Legal murder
contemplated
Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, wants to be your secretary of state, and she wants to legalize what I believe would be murder. No trial, no jury, just death.
SB 1650 would allow business owners, or their employees, to kill someone damaging or defacing property, without calling the cops, if they suspect, (no verification needed) that the person might have a weapon or, “dangerous instrument.” The spray can in the hands of a tagger teen could count. A dumpster diver with a penknife in his pocket would qualify. She calls these, "violent crimes." They aren’t. She cites the false-flag dog whistle of “defunding police,” which hasn’t happened in Arizona.
Most businesses have insurance, but she equates property with human life. Life is cheap to Ugenti-Rita. Surely Scottsdale and Arizona can do better.
Christi Driggs
Northwest side
Time to ditch
fossil fuels
Paraphrasing Naomi Klein, "(Coming climate devastation) changes everything." The scientists studying climate have issued another stark warning: the "window" for action is closing. Some recently resigned in desperation after the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, saying, "No one is listening."
According to Bill McKibben, "There's no longer an economic or technological problem. Sun, wind and storage batteries are the available "off the shelf" technology (we need)," safer and cheaper than nuclear, coal, oil and gas.
We face our own toxic inertia and vested interests. However, if we do develop alternative energies, we will remove the power of autocrats across the globe.
If you value freedom, we must address our addiction to fossil fuels. Let's look to the future and stop being led astray by leaders stuck in the 1980s, including Putin. Join Citizens' Climate Lobby, Third Act, Sunrise or Extinction Rebellion.
Our descendants are calling. Answer with action.
Gaye Adams
Midtown
Russia sanctions:
dribs and drabs
It seems a bit absurd that our government keeps adding sanctions. The Russians have invaded Ukraine, killed numerous people and destroyed many buildings. Can’t we apply all possible sanctions now? It is a war, isn’t it?
Michael Blaney
East side
Ukraine needs
a no-fly shield
I was stationed six years in Europe sitting nuclear alert in various places to nuke Eastern Europe and Russia. You knew if you launched, you would have no base, family or friends surviving the enviable retaliation. To help ensure no flights might be mistaken for an attack, a buffer zone was established. You could enter if authorized.
With the Ukrainians, we should establish a no-fly shield over Ukrainian escape routes. The talk of making matters worse if we do is plain stupid. Vladimir Putin will only do what he wants to do. He has been at this ever since he came into power.
We have spent untold billions for aircraft carriers, warships, aircraft and training for this more or less since 1945. Our carriers should be in flight range of Ukraine. Let's have a practice run and level one of Putin's billion-dollar palaces.
William Hewe
Benson
Costly climate
consultants
Re: the March 6 article "City's $400K climate plan is causing a stir."
The City Council's action and the sensible objection by council member Steve Kozachik because of the lack of implementation of programs already in place reminds me of a story from my Peace Corps days 50 years ago.
A poor country wanted to improve its cattle herd. The very well funded United States Agency for International Development offered assistance. At great expense to the American taxpayers a prize bull was selected in Texas and flown to the country. After a few months a complaint was made because the bull was just standing around eating grass. A Texas rancher was sent over to ask the bull why he wasn't doing his job. The bull said, "I'm here in an advisory capacity."
Susie Morris
Midtown
Tighten economic
screws on Russia
The very least that I will do for our Ukrainian sisters and brothers is to drive less and not complain about $4, $5 or, like in California, $7 for a gallon of gasoline. Applauding the University of Arizona, ASU and NAU to divest of Russian holdings is positive. So should all who have the ability to divest their personal portfolios invested in Russian assets and companies. I, too, vow to utilize and frequent those companies who have pulled out of Russia, including Starbucks, McDonald's, Pepsi and Coca-Cola. I understand our administration's position not to escalate this unjust aggression by active military involvement, but I also implore leadership to do all that is possible to bring more economic rain down on Vladimir Putin and to partner with the international community in condemnation of Russia and provide bountiful humanitarian aid for Ukraine. So sad, so unjust, so heartbreaking. My prayers are with them.
John (Jay) Van Echo
West side
Support schools
and teachers
Re: the March 9 letter "Funding public education."
The letter writer who responded to Funding Public Education by stating that parents are fed up with their children being indoctrinated rather than educated appears to be saying that it is OK to defund public education. Children go to school to socialize, to learn, and to develop into citizens of the world. The negativity surrounding educational professionals and the defunding of public education will harm all of us. Public schools should be showplaces of American democracy. Teachers are not interested in spouting personal political beliefs or indoctrinating students; they are too busy planning lessons to meet the needs of a diverse population, assessing how much students have learned, and developing relationships with students that open doors to learning. The best gift we could give our children is to give the utmost respect to teachers and all other school personnel, and to support them in all ways possible.
Judith Nelson
Foothills
We've reached a
fork in the road
The war in Ukraine is not about communism or capitalism or socialism. It is about fascism — the ideology that calls for a centralized autocratic government led by a dictator, severe economic and social regimentation, forcible suppression of opposition that favors state over individual, and conquering of weaker nations. Sound familiar?
It appears that the world is at a crossroads now. Do we choose freedom or do we choose subjugation? It shocked me in 2018 when the U.S. president spoke with such envy about Kim Jong-Un saying, "He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."
Be aware that, under fascism, the "little guys" have no worth. And they are encouraged to "turn in" those who don't obey. If we do not stop it where it is, we are all at risk. I support stopping Putin at the border of Ukraine by any means now because he will not stop there.
Cindy Soffrin
Northeast side
World's tyrants
are watching
Vladimir Putin’s reckless decision to invade Ukraine has upended the international order, hurling it back to the 19th century, when the big fish could swallow the little fish with near-total impunity. If the U.S. and its European allies fail to restore world order by preventing Putin from absorbing Ukraine, this will give the green light to other dictators, such as China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, to pursue their expansionist schemes. Will the U.S. have the stomach to enter a war with either China or North Korea to defend its allies in Taiwan and South Korea?
Adnan J. Almaney
Southwest side
Political instincts
make Joe freeze
Vladimir Putin was asked after the election what he thought of Joe Biden. His answer simply was that Biden is nothing more than a "politician." In other words he didn't really respect Biden at all. Biden has been a Washington figure for five decades. I think everything he favored he's now against, everything he was against he now favors. That's a "politician." He has no convictions. