Readers’ Column for the week of July 24, 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.

 

Still desperately searching for the petite black adult cat missing in the Village of Newark Valley. He lives at 64 Whig St. He was seen running up by the library. He has been missing for three weeks. We are heartsick. He’s been fixed and is approximately nine-years old. I’m still hoping. He has a limp on his front foot. My number is (607) 239-7713.

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I just heard on TV that one in eight people couldn’t pay their utility bills. They probably will get help and they have already announced that all the other people are going to pay a surcharge on their bill to do that. So, I’ve got it bad and I still pay my bills. You make sacrifices to do the right thing.

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I’m looking for someone to clean my downstairs floors. If you can call me back I would appreciate it. My number is (607) 687-0926; if there is no answer, please leave your number with a name and message.

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My aunt lives in the 1200 block of Lisle Road in Owego and she has thousands of calcium chunks coming out of her city water. Does anyone else in the area have a problem? Please leave a note here in this column.

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Yes, we own a business on Marshland Road that occasionally has a permit for fireworks to be let off. If anybody lives on Marshland Road and would like to be notified when they are going to be doing firework shows, please feel free to email me at kars@stny.rr.com to be placed on an email list. Leaving a message with an angry tone and no name or phone number makes it impossible for us to notify our neighbors. 

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I am looking for a working converter box that goes on top of an older television. If anyone can help, please respond to this column.

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The solar farms aren’t blocking sunlight from your plants. Solar farms need to be put over parking lots, high up in the air, enough to create shade underneath them and not get any radiation or provide any danger for anybody walking underneath them. They need to be put in large parking lots like on the roof at Walmart and it would be enough to completely run the store. That’s just one example. Anybody else with large parking lots would work too.

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If there is a God, then the new world order is the antiChrist.

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This is to the person who wanted to know about property refund checks. They are coming out in July. They are coming out this month. To be eligible, you must have qualified for 2022 star credit or exemption and have an income that is less than or equal to $250,000 for the 2020 income year and a school tax liability for the 2022 school year that is more than your 2022 star benefit. If you can get a hold of a computer, it is all there. I looked it up under property tax refund info for Tioga County. It explains it all.

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There was somebody that called in about how to get rid of electronics. There is nothing in Tioga County. There are certain dates for the Broome County Landfill, 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. on certain dates. The next one is July 23, and then again on Aug. 3, 6, and 20. There are three each month. Call them for information.

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I was wondering why we get Main Street in Apalachin paved and McFall Road, but we can have nothing done on Route 434 and all these patch jobs make it worse. 

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Our country is broken; this should make us all very sad.

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Someone clearly wasn’t paying attention in Earth Science class. Suggesting that solar panels in the area are reducing the amount of sunlight that the writer’s garden receives is so far out, I laughed my backside off. Let’s review the lesson missed back then. Sunlight travels in a straight line from the sun to the Earth. We can ignore any small diversion from the straight path caused by the Earth’s atmosphere, since it occurs equally everywhere. On a sunny day the sun’s rays hitting the ground are equally distributed over every surface. There are situations where mirrors are used to redirect the sun’s rays to concentrate them on solar panels, but to redirect the sunshine from some point, like someone’s garden, would take a large (and very obvious) mirror placed near the object to reflect the sun away. Because the sun moves across the sky, the mirror would have to be constantly adjusted to keep the reflection aimed at a certain point. The bottom line is that, like rain and snow, sunlight is an equal opportunity commodity. You can’t get any more or less than you deserve based on your location. Trees get in the way, buildings get in the way, etc. Blame your poor garden yield on something else. Maybe you’re just a poor gardener. Try using more fertilizer.

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New York State’s new firearms laws make the SAFEAct look reasonable. This law flies in the face of the SCOTUS ruling. It’s quite outrageous actually, even bans all firearms from the Adirondack Park. Written by a man from the Bronx, no less.

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I often sit on my back porch as the sun goes down with some kind of beverage and drink a toast to nature. It’s my way of paying homage to a wonderful home, some green lawn, a variety of nature paths, and an assortment of ancient trees. This evening I watched a few yellow petals fall from a mullein plant over six foot tall in complete stillness. Sometimes in the distance I can hear a wood thrush serenading the ending of the day and the coming of the dark. A stray cloud puts a bit of color in the sky on the horizon as the sun disappears and the moon gets ready to make its entrance. Soon the bats will be making their nightly odyssey to rid the world of a few thousand noxious insects. The experience is very calming, meditative and spiritual. I wish that more people in the world could partake of these things and appreciate the benefits.

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In the July 17 issue, someone commented on the current pervasive lack of responsibility by an increasing segment of our population. Unfortunately, when even our top world leaders show no sense of responsibility, morality or respect, it is going to affect the rest of society’s attitudes. The root issue is the total and complete lack of respect; for parents, teachers, first responders of every kind (not just police), and most importantly the miracle of our own bodies. Until we go back to having actual consequences for actions instead of patting folks on the head and saying “they made a mistake”, until we go back to having / teaching morals, until we respect ALL humankind, life itself and our own bodies, we will continue down this path of self-destruction. Those of us living responsibly cannot continue to cover for the ever-increasing number of jerks.

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A BIG THANK YOU to the volunteers of the Newark Valley Historical Society for all their work in providing the community with such great entertainment, food, and a friendly atmosphere every Friday night at the Depot.

