Tucson Speaks Out: August 20

The shameful denial of science

Many thanks to John Murphy for his excellent article “What loss of science means for us”. The many deaths attributable to COVID-19 science denial and COVID vaccine hesitancy/refusal (politically driven) are perfect illustrations. This led to “ignorance and superstition finding fertile ground” as science deniers turned to horse de-wormer and other quack remedies while Trump continued his downplaying of the virus.

Now we have an anti-vaccine person heading up Health and Human Services. Maybe Trump can reverse the science showing tobacco use is a major health hazard or at least have the warning on cigarette packages removed. The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, (which of course attracts the religious right) had a display showing dinosaurs roaming earth at the same time as humans — unashamedly disseminating outrageously false information for non-thinkers and the gullible to embrace. Remember, Trump loves the uneducated. What is truly tragic is that an article like Mr. Murphy’s needs to be written and is relevant to our country today.

Deb Klumpp

Oro Valley

Re: What loss of science means for us

This wonderful piece beautifully underscores the crucial importance of science as a method and worldview. The hallmark of science ignorance is a tendency to praise its primacy when it comports with one’s biases, but to discount its inevitable conclusions when it doesn’t.

As newborns and toddlers, the kernel of scientific inquiry is inherent in us all as we first struggle to adapt to being in the world. Through an intrinsic curiosity we all possess at our genesis, that fuels a natural drive to observe, challenge, modify and assimilate, we insensibly acquire our most rudimentary capabilities of walking, talking and self-awareness. Our instinctive nature is de facto scientific.

But tragedy fatefully ensues when these inborn inclinations are allowed to atrophy through insufficient encouragement and cultivation. By a certain age, what might have emerged as a lifelong pattern of critical thinking is arrested in many, who then easily fall victim to the variety of undisciplined reason permeating our contemporary discourse, where half-baked, purely utilitarian dogmas prosper.

Robert Gavlak

Midtown

Tucson physical therapist deportation

I have been a physical therapist in Tucson for over 35 years and have known Vone Phrommany for more than 10 years. He is one of the most kind, caring, thoughtful people I have ever met. His patients absolutely love him, and his co-workers/friends are honored and blessed to have him in our lives.

Without a moment’s notice, he will provide a patient, friend or stranger with his time, expertise or if need be, financial support.

Yes, he made a dumb teenage mistake. Who of us hasn’t? He didn’t hurt anyone and long ago paid the price (or so he thought).

There will always be loyal followers who blindly believe people like Vone represent the worst of the worst and don’t belong in “our” country. Vone would provide care to you as readily as he would to anyone else. He would do so because, in fact, he represents the very best of what we can all aspire to be.

Mitch Blum

North side

Camp Cochise

Thanks to Greg Hansen for his article on UA football history at Camp Cochise.

The teams that experienced the intensity and cohesive atmosphere that only an isolated football community can create were some of the best squads ever to play at Arizona Stadium.

I played football at Buena H.S. (Sierra Vista) in the late ’70s, early ’80s under Coach Truman Williamson.

We had 2-a day practice (7 a.m, and 3:30-6 p.m.) for 2 weeks prior to the start of season.

We both hated and loved it.

We hated and loved our coaches.

By the end of preseason camp, we were a cohesive “Band of Brothers” who had endured together and created a true team.

I believe that this type of preseason experience helps to solidify the Brotherhood culture of a football team.

Bring back Camp Cochise!

Dan Egan

East side

Mines over mountains?

Why is it so hard to have nice things? Why are Canada and Japan finding it so easy to tear down our mountains? Tucson has specific attractions, including and most important, glorious mountain views and sunsets, followed by winter sun, hiking and mostly clean air. Currently, we have growing worry about scarce water supply. Why are we even considering open-pit mines? Even from space, the many open pit mines are ugly and leave us with uninhabitable, unhealable scars.

Bea Manderscheid

Northeast side

Two sides of the same coin

Sunday’s Tucson Opinion writers brought two different approaches to the same problem: stagnation. I doubt that anyone living in Tucson is “content as a retirement community,” and while one author laments the loss of Project Blue, saying we turned our backs on “thousands of high paying construction jobs and a massive infusion of capital into our economy.” I believe those were short-term and unsubstantiated promises compared to the long-term devastation based on a “plan” to offset the extraordinary volume of water and electricity that would result. The second author proposed linking “research, education and policy discourse” to connect Arizona’s local experience to global lessons. Though we need solutions to finding dynamic career paths now, reaching out to successful communities with limited resources like ours could help build a future for our children here in Tucson.

Christie Cummins

Midtown

No law he won’t break for personal gain

The ‘Posse Comitatus Act’ (18 U.S.C. § 1385), 1878, prohibits the use of the U.S. military to enforce civilian laws, with some exceptions outlined in the Constitution or by Congress. This means that active-duty military personnel may not be used for domestic law enforcement activities.

Exceptions may be made when specifically authorized by the Constitution or by two-thirds approval by both Houses of Congress, not by the president.

This is a fundamental principle in the United States, aimed at preventing the military from interfering with civilian affairs and protecting individual liberties.

With an auto-signature, National Guard troops already illegally deployed to Washington, D.C., will begin carrying firearms to conduct their mission in the city, where crime was already down 30%. It seems that while riding in his “tank,” he saw a homeless person and was disgusted. Imagine what the homeless person thought when he saw Trump.

There is no law this man will not break.

Sheldon Metz

Northeast side

Peace in our time

Donald Trump has found his historical role model at last: Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain handed Hitler part of Czechoslovakia in the name of “peace in our time.” If history repeats itself, we’ll soon see Trump on stage, red tie down to his knees, announcing: “Peace in our time … plus a new Trump Tower Moscow built entirely with Trump Crypto. Very classy, the best tower, believe me.”

