Readers’ Column for the week of April 11, 2021

You may call the Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or email comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.

 

If anyone would like a FREE set of World Book encyclopedias, 20 volumes, please leave your phone number in this column. First call gets it.

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How is it possible that Johnson & Johnson hired a subcontractor for the vaccine and they put in the wrong ingredients? Johnson & Johnson only had to throw away 15 million vaccines. This makes the public wonder, should I get a vaccine or not. It makes you wonder, very stupid.

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About two-dozen people got vaccinated with two shots, and two weeks later they were checked positive for COVID-19. We were told that there was such a small amount of COVID in the shots that you couldn’t get COVID from them. Well, here is another screw up by the so-called experts.

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Cool, a few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail from the Internal Revenue Service that if I did not receive my $1,400 of the money to call them. I called them last week and I called them today. I called them seven times! They don’t give a crap there. They won’t answer, they won’t put a human on, they have that robot-voice, which says they will connect you with a human but they don’t. They just hang up on you or put music on. I have no Internet and no computer, so I can’t get help. I guess I’m out $1,400, which I could use, like most people in this world could use. 

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I found that I’ve been happier since I’ve changed from coffee in the morning to orange juice. My doctor explained that it’s vitamin C and natural sugars. What I really think it is, is the vodka. Studebaker Hawk.

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The push is on, apparently, to legalize recreational marijuana. I don’t know how widespread it is, but it seems to be. Just like with alcohol after prohibition, the main stress was the taxes the government puts on it. So the same with marijuana, it’s going to be taxed, and more money is spent. Also, when somebody is afflicted with alcohol or marijuana are they the same person, are they a logical person, or are they in a daze and could do harm and not realize what they have done? It’s going to be a bad scene.

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The freedoms you surrender today are the freedoms your grandchildren will never know existed. Mama Gump.

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Everyone tells us what great technology the United States has. Can anyone tell me why it takes so long to get a stimulus check? Some people will tell you that all they have to do is push a few buttons and the money is in your account. If that was the case, we would all have the stimulus in a few days, not months.

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In my opinion, COVID is over. I’m living my life. I’m not living in fear. If you don’t die from COVID you’re going to die from something else, so live your life. All you people that are so afraid of this have lost a year of your life and you’re probably miserable, staying home doing nothing. Get out and live your life!

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I’d like to give a big thank you to the staff and nurses at the Apalachin UHS that were giving the COVID vaccines. They were just wonderful!

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I sure hope the health departments are very weary of lifting the restrictions so soon. You know we haven’t gotten 80 % of the population vaccinated yet. These restrictions need to stay in place until at least 80 % of the population is vaccinated. People need to continue to social distance 6-feet, wear masks, and sanitize. In restaurants they need to sit kitty corner so they are not breathing in each other’s faces, and they need to refrain from sitting at the bar so that they are not breathing in the server’s face behind the bar. This needs to continue until the vaccinations are completed – no matter how long that takes. 

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Why are people using fake names? Why don’t they use their real names on the Owego Village Facebook Page? We know who they are. There are two of them out there constantly complaining. Why don’t they step up and use their own name.

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Go to prison Cuomo, that’s where you belong!

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This is for everyone who is driving up and down McMaster Street to avoid North Avenue. Stay off! Too many cars! I feel like I am living on a thruway. The speeders are the worst. I can’t believe how fast they drive. The speed limit in the village is 30 mph, slow down! 

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Does the Town of Berkshire still have a junk car ordinance or have they given up on that? A few years ago this was a high priority. I wish some of the board members would reply and let us know.

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It’s good that a used car lot opened up on Railroad Avenue in Berkshire. Now we don’t have to travel very far looking for a good used car.

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Once again, I think the Village of Owego needs to address the parking situation downtown. I believe merchants are losing a lot of business because there is never parking. I don’t think people realize how much parking goes on Monday through Friday; the courthouse alone takes on the side streets. This really needs to be addressed; we need more parking downtown for the merchants.

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Just looking for where to throw an old TV away. I talked to Tioga County; they do not accept old TVs because they consider them hazardous waste. Broome County has certain days that are open to take them. The other thing is, sooner or later, all these solar panels are going to be in the same situation. They’ll probably start billing big time, so much a panel. I didn’t know if someone recycled these closer.

