Readers’ Column for the week of January 2, 2022

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.

This year I went to Arlington National Cemetery so I could put wreaths on the countless graves of the soldiers and honor them for what they did for me and my country. They gave their lives so that we could have a free one. I think that more people should go to the Arlington National Cemetery or a local cemetery to honor the soldiers there for what they did for us.

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The health department had an article in The Owego Pennysaver recently, but there was no direct answer to this question. Are they or are they not going to be out enforcing the mask mandate put forth by our governor? Too many counties are not doing it, nothing’s really been on record published about it, so could they put something in your paper, put something in the news, in a major paper, make it available to the public?

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Hey Tioga County residents, I just found a neat little store at Sweeney’s Plaza, it’s called the LiL Bargain Barn. The prices there are very reasonable!

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Think of all the garbage, trash, etc., over Christmas time and the rest of the year. Where is it all going? 

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Many of us are addicted to prescription drugs, hopefully for a cure of an ailment we have. They are all man made. Are we better off using our body to cure ourselves or are we better off to get a prescription depending on somebody else to make us better? Are we healthier or less healthy by taking these drugs? 

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If you have the answers to everything, I suggest if they think they know so much, why don’t they all get out there and run for office; instead of talk, talk, talk, walk, walk, walk!

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I’m sick and tired of people that do choose to wear masks giving people that choose not to wear a mask a hard time. There is not one bit of evidence, not one, that wearing a mask makes one bit of difference, period! No scientific evidence! If there is, bring it forward, because even your fake news network has no evidence to put forward. 

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I am 82 years old and I get $1,241 a month from SSI, I have M.S., I paid for school taxes, property taxes, and utilities. I recently applied for Medicaid and food stamps. I was denied Medicaid and got $20 a month for food stamps. Thank God for Meals on Wheels or I would starve. What is with this program? I don’t understand! I know people who misuse it and nothing is ever done to them. 

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I’m calling to ask if anyone in the Payne Marsh Road area of Berkshire / Richford is missing a large black cat. He has a few white hairs on his chest and looks like he is neutered. He is very friendly but does not have the best of manners. He wants very much to move in with us but we just can’t keep him. We have four senior cats that need lots of care and can’t take him in. Now that the weather is cold the situation is urgent. If this pet’s parent cannot be found, he is available to a good home. If you think this may be your lost cat, please call 657-8035.

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You probably often see ads for Listerine mouthwash, and it probably is a good mouthwash; however, Listerine is not something you should drink, you have to spit it out. If you want to have a good mouthwash, get some gin or whiskey, which is high in alcohol content, and put that in your mouth and swish it around to kill bacteria. You can spit it out or swallow a little and it won’t hurt you any. Listerine, you don’t want to swallow, that is a poisonous alcohol. 

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This is an answer to the person calling in about the Apalachin Post Office. They can’t get the right mail to the right people and my bills have been late. I’ve gotten third notices and everything. It’s just a joke! That’s what’s wrong with the Apalachin Post Office.

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I’d like to say thank you to the secret elves for their kindness at Christmas time. Thank you very much!

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This is for the fine folks in Catatonk. Thank you for the remarkable job you do for the Christmas season. These folks need to be recognized for all the hard work they put into their display, putting all the display up and then to take it all down and put it away. What a wonderful display for everyone to enjoy! May God bless you folks. Thank you very much!

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There was an interesting comment last week about an apparent declining deer population. Many agencies, like New York State’s DEC and Cornell University consider the current overpopulation of deer to be quite literally destroying our forests. Look for the seedlings, there aren’t any. Don’t catch Lyme disease while looking. Numerous species of trees and other plants have been removed from our environment by deer overbrowsing. This is particularly damaging now that New York’s most dominant tree, the Ash, has been eliminated. See the deer fencing in places like Taughannock Falls Park and Cornell. This fencing is to let the natural environment return. In 100 years we have lost the Chestnut (once the dominant species), Elm, Ash, and more. Now the Hemlock is being destroyed, see Taughannock, and not a single environmentalist is saying a word. We heard squawking and lying about fracking, but when it comes to doing something at home and of real merit, environmentalists are only useful idiots of political interests. Beevis and Butthead told me the loss of local species diversity is because of Climate Change and we need a carbon tax.

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It would seem the Town of Newark Valley Town Council member(s) are more interested in what the Village of Newark Valley does regarding laws and situations. If you want to give the Village your two cents, by all means move here into the Village, be a resident of the Village. 

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Are you ready for the big day? The day the Lord returns as he said. Will your name be found in the book of life? It’s not too late. Today you can seal your fate. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and your big day will be Great. Tomorrow may be too late. 

 

National Political Viewpoints

There used to be a time when we had to worry about Russia. Now, Russia is still a concern and possibly China too. To be quite honest, we don’t have to worry about either one of them because we are destroying ourselves from within. This country has never seen such a division in over 160 years and it’s all because of one man. A man who cares about himself, and only himself. He doesn’t give a crap about any of you. He lies, he cheats. Who built the wall? Who paid for the wall? Oh, and we’re rounding the corner, we’re rounding the corner over two years ago! Now, because of him, we are in a pandemic that will probably never end.

