U.S. infrastructure, create millions of jobs, and raise taxes on the rich to pay for it. He then stripped healthcare, failed to come up with an infrastructure plan, and lowered taxes on himself and his rich friends. These are massive betrayals of the voters.