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The Gibson Corners Cemetery Association will be having their annual cemetery cleanup on April 17, at 10 a.m. All are invited to join them in preparing the cemetery for the upcoming mowing season.

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Add one more reason to leave New York State. Joe Lunchbox is already paying higher than average costs for vehicle insurance; what do you think that’s going to do once all the additional smack-ups (injuring innocents, or worse) start to mount caused by people high on pot? Double? Triple? Oh, that’s right; out politicians don’t have any concerns over those of us “privileged” enough to have paid attention in the schools provided to everyone and actually have enough pride to hold down a job that we have to drive to. And are our politicians naive enough to think anyone that wants anything to do with recreational pot is going to pay their fees and abide by the myriad of rules and laws? Aren’t “those in marginalized communities who have suffered the most” ultimately going to suffer even more in many ways, including additional health issues, including birth defects? No, ladies, pot is absolutely unsafe to use for morning sickness. Marijuana smoke is not going to improve your asthma, etc. Those of us still sane better start packing up while we can still afford to leave.

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We appreciate all the hard work that the road crews have done to keep Brown Road, which runs between the Towns of Newark Valley and Berkshire, free of ice and snow this winter. However, now that the bridge at the Newark Valley end is closed, there is increased traffic that heads north. Curious to know what the plans are for an upgrade. Between the culverts, the railroad tracks, the potholes, no shoulders and an entry on Route 38 that would be a poster child for America’s deficient infrastructure, this stretch of road has become quite a challenge. Please put this as a request for Biden’s infrastructure initiative. P. S. And the road sign at the Berkshire end is missing again.

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To the person who was complaining about Candor roads – certain holes you can’t fix until it’s warmer so the patch will set right; plus we still have frost, and yes it does affect the roads. Have you noticed some bumps where the road is a little higher than normal? Well, it’s called frost, which means frozen water is under the road and hasn’t gone down yet. I have seen where some of the holes have been filled, but with rain coming this spring it will cause some damage to the roads, too. So take a chill pill and be patient, unless you want to do it yourself. There’s a right way to fix the roads there’s more to it than just filling the holes. Plus, when they try to fill the holes, then the Candor residents complain because they have to detour around. So they are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. Be patient. Candor has a small crew as it is.

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When shopping for Lawn Fertilizer, look for the 0. The middle number should be a zero, such as 22-0-15. The middle number is phosphorus and the New York DEC is recommending a zero to keep phosphorus out of our water bodies. Excess phosphorus is a threat to many New York water bodies, triggering algae blooms and sometimes rendering waters un-swimmable and unfishable. Better yet, skip the fertilizer altogether!

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Code Enforcement, where are you? Try to get a building permit. There are junkyards and trash everywhere. Is Fun City a car dealer now? The Town Board can’t keep track of tax revaluation money. They cry about roads and bridges and then allow heavy trucks to ruin the road. This is our tax dollars you people are playing with.

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When the details come into the light of day there will be the most malodorous and foul day curling the nostrils of good people. Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders have announced the broad outlines of their budget deal for fiscal 2022, which began April 1. Never let a COVID crisis go to waste. The largest single increase is for the teacher’s union (State Aid to Schools), a massively unnecessary 11.7%. If distributed according to formula, OACSD shouldn’t need a property tax increase for 17 years. However, a property tax will be required this year despite the COVID inactivity savings from last. They will adamantly refuse any discussion of the obscene salaries and benefits (highest in Southern Tier) paid at the cost of students left behind. For a full decade they have known salaries and benefits were out of line and out of control. This is documented by the BOE’s stealthy change of policy, student academic performance, and dropout records. They staunchly upheld the excessive compensation policy while OACSD was an academically below average District. In three years short years the new Superintendent Greene picked the low hanging fruit of improvement and more. He removed the standard of mediocrity. This was accomplished without wasting more money on salaries to increase performance. Mr. Greene brought the District in line with our demographics. Prior to this poor performance was justified by our intellectually inferior students. This was based on the number of students receiving a free or subsidized lunch. The free lunch program is a false rubric. 