Trump will declare it “the most beautiful agreement ever, folks. Nobody’s ever done peace like me.” At a rally, I can already hear him: “Putin told me he’s going to respect Ukraine’s borders… eventually. And you know what? I believe him. He looked me in the eyes. Strong eyes. Tiger eyes. Very manly eyes.” Meanwhile, Ukraine vanishes from the map faster than Trump Steaks.

If we’re going to reenact the 1930s, let’s at least remember how the original version ended. Spoiler alert: not great.

Lawrence Mazin

SaddleBrooke

Stop scapegoating immigrants on housing

Blaming immigrants for the housing crisis is flat-out wrong. Housing costs are skyrocketing because of restrictive zoning, soaring construction expenses, and years of undersupply — not because immigrants need a place to live.

In fact, immigrants are essential to building homes. Nearly a quarter of America’s construction workforce is foreign-born. Without them, housing production would stall, and prices would climb even faster.

Pointing fingers at immigrants won’t lower rent or build a single house. Real solutions mean building more homes and removing barriers — not scapegoating the very people helping us keep roofs over our heads.

Terese Lindgren

Green Valley

Russia and the Epstein-Trump friendship

So much is not being explained in the tragic Epstein-Trump friendship and scandal. One might and can read about Russian models and Deutsche Bank having to pay $150 million due to its involvement. I do hope both parties will push for total disclosure. Trump’s revealing statement about victims tells us a lot.

Dan Bannon

Midtown

Endless summer merger

The Aug. 18 opinion columns are both right. School should be virtually year-round, and children need a break from formal education.

I would prefer a schedule of nine weeks on, one week off. It would give them a week’s break that could be extended to two weeks if they are given the assignments for the extra week off. Every weekend is a break if children learn to manage their time.

However, teaching the three R’s is inadequate. Children need to be taught life skills, employment skills, reasoning/prioritizing skills and various other skills. Educational achievement and cooperation should be recognized as more important than athletic skills.

And if, like me, after years of being conditioned to have the summer off, I felt like I should still have the summer off. But I did not let my feelings overrule my thinking.

James Abels

Midtown

Trump capitulation

Putin owns Trump. It was disgusting to see Trump give red carpet treatment to a murderous tyrant. He invaded Ukraine and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. Trump in ever pursuit of a deal would reward Putin with giving up Ukraine territory. Putin would’ve achieved his aims while conceding nothing. Not a great deal. Thank God Trump wasn’t president when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He would’ve given Japan Hawaii in a deal.

Craig Miller

Northwest side

Talk to the boss

I see where President Trump had a private conversation with Russia’s President Putin. Trump then said that after talking to Putin, he wants to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines in this country. I guess Trump had to talk to his boss about the best way to rig elections before starting his big push to make American elections just as free and fair as Russian elections. Putin knows a lot about turning countries into dictatorships.

Graeme Williams

Southeast side

Water-use solution

Water use is a big concern in Arizona, as it should be. As we just learned,a Hyper Scale Data Center could use 200 million gallons of water per year. That is a huge amount and should be avoided in a desert. The business sector says it is worth the water use because it makes money and creates business development. Yet in Tucson, the average 150-acre golf course uses 200 million gallons of water a year. Ergo, for every data center business interests want to open, they need to close one golf course. That is Net Zero water use increase. The downside is that the business interests will have to learn to play pickleball. The 200 million gallons of water numbers came off the internet, so they must be true, Look it up.

Richard Bechtold

West side

Phoenix-Tucson rail

I agree with Myla Lutes-Clark that a passenger rail line between Tucson and Phoenix would be great! However, it appears to be decades in the future. An action that could be taken right now would be a frequent bus between the cities. A fully loaded bus is much more fuel-efficient per passenger mile than individual vehicles. Until the frequency of a train becomes substantial, the rail line sits there unused much of the time. The existing roads, however, support multiple uses and become more economically efficient. To ensure buses does not get stuck in traffic, they could use “high occupancy vehicle” lanes. To make these lanes more efficient, so they don’t sit empty much of the time, variable tolls can be applied to the lane for other vehicles. The toll would be increased or decreased as required to keep the lane occupied with vehicles running at the speed limit.

Trains are great! We can demonstrate passenger need for them through implementing buses right now.

Harold Hallikainen

East side

Re: Parents’ Marana lawsuit, plus Ukraine

Regarding two recent letters: As I read the article about the young man typing a threat on his school-provided laptop, angry about a recent grade he wrote a letter ... but never sent it and erased the whole thing. I suppose he was initially advised that key-stroke tracking software was installed, but obviously forgot this in his anger. As I type this, I erased an ugly (perhaps illegal) remark about recent LTE finger-pointing at Biden’s actions regarding Ukraine. I surely don’t want my venting to go on my permanent record.

Charlene Brewster

Marana

Arizona No Labels Party

As the first Arizona No Labels Party candidate to appear on the ballot — in the Sept. 23 special election for the state’s 7th Congressional District — I want to make something clear: Arizona’s No Labels Party has no connection with the national group of the same name. That organization has endorsed Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who resigned in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, in the New York City mayoral race.

Our state party’s new chair, former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, has already emphasized this separation. Although I initially opposed his proposal to change our party’s name, I now realize I was wrong. I do not want to be linked with Andrew Cuomo in any way.

I am a progressive who opposes sexual harassment of women, believing that I share these values with Green Party candidate Eduardo Quintana and Democratic nominee Adelita Grijalva.

Richard Grayson

West side