Sinema
Re: the April 20 article “Sinema is filling a gap.”
Thanks for the update, I was wondering what the Democrat I voted for was doing. Other than getting herself elected and immediately abandoning the party that got her there. Catering to the Wealthy Establishment (who apparently have been abandoned to weep in their wealth). Since I’m not part of the Establishment, and do not know anyone who is, I’ll be sure to abandon her.
Thad Appelman
Northwest side
Time for action
Mr. Putin sees NATO as a threat to his empire, so he invaded the weaker Ukraine killing thousands. He may well have mental problems, who knows? NATO led by the U.S. promptly responded to Ukrainian call for help, before trying to psychoanalyze him. In America, the shooters killing unarmed strangers at their doors, driveways or backyards and the mass shooters at schools, houses of prayer, public venues, etc., may well have personal fears or mental problems, who knows?
People are also reading…
We do know one thing for sure: all the shooters used a gun. It is time for us law-abiding and caring citizens to urge our legislators at the state and federal levels to protect us from more gun violence by requiring universal background check, enforcing “red-flag” laws, and banning all assault weapons. We, especially our children, mustn’t live in war zones created by the gun-merchant empire. We have the votes!
Ke Chiang Hsieh
Midtown
Dr. Carmona’s foul take
Re: the April 19 article “UA’s Robbins showed selfless leadership.”
It was sad to to see Dr. Richard Carmona cover himself with the stench of the UA President Dr. Robert Robbins mishandling of the recent Thomas Meixner shooting tragedy in his op-ed piece. What should have been Robbins’s “finest hour” was nothing more that a sniveling act that he thought would appease the justified fears of the faculty, when nonacceptance of Robbins’s feeble actions by the faculty were made known to him, instead of rectifying his mistakes, he attempted to double down on his condescending behavior toward them.
It appears Carmona had conveniently erased all evidence of this malfeasance from his memory when he opined his “puff” piece in defense of dear Rob. I didn’t think that in any reasonable amount of time, an individual would rise to the University of Arizona leadership position and be as inept as the recent Ann Weaver Hart, however, given these recent affairs cited above, I may have to make a reassessment of this thought.
Spike Horrigan
Northwest side
Greatest hits
Watching Trump on CNN reminded me of an oldie, not great band touring and replaying their old songs. Trump does share some of the bad hair of some of those bands. He was reprising the same old grievances and lies. Attack women, Jan. 6 was no big deal, he was cheated, Democrats and Rhinos were treating him unfairly, blame everyone else. He makes Motley Crue and Poison look better in comparison.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
America’s sexual predators
Sooo … when is Donald Trump going to be listed on the “sexual offenders” list? Americans should be warned about the danger he presents. Also, who here actually believes that “stars” actually “let” him abuse them? Like they were given a choice? I imagine the only folk on that list are the MAGA folk who take such pride in lying to themselves. Am I the only person who sees these perverts as mostly rich, fat, ugly, disgusting old men (Trump, Limbaugh, Weinstein, Ailes, etc., etc., etc. …)?
Sue Thompson
SaddleBrooke
Positive consideration of migrants at SW borderAs someone working with unhoused individuals, I need to say that your focus on Title 42 is not complete news coverage.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides these job openings levels and rates:
March unfilled openings (number and % increase):
Construction 404,000 4.9%
Retail trade 717,000 4.4%
Lodging & food services 1,285,000 8.3%
According to Homeland Security, the increase in encounters from February to March has been less compared to prior years.
The Border Patrol’s 162,317 encounters along the SW border in March, were down 23% from March 2022 (211,181) and down 4% from March 2021 (169,216).
The number of encounters at that border, 162,317, means if they each applied for and obtained one open position, it wouldn’t make a dent in the 1,121,000 March job openings that went unfilled.
Why is the Star attempting to frighten, rather than focusing on the desperately needed assistance we can receive by those attempting to honorably, and legally, enter our border?
John Roldan
Southwest side
Am I next?
Smart TVs and streaming movie services replaced DVDs that replaced VHS tapes.
Pandora, Spotify and others replaced CDs that replaced cassettes that replaced vinyl LP’s.
My computer replaced my electric typewriter that replaced my manual typewriter.
Will AI replace me?
Julieta Gonzalez, MFA
Downtown
De Laura decision
Re: the May 7 article “De Laura decision raises questions about UA’s integrity.”
I’m so angry about the decision to keep Jayden de Laura on the UA football team after he issued an apology in a recent civil lawsuit for raping a girl in 2018. I completely disagree with Hansen’s statement that the UA’s decision not to change de Laura’s status is not necessarily wrong. That decision doesn’t raise question about the integrity of the UA’s football program, it answers them. There is no integrity when de Laura’s status remains unchanged.
In a previous article, de Laura’s attorney said they settled the civil lawsuit so that de Laura and the now-woman could get on with their lives. Aren’t we beyond that? De Laura can go on with his life, but the rape survivor life’s is permanently damaged by his unforgivable, criminal act.
Joyce Bertschy
East side
Electric cars
Re: the May 17 letter “Electric vehicles.”
A recent letter touted the advantages of gas-powered cars over horses, then claimed that electric vehicles have more drawbacks than advantages, reciting a list of battery myths. It’s true that recharging a battery still takes longer than filling a gas tank. But recharge times are rapidly decreasing, and 95% of the time, you’re recharging in your garage, overnight. No more trips to the gas station, and fewer trips to the mechanic, since electric cars need far less maintenance.