 

National Political Viewpoints

To all you hard drug users out there that are sticking needles into your arm, it’s just plain stupid. By the way, it’s not much different than a Trumpster that refuses to get a needle stuck in their arm. You, too, are stupid.

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If you’re suggesting sending men with weapons of war to take my weapons of war, I’m fairly certain that’s what is called an act of war. The definition of tyranny, coincidently, is the reason for the 2nd amendment in the first place. Thank you, Studebaker Hawk.

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Attention everyone! April Fool’s Day is cancelled this year because no prank is greater than the joke that is running this country right now.

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Hey Liberals, could Joe Biden be doing a worse job than he is? It seems impossible. What a joke.

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Talk about children being separated from their families, the child smuggling that is currently happening in our southern border is devastating. They’re just dropping these kids over the wall and running back and getting more and making millions of dollars off of it. It is very evident the Biden-Harris administration doesn’t care; they only want the votes. The Trump administration did nothing like this to young children and teens. They weren’t separated from their parents; they were separated long before they got here. I’ll never vote for another democrat as long as I live. 

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The $3 trillion relief effort called Cares Act Bailout Bill HR748 provides for big businesses, banks, airlines and hotels, and other businesses are no longer required to fund Social Security obligations. This means that your Social Security is in jeopardy. Therefore, call your members of congress to repeal Section 2302. Retirees and seniors should not be the ones that bear the unfair burden on the bailout bill.

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Newsflash! Biden’s massive Marxist tax plan, which the lawyer in chief calls an infrastructure plan, uses a technique which will destroy small businesses and small family farmers. It is called the Stepped-Up Cost Basis Plan. Google it and learn of impending doom and gloom. Biden’s increased corporate tax plan will see the prices of all goods passed onto the consumer increase dramatically, and more companies move offshore. Great plan Biden. Go back to your basement and do the working middle class a gigantic favor. 

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It’s a year again and it’s Easter time. Thankfully we have a president that’s helping us move forward and get out of this horrible situation we’re in and trying to help everybody survive the event financially, businesswise, and physically; how blessed are we. You see so many places that wish they were as lucky as we Americans to have a vaccine; and not one, but several. We are very blessed.

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Okay, this is the deal. Now stop and think about it before you judge it. Three days this week I have seen those children being dropped over the borderline to get into the United States, three and five year olds. But that’s okay because they’re from the other country, Mexico. If it were an American person doing that, the first place they would go would be to jail. You know it and I know it, so what the hell is wrong with this program? Lock that gate up, let those people fend for themselves as they always have, and we do not have to pay their way. Think about it. We are getting screwed, no matter what we do.

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Way to go Texas Rangers, opening up at full capacity at your baseball game. The fear mongering should be over and we don’t care what you and Joe have to say, and we don’t care what Dr. Fauci has to say anymore. Your science isn’t the only science. There are many scientists that have disproved 90 % of what you are saying. So let’s open up, start living again, and if you don’t like it stay home in your bedroom with a double mask. I personally don’t care. Way to go again, Texas!

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I have to say, I love the way Fox News avoids any negative coverage for the Republican Party, such as Matt Gaetz being a pimp and a child molester. 

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Kamala Harris has not been to the southern border yet. I believe the reason is that she doesn’t know where it is. 

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Like taking your medicine every day, don’t forget to tune into Fox News and take your daily dose of hate and fear. 

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I would like to answer some of the questions from last week’s paper. Yes, we do have an ambulance service here in Nichols and a very good one. Yes, there is supposed to be a code enforcement officer, but good luck on that. Having Trump flags out, are you going to complain because people have Christmas lights out yet? I think they are beautiful, what does it matter? How about Biden bumper stickers? Should we remove those too? This is America. As you can see, people do what they want to do. 

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I really appreciate living in a state where our water is important, our environment is important, and our health is important. Thank you to New York State Governor Cuomo and every official that helped with that. It’s wonderful. Look at what’s happening in Florida. They have a waste treatment plant that has been a problem for over 20 years, threatening the entire Tampa Bay area. In Florida they don’t have regulations and concerns about the environment, health, medical care, etc. Talking from experience. 