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Mike Wallace goes to CNN, what a shock! Thank God! That’s where he belongs with all the other Trump haters. Good riddance!

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The problem with Biden having a conference with Putin from Russia is the guy from Russia is a whole lot smarter than Biden.

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Joe Biden’s approval rating is going down because people, including those who voted for him, have come to realize what a disaster his administration is. 

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Another Christmas and New Year’s holiday ruined because of a lack of leadership coming from the White House. Let’s be honest here folks, we’ve gained nothing on the pandemic. We’re going nowhere fast.

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All the red states are gaining in population and all the blue states are losing in population. People are fleeing their Marxist governments in the liberal democratic states. Coincidence? I think not. Just please; leave your liberal beliefs where you came from. Don’t be screwing up any more states.

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Trump says, “It’s up to the governors to control the COVID response.” Right wing: Cheers wildly at his wisdom. Biden says, “It’s up to the states to control the COVID response.” Right wing: “What a useless idiot.” Can someone PLEASE tell me why this thought pattern happens and why the thinker thinks it’s logical?

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I just love it when someone throws out a number without the slightest idea of where it came from or what it means. Some uninformed caller was just giddy that Biden’s approval rating was 29%. Really? Did you happen to check just what that particular number was and where it came from, because every poll to date shows Biden at an average of 41-56%, depending on which entity is conducting the polling. The 29% number was inside a Fox poll. Now, let’s compare numbers. Trump consistently polled WORSE; at the same point in his Presidency he was at 36%. Then we had a second caller who listened in on a Claudia Tenney town hall meeting and was happy to hear that people were tired of Biden. You didn’t for one second think that Tenney would say anything nice, did you? Tenney, who voted against the infrastructure bill, who voted against the Build Back Better bill? I, for one, want Joe to succeed, because God knows we ALL can use some help and Republicans at this point are loath to do anything!

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If nothing else, this column is a great source of comic relief. Case in point, the comment last week about staining one’s finger when they vote. Okay, that may have worked in the previous century when election DAY was just that, one DAY, not TEN (I know of no ink that would last nearly two weeks); mail in voting (aka absentee ballots) started in 1864 and can be sent in way in advance of election “day” by just about everybody, no reason necessary. Happy New Year! And by the way dude, it’s 2022 not 1822.

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How dare those dictator government leaders tell me I have to stop at red lights? They’re taking away my freedoms.

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The mentality in Washington, D.C. is tearing the country apart; voting against a bill because the other party presented it is nothing but childish behavior that has no room for in Congress. The Special interest groups are buying the laws they want at the expense of the average citizen that doesn’t have its own lobbying group. The U.S. military budget increases pass without a problem, but the bills for domestic issues cost too much. Time for the U.S. citizens to demand that the U.S. taxpayers stop providing military security for the world; they say they are protecting the U.S. and that is a lie, it’s all about world domination at all cost. Your family members in the military are being sacrificed for politicians that want total control over the world.

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Seems there is a shortage of rapid home tests for COVID. Drug stores seem to sell out immediately. Our daughter did get a couple of tests that were made in China. When press secretary Psaki was asked about the origin of the tests, she did not answer, so there must be a reason why. The rapid tests originated in Maine, so why did the present administration not support a local manufacturer to fulfill U.S. needs? Could it be that the money from China to the Biden family over the years is impacting decision-making? The Trump administration supported the invention and manufacturing of three vaccines, and made auto manufacturers switch to building ventilators and so on. There was real urgency to save lives. The present regime will not even support local production of test kits. Then we have the health bureaucracy that seems to be hell-bent on making things worse. In October 2020 they had to decide about approving the Pfizer vaccine product, but they dragged it beyond the presidential election, while Europeans got the doses. They should produce statistics on how many people died in the U.S. while the vaccinations were delayed. Same thing is happening now with the drugs that help cure COVID. The Wall Street Journal had an article on Dec. 21, 2021 about a Merck product that is approved for use in many European countries, but not approved for use here. Pfizer also has a product that is waiting for permission to be distributed.

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Stop spending U.S. tax dollars to finance weapons for foreign countries; foreign aid is only for humanitarian crises, most of which the U.S. causes. Stop stealing resources from sovereign countries that don’t obey the U.S. warped foreign policies, and stop the forced regime changes. If the people truly want changes it must come from them, not from the U.S. military bombing, killing and destroying livelihoods and then stealing natural resources, as we are doing in Syria. U.S. tax dollars are for the benefit of the citizens of the United States, not to support the war hawks that want total control of the world. The U.S. sanction policies destroy already weak economies and create humanitarian crises. Congress spends far too much time passing laws and acts to apply to foreign countries that don’t conform to the U.S. idea of democracy; containment of Russia and China are not going to succeed, we must learn how to compete on a level playing field.