Readers’ Column for the week of April 16, 2023

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.

Looking for recommendations for a good reliable plumber and electrician. Respond to this column.

 

I’d like to leave a message for the despicable person who left the cat outside on March 30, and just before the storm. People like you make me sick! If you didn’t want the poor kitty you shouldn’t have left it outside in a carrier with the door open. You can take it to a shelter or other places. You make me sick!

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It looks like somebody out in Weltonville didn’t get the message about no burning in New York State during the ban. It smells terrible at 6:30 in the morning and you can hardly breathe. Thanks neighbors.

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Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is coming very soon.

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This is in response to the caller that wanted to change the name from Owego to Grantville; well, I’ll give you a little insight on the grants that go to these villages and these downtown revitalization projects. A lot of them don’t actually go to the project when they go to private people. They go to, maybe, another project they might have going on that they’d like to take a little money off of. And they continue to give this kind of money to the same people, and then you drive through these little villages, like Willseyville, N.Y., and you see the crumbling roads.

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There’s no use in calling the police for something this trivial, but four to six teenagers running amuck, no adults guiding them, telling them not to do what they are doing. What do you do when there are a bunch of teenagers doing whatever they want to do? They throw things on your property. Call the police? They hide in the house and don’t answer the door. Forget talking to the parents. Do they know where their kids are and what they are doing?

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There is a fire ban in place but it’s a joke because year after year people keep burning. Last week there was a fire, nothing was done about it. Smoke was seen from miles away. There are a lot of people that just burn stuff in their backyard and they are not supposed to and do it anyway, so the whole fire ban is a joke. 

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I don’t think it was in good taste to put the comment in this column about the accident in Newark Valley on Feb. 15. I don’t think it’s our place to bring it up to the people involved. We are not the judge and the jurors, and we don’t know what happened out there at all and to remind the people of the families that were hurt and so on. I live in Candor and there were so many wrong things that were said and so on and I’m sure the families are suffering so bad that they didn’t need to have that in there and more people judging the young man. 

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To the drivers of the two SUVs that stopped, then proceeded at the intersection by Agway on Sunday, April 10, around noon in Owego. That intersection is not a four way stop. Read the drivers manual to find out what the round sign is for. 

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Lives cannot be adequately lived through the small screen on your phone or your iPad. We are becoming desensitized to the beauty of the world around us and are missing its wonder. 

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To the person that wanted to know about repairs on a propane gas appliance – start by calling the people that deliver propane gas. They may be able to refer you to someone. 

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To the person in Berkshire who is looking for someone to have their dog’s nails trimmed, I’m sure any of your pet wash places or veterinary offices and dog groomers are doing that service. You would have to look them up to see.

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I have to say, I am really disappointed at what The Owego Pennysaver has become. It’s nothing more than a political statement anymore. That’s not what it was intended to be. I am ashamed of you.

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The state barn on Route 38 in Berkshire looks like a junkyard. Was cute when they had one or two toy vehicles, now they have a junkyard of them. Sad to see.

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I am a professor at a local university. I want to comment on the various responses concerning the Indians name change. I have not seen anyone point out that the term Indian is considered a very negative and derogatory term. The term Indian was coined because Columbus was a knucklehead who did not know where he was when he arrived in the Caribbean – NOT India. Europeans kept using the term as a generic umbrella term because they did not care enough to use real names. There is NO tribe that calls themselves the Indians. If Owego wants to keep connected to its past, then find a positive name. Look at Canandaigua, their school name is the Braves and they will keep it because they got input from local Native Americans. Indian is a hateful term from the 17th century given to all Native Americans because the Europeans never cared enough to learn their real names. Owego can use – with permission – any name of the actual tribes that used to live in this area or even the name for the first Democracy in this land, the Iroquois Federation. Find a respectful term that connects to power and confidence.

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While cloth diapers seem preferable to the seemingly wasteful disposable ones, from first hand knowledge, plastic over pants are commonly used because cloth leaks. Cloth uses pins – ouch! Rinsing off #2 in the toilet – yuck! The diaper pail is germy and smelly. Detergents, bleach, hot water, washing machine and dryer usage all have an impact on the environment. And let’s face it; no one is going back to them. Also, if you are noticing increased garbage along the sides of roads it is due to the total lack of pride our country is experiencing as a whole. No pride in our country; no morals; their bodies; personal appearance; job performance; the list goes on.

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“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” – Chris Maser

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Regarding an ordinance to ban “Jake brakes” in the village of Owego, a particular brand of compression brake cannot be a target of an ordinance. The village would be sued in a heartbeat. 

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Toyota car key with integrated electronic fob (possibly for a Camry) found on the side of Foster Valley Road near the intersection of Day Hollow Road. If it works in your car, you can have it. Call (607) 765-5039 if interested.

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A few random suggestions regarding OA’s new name for the Owego Indians; The “X Owego Indians,” or, “The Owego Natives,” or, how about “The Owego Thugs?”

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What do artesian wells, springs and solar panels have in common? They relate to resources found in nature, water and energy. The resources are accumulated, controlled and distributed; water through pipes and valves; radiant energy to electricity through wires. Energy distribution and redistribution are major functions of weather, hence closely related to climate. Does the introduction of solar panels actually increase available energy in a smaller volume? It may increase carbon dioxide concentrations depending on the surface material they replace. If the solar panels decrease surface reflections of solar irradiation, does this increase atmospheric energy ultimately? How much appropriate data is available? Source? 

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Study history. Realize that people have been this stupid for thousands of years.