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I’m smart enough to not watch any Biden appearances or what he has to say, but apparently someone made the comment that he’s meeting his quota for vaccines. Are these the same vaccines that were made possible by President Trump and his leadership? Biden seems to excel at stolen valor. For those that don’t know what that is, it means taking credit for what someone else did. President Trump, 2024.

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Biden is incapable of being president. He is both physically and mentally ill. He has the left controlling him. The government is supporting illegal immigrants but cannot help its own citizens and veterans who fought for our country. Also, I agree with the comment in this column last week about dumb bleeding-heart Americans wanting lazy non-working people to live just like the ones who sprang from bed at 6 a.m. to work.

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Having people vaccinated is really no big deal. The big deal is this, where did the vaccines come from? Thank goodness we didn’t have Biden as our president when all of this broke out! We wouldn’t have a vaccine for probably seven to 10 years. You have President Trump to thank for the vaccinations that are going on, not Biden. So, he really has not accomplished anything as far as I’m concerned. 

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Ted Cruz made a big show at the border last week about the poor children. Where was Cruz when Trump was separating children from their mothers? You didn’t hear one word from him, not one word about it. 

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So why is it the democrats don’t want you to show an I.D. when you vote or verify your signature? Oh, that’s right, then you wouldn’t be able to cheat on the elections like you did during last year’s presidential election. What do you think, that people are stupid? If you really cared about the integrity of the election you would insist on a voter I.D., you would insist on verifying signatures, plain and simple.

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Newsflash! Impeach Biden for the horrible situation on the Texas border where children are being molested and overcrowded conditions. How do we rid the country of this president, who can’t even read the cheat notes during the phony press conferences held by the fake news, who feed him the questions? We need another Tea Party to put real pressure on the Marxist democrats now!

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As cases decline, Georgia has lifted all restrictions in their state. 

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I’m convinced by the amount of money the democrats spend they all must be rich, so I am becoming a democrat. I expect to be rich any day now. 

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I just love Biden and Kamala Harris’s new nickname, Pinocchio.

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I strongly suspect Biden is in over his head, and it will be increasingly evident as time goes on.

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Anyone who thinks that increased taxes on businesses will not affect them is really quite special. Do you really believe businesses do not pass on the increased costs to consumers? How do you think small businesses stay open and big businesses continue to make a profit? Maybe it’s magic.

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The late night talk show hosts are breathing a sign of relief over concerns that there is so much less material now that Trump is not in office. Out of the blue Matt Gaetz appeared on the horizon, although it is being reported that Matt has a trail of indiscretions that is longer than the toilet paper trail that Trump was pulling as he boarded Air Force One.

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I agree that gas is going up because OPEC increased the per barrel cost. But why did they do that? Because they no longer have to worry how much they raise the price. We can no longer just stop using their gas because we no longer have the desire to produce our own or the guts to say NO, we won’t just give you want.

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You brilliant Democrats out there; please tell me, how is 300 people with flags and sign poles entering the Capitol Building an insurrection – while thousands of people invading our southern border is not an insurrection? ROAR!

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Years ago the U.S. was called the Melting Pot, currently we’re a Boiling Pot; the Democratic and Republican Parties are both stoking the fire and won’t stop until the Pot Boils over. The Democrats want the U.S. taxpayers to support everyone that crosses the borders, the GOP only cares about Corporate greed, especially the Oil and Gas Industries; both parties prefer using U.S. tax dollars to dominate over the entire world, ignoring domestic issues, and are willing to sacrifice our men and women in the military to achieve their goal. The U.S. has over 800 military bases around the globe, funded by U.S. tax dollars, we meddle in the affairs of sovereign countries on a daily basis, we make allegations without proof and the world is expected to accept it as truth, we place economic sanctions on countries that don’t obey, creating humanitarian crisis with no regard for the innocent people that will suffer. Is this really what this country is about?

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Give me a break! What is going on in New York State? I understand that our State lawmakers are going to give illegal immigrants $28,000 a year, because they are unemployed, when they come to New York. I get less than half that much in my Social Security Check after working 50 years of my life. I see now why people say that the U.S. is a Country of FREE rides? The only thing is that citizens who did the right thing get penalized. These Politicians who make these stupid rulings should go out and get a real job before they go into politics.

