Readers’ Column for the week of December 3, 2023

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or email comments to ReadersOP@gmail.com (please note the new email address). We reserve the right to revise or reject any message. Thank you.

This is about the Tioga Downs fire and the death of so many beautiful horses. It bothers me every day just thinking about it. I just have to speak my mind. The perpetrator of this most heinous act should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law! It’s not just arson; it’s also murder!

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Enforcing speed limits with a camera is a great idea. I am sure New York thought this through. Now will this free the State Troopers to do things they used to do? Like investigating crime. The State won’t need as many Troopers at $90,000 a year. Cameras make great tax collectors!

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“Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love to watch and nurture the growth of plants. They love to live in the presence of animals. They love to work outdoors. They love the weather, maybe even when it is making them miserable. They love to live where they work and to work where they live.” — Wendell Berry, Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food

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A big shout out to the American Legion Riders Chapter 401 for all that you do for the community.

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Thank you to NYSDOT for patching the potholes at the Brown Road entrance in Berkshire before the winter sets in. Could you please put this area on your spring paving projects? Again, much appreciated!

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Good news for all of our local EMT providers. New York State now requires insurance claims for payments by all ambulance service providers, whether they be facilitating the service for an ‘in-network” or “out-of-network call, will now see their charge for insurance payment for ‘reimbursement for every response’ will go directly from the health insurance company to the EMT provider. Patients are no longer forced to be the middleman in a broken payment process that too often left out ambulance providers receiving payments. Compliance date is set for January 2025, though nothing prevents insurance carriers from complying sooner.

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I’m glad to read that the DA is doing the right thing by going after those charges. What happened is horrible.

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I have about ten, clean five-gallon pails for free! Will deliver. Text Jim at (607) 321-8210.

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The Newark Valley Food Pantry is accepting requests for Christmas food boxes. Residents may sign up at the Food Pantry or by calling Sue at (607) 642-3339 or Sherry at (607) 642-8176. The food boxes will be distributed on Dec. 16, from 10 a.m. to noon. There will not be a food pantry on Dec. 13 or Dec. 14. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating to the pantry can call either number above.

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This is to the vendor at the Apalachin Church that was selling alpaca socks. I would like to purchase more alpaca socks. Also, I’m looking for someone that does metal work that could make a wind chime for me. Please leave your phone number in this column and I will call you back. Thank you. 

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This is a message for churchgoers. Please be advised that there is a man approaching people as they enter or leave church services asking for money for gas for a family emergency at a hospital in another city. It is a scam. 

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Classmates of 1959 Johnson City High School, I would like to get two books on the 2006 flood and the 2011 flood, two books each. Give me a call at (607) 589-4342. Thank you. 

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The Apalachin Library, a small institution with a big heart, always ready with a smile and the willingness to help you with whatever they can, whether it’s the employees that work there or the wonderful people who volunteer their time. They are all a blessing to this community. I am one of many grateful patrons. Thank you. 

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Could the growing season of 2023 have been a true experiment? The last week in June had 2-plus days of moderate rainfall of 4-plus inches. It soaked in with little runoff. From that point, the sequestration of carbon dioxide commenced. The forest’s cover became dense, the corn crop was knee high by the fourth of July, and lawns required frequent shortening and forage crops developed an additional harvesting. Did this activity change the concentration of carbon dioxide? Was it being measured and recorded? How, when, where, and how often? Where is this data? Is it available? Why do I ask? Carbon dioxide is part of a very significant discussion of the process of concentrating energy (solar panels) and concentration of energy with its attendant change of atmospheric conditions. Is carbon dioxide concentration information being measured as one of the major atmospheric components on a regular and multi-location basis? 

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I want to send a big shout out to Wendy Post for her hard work and story writing skills. It’s terrific that she’s keeping the tragic death of the horses at Tioga Downs in the news. Adding the names of the horses makes it more real in a surreal situation. Hopefully DA Martin will get the charges through the grand jury for each horse that is needed for full prosecution to take place. 

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Well, now that North Avenue is resurfaced Route 38 is no longer tied for the worst road in Tioga County; it IS the worst road in Tioga County! I’ve driven on dirt roads that are much smoother. GET IT RESURFACED!

