Readers’ Column for the week of February 11, 2024

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

 

So the universe began with a “Big Bang”? Where did the point of beginning come from? Is the universe an eternally existent entity? Is all power located in the universe itself? Does it contain all the forces that created and sustains the plants and animals, the stars and galaxies? If that is what you believe, you have replaced God with the universe. You are worshipping nature and the universe itself. Be aware, the forces of nature have no compassion! See John 3:16.

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Get your tickets early for the gondola rides, large coastal cities around the globe are spending billions on systems to protect themselves from rising sea levels, so if anyone needs to educate themselves it’s you. Even Miami and New York are planning for the future; try watching something educational instead of believing everything you read on social media.

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Last week’s reader hit it out of the park. Miracles and crazy things do happen. Governor Hochul states that public school funding is too much. This includes annual state funding and all the money stashed in “Reserves”. During COVID, New York’s solution was to pump money into schools, despite the absence of any need. COVID decreased the schools’ operating costs. These surplus funds went predominantly to either “restricted” reserve accounts for employee healthcare and pension benefits, or to cap the “unrestricted” savings at the legal limit of 4%. Last year the need for pension reserves was $5M, but this year it is arbitrarily $10M, with no rationale required. Further, there is a game of musical chairs shuffling money around so as to confuse the public. Hochul is saying stop hoarding the money and use it. Public schools are legally publicly funded charities. A charity is not a charity if it hoards taxpayer money. 

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Empire Center (https://www.empirecenter.org/), which monitors New York State legislation and policy, released their findings on financial policy of New York Cap-and-Invest, the state program that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions. The latest posting states, by Empire Center’s Ken Girardin, “appears designed to hold back much of the program’s sticker-shock until January 2027 – after the 2026 election,” which denotes the ending first term of Governor Hochul. An early review shows “the price ceiling” will “more than double” at the beginning of 2027, with NYC adding “13 to 21 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline in 2026 — and 22 to 48 cents in 2027.” Again, New York is “moving climate-policy timelines to mitigate any electoral blowback.” Given the enacted aims of these policies, Mr. Girardin also adds “to make things cost too much for people to keep using them, doing it after an election makes perfect sense.” It can also be interrupted to say, “It’s going to get worse for state residents before it gets better by hanging tight in NY State.”

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I would like to thank the Owego Moose Lodge for hosting a special event for my family. The facilities were beautiful and the price was very reasonable. The person who helped us was Larry and he was very helpful and gracious. We couldn’t be more pleased with everything. I highly recommend it for any type of event you are planning.

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I was playing around with my phone and my village map came out, so I pressed it and the map said crimes or sex offenders. Do you know how many sex offenders are in our area? It’s unreal! I did not know there were so many! I guess I’m living in my own little world.

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Where can I find a tree trimmer in the Owego/ Newark Valley area who is reliable and reasonable?

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This is to all the parents that give their adult children money and anything else that they ask for. Stop it! Cut the umbilical cord! You’re not teaching them to be responsible for themselves. Cut the cord!

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I sure enjoyed all those mural pictures that were in the community directory. I had no idea there were so many murals, and they were all gorgeous! We should be the mural capital of the country, so more murals, and more art. Thank you!

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Okay, well, last year I turned the guy in for the gray sticker for the inspection. Well, they pulled him over and now he put another vehicle on the road and he didn’t even put the 10-day sticker in the window. The registration sticker is the only one in the window and he works in Newark Valley and he lives in the town of Newark Valley, but he only goes to work and back because he’s only got one sticker and his ten days are up today.

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We had a new water meter installed in our home in 2022. For the last four billing cycles the bill has increased. Our last bill for just the two of us was $383. Prior to this new meter we never saw a bill over $300. In fact, our yearly average was $232 per billing cycle. This week the Owego Water Department came out to our home, and according to the so-called new meter we have a leak, however they cannot find anything wrong. No visual leak anywhere; just 179 gallons of water leaking through my house a day. Please help!

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Attention taxpayers, you really need to get to the school board meetings and hold them accountable for every dollar being spent and what it is being spent on. This is a pivotal year and I would encourage the community of OACSD to wake up to what’s happening in our education system. Get to the budget meeting coming up and also ask about the books in the library.

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I watched trees being cut down Monday on Front Street in the village by the village of Owego. Seems strange to me that the area where the trees are being cut down belongs to New York State. It’s a New York State highway and they own up to the sidewalk. Why are we cutting down the trees that belong to New York State?

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If you are unhappy with the column, start off, be the leader, each week submit an interesting or funny item, or household or gardening hint, or questions, etcetera. See how long it takes before others join in. We all run into oddball items here and there, so let’s share a few of them in these turbulent times.

