Readers’ Column for the week of August 4, 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.

Attention Ukulele Players! The Tioga Ukulele Group’s next adult jam session is scheduled for Aug. 10, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, 261 Main St., Owego. All levels of players are welcome to join us, from beginners to accomplished ukulele players. For more information or to receive music ahead of the jam session, please contact us at (607) 743-9803 or (607) 321-8815, or send an email to TiogaUkuleleGroup@yahoo.com.

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Congratulations to the organizers, participants and local residents for creating another successful Berkshire Blueberry and Books Festival. Local crafts people, musicians, artists and authors of published books and more, were happy to meet and greet the families and individuals who attended on a beautiful and sunny Saturday, July 20. The Owego Pennysaver displayed a full page of color photos of the event, so if you missed the Festival you can still see highlights in their July 28 edition. If you would like to receive the weekly publication at your home, please contact them at their Owego office by calling (607) 687-2434 to acquire a box or to locate a distribution point.   

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Why in the world is the New York State Highway Department putting tar and chips over asphalt blacktop on Route 38B in Newark Valley? In my 60 years living in Tioga County, Route 38B has always been asphalt blacktopped, just like Route 17C. Is this some cost cutting measure by the Democratic Governor so that funds can be directed to New York City? Yikes! Better phone your Congressman! Tar and chips are for backcountry secondary roads that have little trucking traffic!

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The bridge on Valley Road, south of Owego, has been closed for four years. Does the Town of Owego Highway Department plan to replace the bridge, or are local residents condemned to going miles out of their way forever?

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Dear “I give up” regarding stray cats, YOU started it, commenting about someone else’s life choices, to begin with. YOU chose to be judgmental. If what someone else is doing bothers you so much, YOU should be ready with helpful ways to stop what is annoying you; you know, actual solutions. Gassing on in this column is not an answer to your perceived dilemma. And loved animals are given up because their owners die, go into a nursing home, are struggling with a terminal illness, lose a job, or have to move to more affordable housing that doesn’t take pets. Don’t give up. Maybe you should visit the Wizard of Oz, he could supply you with a brain, a heart, and courage. ‘Nuff said.

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Please thank the employee who did the mowing along the County Road Ellis Creek. Just perfect! It looks like someone who cares about the safety of the residents did it. Thank you for this service.

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We thoroughly enjoyed the Village of Newark Valley Summerfest Early Day Parade to Cook Hill fireworks. The music and vendors brightened our day. As longtime town residents we smiled seeing Mayor Tornatore and Sheriff Howard leading the parade. Thank you, Village of Newark Valley and Northern Tioga Chamber of Commerce, for bringing life to our town!

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I’m looking for someone to bury a large pile of brush in the Campville area. Please leave a number. Thank you. 

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Now that the code man has got everyone stirred up in the town of Chemung and the town of Barton, which is the same squirrel, people need to get all your relatives, friends and neighbors, and get together to see when the town supervisor’s seat is up. All the board members – vote them out. The judge, vote him out. Maybe they will wake up and stop and realize your property is your property! We don’t need some idiot coming in and putting a stop work order on the little deck and trespassing on your property. It’s time for people to take back your rights on your property. You don’t have to put up with this nonsense. Vote them the hell out and start over again. And if we get another batch, vote them out too! Sooner or later they’ll catch on. We are tired of it! 

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I’m calling about all these solar farms in the area. I don’t know a lot about them. All I know is they say in 25 years they’ll come and remove everything and so on. Do we have any guarantees that this is going to happen? I know guarantees aren’t worth a lot, but let’s have them put up a half a million dollar per acre bond that they will clean up after themselves when the time’s up. They clean it up; they get it back. We as individuals don’t really get a lot out of this compared to the landowner. And if he is going to just let his land go I think we, the public, need to do something about it. A bond seems like the safest way to go. 

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My insurance just went up again and I asked them how come. They said because of all the people that are driving without a license, without insurance. What’s wrong with this world? You know, people that pay their insurance get punished? It’s wrong! 

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I’m just calling to say congratulations to the women’s gymnastics teams and also the men’s gymnastics teams for earning medals, especially the gold for the women. Go USA! 

