Don’t identify shooters
While most mass shooters are male and are driven by a variety of reasons — mental instability, racism, anti-Semitism, gay hatred and paranoia among others — they have one thing in common, they’re angry. Angry because they’ve been mocked, humiliated, taunted, bullied, left out by the mainstream and ignored. The one thing they want is to be noticed and heard, revenge for their perceived slights and injustices, even when it means their death.
A moratorium by law enforcement and the media on releasing any information about the shooter other than age and gender would deny them the notoriety they seek. No interviews with former schoolmates, employers, neighbors or family members, and no photos, printing or broadcasting their paranoid manifestos. Denied this attention, it just might serve as a deterrent to a few future shootings. And it would be a welcomed much needed relief for the rest of us who are sick and tired of hearing about and seeing these damaged twisted losers forced into our lives on an almost daily basis.
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Jeff Aronson,
retired psychotherapist
Northeast side
One day gas boycott
Tucsonans are clearly being screwed at the gas pump. Do we really deserve to have the second highest gas prices after California? Should a gallon of gas be $1 cheaper in Sierra Vista than in Tucson? Do we really believe this is all caused by lots of people moving to Phoenix?
One Sunday in June, let’s decide to boycott every gas station in the greater Tucson area. Buy gas on Saturday or Monday. Don’t drive into a gas station for anything — you can get a candy bar or a six-pack at lots of places. Let them be open for nothing. I’m picking June 18, Father’s Day, because I’m a father, and it’s easy to remember. But it would be great to boycott gas stations every Sunday in June.
After the Bud Light controversy, everyone knows that boycotts can be effective. Let’s fight back against the greedy oil companies.
John Vornholt
Northeast side
The Country the Right has createdI keep wondering why otherwise decent people keep voting for Republicans who do nothing for them. We live in a country where grocery shopping, attending worship, and being a student can result in being shot. Students now conduct active shooter drills. Republican lawmakers tell us this is “the price of freedom.”
A 10-year-old in Ohio has to leave her home state for an abortion or bear the baby of her rapist. In what universe is this ok? In North Dakota, Republican legislators voted down subsidizing school lunches for low income students, and the following week, raised their meal per diem. How many times did Republicans in Congress under Trump try to overturn the Affordable Care Act? I really don’t know why millions of people with no health insurance is a good thing in their view. By the way, Congress has a great insurance program.
Please, think about what you are doing to yourself and everyone else when you vote in the next election. This craziness has to stop.
Mary Zimmerman
SaddleBrooke
Neutral letter for independent votersIt has become increasingly clear that both parties have deserted the center where I believe most of us belong. As a result more and more extremist candidates have won Primaries leaving us with the option of voting for the least negative person instead of being enthusiastic about the candidate.
I have come to the conclusion that the only way to change this is by returning to Democrat or Republican status. No sense voting for any other party. Since inception these candidates have not been successful so your vote is wasted. It is estimated that 49% of voters are registered as independent. If they all returned to the party that most closely represented their principles we could start electing more moderate people.
Please consider this request so we can start having a positive effect on who we want to be in our government.
Jack Walters
Northeast side
Sidewalks/bike lanes
I’ve lived in Tucson for sixty years, the problem with Tucson isn’t the need for more bike lanes or sidewalks. The problem is and has been, the lack of planning by this, and previous administrations. Car traffic is the issue. When it takes longer to reach I-10 from my home than it does to drive from I-10 to Phoenix, therein lies the problem.
Tucson has needed an expressway, or loop for decades for crosstown traffic, to date, there is none. It’s not likely to be in our, or our children’s future, if things continue on the same path. We’ve spent millions on HAWKS, bike lanes, and new sidewalks. We’ve placed a Band-Aid on the symptom, while the disease merrily rolls along. It’s time for a change.
James Kelly
Foothills
A sign of hopeI recently attended my grandson’s graduation from Canyon del Oro High School.
The floodlit football field, filled with graduating students, glowed green against the towering dark gray clouds. The wind picked up and it seemed like a storm was imminent, but a downpour never occurred. The field was like a beacon of hope in a threatening landscape.
From the students to the administrators the consistent message was: Be kind, help others along the path, stay curious, keep learning.
As part of a packet given to each student, parents had been asked to submit a collage of pictures of their child, and to write a letter to their child expressing their thoughts and feelings at this important moment. A supervised all-night party on the school campus was provided.
The administration, staff, parents, and students are clearly a community of mutual support. It was heartwarming to be witness to this event.
Ann Kyger
Foothills
Low credit scores of the poorRe: the May 22 letter “Mortgages for low credit scores.”
The letter writer claims the reason the poor have low credit scores is “poor financial management.” This old Republican trope of the poor being responsible for their poverty can be easily countered.
Look at the Economic Policy Institute’s charts on hourly compensation versus productivity or cost of living. Read the Federal Reserve Board report on a family’s ability to deal with unexpected expenses. Or look to your own budget. How would you survive on unemployment compensation of between $200 and $320 per week; or on a minimum wage of $13/hour?
Then consider who supports tax cuts for the rich; eliminating food stamps and Medicaid; reduced funding of education limiting economic opportunity for students; eliminating unions; weakening bank regulation; and abolishing minimum wage. Should a CEO’s compensation really be 400 times more than the average worker?
We can make a strong case that Republicans are responsible for poverty. Vote them out of office!
Dee Maitland,
Retired commercial banker
Marana
Here’s your answer
Re: the May 22 letter “Why is Trump not in jail?”
Answer: $
Thad Appelman
Northwest side
Debt ceiling crisis
If the Republicans and the Democrats fail to resolve our current crisis by their mutual failure to successfully execute the political art of compromise, they will inflict pain on each and every American. The key individuals of both parties should never be forgiven.
Jack Doyle
Midtown
Pro choice
Re: the May 23 article “To be pro-choice is often to be pro-life.”
Contrary to Shapiro’s opinion, I see pro-choice as a euphemism for pro-death. I am a conscientious objector to abortion despite the fact everyone I know feels differently. I listen to my friends and family who rightly state women have been disrespected by society, and eliminating abortion on demand makes things harder. But half those aborted are female. We all started out tiny, but tiny doesn’t mean worthless.
Shpiro’s idea that if one embryo dies it makes room for someone else to be born in better circumstances, is objectionable in the extreme. He starts out by saying a child born to a teen ruins her life, and the baby will grow up to be a drug addict. Not necessarily, and stable families can have children who become drug addicts too. Why not allocate governmental funds to help young mothers much more so they can have real alternatives to abortion? Religion may or may not affect a conviction against abortion; my own church is pro-choice, but I am not.
Cindy Hansen
Foothills