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Now the confused “administration” wants to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the USE of guns. In other words, if someone is injured or killed by the use of a gun, the MANUFACTURER is held legally responsible. Question; if someone is hurt or killed by a vehicle, is that manufacturer held responsible? If not, then why not?

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If you were dumb enough to make a one-time credit card donation to Trump, I would advise you to check your monthly statements. Unless you had “unchecked” an obscure box on the donate page, you had signed up for multiple donations. Take for example Stacy Blatt, who was battling cancer and living on $1,000 per month. After listening to Rush Limbaugh’s dire warning that Trump needed money for his campaign, he made a $500 donation, which was taken out the next day. Unknown to him, $500 was taken out the next week and every week thereafter through mid-October, until his account was depleted and frozen. When his rent and utility payments bounced he discovered that $3,000 in withdrawals had been made to the Donald J. Trump campaign. Since this had generated a nine-figure, interest-free loan to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Congressional Committee thought that this was such a great scam that they added these “uncheck” boxes in their mailings. One of them stated, “We need to know we haven’t lost you to the Radical Left. If you UNCHECK this box, we will have to tell Trump you’re a DEFECTOR and side with the democrats. Check this box and we can win back the House and get Trump to run in 2024. So go ahead and make your donation(s).

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The U.S. is $28 trillion in debt, yet our Federal Government has no problem giving financial aid to foreign countries, not for the humanitarian crises, but to buy more weapons so they can continue to kill the innocent.

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Biden and his brain trust want to do a new mileage tax via GPS tracking. We want everyone to pay his or her fair share, and taxing the poorest amongst us is only fair. It is as if the $.18 per gallon federal tax isn’t a mileage tax already. Let’s call this new one a Green New Deal carbon tax, and save the planet and say that it is for the infrastructure. Is there anything lacking in our local infrastructure? At least with GPS tracking the Department of Justice and IRS will know where you are and have been. 

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Republican Governors like Ron DeSantis, Abbott, Noem, etc. are like a breath of fresh air amid the loony lockdown nut jobs like Biden. There’s not a shred of evidence that continued mask wearing and the lockdown nonsense has any effect on the spread of the virus, NONE! It’s all a ploy to control people and it needs to go away!

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I’m a senior citizen, and in all my years I’ve never experienced such abject confusion and chaos in the White House. It’s pretty obvious those people haven’t a clue on most things necessary to run a country and an economy like this country has.

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Good going Joe, you’ve got the President of Mexico and the leaders of several Central American countries all ticked off at the U.S. because of your bungling of the border policy. Add to that North Korea, China, Iran, and Russia. 

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Supposedly Kamala helped win 81,000 votes. Then how do you explain, on a recent visit to her hometown, with advance publicity, NO ONE, zero people showed up. You’ve got to hate it when the facts don’t agree with the desired outcome and the narrative.

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Well, Stacey Abrams, Ossoff and Warneck, you can’t have it both ways. Stacey, you started this fake news as to what was in the bill Governor Kemp put through. To keep these lies going on, you reap what you sow. For four years we have listened to the news media, democrats, Hollywood and big tech tell half the news about conservatives just to make us look bad. You are the ones dividing the country, but it won’t work. We conservatives don’t play dirty; we play fair, no matter what you throw at us. You democrats have all the power, and yet you aren’t satisfied. Power and money can get lonely after a while when you have no one else to destroy. President Biden, so much for your unity. Trump was brash, but he accomplished a lot of good for “We The People” and our country. By you undoing all the good he did you are selfish and destroying this great Country of ours. Close the borders and get the fracking and pipelines back into production, please! God bless The Owego Pennysaver for printing both sides, and I pray your paper doesn’t get shut down for it. God Bless America.

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Here we go again. On one hand we have loons trying to do away with anything using fossil fuel and go solar. Now we have OTHER loons saying we have to cover the sun to stop global warming. Kind of contradicts each other, don’t you think? Question: with all the push for electric powered vehicles, where does the electricity come from to charge them? Bet no one has taken the time to actually THINK this one through.