National Political Viewpoints

In last week’s column someone wrote that a vote for Trump was a vote for the Dark Ages. If you believe all the lawfare waged against Trump was other than vengeance and meant to prohibit his candidacy stop here, go no further! Epstein committed suicide. Otherwise, please provide a logical argument, i.e. Trump said, “All people with a last name starting with “G” would go to prison for 10 years.” My daughter has many friends and associates who are telling her Trump will end Social Security! The President has no authority to neither invalidate the laws written by Congress nor withhold funding; except for Biden (his handler) who has issued hundreds of unlawful and unenforceable Executive Orders. Voters who vote based on consuming the lies of their puppet masters are little more than the serfs of the Ruling Elites. An ignorant, unthinking, and unable to do critical analysis citizenry is nirvana for them. When was the last time the Dem Party had a Presidential Candidate selected by the convention process? — Jimmy Carter. 

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I find it extremely sad that people judge for themselves “that using the word of God along with Trump are straying far away from the beauty, love and compassion of God’s grace.” Think about it, whether you or I or anyone strays from God’s grace is not yours to judge. That judgment is God’s alone.

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I read in last week’s column that MAGA supporters should reconsider their votes because a vote for Donald Trump is a vote for a dark future, and because Trump’s own interest will always come first. I not only think you need to stop consuming legacy news but need to do some independent research and pay attention. I’d like to ask you, when did Biden contact the parents and families of the 13 military personnel killed in his botched Afghanistan pullout to extend condolences and regret for the loss of those soldiers’ lives. When did Biden contact Laken Riley’s parents to express condolences and regret for the loss of her life to an illegal with numerous crimes who should and would not have been here except for his horrible policies. Or, when did Biden reach out to Jocelyn Nungaray’s family. Are you aware that Trump didn’t have to do the above things, but did?

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You have to be kidding – everything Trump says makes sense? What? Rambling on and on about Hannibal Lector makes sense? Telling Christians to vote and they only need to do it once? Project 2025 and its entire autocratic wording make sense? How can the election choices be this close? How can you claim to be for law and order and yet plan for a lot of revenge and retribution? How can you say that you are a patriot of this country and continue to go along with Trump’s plan for autocracy? Please, do not vote for this person! If he really is for law and order, have him go on trial for his crimes and not continue to use your donations to pay his legal fees.

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Tonight, speaking to Christians at the Turning Point Action Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump made his plans to become a strongman clear: “Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years and you know what – it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.” — Heather Cox Richardson. July 26, 2024

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You republicans didn’t let me down. I knew you’d start throwing mud soon. I just have one question; who raised you people?

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Biden says it’s time to pass the torch to the younger generation. What about Pelosi, Schumer, and Adler? They’ve been in there forever! They don’t want to go. They even voted against a term limit. It’s time to get out. It will end all those stupid mail-in ballots and maybe even have an honest election. Now you’ve got Cuomo wanting to come back to New York. He got charged with nothing. Doesn’t that tell you people something about the Democratic Party? You just spent four years with Biden and now look at Harris, what the hell has she got to offer you? Another four years of what you just went through, a living hell? Think about it people and think about it before you vote, and watch the ballot boxes! 

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How is it that Kamala Harris can announce a running mate when she hasn’t won anything? She didn’t run for anything. She didn’t get any votes for anything, so how the hell does she need a running mate for president? Maybe I’ll need a running mate too. What kind of country is this? It’s B.S.! 

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The convicted felon the MAGA party is running for president told his crowd last night that he needs their vote this fall because, in his own words, in four years you won’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to vote again. Is he saying if he’s elected, no more elections? If he’s elected, he’s king? 

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Not only do the Democrats rig the presidential elections, but it turns out they rig their own elections for the primaries. They don’t let people run. They pick who they want and they put them in office. They did it with Biden four years ago by making everybody else drop out, and they just did it now with Kamala. What a joke! Can’t you see they are the dictatorship? Open your eyes! 