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Our OACSD Board of Education is going dark. They have been doing this by gutting Bylaws at early morning meetings. Meetings held at 9 a.m. unreasonably prevent parents, teachers, and taxpayers from attending. They have to work for a living. This was done with full intention of preventing public attendance. They didn’t want you to know what was going on and then destroyed the video recordings. Written meeting minutes are essentially a restatement of the agenda. In doing so the BOE intends to bring us back to the bad old days where taxpayers work for the teacher’s union rather than students and taxpayers. The next meeting is scheduled for May 22, right after the Budget Vote.

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I would like to complement the writer of the best input I have ever read, two weeks ago – nine words concerning the discussion of solar panels. I have used two past comments about the impact of these panels in my classes. Someone did a ton of work to develop an argument and used a series of numbers concerning carbon and ground cover. It took my statistics students about 2-minutes to see that the comments were examples of “Junk Math” used by many sources. The math used to show the impacts of these panels is garbage. The actual impact of the panels is miniscule. If all of Tioga County were covered corner to corner with panels, the total impact would be in the .00000001 factor. If you look at the fields you can see that they do not STOP ALL sun from hitting the ground. The sun still helps the grass to grow and warm the ground under panels. The math used to make the point is incorrect and adds nothing to the conversation.

 

National Political Viewpoints

So the Trump hating DA, Bragg, was asked after the 34 charges what the charges actually were. He didn’t really have an answer. Another witch-hunt, but what else is new. 

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So, Biden, the price of gasoline is up again and it’s going to get very high this summer. So whose fault is it now? Putin? Or is it Trump’s fault? Who can you blame it on? Oh, maybe you can blame it on yourself, but you won’t.

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Everybody says Trump is getting railroaded with all those charges on him. His lawyer went to prison for that same thing. Why is his lawyer going to jail and not Trump? What’s wrong with you people out there? Another thing, why wasn’t he brought in with handcuffs? That’s standard procedure. Talk about preferred treatment. He’s a known criminal; he’s been breaking the law all his life. Look at all the rape charges against him and all of the fraud charges. 

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Hey Chuck Schumer, you think Trump’s going to get a fair trial? Will it be as fair as Hillary Clinton? As fair as the Biden family? As fair as you? 

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The once great Republican Party has been reduced by Trump to an embarrassing rubbish cult by the now criminal defendant Trump.

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Grifter Trump pockets $7 million while we taxpayers pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars for 100 secret service agents and 10,000 cops for his security at his arraignment. Ask yourselves why this is necessary. Trump likes to play the victim, but in reality it’s we Americans that have and continue to be Trump’s victims. We are all victims of Trump. 

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If only Trump would have been a respectable, honorable president, instead we hear lock him up, lock him up! Trump will be color coordinated with his orange skin and hair when wearing a new orange jumpsuit. FASHIONABLE?

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You want to stop shootings in schools? Get rid of liberal district attorneys, liberal judges, and stop allowing thugs and dirtbags to get out of jail. If we don’t start putting these people in jail nothing will change. Guns have nothing to do with it; it’s the people that get them. If you think gun control is going to stop a scumbag from getting a gun you are wrong.

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We have China trying to intimidate us and what does Biden do? He’s going to have an Easter egg hunt and tomorrow he’s flying to Ireland. Why, I do not know. Please, I hope it’s not too late for President Trump to come in 2024 and fix the mess that this administration has put us in. 

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Where is our government when you really need them? Seems like we have none. We had these foods out there with genetically modified ingredients in them. A lot of packages say bioengineered food ingredients. When is this going to stop? No wonder people in this country get cancers and all sorts of nasty diseases. 

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Just to make a point or two here, nobody is out to take your guns. They just don’t want people owning AR’s and similar weapons that are made for one purpose only, to kill humans. If you do need to have a handgun or whatever, more power to you. I personally feel that most people who want to own an AR or similar weapons are pretty much just looking for a reason to use them. As for the argument that if we outlaw them all the criminals will have them, check out the statistics on the school shootings. 

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Instead of going after our guns, why don’t we go after the criminals? Bring back the death penalty. I’m so tired of seeing these mass shootings. They’re not going to get our guns. No way! 

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You are talking about somebody that should be tried? Why aren’t Biden and his administration being tried for the joke of his withdrawal from Afghanistan? Thirteen people are dead, American soldiers and hundreds of others wounded and dead. Trump had a plan with contingencies to withdraw. Biden didn’t follow any of those and he mucked it up like he does everything. 

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What else can go wrong with the Biden administration? Now we’ve got leaked confidential documents and our security is now at risk. I’ve never seen anything like it.

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Liberals, you need to wake up and realize that sleepy Joe is totally brain dead. 

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The U.S. Constitution has been in operation since 1789; it is the world’s longest surviving written charter. In 1789 the world was a much different place. For instance there were far fewer mentally compromised people shooting nine year old kids in school, and using weapons built specifically for spraying multiple rounds in seconds. The survivors that day will relive the terror for the rest of their lives. This, while certain people lament the perpetrator of this horror instead of the trauma inflicted on hundreds of innocents; reinforcing the fear of millions of small children all over the country. Yes, mental illness is a huge problem, but with current attitudes I don’t see this getting resolved anytime soon. These mass shootings have happened repeatedly and over many years with no action; instead, the very things that contribute to making people mentally unbalanced seem to be encouraged.

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Well, here we go yet again, another mass shooting in our country and still the Republicans will not even think of banning AR-15 assault military grade weapons. Why? Why do they continue to value guns over lives in this country? Fact check: Democratic representatives are NOT coming to take your guns away, but do advocate for sensible gun safety legislation. Who needs a military grade weapon except members of the military? Makes you wonder. #Catholicswithaconscience