Residents of the communities near the current U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19, near Amado, say they're strongly opposed to expanding the checkpoint into a permanent facility on 17 acres near the current checkpoint site. The existing checkpoint already deters tourists, said Roberta Stabel of Tubac. "People hear there’s a checkpoint and they think they need to have a passport or something to get home,” she said. "It’s had a real chilling effect on travel in the area."
Border Patrol build-out
Emily Bregel’s article regarding Border Patrol plans to spend $500 million of our nation’s tax money to purchase very large tracts of Arizona land and to construct patently unnecessary immigration facilities to be manned by hundreds of “agents” … without citizens’ knowledge or input … reminds us of the growing impotence and marginalization of “we the people” in our nation. Bregel presents the views of a concerned scientist regarding the plan’s environmental impact on some of the land sites. What about the motives and ethics of the clandestine planning itself? Flush with tax dollars and no obvious constraints, unbridled Border Patrol actors are not called to account for their plan’s impact on the lives of immigrants, citizens or our human community.
Claire Duclos
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Southwest side
No ghost in the machine
Several attempts have been made during the recent to-do over runaway AI to calm the fears of the ordinary layperson — unsettled by imaginings of anthropomorphic ghosts in the machine — by stressing that computers, being deterministic, are incapable of free will and therefore cannot have motives, evil or otherwise. This simplistic misdirection ignores the actual problem.
Chaos theory demonstrates amply that purely deterministic processes can have unpredictable outcomes. A large part of AI research is focused on developing self-modifying automata capable of rewriting their own code on the fly. These dynamically evolving programs, creatively adapting to challenges encountered in their “world,” embody a phenomenon considerably more complex and unpredictable than that of conventional hardcoded programs.
There is nothing intrinsic to this mechanism that requires consciousness. Given the proper setting, a sufficiently sophisticated self-modifying algorithm left to its own devices might unthinkingly ignite an explosive growth in its own complexity that far exceeds the scope of its initial parameters. Anthropomorphic or not, this is what we have to fear.
Robert Gavlak
Midtown
Mount Rushmore revisited
Once again, Trump is obsessing about Mount Rushmore. This time he has urged South Dakota governor Larry Rhoden to sculpt his face into the mountain.
So, what is driving this psychologically? One of the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is a distorted sense of identity, where the person feels vastly superior to that of mere humans. It’s a delusional self-image known as grandiosity. There’s a feeling of omnipotence, although it’s totally unrealistic. In his mind, he feels he deserves the status afforded to the greatest leaders of the nation, by having his image etched in stone.
His mental state is destructive for many reasons, with his Mount Rushmore obsession being only one of these reasons. . His continuing as POTUS needs to be addressed immediately.
Steve Rasmussen
Foothills
Trump aiding the Democrats
President Trump should be triple-thanked for the many contributions he has made toward helping the Democratic Party and its candidates win in the upcoming election. As I marvel at some of that aid, he continues to come up with even greater contributions.
Seventy-five of my 95 years on Earth have been devoted to the study of human psychology to better understand personality types and dynamics. That study has led to some understanding of the ways in which humans self-defeat their hopes, aspirations and endeavors.
In Trump's case, his thoughts, his verbal output and his actions are "poster boy" examples of self-defeatism honed to near-perfection. Examples include his constant bragging and exaggerations, his 2020 election defeat, his failure to admit that defeat, his war of choice with Iran, his tariff wars, and a rapid rise in inflation. That high inflation is placing a great hardship on millions of family budgets.
Keep doing what you have been doing, Mr. Trump!
Harold L. Mansfield
Green Valley
Kennedy vs. Trump
The deep-down reason Trump wants to eradicate the name of President John F. Kennedy from wherever it is inscribed is this: President Kennedy had the courage, determination and faith in our nation to stand up to Russia during the missile crisis and won.
Daniel Poryanda
Southeast side
Vote, it will be worth it
The Constitutional crisis is here! It has been present in our country for a while. What are we going to do about it? We are going to vote this November. We are going to vote Democratic! This is what we can do quietly and quickly. The GOP can be defeated, especially if our representatives in Congress vote to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Toni Kane
Oro Valley
GOP climate malfeasance
Despite the obvious facts and settled science, Republicans continue to scoff and condescend about the “climate hoax” and “climate alarmists.” Hotter temperatures in the watersheds have diminished river flows worldwide. Climate change is causing huge environmental and economic disruptions on the Colorado, Rio Grande, Mississippi, Rhine and Danube rivers.
Hydropower generation at Glen Canyon and Hoover dams has decreased and may be shut down. Republicans are doing all they can to kneecap solar and wind energy, while doubling down on fossil fuels. Fascists do not tolerate dissent or facts that contradict their lies, so the GOP is defunding climate science. GOP energy policies are taking us backward to the last century while the rest of the world moves on to renewables. Real men burn fossil fuels!
The oil companies are major campaign contributors to the GOP. What could be more important than that?
Republicans will never own up to their lies and malfeasance. Vote them out.
Gary Thacker
Midtown
Educators against Prop 320
I am a local school teacher and a union member. Almost all educators are against Prop 320’s 60% requirement for direct instruction. Digging deep, it doesn’t raise teacher salaries, and it doesn’t increase materials in the classroom. Instead, it would cut counselor, nurse, bus driver and security jobs at the schools across Arizona. It is an ostensible proposition to try and fool voters. A yes vote would significantly strain public school districts. Public education is already barely surviving. Prop 320 would put us in the gutter! The Arizona school unions are against it, as are school boards. I’m voting NO in November on this proposition! I highly encourage you to do the same too, to keep public education solvent.
Bailey Hollingsworth
Midtown
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