Biden’s new travel bans
Joe Biden, in reaction to a new allegedly more infectious omicron variant found in South Africa, announced new travel bans from that country and seven other African countries. It excludes returning U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. We already require international travelers coming here to provide proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test. Last year, Biden harshly criticized Trump when he implemented travel bans on China and Europe trying to prevent the spread of COVID in America. A day after the China ban, Biden said, “We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science, not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia and fear-mongering.” In March 2020, Biden tweeted: “A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it.” Shortly after taking office, Biden continued Trump’s travel bans on Europe and Brazil that were expiring. The Africa travel ban could be construed as hysteria and xenophobic.
Taylor Greenway
North side
Neck compression is torture
Re: the Nov. 28 article “The limits of self-policing.”
This article describing the incident where an off-duty police officer took down two women and pinned at least one with his knee on her neck was deeply disturbing.
The woman gasping “I can’t breathe” is reminiscent of the George Floyd case in which an officer basically tortured Floyd to death with a knee on his neck.
There are many who claim that if you can talk you can breathe, so there really isn’t much to worry about.
Well, I suggest they perform the following exercise. Expel all the air from your lungs and then say “I can’t breathe.” You can wheeze it several times until you finally run out of air. It’s proof that a victim of neck compression can indeed talk while under extreme duress.
It’s torture we’re talking about.
Is the Tucson Police Department simply going to ignore this serious matter?
Peter Bakke
SaddleBrooke
Going back in time
We will soon enable the “conspiracy folks” to believe that “witchcraft” is the source of our political turmoil? Seems we are moving back to the 15th century. Is that where the Trump acolytes want us to live; with witches, demons, politicians? Why does anyone follow the grifter and continue sending him money? Can anyone think for themselves? Is the “Stop the Steal” about the folks that want to overturn our electoral process, or is it about those that support our verified electoral process? What is happening to America? We are imperfect, but remember “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Stop looking at Facebook and Twitter and think for yourselves!
Spencer Elliott
Oro Valley
Who is selling US guns to Mexico?
Re: the Nov. 30 article “US gun companies should be liable for Mexico’s gun violence.”
Jean Guerrero would have us believe that U.S. gun manufacturers are deliberately selling guns to the Mexican drug cartels. A more plausible source would be a U.S. government agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Several years ago, a Tucson resident, Mike Detty, wrote a book entitled “Operation Wide Receiver,” in which he detailed his experiences as a licensed gun dealer, encouraged by the ATF to sell weapons to illegal straw purchasers who would then transfer the firearms to the drug cartels. Ostensibly, the aim was to track the firearms to their final destinations. The operation was doomed from the very beginning, and stretched on for several years, resulting in the deaths of countless Mexican nationals and one U.S. Border Patrol agent. It’s all well and good to blame the evil yanquis for Mexico’s ills, but Ms. Guerrero should first do her homework.
Peter Caroline
Green Valley
Teaching communism
Re: the Nov. 29 article “AZ Rep. wants communism taught.”
I suggest that the efforts by Rep. Quang Nguyen to install communism as a required subject in all Arizona schools might possibly be better served if he focused his efforts to first do so among his Republican Party members. Focus his attention on the current members of his party that refused to honor the Capitol Police who lost their lives defending our Capitol and defended our way of government. If he believes that communism is indeed the gravest threat to our way of life, he then joins the two Republican members of Congress willing to defend our Constitution from the insurrectionists who attempted to overthrow our government! The problem of communism, real as it is, may well have been the form of government the insurrectionist were attempting to install! Until the Republican Party joins in the effort to discover this we may never know!
Robert Cozad
Oro Valley
Climate change induced effects
Re: the Dec. 1 article “November finishes as our 3rd-warmest.”
The banner headline story on this past November’s temperatures missed the mark. No Tucsonan could have ignored how “hot” it was last month. The period over which the average is taken must be noted. Out-of-context comparison reduces the impact of the variances. The references to temperatures in 1894 give the impression that the average November highs have only increased a little over 3 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 127 years. While we are in a La Nina weather phase at the moment, the reference to it here has the effect of ameliorating concern for our current high temperatures and low moisture status. A better graphic for this article would be actual high and low temperatures for the most recent 30 years, not a heart-warming photo of a person availing themselves of a Living Streets Alliance pop-up park. When will the Star start publishing atmospheric carbon content statistics at the back of the Sports section where all the climate-related news is relegated?
Cynthia Duncan
Midtown
