Kleptocracy is not Democracy
Kleptocracy is not Democracy
It is a word that’s not heard
but should be without a single word
of a bird high in the sky
who would not die.
Trevor M. Burns, age 10
Midtown
Tucson traffic is Russian roulette
Late last year, incoming new Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar stated that one of his priorities this year was to do more traffic enforcement. We are now four months into this year and it seems like the driving habits of many motorists are getting worse by the week. Everyday we drive around the city of Tucson, we see constant examples of speeding, tailgating, aggressive driving, reckless driving and distracted driving. It is basically a free-for-all on Tucson’s public streets. We also see the aftermath of traffic collisions on most of the days we drive.
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Since we don’t seem to see any visible enforcement being done by Tucson police, we wonder if manpower issues are still a problem and are constraining traffic enforcement? The citizens of Tucson deserve at least an update. As a side note, we are also not seeing a priority on enforcement from the Pima County sheriff.
David Keating
Northeast side
Ethanol still a bad idea
The Biden administration has promoted increasing the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 10% to 15%, (E85 gasoline).
Using corn to produce ethanol for gasoline never made much sense from an environmental perspective, except to replace the lead they used to put into gasoline. It doesn’t reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pollution appreciably, because growing corn uses a lot of diesel fuel for tractors and a lot of energy to produce fertilizers.
With the war in Ukraine threatening to produce worldwide shortages of grain and corn, diverting more corn to the production of ethanol will only exacerbate food shortages and further drive up food prices.
John McConnaughey
Oro Valley
Mother’s Day
Me Mudder
It is my opinion that Mother’s Day is the most grand holiday of the year. Tis non-partisan and universal. Everyone has (had) a mother. Me Mudder was very special
When I was just a little boy,
And thought that I was cute and coy,
Who always brought my favorite toy?
Me Mudder.
When I was really small and little,
Who often played for me, her fiddle,
And cleaned me up, when oft I piddle?
Me Mudder.
Who thought I looked so nice and fair,
And taught me how to pray my prayer,
That God, somehow was everywhere?
Me Mudder.
And as my life did move along,
Who taught me how to sing a song,
And where the notes and words were wrong?
Me Mudder.
And who did teach me how to cry,
To grieve her love when she did die,
She didn’t have time, to tell me why?
Me Mudder.
Happy Mother’s day, Mom
Tom McGorray
Northwest side
Religious beliefs rule our Supreme Court
The draft opinion by Samuel Alito on abortion calls attention to the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court is unrepresentative of our country. Even worse, it shows that justices will allow their religious beliefs to supersede legal precedent.
Currently, six justices are Catholic. Catholics comprise about 20% of Americans while about 10% identify as atheist or agnostic. Opinion polls consistently show that a majority of Americans believe women should have access to safe, legal abortions.
Each of these justices testified in their confirmation hearings that they would respect legal precedent. Assuming Alito’s draft opinion is validated, it did not take long for their duplicity to be revealed.
I think we now have a religious cabal of activist judges that is determining the futures of American women and our country based on their religious beliefs. This is definitely not what our founders had in mind when they wrote our Constitution.
Bruce Hilpert
North side
Abortion rights to disappear
It appears Roe v. Wade, settled law for 50 years, will be overturned by a Supreme Court majority hand-picked by the conservative activist groups The Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society. So many members of the GOP screamed at the top of their lungs that wearing a mask during a national pandemic was a “violation of their personal rights,” yet these same people are willing to blithely revoke a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. This hypocrisy is why I left the Republican Party years ago. There is one answer, and one only, to the growing threat to issues of privacy such as abortion, birth control, same sex marriage, and it is this: vote Democratic!
Karen Micallef
Oro Valley
High court enacts economic boom
Since the Supreme Court has outlawed abortion, effectively saying that a fetus is a person, can theatre owners begin requiring pregnant women to have two tickets? Will airlines, trains and buses collect two fares for pregnant women? Hotels will be able to charge pregnant women as two guests. Sounds like the court has created an economic boom for some merchants. I’m sure many of you out there can find other examples.
Michael Greenbaum
Midtown
Democrats now energized over “right to kill”
Most polls going into the November elections showed Republicans possibly taking back control of the House of Representatives and maybe the Senate. That is because of the sorry state of affairs under Biden with decades-high inflation, chaos at the border, his Afghanistan disaster, etc. There has been no enthusiasm amongst Democrats, until today, May 3, when it was learned that someone at the U.S. Supreme Court illegally leaked to Politico a draft opinion of overturning Roe vs, Wade, based on flawed constitutional arguments presented at the time. Now suddenly there is enthusiasm about saving the “right to kill” an unborn baby. Many Democrats support abortion through the second trimester, up to six months, when ultrasounds clearly show a formed and moving human being. Joe Biden once opposed abortion rights, but now fully supports it. The professed Catholic who prayed with Pope Francis. I think some women remain psychologically scarred after having an abortion, realizing they took their baby’s life. Sadly, Democrats are now energized over preserving the “right to kill.”
Tricia Thompson
Marana
Supreme Court a threat to pregnant women
Whoa! Is our Supreme Court throwing us down the rabbit hole back to the 1950s when females had fewer rights? Does our country believe that outlawing abortions is going to end abortions? Most certainly not. Women with means will continue to get them somewhere; poorer women will resort to doing it themselves by whatever means. A CNN moderator said abortions do not go down when they are illegal. I believe more women will die from illegal and/or botched abortions. In New York City in the 1960s nearly half of all maternal mortality could be traced to botched illegal abortions. This possible overthrow of a precedent (1973’s Roe v. Wade) is an affront to all females.
Toni Kane
Oro Valley
Roe v. Wade and gay marriage
I love liberals. They go ballistic over the leaked Supreme Court document that suggested that the court may overturn Roe v. Wade. They talk about legal precedents.
They ignored 5,000 years of precedents of marriage between man and woman when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriages.
Thomas Wenzel
East side
Football and prayer
Re: the May 3 article “Football and prayer? They just don’t mix.”
John Crisp, like most anti-faith journalists, completely misses the mark in his criticism of the Supreme Court case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. Kennedy’s attempt to get his job back has more to do with what is right about high school sports and less about advocating a religion.
Christianity is less a religion and more about faith. His guidance of his players in prayer gives them a calm place to go to after a rigorous game and find peace in an otherwise tumultuous life for many teens.
If it’s OK for teachers and administrators to instruct children on sexuality and orientation, what’s wrong with a teacher or coach leading a quiet team prayer after a game for those willing to participate?
Tom Peña
Northwest side