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I’m calling in response to the letters criticizing the postal delivery in Berkshire. The Berkshire Post Office is shorthanded. If you know anybody, tell them to go and apply. The people from the Newark Valley Post Office are coming out and delivering your mail after they have delivered their route, and sometimes they’re out there in the dark. You have no streetlights out there and sometimes the roads are not plowed adequately. They do have rear wheel drive trucks, so they slip and slide in the snow, just like we do, and the snow is piled up towards the side of the road where your mailboxes are. So, I think if your sons or daughters are out there delivering mail, you may have a better understanding and give these people a break.

 

National Political Viewpoints

Can’t wait to read all of the comments from people blaming the closing of Ted Clark’s on Biden. How many of those people shop at WalMart, located 2.1 miles away? Biden has nothing to do with WalMart’s long-time, well-documented strategy of building new stores and selling at a loss to bankrupt the competition. Once the mom and pop shops are all gone and Walmart is the only game in town, they raise their prices and recoup their losses and more.

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The U.S. military, that is supposed to protect America, is currently being used as an offensive weapon against anyone that doesn’t conform to U.S. policies. It’s time to bring our military home to defend our country from illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and to support our police, not to act as an offensive weapon outside of the USA. The Middle East has been an area of conflict for thousands of years, establishing a Jewish state into the middle of the Arab world didn’t make it any better. No matter how much we try to force the conflicts to end it will never happen, so bring the U.S. military home.

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Every week I read this column and it’s clear this country is pretty evenly divided. You can see it in the polls as well, pretty much a 50/50 split. Although it saddens me to say, I think we need a divorce. I for one am sick and tired of the constant fighting. I want to live in a country where the border is closed and you have to migrate legally. I want babies in the womb protected. I want all Americans to stand for the anthem, to respect our police and military folks. The Democrat party does not reflect anything that is important to me that I just listed.

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FYI, the $6 billion released to Iran were Iran funds that the U.S. illegally sanctioned / stolen.

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The 2024 election will be the most important of your lifetime. Everyone needs to look at what is happening to our Country and the world. The Democrats are spending our money throughout the Country, and putting all of us at risk for terrorist attacks. Every Democratic run city, from NYC to San Francisco is rampant with crime, filth, drugs, and overburdened school systems. This, while our own American Veterans and homeless citizens are forgotten. What happened to the immigration laws requiring sponsorships and background checks? Illegals are brazen enough to attack armed police in NYC and walk out of jail with no repercussions, and then flee to California. They are attacking unarmed citizens. This is not a rallying call for Donald Trump, but a plea for everyone to think about the decision you make in November. Your well being, as well as the Country and your wallet, depend on it.

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To the self-styled statistics genius who addressed a comment to Biden haters; first of all, I don’t think people hate President Biden; he is too pathetic and is to be pitied. We simply think his puppet masters have this country going in the wrong direction, which is backwards, rapidly. The touted December ’23 jobs created (JP Morgan says 216,000 not 220,000) stated in the comment were largely government and “social assistance” jobs, which just adds to bloated government spending. Trump added 312,000 jobs in December 2018 and a lot were manufacturing and construction. Today, gas continues to be nearly double what it was under Trump and groceries continue to climb or remain at hyper inflated prices from early in the Biden years, some things doubled. I’m still on a fixed income with the miniscule rise in Social Security wiped out by the rise in Medicare, and bank interest rates on savings are falling.

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I read with great amusement the characteristics of a president the reader wants. Honesty, trustworthy, and empathetic Joe Biden is not. Biden is also in the pockets of special interest groups and the Democratic Party. His open border policy tells legal citizens he cares more about illegal immigrants than U.S. citizens. Biden is also responsible for 18 service member deaths due to his failed policies. Yep, that’s a person we can trust and want to run our nation.

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Gas was $2, now $4, no crime in the cities, no illegal aliens. Now 12 million at least, 1.5 million got away, 300 plus terrorists caught from 165 different countries these people come from. That’s from fentanyl, wars in the Middle East, and Ukraine. Looks like the vote is clear to me. Go Donnie.

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Hey, all you Democrats, your hard-working President took off 140 days for vacation last year. Wow! Pretty good deal. Too bad he didn’t take off 365 days, the country would be in a way better place.

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I remember the day when republicans, senators, and congressmen would have a copy of the U.S. constitution in their vest pocket and would always wave it around. Now they want to get rid of the U.S. Constitution? They want to ignore Supreme Court Orders. Yeah, so you used to be the party of law and order. Now you’re just a party of Donald Trump.

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You Republicans make no sense whatsoever. You want to impeach this Mayorkas because he’s an obstacle as far as having a solution to the immigration problem. But yet, when you have the opportunity to pass a bill, you know don’t watch it. And now it’s quite obvious you’re just trying to make the president look bad and it’s going to blow up in your face, it’s going to backfire. It’s so obvious. At least make it appear like it’s legitimate. Good luck to you.

