Tucson Speaks Out: May 21

Easy commute?

Your front page on Saturday, May 9, “Easy Commute is Tough in Tucson,” asks RET voters who voted again to widen streets and fill potholes. What we urgently need is a Mass Integrated Train Transit System (MITTS) following existing train tracks with a small feeder system like they do in LA, San Diego, BART, Portland and Seattle. I have ridden them all. They are safer, faster, cheaper and efficient, but it takes resources, time and public support.

Otherwise, we will continue to experience frustrating, mentally exhausting, archaic congestion, interrupted by frequent signals, turning vehicles and cross-street flows.

Let me hear from readers about RET spending, wasted money over the past 20 years or updated future thinking, rewarding, winning, realistic patterns with rapid train traffic. We already have driverless electric cars. Next, we will have drone autos whizzing above us.

Wake up, Tucson, to future realities or criticize and complain, moan and groan, snivel and whine. It's your choice!

Lawrence Quilici

Midtown

Good Samaritans on Broadway Blvd.

While waiting for a crosswalk on Broadway at Wilmot to be clear of pedestrians on May 18, I saw a woman pulling a shopping cart with an elderly man hanging onto the cart handles. He was struggling to walk. When the traffic light changed, cars in the northbound lane entered the intersection heading east. As the woman tried to move the cart faster, the man lost his balance and fell backward. He lay on the street for a few seconds before several young men raced toward him. They grabbed him by his arms and literally carried him to the sidewalk. As often is the case, drivers can’t see what’s occurring two cars in front of them. I was privileged to watch young and older people, people of different cultures and races, come to the aid of a fellow human being. They reacted out of urgency and kindness with no thought for their own safety. This is what humans should and can do. It is what validates our humanity.

Linda Whetton

East side

Waiting for locusts

Front page May 19, article “Feds trying to seize sacred site for wall.”

This goes beyond party lines.

When we begin desecrating sacred sites for political agendas — no side wins.

Remember the plagues of Egypt.

Waiting for locusts.

Karen Papagapitos

Northwest side

Death row prisoners in Arizona

For many years, I had been a supporter of the death penalty, but the death penalty is not a deterrent to other criminals or potential criminals. A death row inmate gets three meals a day, 10 hours a day of recreation time, a single “bedroom” with a built-in bathroom and library access (and I believe a TV in their bedroom). Online info shows: Annual housing: ~$110K–$180K per inmate (latestcost.com); Total case cost: $3–$4M+ — defense only (arizonastatelawjournal.org); Full lifecycle cost: Likely $5M–$10M+ per inmate, prosecution/execution logistics. Other online info: Since 2013, the nine executed inmates had an average length of stay of just under 25½ years (2026). The system does not work! Compress the allowable time for all appeals. Eliminate the death penalty in favor of life in prison without parole, or walk them out back of the courthouse after their last appeal and apply the death penalty immediately. My best choice: eliminate the nonfunctioning death penalty and sentence them to life without parole.

Roy Hill

Marana

Trump's slush fund illegal, immoral

I am appalled and outraged that Trump thinks he should be able to set up a $1.7 billion slush fund to reward those he feels the Biden administration justice system “wronged.” Paying for the Jan. 6 rioters? The same people who tried to overthrow the government at Trump’s behest? It’s insane.

It’s also illegal — only Congress has the power of the purse. This is nothing but another grift. Trump is all but saying that loyalty outranks the law, and we must do everything we can to stop him. I have no doubt that the bulk of this fund is destined to go into Trump’s own pockets. I urge every sensible citizen to call their representatives in Congress and to contact the White House and tell them to shut this scam down.

Karen Micallef

Oro Valley

Notes on the passing scene

A couple of comments on the passing scene: In the last week, two writers have promoted democratic socialism by asserting that the happiest countries are Scandinavian socialist countries. This is, however, not true. Scandinavian countries are not socialist. They are capitalist welfare states that have chosen to heavily tax their middle class to provide universal social welfare benefits. Their tax rates are much less progressive than ours here in the United States. I lived in Finland for two years, and yes, the systems of social services work very well. But socialist they are not.

Another observation on the normally great Tim Steller’s Sunday opinion piece. In addition to using Hamas’ casualty statistics, which do not differentiate between fighters and civilians, he used “The International Association of Genocide Scholars” as an unbiased scholarly group. Unfortunately, the only qualification to be a member of this organization is to pay the $35 fee. Tim is a nuanced and objective fact-based writer. This piece was not up to his normal standards.

Wade Thompson

Midtown

A future without war, and with food and water

Recent LTEs have questioned the efficacy of “protests” (e.g. May 1). Then, citizens were asked to skip work, boycott all business and go downtown for … what?

Many groups currently try to further their causes, yet seemingly minimize the salient issue of our times: capitalism run amok, wars and climate.

When young, one couldn’t just leave work. Also, most “events” seem like all the others, mainly social. However, this Memorial Day we will honor our veterans, further the aims of Food Army and contemplate a future without war!

Food Army seeks to prepare for hard times and a national strike. We have a fledgling populist water tank idea, because everyone should be storing water. These concepts are truly universal: everyone needs food and water, and will likely experience climate instability.

Join us Memorial Day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 6000 E. 14th (on the northwest corner of the property).

Gaye Adams

Midtown

Project Blue blues

The WSJ recently ran an article titled “The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam,” detailing the rising tide of AI and data center skepticism. It quotes recent surveys showing AI is less popular than ICE or politicians! The growing backlash against AI was further boosted by Carl Braun, CEO of the Data Center Group (a Coldwell Banker Commercial Division), when he recently referred to data center skeptics as “cave people.” Locally, UA commencement speaker, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, was booed at the mention of AI, and the stealthy campaign by TEP and Beale Infrastructure to advance Project Blue was further burdened by news of Beale Infrastructure stealing water from the City of Tucson and violating fugitive dust regulations. All added fuel to the growing rebellion against AI.

Sheldon Clark

Vail