Performance is better. Even a low-cost electric car accelerates like a sports car, and the lower center of gravity makes handling better and roll-overs much less likely. They’re bigger on the inside, and have more storage, including the “frunk.” They cost far less to operate, and as the writer noted, they produce far less pollution, even factoring in electrical generation. Consumers have caught on to these advantages. There are months-long waiting lists for most models. Time for the car companies to catch up.
Gary Woodard
Midtown
Build peace to build America — and save money
This summer, Congress is choosing budget priorities for the coming year. Each year, we all want that budget to build prosperity, stability and safety. Yet it is regularly derailed by violence somewhere in our interconnected world, forcing our leadership to shift focus. These international crises cost American lives and trillions of dollars.
There is another, far cheaper resource in our national toolkit: the peacebuilding and atrocity-prevention programs of the U.S. State Department. These provide early warnings, alternatives to extremism, and safe elections. In some settings, peacebuilding is associated with $16 saved for each $1 spent compared with war. And research to increase that impact continues.
Fund the State Department’s peacebuilding requests and strategies. Urge Senators Kelly and Sinema and Rep. Grijalva to support $66,000,000 for the Complex Crises Fund, $40,000,000 for Reconciliation Programs, and $25,000,000 for Atrocities Prevention — less than 0.03% of last year’s defense spending.
To make everything else possible, support peace first.
Stephanie Davis
Northwest side
Strange bedfellows
Re: the May 17 article “Arizona lawmakers take another break with major issues unresolved.”
The Arizona Daily Star touts the “huge bipartisan majorities” received by the so-called “tamale bill” without investigating how such an unexpected coalition was achieved. HB 2509 was derived nearly in its entirety from boilerplate legislation offered by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) with the sole intent of advancing their goal of eliminating government regulation of private enterprise.
Democrats who amended an otherwise abominable bill with provisions that would allow home preparation of time-and-temperature-controlled food items acted against the public interest. Governor Hobbs’ thoughtful veto of the bill was based on scores of studies conducted by professionals in the field of food safety (which, notably, does not include Rep. Alma Hernandez). Arizonans owe a debt of gratitude to Hobbs and to the sixteen Democrats who later voted to sustain her veto.
Stanley Kissinger
Northeast side
Anti-panhandling signs
Kudos to our Pima County Board of Supervisors for approving the placement of anti-panhandling signs on a number of county medians. The signs reading, “Say no to panhandling. Say yes to helping agencies serving those in need” are right on.
There are many worthwhile organizations to which we all can contribute to help the homeless and others in need. To give panhandlers money isn’t supportive of these organizations or our community. In addition, giving panhandlers cash often serves to encourage them to make poor choices that result in harm or even death.
Thank You Pima County Supervisors for taking a positive and progressive step to help those in need and to protect our entire community. You all deserve a pat on the back!
Carmen Wiswell
Foothills
Tamale Bill
“Tamale Bill,” veto, not discrimination, but a “blessing in disguise?”
I agree with Gov. Hobbs’ Veto. To create a law will just inflict more anguish. People who desperately go into the home cook selling business, they do it mostly in the spur of the moment looking for a fast solution to their economic need. The law will create state and county regulations — for training, licenses, kitchen adaptations — stoves, pots, pans, and so for, for sure regulations will be broken. Citations will be issued and vendors will now be facing fines — courts and judges. Typically, this type of business renders no profit and sellers do not stay in business. Good grief.
Lupita Shestko Montiel
Downtown
Live with warmth and kindness
Re: the May 14 article “A warm, hopeful man departs a sinister era.”
I enjoyed reading Tim Steller’s column. My sincere condolences to you and your family. How beautiful to grow up with such an amazing man and a wonderful role model.
I am glad that you got a chance to spend some quality time with him in March.
Let us all follow the lead of Bob Steller and live with warmth and kindness. Let us cherish every moment of every day.
Thank you for sharing your personal story Tim.
Mary Ann Conway
East side
Debt ceiling
How can the debt ceiling cause an economic collapse? It is just like a credit limit that one can’t exceed. Once one reaches that limit one can no longer use that credit. Pay bills with the income, not just credit. This is what Congress has done for more than 20 years, spend, spend, spend. Just keep raising the debt limit, We the People will pay for it.
The Republicans are simply asking for the government to live within its means, no more deficient spending. The Debt Ceiling shouldn’t be raised, overspending must be stopped. The current debt ceiling is $31,400,000,000,000. Congress has hit that but haven’t gone over because there is no overspending yet. That begins June 1st. Congress simply needs to cut $1 trillion of the current spending. Something Congress has never done! How many members of Congress have been there for more than 20 years? This is what happens when there is no budget just spending bills!
Larry Cory
West side
Asylum seekers want to work
Re: the May 15 letter “Immigrants.”
The letter states, “We are offering free room and board to immigrants who show up at our border,” and suggests they be put to work. This implies they are unwilling to work. Not so. In fact, U.S. law forces unreasonable waiting times before they can legally work.
Under present law, somebody filing for asylum must wait 150 days before seeking work authorization. This means asylum seekers must wait for months to start work — during which they and their families must depend on help from relatives, private donations and volunteers for food and shelter.
This makes no sense, if it ever did, at a time when unemployment is low and 10 million jobs are going unfilled. A new bill recently introduced in Congress would shorten the waiting period to 30 days. It deserves swift passage. Let willing asylum seekers go to work and start paying taxes.
Tom Chulski
Green Valley
