Tucson Speaks Out: Jan. 26

Who are we?

Norway took $5 trillion of North Sea oil revenues and made its citizens' lives better. They gave their sons and daughters free education; they gave every citizen free health care. Their aging and infirm citizens have comprehensive supportive care. All the people who work, regardless of the job, have a living wage.

Norway is an example of how enlightened leaders make people's lives better, and it is an example of how we could improve the lives of every single citizen of Venezuela. What happens in Venezuela makes a statement about who we are as a country and as a people.

Daniel McDonnell

Foothills

A letter to President Trump

Dear Mr. President,

Few things have preoccupied you more than the Nobel Prize, a fixation so obvious that foreign crises and Venezuela’s suffering risk being reduced to stage props in your personal award campaign.

You should know the first to receive a Nobel Medal as a "gift" without earning it was Joseph Goebbels, who in 1943 received a Nobel Prize medal as a personal gift from the novelist Knut Hamsun. Hamsun so admired Adolf Hitler that he mistook fascism for greatness and propaganda for truth.

After the war, Hamsun was tried in Norway. He avoided prison only because he was ruled criminally insane. He was fined, disgraced, and forever remembered less for his talent than for his moral collapse.

Then there is you, like Goebbels, you weaponize grievance, substitute loyalty for truth, and treat reality as optional. Like Hamsun, you mistake applause for absolution and notoriety for legacy.

The Nobel Committee may never call, but history will.

Lawrence E. Mazin

SaddleBrooke

SAAG gallery rises to new heights

This past Wednesday, after an ordinary day of doing errands and making business calls, I decided to clear my head and attend the grand reopening of SAAG (Southern Arizona Arts Guild) Gallery in their new digs in Joesler Village, 1745 E. River Rd., #135. A quote attributed to Picasso came to mind. "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Indeed, it did.

Myriad art (paintings, sculpture, jewelry, wood carving & turning and much more), all designed by Southern Arizona artists, was displayed — artfully, of course — throughout the freshly painted, spacious gallery.

Tasty treats were offered, courtesy of nearby restaurants.

Melodies from The Great American Songbook filled the front patio, thanks to singer AJ and piano man Chris.

Even the weather gifted guests on this balmy evening, with light breezes that caressed our shoulders.

It was a memorable evening.

Founded in 2002, the Guild now has 300 members and 100+ artists who exhibit their work.

SAAG is open 7/7. For further information, please call (520) 437-7820.

Barbara Russek

North side

Peace anywhere?

The president’s new Board of Peace is an authoritarian alternative to the largely democratic United Nations, with himself as the power-monger in charge. Conceived a few months ago as a vehicle to enforce peace in Gaza, it has now been expanded into a new Middle East Order, giving Trump power over beefs throughout the region.

Trump announced, “After the Board of Peace is formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want.” When you don’t have to ask the people anywhere for their permission, it is “Peace on Earth, ill-will toward men.”

Meanwhile, back in the good old USA, ICE agents in Lewiston, Maine, are impersonating plainclothes regular police or hiding in the wings of the porch as neighbors knock on doors to reveal Somali immigrants that ICE then quickly sweeps up.

Folks in America, like in the Middle East, no longer have any role in the government of their country.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Downtown

Animals suffer while Rome burns

Several months ago, I toured the proposed Eastside Pet Adoption center near the intersection of Broadway and Kolb and was extremely impressed with the project and the leadership involved.

Since then, I have noticed that no real progress has been made, and upon checking with PACC, I was informed that the project has been held up due to the lack of a single signature.

This is not brain surgery; the funds have been allocated, the plans approved, and the community supports it, so what's the problem?

This is a form of animal cruelty we should all be concerned about.

Richard Rose

East side

ICE terrorists

The Wall St. Journal article in the Star on Jan. 23 said the only way to stop ICE terrorism of our communities is to vote Trump out. This is extremely bad advice. "Trump & Thugs, Unlimited" will either find a way to prevent elections, or to gerrymander, suppress voting, and otherwise rig them in their favor.

That's why the only effective response to an ICE invasion of any state or community is what Minnesota is doing — unified strikes and business shutdowns, along with states and communities filing federal and state lawsuits against ICE and against every ICE agent who violates any Constitutionally valid federal, state, or local law.

Unlike protests at ICE kidnappings, strikes and business shutdowns cannot be infiltrated by pro-ICE thugs who disguise themselves as anti-ICE protesters and use violence to help Trump justify sending in National Guard troops.

Lee Stanfield

East side

ICE searches violate 4th Amendment

There are three general exceptions to our Constitution’s warrant requirement allowing police entry into someone’s home. “Exigent circumstances” means matters of life and death, “hot pursuit” officers closely chasing a fleeing criminal who runs into a home, or, voluntary permission of the authorized occupant/homeowner. If I have a criminal arrest warrant signed by a judge, and it is the perpetrator's home, the warrant will allow me to enter to make the arrest, but not search the house. If the perpetrator is in someone else’s home, I need a search warrant signed by a judge to go along with the arrest warrant. If the police don’t have permission, they must convince a judge that they have probable cause to arrest the person and his location. So why is ICE forcibly entering a person’s home on an “Administrative Warrant” when those involve “civil” violations as opposed to criminal ones? All professional officers know the Fourth Amendment. ICE should re-evaluate this advice; lawful and ethical policing is paramount.

Richard Harper

Northeast side

God help us

Keeping the Epstein files at bay, DJT risked torpedoing NATO by threatening Denmark with military intervention if it didn't give him Greenland. He has now brilliantly solved that issue with "a framework of a deal" that contains no changes to the existing agreement but leaves our NATO allies with buyer's remorse.

Trump does nothing that doesn't benefit him, and usually only him. It is apparent that his ongoing scheme to stop the Epstein files' disclosure will primarily benefit DJT. Whatever it is that the Epstein files reveal about DJT, it must be extremely damaging political kryptonite for him to have committed this outrageous act of diplomatic suicide in order to distract from that revelation. What outrageously extreme behavior will he resort to next?

Rick Cohn

West side

More lies and more lies

The current Republican leader in Pima County told a local news outlet that ICE is arresting illegal criminals. Yet this past week, a 14-year-old autistic boy was released after 50 days in detention. A 5-year-old was arrested because the poor little guy had no ID to prove he was a citizen. And many others who are U.S. citizens are being arrested and abused in custody. I'm a wounded Vietnam veteran, Mexican American, my son is a professional Real Estate photographer, and has darker skin than me. He is worried sick about being arrested, just to meet their 3,000 per day count. ICE is in Vail today. These people are pardoned criminals with no training. Let's hope our current dictator is overthrown soon by our Military. Then released to one of his favorite dictators, Putin.

David E. Leon

Vail

Double-lock your doors

Get kick-down door stoppers for the bottom of doors. Kristi Noem has informed all ICE agents that, despite the Fourth Amendment, they do not need a warrant to ram into your home.

Fourth Amendment: ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’

On May 15, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that a law enforcement officer’s use of force violates the Fourth Amendment when it is not "objectively reasonable."

Noem’s rule is overtly unconstitutional and thereby grounds for impeachment.

Sheldon Metz

Northeast side