I was just reading in the newspaper about the illegal aliens who are enrolled in our schools. When my children were enrolled in school I had to supply a birth certificate for each of them. That’s one of the first requirements. Why aren’t the illegal immigrants required to supply a birth certificate?
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Feb. 4
In today’s newspaper Cal Thomas’ column really drug the Clintons through the mud. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. He should not take advantage of the fact that he’s a columnist to do what he did. I think everybody should try to remember that while talking about Bill Clinton. Let’s not forget Uncle Ted and Chappaquiddick and JFK and the houseguests he had while in the White House. Everybody has some things to hide. I don’t think the Clintons are the only ones who have things that are not exactly what we’d like in the president’s office. Let’s back off the Clintons a little bit. I don’t think they deserve all they’re getting. There are other people who do things like that, too.
Feb. 5
When the health department inspectors find a problem at a restaurant that is corrected at the time, the place is awarded a “satisfactory.” What if the problem recurs the minute an inspector leaves? How likely is it a restaurant’s food handlers use a private special restroom? Not economically feasible with today’s rising prices across the board. Fastidious moms insist the family washes hands in the bathroom, not at the kitchen sink where food is washed, peeled and prepared. We ought to honor our bodies enough to make the restroom the first stop inside a restaurant. If it is spotless, has ventilation, secure locks, soap, touchless hot water and plenty of paper towels without having to handle dispenser knobs and door handles, the facility is worthy of our patronage. The ideal restrooms in town are at the police station (where there is still a door to contend with, going in and out), and the public library where the rest-room entry/exits have no door, but a wide open space where two patrons can pass without bumping into one another. A perfect example for the restaurateurs in town who should not need sanitation lessons. Kudos to the library director and to the commissioners who planned the safest, cleanest restrooms in Arizona at the Sierra Vista Public Library. Thanks to the city for funding the library.
I think it is about time that Sierra Vista have red light cameras installed at our intersections. I see people run red lights right and left, and it is ridiculous! How many accidents and injuries must happen before action is taken? It is obvious this place is growing, and everything must adjust to accommodate these changes. It seems like many people nowadays believe that traffic laws don’t apply to them. Everyone wants to run red lights, do 20 over the speed limit and drive 10 feet off someone’s bumper. People need to be reminded that driving is a privilege, not a right. Something more needs to be done to prevent the public from breaking these laws, and those who do need to be punished. Cameras, I believe, would be a great start. I’m sure no one would be running a red light if they knew it meant getting a hefty ticket in the mail.
Today I attempted to vote at the Methodist church. There was an incredibly long line and only one set of people to register everyone. These “workers” spent plenty of time socializing with voters while others waited in line. After 20 minutes of waiting and only halfway to the front of the line, I had to leave as I work for a living. Who set up this system? I have voted there several times and never had this problem. Many other voters came in, saw what was happening and just left. Is this what we can expect in November? Someone needs to correct this problem and also properly train the people running the show!
Editor’s note: The presidential preference election on Feb. 5 had a different setup than what will be done during the September primary and November general election. Only 18 polling places were available in the county, while 64 will be set up for the fall election.
What will definitely outlast Bush for years to come are big deficits, a military so battered by the Iraq war that it will take hundreds of billions of dollars to repair it and stunted social programs that have been squeezed to pay for Bush’s misguided military adventure and his misguided tax cuts for the wealthy. Bush will leave his successor a daunting list of problems: The ever-rising cost of health care, the tens of millions of uninsured, a military that is desperately in need of rebuilding. Thanks to Bush’s profligate ways, it also means the next president will have even less money for solving them. Ask youself: Do we have peace, prosperity, and the protection of our God-given rights under this president? No.
It’s my understanding the county has yet again put off much needed major repair work to Palominas Road, just as it did last year because of the expensive self-caused repair work required on Ramsey Road. Apparently this year’s reason is very similar, because it grossly overspent repairing a one mile stretch of Pomeranian Road near Benson. If the information I heard is correct, the cost for that project blossomed from an original price tag of $80,000 to over $2 million! If correct, that single one-mile project ate up a major portion of the county’s budget for this year’s road repairs. Does anyone else out there in newspaper land have any additional, or possibly more accurate, details on this apparent boondoggle? Maybe it’s time for the county supervisors to see for themselves and take a ride on Palominas Road, just as many of us in the Hereford, Palominas, Naco and Bisbee areas do on a daily basis?
It pays to read the fine print. In the Herald’s health department restaurant inspection reports, the fine print states that when a problem is encountered and corrected at the time, the diner is awarded a grade of satisfactory. Who knows if the same health disaster recurs the minute the inspector is gone? Why don’t we demand surprise inspections instead of regular ones? Oh; not enough inspectors. Our tax money at work, and for whom? The restaurateurs’ filthy restrooms, or the taxpaying eating-out public?
It was interesting to watch on TV a focus group composed of only registered Democrats. When they were asked to name one accomplishment by Democrat presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, their faces suddenly went blank. So we have a likable and articulate Obama who charms us with many political platitudes and no experience and a calculating Clinton who wants to be the first woman president with 35 years of fictitious experience. As I said, it was an interesting focus group to watch.
