Readers’ Column for the week of September 8, 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. 

Thank you Nicki at Moore’s Tires in Owego. You are an angel in a time of darkness, giving hope to a mother in need. 

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The website, www.foodbankst.org, lists ALL food pantries, soup kitchens, kid’s meals, and where food trucks will be for Broome / Tioga / Tompkins / Chemung / Steuben / Schuyler counties. If someone needs food and feels bad about going, help the site. They could always use help. Not all jobs require lifting. Some sites deliver food to people who cannot pick it up at the site. 

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To the person who saw a volunteer getting first dibs on food selections, many volunteers also use the food pantry. I am one of them and it’s my way of helping out for the food I receive. Sorry I took your box of donuts. Maybe you should give this a try instead of complaining about the volunteers who kindly give up their time and gas to wait on you.

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In regards to the drug problem – When we are in pain it’s a godsend to have the medication available from our doctors and hospitals. We have choices. If you choose to abuse these medications, you will get caught up in trouble. People love to have someone else to blame like our caring doctors and hospitals. It makes them feel better, but better about themselves and their own bad choices. I’m tired of doctor bashing. The problem is the dealers on the streets.

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I’m asking Mr. Mike Baratta, our Mayor, or any leader of our county to please have the State of New York repair Route 96 from the Antique Center north to Turner’s Bridge. Thank you so much.

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I’m calling in response to the lush vegetation growing along Route 38. They are soybeans, which is a protein source for cattle feed. 

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; please tell all your readers that I never read anything more than a couple sentences long. Please don’t go on and on and on. The one comment in the Sept. 1 issue, pages 6 and 7, there was a mile long comment and I just skipped right over it. Keep them short, sweet, and to the point. Make sense?

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If the highest office in the land has term limits why doesn’t every other political office, especially the governorship of New York? Vote that banana Cuomo out!

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Just wondering, got my school taxes, and I’m dreadfully sitting here filling out a check. It says this year’s Star exemption benefit cannot exceed last year’s benefit. With that being said, why should there be a tax increase if there is not a Star increase? Just wondering. 

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Can any of your readers tell me what official New York Business was conducted by our illustrious governor on his taxpayer funded trips to Israel and Puerto Rico? I have a dollar bet with my sister that no one calls in with an appropriate answer.

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I agree with the caller that it is ridiculous to tax the fuel to heat our homes. Also, the taxing of medical bills from the hospital is just as wrong.

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A great big thank you to the staff at the Owego Department of Motor Vehicles office. Great group of people!

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FOUND, envelope with money at the Candor elderly home. If you I.D. the envelope you can have the money. Contact the person in No. 8. 

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This is to alert senior citizens to a phone scam. A caller identifies himself as a representative of a company that offers free DNA test kits (paid for by Medicaid), to check your genetic pre-disposition to get cancer. He may use a phrase like “due to your family history” or ask you if anyone in your family has had cancer. Many of us have had a relative who has or had, or died from cancer, so this question is designed to touch a nerve and disarm your suspicion about getting something for free. He will probably ask you several other medical questions. The caller assures you that Medicaid is now “authorized” or may be “required” to provide these DNA test kits free to anyone with a family history of cancer, and all you have to do is “verify” your Medicaid account number, or if you don’t have your card, simply “verify” your Social Security number. If you seem uncomfortable giving him that information, he will tell you that they strictly enforce HIPA (Health Information Protection Act) requirements and your information is strictly confidential. After he gets that information, he can’t get off the phone with you fast enough, and will hurriedly tell you that a “staff doctor” will call you to give you instructions on how to use the test kit and mail it into the testing center, and that you will receive your kit in a few days. No such thing will happen. No call, no kit. And they now have quite a bit of information about you, including your Medicaid number or Social Security number. If you feel that you have already had this call and have given out either of those numbers, you should immediately call the number on your Medicaid card to report the identity theft, which is what it actually is, and also contact the three credit reporting agencies to put a freeze on your credit information. This will effectively stop anyone from opening a credit card or applying for a loan in your name. For more information, go to BBB.org and look at how to freeze your credit information. Also, if you have been scammed, report it to the Attorney General’s office at www.nysag@ag.ny.gov. 