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Hopefully in November people will vote for what’s best for our country. Which of the two candidates will accomplish what is needed to get our country straightened out? We need a person who can stand up to Putin. A smile won’t do it. We need to get past irrelevant issues and place our vote on policies that will once again get our country back to what it was like when Trump was our president. It’s sad to hear there are people who vote for Kamala simply because they want to see what it’s like to have a woman president, not giving thought to the right qualifications to correctly run our country and get us out of the mess that we are now currently in. Thank you. 

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Hey, all you Democrats, have you ever noticed that all of the presidents on Mount Rushmore are Republicans? I think there’s a reason for that. Figure it out. 

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Did you people know that Kamala Harris set up a fund called the Freedom Fund, still supporting the rioters that burnt down cities, stole, and killed people during the summer of 2020? That’s right, she got money to bail them out of jail and to get them lawyers! The people that tried to burn down our country. Wow! That tells you all about Kamala, she’s about as liberal and far left as you can get. 

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The MAGA Party and Donald Trump want to take away the rights of Americans. They already took away a woman’s right to choose. Next, they plan to ban birth control, rollback marriage and civil rights. Democrats want to expand health care and provide equal rights for all Americans. They want to move our country forward, but MAGA wants to rollback rights and turn the clock back to the 50s. 

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I think that our country should have a stimulus check thrown our way now. Biden never wanted to help out our country at all. He couldn’t wait to throw billions of dollars to Ukraine all the time. Our country should be first. In the last 10 years I have received $47 a month more on my Social Security check. That’s in 10 years! Wow! 

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Last I knew, July 11, 2024, Trump was supposed to get his punishment for those 34 counts where he was found guilty. That’s funny, isn’t it? You and I get 34 felony counts, we’re going straight to jail and he walks away. Yeah, I’m tired of hearing no man is above the law. I’m so tired of hearing we’re all equal. I’m so tired of it. What a bunch of hollow words. Maybe at one time they rang true, but now? It’s a joke. I’m sorry to say that we’ve just let this country down big time. Look at the Supreme Court. 

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Biden will leave our nation much poorer, weaker, more divided, more in debt, more vulnerable, and less respected than when he entered office. This was the man who pledged to unite the country, but he did just the opposite. For all of this, he really deserves to go down in the history books as one of the five worst presidents of the 20th and 21st century; Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama. The five worst presidents this country has ever suffered through. Vote Trump come November. 

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So this week’s fake news talking point is that Donald Trump and Republicans are weird. That’s right, weird. Wow! That’s the best you can do? 

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There’s an old saying that people judge you for who you hang with. Take a look at Vice President Harris and Governor Hochul, the First Lady and the Governor of New York, did you see who was holding hands with her? One of the most corrupt ladies this country has ever seen in their lifetime. What is that saying about the other two? What’s it saying about Governor Hochul and Vice President Harris? The most corrupt lady of all time, worse than Bonnie and Clyde. Think about it. You’re judged by whom you hang with. It got me thinking. You better start thinking before you start voting. 

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All you have to do is look at their past records. The choice for November could not be clearer; Trump with a monumental landslide. 

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Trump said, once he’s elected president Americans will not have to vote from now on. Now anybody with a pea size brain could tell you that means he’s going to be a dictator. You know, there’s no need to vote. Okay, thank you. Vote Democrat. 

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Watch out for false prophets. They will mesmerize and lie to you. 

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Trump has cemented the word weird into his campaign with choosing JD Vance as his Vice President running mate. Trump continues to double down on mistake after mistake, like insulting all black women. That’s a weird way to gain votes. Yes, very weird indeed. 

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Why is Trump so afraid to debate Kamala Harris that he has withdrawn from the previously agreed upon presidential debate? Because he knows she will mop the floor with him! 

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They put Kamala in there because Biden couldn’t pull it off. People are sick and tired of their way of living for the last almost four years. The polls are lying to you. The only reason that Democrats are putting that on there is so they can slide in the late-night mail-in ballots to pull it off and it’s all this is. This is not 2020, Chuck Schumer. Just remember that Mr. Schumer, everybody’s got an eye on you, Mr. Mail-in Early Voter!