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Every new bit of legislation the Cuomo clone, Governor Hochul, signs just continues the Liberal Democratic policy of trying to grow government control over its citizens. Regardless of your historical party affiliation, New Yorkers must vote out the leadership, or lack of, that unsuccessfully governs, and I use that term sarcastically, our state. The same simple facts remain as they have for many years. New York State is at the top of the list for highest taxes and residents moving from the state. The death spiral continues.

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The reason I have three, four or five security cameras in my house is because people won’t stop stealing my stuff. If people would stop entering my buildings and taking my property, then I would take down my cameras. 

 

National Political Viewpoints

On Monday I turned on Fox News, which I usually never do. The spit, the lies and the viper that came out of Jeanine Pirro’s mouth was absolutely disgusting! She was loudly screaming about wearing a mask. She said I won’t wear a mask and I will never wear a mask. What a thing to say when people have suffered and died from COVID. I have no respect for her. Her mouth was going as fast as she drove her SUV on Route 17 and got a ticket. Do you remember that lovely episode?

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As usual the democrats are trying to fear monger with these hot, summer days. Let me tell you something, democrats. It’s summer! That’s what happens. So we are not going to fall for your green deal. You are the biggest phony fear mongers I have ever seen. 

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Newsflash. You may not realize what a great job the big guy is doing. Joe says there is a messaging problem. The blue house is looking for some new propaganda specialists. So who are these buffoon 31% who think Joe is doing a good job? Well, even the loony left wing comedians are now poking fun at poor Joe. 

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We’re at 9.1 inflation, way to go Biden! I knew you could do it. If you keep it up you can have it to 10 by the elections. Hell, you may have it at 11 or 12. 

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The Keystone Pipeline may not have anything to do with the price of gas right now. Let’s make this perfectly clear, Joe Biden and the democrats’ policies do. Everything they’ve done has been a war on fossil fuels. They stated for the last three or four years what they were going to do, and they’ve done it. This is all on Biden and his liberal cronies, every bit of it! If you watched something other than fake news you’d realize it. It’s been well reported. This is their goal and this is what they’ve done, period!

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I can’t believe the democrats’ fascination with this Jan. 6 hearing. Well, let it go on, because in November when we take over the House and probably the Senate, we can do a real investigation that includes interviewing Nancy Pelosi, the mayor of Washington, and all the other democrats involved that had their hands in this. This is not an investigation; this is nothing but a major witch-hunt, and something they have been doing to Trump for the last six years. It’s getting old.

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So how much oil did Biden burn up flying 7,000 miles to Saudi Arabia for a worthless trip? He did not need to go there. We have plenty of oil here in the United States. Let’s not forget the 300 massive tons of carbon being emitted from John Carey’s private jet since Biden has taken office. Vote republican come November; and thanks again, Biden voters, from the bottom of my heart.

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A reader wrote in with a question; “I’m wondering how a reader thinks we can get rid of Biden in November when he is not up for election. And we have no way to affect Pelosi as she’s from California.” Let’s get down to the facts of how to control Biden and marginalize Pelosi. We replace those democrats up for reelection with republicans, both in the House and Senate, to achieve a majority that will make the current lame duck president essentially ineffective, and in turn causing the many executive orders Biden resorts to, to be continued being voided and unenforceable. Then in two years you do get to replace Biden.

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The purveyors of obtuse thought on the right are illustrating their bias once again. Gas prices go up – blame Biden. Gas price goes down – don’t give any credit.

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What are the most closely held secrets of the Federal Government and New York State? Disclosure of this secret is treason for you or me and punishable by death. Answer; phone numbers of civil servants. Should you contact the appropriate competent and empowered person there is the potential they might be held accountable. Consider the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Is there any Service to the people? It is simple confiscation for the Feds. Yet it is okay to DOX Supreme Court Justices, but New York State and federal employees are off limits. The total number of local police and U.S. Border Patrol Agents at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas was 376. The number of FBI and DEA that showed up to parade the windbreakers remains undisclosed. The overwhelming preponderance of law enforcement personnel was armed with military rifles and armor. The student population of Robb was 538, and now 519 (538-19). The proficiency for math and reading at Robb is 29% and 25% respectively. Does anything seem busted? It would only have required one Clint Eastwood to save the kids. 

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I struggle with the seemingly total lack of effort by individuals to look up facts before writing. For the past few weeks I have seen people writing about the WNBA player, Ms. Griner, and that she should be left to face the repercussions of her actions in Russia. A few minutes of research shows that this situation has NOTHING to do with her having any drugs on her when she went to Russia. She had an item that had residue on it. She smokes legally in her home state. Even in Russia the amount she had would have resulted in a small fine. PERIOD! So why has she been in prison for weeks? Why has she been unable to communicate freely? It all is because the U.S. is helping the Ukrainians in their war against Russia. This is 100% politically motivated. It is the decisions of the current administration that have caused her problem, so why not ask them for help? Finally, I would remind people that we are Americans and we do not leave anyone behind. Remember Bowe Bergdahl, the Private that abandoned his post in Afghanistan? He got his fellow soldiers killed trying to find him. We still got him back, and he was dishonorably discharged. Americans never leave anyone behind. That is what makes us different from almost every other country.

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To the reader with the selective memory that was complaining that “Biden never takes responsibility for anything”. Let me refresh your memory with a direct quote from Trump, “I never take responsibility for anything.” So according to this reader that is okay, but not for Biden. However, I would remind the reader that Biden did stand up and said that he took RESPONSIBILITY for the problems that happened with the Afghanistan withdrawal, even though that impossible situation was caused by Trump’s order while he was President. Biden only finished what Trump started. Maybe the reader should go back and do a little research before making blanket statements that can easily be blown out of the water!