The continued ambivalence of the American population as a whole toward the war in Iraq, perhaps best manifested by the superficiality of the slogan “Support the Troops,” all the while remaining ignorant of what the troops are actually doing, has led to a similar amnesia among politicians all too willing to allow themselves to seek political advantage at the expense of American life and treasure. January 2008 cost the United States nearly 40 lives in Iraq. The current military budget is unprecedented in its size, and doesn’t even come close to paying for ongoing military operations in Iraq. The war in Iraq has bankrupted Americans morally and fiscally, and yet the American public continues to shake the hands of aspiring politicians who ignore Iraq, pretending that the blood which soaks the hands of these political aspirants hasn’t stained their own. In the sick kabuki dance that is American politics, this refusal to call a spade a spade is deserving of little more than disdain and sorrow.
I chuckled for many hours over the OYM comment yesterday about waiting 25 years to determine Bush’s legacy. I already have eight books by eight different authors on the subject. They total 2,008 pages, have detailed documentation, and back to back are nearly a foot thick. I’ve read them all. They are by noted authors including a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Pentagon correspondent, a military historian, a constitutional law attorney and a White House insider. It seems America is not waiting the 25 years the OYM caller urges. I have to hang up now in order to go buy my ninth book. It’s something about “a tragic legacy.”
Feb. 6
To the person whose letter was in the newspaper Feb. 6, complaining about the retired military getting prescriptions free while he/she that “quit” to save the marriage, and can’t get a better job on post because the retired have those “sewed” up too, boo hoo, maybe you should have made better choices in your marriage, i.e. one that would support you while you pursued a career. Did the marriage also deny you the right to get an education so you too could get a better job? If so, maybe you should not have saved the marriage, but then who would you blame for not having a better life for yourself. Heaven forbid you would have to blame yourself.
I bet Israel is really watching this election pretty close. If Barack Hussein Obama is elected president, they’ll sure be left out in the cold. Maybe he’ll help with the complete destruction of Israel like the Iranians want. Just because he says he isn’t a Muslim doesn’t mean he isn’t because politicians lie.
Somebody wrote in complaining about people complaining about long lines in the military. If you left the military to pursue your married life, that’s you; you made your choice. Those of us who stayed in the military and did our 20 years would really like to have what the military promised we’d have when we signed up. Free medical? All that stuff is gone. So if I can get free prescriptions, yes, I’m going to take it and save myself a dime or two.
The governor should get a pat on the back for cutting down on polling places and saving money for the taxpayers. The independents will have to wait for the state primary to vote. I sure hope they don’t take the right away of independents to pay taxes not that they don’t want to hear from them. And thank God the ballots are in English and Spanish. We sure wouldn’t want to have any discrimination in this great state of Arizona.
I haven’t had to get a prescription in a while so I was really shocked when I called Fry’s prescription line and the first thing I heard was a recorded message in Spanish. Last time I called the line the message was in English, then Spanish. Since when does Spanish come first? As far as I know this is still America. English is the first language. This is wrong, Fry’s. Remember you are in America, not Mexico.
Yesterday there was a lot of crime going on in Sierra Vista: robberies, shootings, stabbings, etc. But to the person complaining in OYM about being stopped for going 7 mph over the speed limit I say this: If you were going the speed limit, the officer wouldn’t have to give you a ticket. If you and other citizens would obey traffic laws maybe the police could do more of the rest of their job. So quit your whining and go the speed limit. Save OYM for more important complaints. If businesses would give the police permission to enforce traffic laws on private property, the police could probably afford to hire a couple of more officers just by giving out tickets in parking lots.
On the day Bush leaves the White House I think it is crucial and I will feel more secure if an experienced person with proven capabilities can immediately take over the presidency. I believe Hillary is that person. We have too many problems at home and all over the world that will need the immediate attention of the next president. On the other hand, Obama is impressive and a brilliant and charming speaker who can move and inspire people. But I think he falls short of words when it comes to describing how he will be able to start making changes and working on people’s problems immediately upon entering the White House.
I don’t know who to complain to about it, but I hope that enough people complain about the long lines that we had to wait in to vote yesterday. When you have to wait in line 60 to 90 minutes to vote, well, I won’t do it again. Besides that the election board workers couldn’t go to the bathroom or eat for about 13 hours. That’s just asinine. I hope something is done about it.
As a government worker on the fort, I just wanted to take a moment to let the public know what an outstanding job the new Garrison Commander Col. Melissa Sturgeon is doing. Since she has taken command, all the directors that work for the garrison commander are no longer afraid to make decisions that affect their directorates. Where before there was a fearful and apathetic environment where directors were hesitant to do anything without the boss’s explicit permission. This, of course, had a trickle down affect on middle management and front line supervisors. Now there is a refreshing, proactive, efficient and effective, get it done attitude, where folks are not afraid of making a mistake. Time wasters such as Lean Six Sigma and the Garrison Management System (a statistical shell game at best), and the IMA Academy have taken a back seat to actually taking care of our customers (the soldier)! So far, she has proven to be a well adjusted, level headed leader. Sometimes those that manage least manage best.
LOOK FOR more On Your Mind in Friday’s edition of the Herald/Review.
On Your Mind is the Herald/Review’s telephone opinion line and is intended as a public forum for our readers. Comments represent the opinions of callers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper or any specific knowledge that we have. Readers may share their opinions by calling 458-0332, or by e-mail to svhoym@transedge.com or regular mail at 102 Fab Ave., Sierra Vista AZ 85635. Please keep comments less than 90 seconds. Comments are edited.
