Invasion of Ukraine
Re: the March 20 letter “Thankful Biden confronts Putin.”
This is in response to the letter writer thanking President Biden on his handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He could have gone in anytime when Trump was in, but he waited till Biden was president. Makes you want to think who the weak link is.
Craig Golden
Oro Valley
Trico wants you to buy theirs
Trico renewables only account for a low percentage of their energy mix, which they tout that they want to increase. Trico is pushing solar, but only if you buy it from them. Since 2017, Trico has reduced the rate they reimburse for customer-generated solar. This reimbursement rate goes down every year.
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I installed a solar system on my house in 2012 and was grandfathered in to a 1:1 reimbursement rate. Since I plan to add an additional 11 panels to my house, I will lose this rate. Trico will now pay me 5 cents for power I supply them, and I will pay 11 cents for power they supply me. I was told by two solar installers that it doesn’t make financial sense to increase my home solar output, thanks to Trico’s rate structure.
Hopefully home battery technology will improve within the next decade so I can get off their grid.
Thomas Fitzgerald
North side
Opinion of AZ legislature
In the glory days of old Tombstone, prominent attorney Allen R. English was once fined the then substantial sum of $20 for contempt of court. English reportedly replied to the judge: “Your honor, 20 dollars is not even close to the degree of contempt I hold for this court.” That pretty well sums up my regard for the leadership of the Arizona legislature. Even with an estimated billion dollar surplus, I’m not aware of any serious effort to provide more support for our chronically underfunded public schools. Meanwhile, several measures to suppress the vote are alive and well.
William Thornton
Midtown
Secretary of State Albright
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who died March 23 was a match for the best and brightest from everywhere. Sorry we won’t have her wisdom and strength in these days of stormy diplomacy. I was a Foreign Desk editor at the New York Times when she took that post. Instantly she impressed everybody. To honor her, I quickly learned to spell Madeleine her way and fixed it often in the incoming copy. (Three E’s; and only one L in Albright).
Ford Burkhart
Midtown
Civics education
Re: the March 23 article “Bill gives blueprint for civics education”
This article discusses new civics requirements in HB 2008. Like the bill summary and discussion of the bill in committee however, the article leaves out a crucial fact. HB 2008 mandates that the state Board of Education work with Charles Koch-funded so-called “Freedom Schools” to set standards for the civics class. As a parent who worked hard to get a UA Freedom Center dual credit course out of TUSD because of lack of quality and transparency, I question this. Lack of transparency is a hallmark of UA “Freedom Center” work, as is the intense amount of donor influence at the University of Arizona Center and others across the country.
Do we want the Kochs and their “all market, zero government services” ideology behind teaching civics? Google Kochs/elections, Kochs/Russia, Kochs/education, Kochs/climate denial and the answer is no. Just a coincidence that their institutions will be involved in teaching civics in Arizona, ground zero for Koch influence? I think not.
Betts Putnam-Hidalgo
Downtown
Less or fewer
Re: the April 10 article “Two years later, a new day begins.”
Sunday’s (April 10) op/ed pages were great, including the letters as well as Fitz’s cartoon and the opinion pieces. I’m also recalling recent opposing letters about the pronunciation of Sahuarita. Yes, it’s true that language changes. But I hope we haven’t gotten to the point where grammar rules are simply optional. Excuse me, Mr. Nordmeyer, you had a very eloquent piece about the continuing virus.
However, one word you used grated on this retired teacher’s ears like fingernails on a blackboard: “Less” is used for mass nouns, not plural nouns! It should be, “Fewer people are dying. Fewer people are being hospitalized. Fewer people are resisting getting the vaccine.” But “less people?” Oh, please! In all fairness, I’m not singling out Mr. Nordmeyer, because, unfortunately, he’s not the only one I’ve seen using this word incorrectly. Let’s hope that in the future, fewer people make this same mistake!
Aston Bloom
East side
Democrats’ hypocrisy
I have read with amusement numerous LTEs written by Democrats expressing their “selective” outrage as to how SCOTUS nominee, now Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black female, was treated by Senate Republicans during her confirmation hearing. She was a sitting federal appellate court justice on the D.C. Court of Appeals. She infamously would not define what a woman is. She was confirmed with the votes of three Senate Republicans. Only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and none for Amy Coney Barrett.
Democrat Senators’ treatment of Kavanaugh, who was also a sitting federal appellate judge, was outright disgusting, alleging unsubstantiated sexual misconduct from 30 years ago while in high school and college. Democrats attacked Barrett about her religious faith. And lest we forget how in 2003, Democrat Senators Biden, Obama and Schumer, filibustered (blocked) for over a year, the nomination by President Bush of California state judge, Janice Rogers Brown, a Black woman, to the D.C. Court of Appeals. Can you say Democrat hypocrisy?
Robert Nesbit
Vail
GOP in bed with autocrats
As we learn about Putin’s evil war, we wonder: How can so many Russians believe the nonsense about denazifying Ukraine, obliterating American bio-weapon labs, or stopping the steal. Oh, a stolen election? That’s why the GOP’s focus is on “election reform,” a false flag based solely on Trump’s big lie.
If lies are repeated, people come to accept those lies as truth. Look to Russia or anyone whose opinions are formed by Facebook, Fox, QAnon, and other propaganda peddlers. Why are Putin’s attacks on women’s and LGBTQ rights popular? Ask Florida’s governor or other Republicans fanning homophobic fears under the guise of Christian values.
Authoritarian governments repress by revoking our rights, like women’s right to choose, children’s right to learn the truth, and our right to vote with ease. If your political beliefs are founded on fear or falsehoods, or if you just naturally gravitate toward authoritarians, by all means, vote for Republicans. They are —truly — your ticket.
Leslie Kanberg
Downtown
