Transgender legislation
I was in grade school in the late 1950s when being left-handed was considered to be abnormal. If a child picked up a pencil with their left hand, they were told that was wrong and they should use their right hand. If a child persisted in using their left hand to write, then they would be punished. Today, schools listen to the children about their dominant hand; 90% will prefer to use their right hand, 10% will prefer to use their left hand, a few will happily switch between either hand.
The Republicans have passed laws dictating sexual identity for children. Sexual identity is established very early at 3 to 5 years of age. For most children their sexual identity matches their physical appearance. For a very few children it is not that easy — their sexual identity is at odds with their physical appearance. The lucky ones have parents who listen to their children and protect them from those who will not accept that sexual identity is not a choice.
People are also reading…
Thomas Hefley
East side
Asylum seekers
In July 2018, respected constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley wrote an article published in TheHill.com titled, “Seeking asylum does not make illegal entry into America legal.” Turley pointed out that asylum claims can be made at any time, even after illegal entry into the country and that if the claim is later denied, the person can be deported for having violated 8 USC 1325, Improper Entry by Alien, a federal criminal offense. Turley wrote, “Even if a person asserts asylum and completes the application, the government can still pursue criminal charges. If the asylum application is rejected as meritless or unsupported, the person can be prosecuted or deported.”
This contradicts immigration activists, many who are in the news media, including locally, who do not believe that the historic number of people entering the country in between ports of entry and claiming asylum are doing anything illegal. I believe they are wrong on this, and Turley set the legal record straight.
Taylor Greenway
Midtown
Biden pathetic
April 12, Biden was in Iowa where he pathetically blamed Putin and his war in Ukraine for our high inflation numbers. The Labor Department reported that for March, the Consumer Price Index hit 8.5%, a 40-year high. The fact is that inflation has been rising since last year, when both Biden and the Federal Reserve were calling it “transitory.” They were wrong! Now the Fed has decided to increase interest rates to combat it.
I remember gas prices here in Tucson being at $3.55 a gallon before the Ukraine war. And food prices at grocery stores and my entrees at favorite restaurants had already increased. I think Biden’s partisan March 2021 stimulus bill of $1.9 trillion was unnecessary and triggered increased inflation. I think Biden is pathetic for not taking responsibility for any of this mess. He runs to the podium to read off a teleprompter about good monthly jobs reports claiming his doing, but blames others for his many failures.
Rory Smith
Marana
Out of water
Re: the April 24 article “Big rental community planned near Tucson.”
I hope the future residents of the proposed build-for-rent large developments plan on bringing their own water supply as there is no water to spare in Southern Arizona — indeed, in all of Arizona.
We are constantly bombarded with news of the dire situation at Lakes Powell and Mead; how can these lakes provide water for even more people? Money, money, money — but money doesn’t fill the lakes.
Marylee Peterson
Southeast side
Library access and HB 2439
The only thing this bill will do is reduce the number of librarians in schools. As a retired school librarian for 17 years, I never had parents ask what their child was reading. With the opt-out for schools without librarians or having agreements with public libraries, I see the writing on the wall. Schools will just not bother to hire librarians. Who suffers? The students. Arizona Republican politicians do not want students to read. What would the parents do when the police come to the university or public library wanting to know what they are reading? I have been asked that question. No answer was given. The next step is “Fahrenheit 451.”
Lynn D’Antonio
East side
Ballot tabulating
Fear, falsehoods and fascism. Republicans are at it again. This time candidates Kari Lake and Rep. Mark Finchem want to prohibit Arizona from using automated vote tabulating machines in the 2022 elections. Why? “Potential for fraud through hacking or because components are made in other countries.”
The fact no credible evidence of election fraud due to machine tabulation has been found doesn’t matter to Lake and Finchem. They want 100% hand-counting! What brilliance! Replace a fast, accurate, cost-effective and auditable process with a slower, more error-prone, more costly process that will have no control to compare against. Perhaps their next proposal will be to outlaw use of any computers in Arizona government as they “contain components manufactured in other countries.”
Lake and Finchem don’t want the Arizona electorate to decide. I think they are trying to get a judge to make the decision — before the 2022 election. Lake and Finchem have clearly shown their lack of fitness for elected office.
Dean Hahn-Carlson
Rio Rico
Tucson wages
Re: the April 26 article “Poverty isn’t as simple as we like to think.”
In today’s paper, Mr. Kiser’s assumption that 50% of Tucson are “low wage” earners is somewhat misleading. Tucson has a minimum wage law; it’s now $13 per hour. If people can’t get by on that, what’s next?
I’ve lived in Tucson for over 60 years, and it’s always been the mayor and council’s agenda to keep Tucson a tourist town. They liked the idea of keeping big business out and keeping the “small town” venue. Unfortunately, it has caused a lot of poverty and low-wage jobs.
Just look at the difference between Phoenix and Tucson. Phoenix has dozens of large corporations employing people at high wages. Tucson has but a few, mainly Raytheon, UA, ANG and DM. That’s about all. However, the hundreds of hotels, thousands of restaurants, are mainly low-wage jobs. Tucson can exist on tourism, but low-wage jobs are a direct result of the politicians’ decisions, not economics.
Jim Kelly
Foothills
Feel bad? Or feel good?
Monday my house was burgled while I was out. The sheriff’s department came to investigate. Deputy Burroughs led this effort that I suspected was more of a formality, but he was cooly professional in his approach and helped me feel safe and secure. We discovered a neighbor had taken pictures of a person in my yard that morning, so he copied them.
Next morning I got a call from the sheriff that they had “some” of my possessions. I met them at the site where they had apprehended the thief, thanks to my neighbor’s photos. Deputy O’Dell helped me identify my belongings. Again, he was efficiently professional but treated me like a human and not a statistic.
I got all my things returned to me!
So now, rather than being filled with negative thoughts and emotions, all I can feel is tremendous gratitude towards Burroughs, O’Dell and my neighbor. It ain’t such a bad world after all!
Ken Chernock
Northwest side
