Letters to the Editor: Jan. 30

President Biden has just, after two years of ignoring and deflecting, imposed several new rules regarding immigration into the United States. He also indicated that the border problems will not be solved until there is a comprehensive immigration policy, now held up by Republican obstinance. Who is he kidding? Until our government decides to halt entry into the United States to anyone not following the existing immigration laws, the undocumented, with support from the cartels, will continue to pour into our nation because the word is out, get across the border and they will support and take care of you, no questions asked. This nation cannot survive as the nation we know if we do not control entry into the nation. No other country in the world has the open border policy that we currently have — and I wonder why.

Loyal M. Johnson Jr.

Oro Valley

Protecting our wildlife

Re: the Jan. 8 article “Threat to urban bobcats.”

An “urban” bobcat was killed by a local resident because, as he said, “It was threatening his pets.” Apparently, it’s OK to kill an “urban” bobcat for that reason, although it is illegal not to report the action to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. I guess the paperwork they collect and file is more important than the animal’s life. First of all, this was an innocent animal, doing what bobcats do. The bobcat didn’t really know that it was “urban.” Please tell me why it was not illegal to kill this bobcat. Don’t the owners of pets, especially in Arizona where many forms of wildlife are labeled as threats to pets (in spite of the fact that those animals are just doing exactly what they were created to do), have the responsibility to protect those pets in ways that would be considered to be more humane towards the wildlife?

Sue Thompson

SaddleBrooke

Humans as cancer

Editor,

As our world population passes through eight billion on its way to nine or 10, it’s obvious that humans are a metastasizing cancer on this planet. We’re displacing other species at record rates, polluting the seas, cutting and burning remaining forests, using up irreplaceable mineral resources, embracing nuclear weapons and even disrupting the climate. Do we care? Of course not, but history will remember us as an amazingly stupid and selfish species.

Bill Perry

Ajo

Everyone wants to get into the act

Do you worry that circuses are in danger of disappearing, what with so many clowns (over 200 Republicans) in the House of Representatives, and countless local ones in state legislatures providing “free” entertainment? Of course, their costumes aren’t as colorful, nor their sense of self as productive, but they’re just as comical to see and hear. Trouble is, it’s such sick humor, one could almost feel sorry for them, and one should worry for human civilization. They probably think of themselves as humans, tho’ they give monkeys, ostriches, snakes, and alligators competition. Inevitably, it will be cheaper if we create another zoo for them, feed them nuts and chocolate, clothe them in diapers (reflective of their mental age and to keep their play areas clean) and surround them with walls of mirrors. They make one wonder what kind of divinity we credit the world and man to.

Charles Larson

Green Valley

No easy water supply solutions

Re: the Jan. 19 article “Refill Lake Mead.”

The writer asserts the existence of a pipeline from Lake Mead to California that could be used in reverse to help fill Lake Mead with recent precipitation there.

There is none. California takes its water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu (via the Colorado River Aqueduct) and at the Imperial Dam near Yuma. Both sites are downriver from Lake Mead, perhaps causing the confusion.

A lack of understanding of how the River system works leads to the many such solution simplifications that I have heard. The simplest drought response, water conservation, will go a long way to solving the larger problem. Implementing conservation programs will give those with ambitions for grand infrastructure solutions a chance to consider realistic approaches in terms of not only geography and hydrology, but also finance, engineering, and environmental impact.

Bruce Hale

SaddleBrooke

Distractions

While Fox News and its viewers have a five-alarm meltdown over a comment made by a mid-level bureaucrat about gas stoves during an interview, Republicans in the House drafted an actual, real live bill, House Resolution 25, for a national sales tax of 30% (effective).

This tax, assuming an average price of $2,800, will add $840 to the purchase price of a new gas stove that Republicans suddenly hold so sacred.

It also adds $12,331.50 to the average price of a new truck. Don’t forget the extra $24.98 for 25 gallons at $3.33 to fill that truck up. Oh, and don’t forget a place to put it all. That is, if you can afford the extra $128,610 on top of the average price of a house.

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”

David Reynolds

East side

Biggest whopper yet

When I read a Facebook comment saying that Nancy Pelosi was responsible for the insurrection on Jan. 6 I thought this is a bad joke. Then Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene posted the same thing. I read in the paper that Paul Gosar is pushing the same nonsense.

In case you didn’t know, Trump knew he would lose the election and he had several plans to steal it back. Part of it was to whip his cult members into a frenzy and give them license to misbehave.

These bald-faced lies really bother me. A congressman that ignores facts to suck up to Trump should be somehow held accountable. Maybe we need some way to publicly shame them, like having them wear a dunce cap that scolds them and says “Shame” every minute. George Santos should wear one, too.

Robert McNeil

Midtown

Modest proposal to stop gun violence

People here in the U.S. love guns.

The number of guns in the U.S. exceeds the population. So let’s stop fighting this voracious appetite for guns. Let people buy guns, keep their guns, treasure their guns, make printed guns, pay dues to lobby for guns, let their children play with guns because after all, it says that we have Second Amendment rights. However, there is something else we can and should do about the horrific slaughter that happens every day in this country. This solution will not violate any gun owner’s Second Amendment rights: Outlaw the manufacture of ammunition and impose severe penalties on those who make or sell the components of it.

If angry people want to murder others, they will have to beat their victims with their gun, which would take a different mindset than standing at a distance and mowing them down by the dozens in a hail of bullets.

Eileen Dudley

Midtown