Tucson Speaks Out: May 17

Pumping oil markets instead of oil

Numerous publications are following oil futures as the war with Iran proceeds. They’ve noted significant activity in the market just before Trump makes announcements about the status of negotiations or conflict — a sign of insider trading. These insiders have gotten hundreds of millions of dollars from their trades. Given that the most likely perpetrators of this illegal activity are members of the administration or their hangers-on, what is the probability that they’ll be investigated? Remember, Trump’s DOJ has de-emphasized enforcement of white-collar crime.

Barbara Hall

Midtown

The demise of Pioneer

Pioneer did not fail for lack of the Jet Blue merger, it failed because its business plan was unsustainable. For years before the recent failure, Pioneer had been accumulating debt because of mounting costs of running an airline, not the least of which were the manifold costs of repair to the Pratt and Whitney engines used in their fleet. As a low-cost, no-frills airline, it provided a much-needed alternative to the major airlines that provided opportunities for those not in the Sky Lounges to travel within an everyman’s budget. Taking on the debt of Pioneer, the merger would, by necessity, eliminate the ability to continue as a low-cost airline. Who needs another major airline offering credit cards, points and lounges to compete? It is a shame Pioneer could not be sustained.

Gordon Macdonald

West side

Trump role model

Recently, a 15-foot statue of Donald Trump, commissioned by cryptocurrency group $PATRIOT, was dedicated at Trump's Doral Golf Resort in Miami. It is bronze covered in gold leaf on a 7-foot pedestal affectionately called the "Don Colossus."

Nero built and erected a 100- to 120-foot gilded bronze statue for his golden house. It was later moved to the Flavian Amphitheater, which became known as the Colosseum. Nero built his Domus Aurea after 75% of Rome burned. In order to get the money for his lavish palace, he sold public offices to the highest bidder, raised taxes and confiscated the property of his "enemies." Trump embellishes public buildings with gold lettering, inserts his name on public buildings like the Kennedy Center, demolishes the East Wing of the White House for a golden ballroom, and accepts a "flying palace" from the royal family of Qatar. No Kings. No Emperors.

Barbara Moore

East side

Iran war

Trump cannot win this one; Iran gains more political/military strength every day.

Trump could tinker around the edges with nuclear weapons and then declare victory and leave.

If Iran got a weapon in five years, realistically, it would not dare use it. Iran would join the nine countries that are known or believed to have them.

Donald Plummer

Northwest side

Think Scandinavian

George Will had a pointed column on May 13 about today's youth, their education, the jobs they take, what they find in the workplace and how they feel about all this. He ends his piece equating socialism with infantilism.

He misses, or ignores altogether, one huge example of socialism. For years and years, the happiest citizens, the people who like where and how they live, are the people from the Scandinavian countries, which are socialist through and through. Socialism there is applied for the good of everyone.

Most people here have no idea at all of what socialism is, yet use the word in the most pejorative sense. What we think and what they know are two different things altogether.

Tim Canny

Oracle

United States survival

We are on the verge of destruction. The United States, led by Donald Trump, is in dire straits. (No pun intended). We have alienated all of our allies. As I write this LTE, he is in China trying to "make a deal," to extricate us from his ill-advised war that is burning up our weapons, our treasury and our good name. China calls us a paper tiger and worse. Iran is controlling the world's oil supply. Trump is divorced from reality as he builds monuments to himself all the while preaching hatred, destroying the environment, the health system and so many other assets that we Americans hold dear. I don't know what mechanism is left to us that will rid us of this toxic pariah since he has cowed the lemmings in his party, and the Supreme Court has forgotten the meaning of the Constitution. We must join together ... all colors, all religions of both parties. All citizens must show up to vote this November before it's too late.

Morton Cederbaum

Green Valley

Respect life from womb to tomb

I greatly thank the writer of the May 14 LTE titled "Abortion, a man's opinion" for sharing their opinion on abortion. My pro-life position is not about trying to "control" women, but rather about protecting both the mother and her unborn child from the cruelty that is abortion. Others say men should have no opinion on abortion. Very well then. If we use that logic, then anyone who is not a first- or second-generation immigrant from Mexico or Latin America, like I am, should have no opinion on immigration from these countries. Clearly, this logic is not good for healthy dialogue. Many people call for Roe to be restored, but many forget it was decided by all men. I, like most pro-lifers, do not believe that punishing women for having an abortion is the correct thing to do. And yes, I agree that being pro-life is for all life, and not just abortion. All life must be respected at every stage, including overlooked unborn babies.

Héctor Guzmán

South side

Lunch in the ballroom

America is a strange land where school lunches are considered socialism, but a taxpayer-funded billion-dollar ballroom is patriotism.

Terry Louck

East side

AI can save democracy

Partisan gerrymandering may be the greatest legalized political scam in America. Politicians now choose their voters instead of voters choosing their politicians. Congressional districts resemble inkblots, snakes and roadkill more than actual communities. Some are so twisted and grotesque that citizens can barely determine who represents them, much less hold them accountable.

In an age when artificial intelligence can detect cancer, fly aircraft and process trillions of data points, why are we still allowing self-interested politicians to carve up America like a butcher protecting his own paycheck?

AI could easily generate compact, geographically logical districts based on population, continuity and fairness while stripping out partisan manipulation. Instead, both parties cling to “salamander districts” designed to guarantee permanent power, ideological extremism and endless division.

The real fear in Washington is not that AI would fail. The fear is that fair districts might produce competitive elections and force politicians to speak to ordinary Americans again instead of hiding inside rigged political fortresses.

Lawrence E. Mazin

SaddleBrooke

Cosmetics

The reflecting pool is rife with algae. Trump’s solution is to paint the bottom “flag blue.” The cost to the taxpayers is already many times the projected estimate. It is yet another exercise in style over substance. When his hands and neck bloom with new bruises and rashes, he slathers on more makeup. It’s impossible to hide the rot and corruption of this administration.

To create the impression that he was slashing government spending, he allowed Musk to amputate entire departments without analyses of the consequences. He started a war with Iran, which costs $1 billion a day, and is now asking Congress for $1.5 trillion in defense funding. It’s no wonder that his businesses have declared bankruptcy six times.

We are lucky he isn’t painting the reflecting pool in real gold, but the year is not over.

Jim Lombardo

Oro Valley