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I have some thoughts on Christmas past. Growing up in the ’50’s, baby dolls all had blonde hair and blue eyes. That was not my coloring, but I accepted it as just the way it was, a life lesson at four, life is not fair. Later on, my Barbie had blue eyes, and certainly did not wear glasses; again, oh well. Excited to finally get one! I was just thrilled to get a gift. (And no, not a pile the size of Mount Everest.) And having patriarchal companies was considered desirable. You did a good job for a (locally owned) company and they took care of you; offering Christmas parties for the employees’ children with “Santa” giving a neat gift to every child. These are some of my most memorable gifts. 

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At the trees set up on the porch of the Owego Methodist Church Office there are handmade hats for those in need. What a lovely idea!

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I was just over at Coburn Library and noticed they have up a book tree. If you bring in a non-perishable food item (or more than one), you get to select a book from the tree, or where they are set up nearby. The food donations will be brought over to TCRM.

 

National Political Viewpoints

Misinformation is everywhere; social media, news media, politicians, and our own government are guilty of manipulating facts to fit the story they are spreading. The “Stop the Steal” fairytale just won’t die and millions of people will believe it over the truth to their death. Before you believe anything, re-check the same story on at least two other sources; somewhere there may be a few actual facts that haven’t had a spin added for a dramatic effect.

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Enough with the hyphen after “American” being connected to another country or a religion, you are either an American or you’re not. If your loyalties are elsewhere, leave now. America used to be called the melting pot, time to start melting instead of adding more fuel to the fire.

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Dear climate loons and environment whacko’s, Biden says Climate Change (show me) is an existential threat. Biden states that his inflation is 17%. This may be true overall, but food inflation is more like 27%, hurting the poor and elderly most. Whether containers are being short filled or products packaged in smaller containers, the fossil fuel requirement increases exponentially. This applies to the energy for packaging and transportation. Depending on the shape of the container, the rate of exponential increase varies. Biden’s deliberate inflation is a climatic existential threat to everyone; but why should he care, after all it’s his 81st Birthday. Tyrants will burn a nation to ashes to preserve and protect their power. 

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It was reported last week that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reaffirmed that ending abortion remains the “pre-eminent priority” of the nation’s Catholic Church. Attending bishops voted 225-11 in favor of approving a revised edition of the spiritual manual “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” which addresses abortion early in its text. “The threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone,” the introduction to the guide states. So where does this put the ethics of Joe Biden who professes as being devout to the edicts of his Catholic faith? Who uses it as testament to his righteousness to demonstrate his integrity when convenient or ignores it when trying to win the backing of Democrat voters to secure his political career? This man has zero principles and is void of any integrity.

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I’m still aggravated by the condescending attitude Congressman Molinaro has towards his constituents.  During the speaker voting he said, “I think most people I represent wouldn’t know the Speaker of the House if he backed over them with a pickup truck.” This guy has been in politics his whole life, never had a real job. The Little Prince thinks he’s part of a ruling class and I can’t wait to vote him out.

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Lincoln created the national Thanksgiving holiday. It strikes me that Joe Biden has a lot in common with Lincoln, trying to hold the country together during a Civil War. Both were reserved, and moved with the middle, not the extremes. I suspect, like Lincoln, Biden won’t be appreciated until after he is gone, but I hope he succeeds in holding the Union.

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I hope the American people wake up and see what a mess we have for a President right now. I don’t think anybody can point to one positive thing Biden has done. The only thing we see from Democrat readers is their hatred for Trump. My friend; that is not going to be enough to win the next election. An internal memorandum obtained by the Senate Commerce Committee highlights how the Biden administration is tying billions of taxpayer funds to “woke initiatives.” It particularly targets DOTs management of three grant programs that serve as key vehicles to fund various types of surface transportation projects nationwide. So billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars meant for infrastructure projects are being tied to initiatives that are focused on dismantling America’s infrastructure in the name of “equity” and “climate change” rather than building roads, bridges and highways to connect the country.

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Denying climate change isn’t a matter of getting educated. It is quite the opposite.

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So two of Joe’s wind farms have pulled the plug on going forward. So that kind of puts a little damper on Joe’s Green New Deal fear mongering. And how much money did we just waste on that, Joe? 