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The writer in the latest Pennysaver that mentioned “dihydrogen monoxide” and “hydric acid” may think he is being scientific, or just thinks most of us are really stupid. This is “fake news” at its worst. Both “dihydrogen monoxide” (that would be represented chemically as H2O), and “hydric acid” (represented the same, H2O), are PARODIES of the most common thing on Earth. WATER. Clearly, while it looks good in the paper, this comment is just a joke on the readers, and typical of unfounded, and pseudo-scientific babble used by the current administration to scare the public and justify whatever nonsense they are trying to pull on the American public. There are legitimate concerns about the atmosphere due to sulphur dioxide emissions from coal-burning plants, and industrial plants that are pouring literally tons of pollution into the air, without resorting to absolute nonsense about things like “dihydrogen monoxide” and “hydric acid” (WATER, folks, WATER) in the atmosphere. If you want to worry about something real, here is a REAL fact: Sulphur dioxide (SO2) that comes from coal-burning plants, and other sources, combines with H2O (water) in the atmosphere to create Sulphuric Acid H2SO4), in a weak form. But when it rains (Acid Rain), that weak acid has the ability to slowly dissolve limestone (many buildings are built from limestone), and concrete (a major component of concrete is ground limestone). Over time, it weakens major concrete structures and wears away at limestone buildings, and can attack other materials as well. Acid raIn may be part of the reason for the worldwide increase of sinkholes, especially in metropolitan areas. How about worrying about that, instead of paying attention to parodies and jokes? That is a REAL problem.

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Took a stroll around Village of Newark Valley this weekend and I see that Elm Street potentially is going to have the same problem we had on Whig Street, JUNK YARD. It’s a shame with all the older homes looking nice, and people investing to refurbish some of the abandoned homes, bringing up our property values (house by the village office looks very nice), junk cars are allowed to be parked in the lawn. It’s not a very good visual to potential homebuyers or the people that live in neighborhood. If the present laws or ordinances do not fully address this problem, then maybe it’s time to address those.

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Well, our OACSD taxes have arrived. Local politicians bemoan the fact that our kids leave the area, mostly for job opportunities. Despite the fact that upstate taxpayers pay the highest taxes per student than anywhere else in the nation, yet test scores do not reflect that vast outlay of cash by any means, our students must be learning something. Enough to sit down and figure out the grass is much greener in places other than New York – better infrastructure, job opportunities, weather, quality of life; not to mention the big bonus, property taxes in these places are far less than here – making the purchase of a home an actual investment instead of a black hole. Like myself, they have sat down and figured our local property taxes are 600 percent higher than much more livable and desirable areas of our country, including over-priced California, with its sun and surf.

Those that can read may also have come across a recent news article where some big deal with the state education department in Albany essentially said he can’t figure out why we dopes in upstate keep voting for increasing already bloated, outrageous school budgets – but if we want to keep it up, that’s okay – he states the districts, who could certainly do some negligible belt tightening, will just go ahead and use the windfall of cash for artificial turf or football field lighting or whatever. So keep voting in the school tax increases while Albany laughs at you, but don’t cry when any kid with an ounce of brains figures out staying here is a dead end.

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There is great interest in the naming of the Owego post office and citizens are invited to voice their preferences, make a recommendation and vote on the Senator Schumer Belva Lockwood Owego Post Office naming legislation. If you would like a copy of the Owego Post Office Naming Petition that is circulating in Owego, please email Owegocitizensnamepostoffice@gmail.com. We will send you the petition and you can exercise your democratic right to participate in this very important process. It is just starting, so now is the time to get involved. 