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So, although the school in New York was only taken over for one day, in Massachusetts the illegals have now been allowed to take over a rec center and now American citizens cannot use it. So I don’t care how many days it is, these people should not be here. They should not be inconveniencing American citizens. So, all you Democrats close the borders, you’re ruining our country into the ground.

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I still cannot believe people are living under rocks. Gas prices may be down; they never should have gone up in the first place. Yes, my 401K is up, but not after I lost my shirt. These last few years I’ve had to cut down on my groceries. I keep my doors locked at all times, and I constantly pray that we are not heading to another war. Oh yeah, Biden is doing great. Vote Trump.

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Definition of a Democrat: If their lips are moving, they’re lying.

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I get some news on my telephone regularly and I was just reading about all these immigrants in New York City that ganged up on cops. There were two policemen that were beaten. You have had more crime in New York City since they moved there. What’s going on? I’m saying for the future of our children, grandchildren, etc., this is wrong!

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House Republicans will not try to close the border for illegal immigration because the Republicans want to keep the border broken to help elect Trump. Trump has stated he doesn’t want a border bill passed, even though it is very similar to what he had as president, because it would appear as a “win for Joe Biden”. Well, Republicans, how about a win for America instead of taking orders from self-serving Trump? You are there to serve us, not your dear leader, dictator Trump. Please close the border. 

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You Republicans are so foolish. You’re so gullible, so naive. Whatever comes out of Trump’s pie hole, you’ll swallow it up hook, line and sinker.

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Over 200 Marxist Democrats just voted against a bill that would deport illegal aliens found guilty of a DUI. We are suffering through the Marxist Democrat plan to destroy the USA by importing over 10 million invaders and future votes for the democrats by destroying the police, by supplying cheap labor for the mega corporations, and by inflating prices beyond reason, like forcing electric vehicles and appliances on the public. We are being destroyed from within. The inmates are definitely in control of this asylum.

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I’d like to see something done with Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, all those on that Jan. 6 panel. They should all be prosecuted, everyone. It was bogus, nonsense, no wonder Schumer was carrying on about Tucker Carlson playing that video. It’s disgusting. I knew he was crooked, but I didn’t know he could lie like that. Man, somebody’s got to do something with these people. This is disgusting!

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So the Republican Party is the party of law and order. Where was the party of law and order when they took over the capitol building last year, beating the cops and actually having some of the cops killed and everything was okay there. I mean, come on people. Start telling the truth for once in your life.

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It’s a disgrace, people. I’m a Democrat, but do you know what our party’s doing? They took the $340 million COVID Relief Fund and are distributing it to all those Washington immigrants, $1,000 check, and you don’t see why we’re starving. Can’t buy food, can’t pay our bills. My party is so far gone. I’m going to vote Republican. I just can’t take any more of this, everybody out here is struggling and they’re giving them $1,000 dollars. Why aren’t they giving the American people $1,000? Something is wrong with this whole picture. People, step back and think about whom you really want to vote for. Trump is a jackass, there is no doubt about it, but he’s the only one that can pull this country back.

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Six pro-lifers are convicted of federal crimes for blocking an abortion clinic, yet pro-Palestine protesters block JFK airport, no problem. Illegal immigrants beat up New York City cops, no problem. We give them $53 million worth of credit cards to live on; open borders let terrorists walk in our country, no problem. Start a war and fund a terror nation, Iran, no problem. The problem we have needs to be voted out. You know who they are.

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A vote for Trump is a vote for communism. Mama Gump.

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If Donald Trump weren’t running for president and winning easily, how many indictments do you think he’d have against him? The answer is zero. They’re being done. And there wouldn’t be a phony rape charge for 30 years ago, either. So obvious what you Democrats are doing, and hopefully the American public sees it too.

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Is it true that Nancy Pelosi invites kids to her gingerbread house and then eats them?

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Joe Biden is an idiot.

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Women and children are being sold into sex slavery because of Joe Biden’s open borders. And what are they doing about it, the Democrats? Nothing, blaming the Republicans. Pathetic!

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Republicans are getting bashed about wanting Trump for president. We all agree he has a horrible mouth. That doesn’t matter to us. We want his policies to get this country turned around. Immigrants out, low inflation, money went further, we had good relations with foreign leaders, and so forth. It would help us to stay out of these wars.

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Are we living in the twilight zone? Democrats and Biden are now saying we need to shut down the border and they are blaming the House Republicans for holding this bill and causing chaos. What about your open border laws the last three years? The fact that people are so stupid and are falling for this in an election year is straight up sad.

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They tell us that if Donald Trump is elected president we’re all going to be speaking Russian, and if we don’t learn to speak Russian and we don’t vote for him he’s going to stick us on a train and send us to Siberia.