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It’s Friday at 6:06 a.m., time and day not set. Biden is bragging that your turkey dinner this year is cheaper than last year. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t he in the White House last year? Of course, we know it’s a lie. Dinner this year cost you a lot more whether you were eating at home or you were able to pinch pennies and eat out. 

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What a joke! Biden talking about bringing the country together? We’ve never been more divided under him and his circus. 

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Democrats led by technocrats, Soros, Bloomberg, Bill Gates, Biden, Clintons, and others are leading you down the road to the great reset, also known as Event 401, and even better, Build Back Better, their newest slogan. Our children are being taught theories right out of the Marxist playbook, which is their playbook. Vote any Democrat in office and that’s the future of America, our children and grandchildren. 

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To the person that wrote in and said Trump wants to get rid of the Constitution, are you kidding me? The Democrats censor free speech against Republicans, don’t allow them to speak on college campuses. They want to get rid of our Second Amendment and take our arms. They try to put their opponents in prison on witch-hunts, like they’ve done with Donald Trump. I could go on for another 10 minutes, but I’ll make it brief. You get the idea? It’s Democrats that don’t pay attention to the Constitution. It’s their way or the highway. They only believe in free speech if you agree with them. What bunch of crap! 

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Longtime Republican Congressman Ken Buck just stated, “Too many Republican leaders are lying to America.” Republican Senator Mitt Romney says he would vote for Joe Biden or any other Democrat over Republican primary contenders Trump or Ramaswamy. 

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Gas prices are down for the last 60 days straight. Biden-omics continues achieving success for Americans. 

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I’m not a politician, but if we drill in our own country where all the oil is and we take the money we’ve been paying those Saudis for the oil that we should already be getting in our country and we took that money and put it in the Social Security, then Social Security just got fixed. If Hochul would take all the money she’s been dishing out for all these immigrants and all that nonsense and use that for the taxes in the state of New York, people wouldn’t be losing their homes. I don’t know why we can’t get a governor that will do something about the taxes. They don’t care. They overlook it. There are people making $10,000-$15,000 a year and paying taxes and they’re losing their homes, and she doesn’t give two craps about it! We have to vote them out! 

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Republicans tired of losing with Trump as your party’s head? You’ve lost in 2018, 2020, 2022, and this past Election Day. Democratic victories deal major blows to Republican hopes and loser Trump. Do you Republicans want to win? You’ll have to DUMP THE TRUMP! “He’s a loser who’s failed”. This is to quote Trump’s own niece, Mary Trump. Democrats rack up big wins across the country. So you Republicans still believe that twice impeached four times indicted with 91 felony counts disgraced Trump saying, “You’ll get tired of winning.” What a joke Trump has played on the Republicans still with him, as he continues to destroy the Republican Party. 

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The White House Christmas tree topples over. Very fitting of a president and an administration that has everything toppling over. Why should the tree be any different? 

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Isn’t it the president’s job to keep legal American citizens safe? Well, that’s a joke. Go into your local store. Even our deodorant isn’t safe, as everything is under lock and key. 

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It’s true: you can’t fix stupid, but you also can’t let it run our country. For the next several elections I will not be voting Democrat. How do you think the members of Congress get rich on a congressman’s salary? They’ve been giving our country away. It matters whom you vote for. Find out their principles. A good many members of Congress don’t have any.  

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Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, regarding common sense for America, said something like this, America was founded by geniuses but is being run by idiots. When you follow your heart make sure you take your brains with you, because there are too many pigs in Washington with all four feet and their snout in the trough. So think about this, how he is. 

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There may be more light coming through at the end of the tunnel. Poland Farmers have been put in a bad situation because the European Union has been controlling their lack of fertilizer and wanting fewer farms. The people have gotten together and decided they don’t like the European Union controlling their lives; and this is also the same with one Scandinavian country, and also Germany, thinking about doing the same. Here in America, a small rural community in Michigan, the town fathers were thinking about bringing in a Chinese company that makes lithium batteries. The people started thinking about it and realized that it would pollute their air and use a large amount of water, which also might be polluted. They got together, signed a petition and removed the town fathers. It was more important that they did not have their area polluted.