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To the person with the chemical sensitivities – I developed mine over 20 years ago, and I understand what you are saying. I was one of the first groups to be hit with it. I’ve heard it all. Try using the word allergy instead, made a world of difference. People understand that word, it’s not the same, but trust me, it saved me a lot of grief over the years. Doesn’t matter if they get it, it’s your illness, do what you must and keep your head high, eventually, they will get it. Avoid the ones who don’t, even if they are family members; it’s insulting to deal with such nonsense and lack of caring. You don’t have to explain yourself, if they want to understand and they ask, then explain what it makes you feel like. Even the doctor’s office I go to has a sign about not wearing perfume to the office. It’s taking a lot of years to get to this point, but I do see changes all over, even with products. If you’d like to talk about it, leave some contact info. Good luck!

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Catholic Charities would like to send a heartfelt thank you to each individual person and business that donated or contributed in anyway to the Back to School Bonanza at Catholic Charities in Nichols. Through the donations of time, equipment, school supplies and hygiene products, Catholic Charities was able to the make school year a little brighter for 147 individual Tioga County students. We look forward to working together for next year’s event.

National Political Viewpoints

So let’s just call it the democrats free for all, literally with Bernie being the king. He wants free everything. The man has not a clue and no chance of being our next president. When will he realize that? This is his third try, are we going to see him for a fourth try? I hope not! 

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Republicans think that the news media was soft on Obama and harsh on Trump, the chosen one. Boohoo, too bad. The president tells it like it is. Obama was a smart and kind president. Republicans, don’t you ever hear Trump speak? Do they know how much money Trump spends for his own benefit? Do they know Trump doesn’t believe in climate change? 

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As I sit here reading this column, I see what all these folks have to say is really quite disgusting. The rhetoric you use and the beliefs that you have are parallel to Donald Trump and the fantasy you folks all have that he is the only one that’s going to win the 2020 election is really a fantasy. I’m sure there will be a good democrat that will beat him and we need it to happen because he is screwing everything up. He has messed up the stock market, he’s running the farmers out of business, and this so called tariff you guys probably believe the companies are paying is just a fantasy. You’re paying it and I’m paying it and I really don’t like it, and I still don’t understand what the man has supposedly done in the last two years except just run his mouth. 

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It still baffles me and surprises me that people are still watching and listening to fake news! All these comments in the Pennysaver about what Trump is doing to tear families apart is so untrue and then they go on to say that Trump is killing children. I don’t think so and I have to ask you, what are the democrats doing with their abortion rules when women can give birth to a newborn and allow it to sit there and die? Do not watch fake news anymore. It’s of no value; it’s a waste of time. Get the facts before you call into the Pennysaver. 

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I cannot believe anyone would wish destruction to another or their property, so who’s working to divide our country now? We were extremely fortunate that Hurricane Dorian did not make a direct hit on Florida as a category 5 hurricane. Florida was spared including Mar-A-Lago, thank goodness for that!

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Do you believe Pence agrees to have the G7 at Trump’s hotel next year? What next, that’s crazy! It’s disgusting how Trump and his family get away with it and also all of Trump’s lies. Barr is just as crooked as Trump and Pence. They are out of control with our money and I’m sick of it. 

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More money approved to continue building that southern wall. That is wonderful news! That is what President Trump ran on and that is why the American people elected him to office. Nope, no other president has cared so much about the American people as Trump. He doesn’t answer to Schumer or Pelosi. They’re still calling for open borders. Well, watch in 2020 when Trump is reelected by a landslide. I can’t wait.

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I am also glad that Trump ran on the republican ticket. This is a big, big plus for democrats. To the person who wrote in saying basically he’s destroying the Democratic Party, you republicans are very good at spinning, twisting and manipulating things to your political advantage. Trump is a bull and this person that thinks Trump is destroying the Democratic Party, he too is a foolish man.

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Trump is almost up to 11,000 lies that he has told. He will go down in history as the biggest lying president who ever served in the White House and got away with it for now. 

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300,000 homeless people in California spread disease and excrement and refuge across the California streets. So what plan does Governor Gavin Newsom of California have in mind? He just made it legal for citizens to not help a police officer in trouble. The inmates are now running the asylum in California and New York is not far behind.

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Here we go again. Low information AOC, hoping to influence other low information voters has made the predictable statement that “Climate Change” is responsible for hurricane Dorian. Not so! If you do yourself a favor and Google the National Hurricane Bureau, you’d find that there are NOT more hurricanes, and those that do happen are NOT more severe. These storms have gone on since there has been an earth, PERIOD!

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Mr. Trump’s resolution for climate change – wait for it – A SHARPIE!

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What is the difference between a Republican and Democratic president? The republican comes into office having made their fortune. The Democrats come into office to make their fortune. Quid pro quo onto the money train. 

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There was no deal signed with Japan. Trump and Abe agreed to negotiate a deal. And Abe said it would be up to Japanese businesses to decide what to buy.

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No, Martha’s Vineyard is not going to be underwater in a few years. Highest point is 311 feet. It has cliffs and everything. Try checking it out in person. Or at least look at pictures.

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Trump cozies up to Putin and Kim, announcing that he believes them rather than all his U.S. advisers, and people are accusing the Democrats of being the communist socialist threat? Wow!

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Another failure for the great negotiator President Trump; his goal of forcing former U.S. manufactures to return to the U.S. from China by placing tariffs on the products has failed; if they leave China they just move to another Asian country with cheap labor, his bullying tactics failed again.

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I wish Mr. Trump would not have said that Alabama was going to get hit by the hurricane. He scares people and has no idea what’s going to happen. We know where all the wind is coming from.

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Times of uncertainty, disruptiveness, and uproar please remember, a thousand lights, a ripple of hope, and tear down that wall. We are the UNITED STATES for one reason – We are UNITED!

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Trump acted unilaterally in imposing tariffs on China – he is an authoritarian surrounded by incompetent sycophantic enablers who parrot his propaganda. Nothing is being done to stop him from wreaking our economy.

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Trump isn’t just “canceling military construction projects,” he’s literally taking jobs away from members of the U.S. military and giving them to private contractors. This is one of the most un-American things I’ve ever heard of. And Republicans are accomplices, every step of the way.

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Well, once again CNN and MSNBC tried to pass a fake news story about President Trump and the Deutsche Bank and Oligarchs. The reporter, within 24 hours, recanted his story and said it was not verified, and that’s only because President Trump’s lawyers were going to sue the reporter and MSNBC for a fake story. The news programs are the ones who tell all the lies and fake stories, and give you their view just to make President Trump look bad. Fox news is the only one that will give you both sides of the story or tell you the whole story. That’s why so many people are misled, because of how CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and some newspapers put in false stories just to deceive we the people and try to change our minds about the President. Some day we will have people unite with one another and not be sore losers and accept that President Trump won, fair and square. He’s trying to unite the people and other countries, but between the Democrats, fake news stories and the newspaper articles, I can see why President Trump tweets a lot. That’s the only way we will get the truth. God Bless our men and women who have served and lost their lives defending us and who are still serving to give us our Freedom.

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Let us not forget Karl Marx’s immoral words, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” I need a lucrative tax-exempt pension just like New York State Public Employee Union Members, a new Mercedes Benz, and exemption from the rule of law. Can you feel my pain? And you want my guns? Obama distributed more guns and ammunition to Fed civilian agencies than all presidents’ past. A Democratic Socialist in nothing more than frustrated dictator. What is Antifa?

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On Aug. 31, at approximately 11:15 a.m., a 70 year old gentleman, licensed legally to carry concealed, stared down a nut job with a knife in McDonald’s in Coschocton, Ohio with his handgun, and held him until law enforcement could arrive. A good guy with a gun stopped what could have been a mass murder scene. Check it on Google. Haven’t heard it in the Lamestream media? Of course not, doesn’t fit the narrative they want you to believe.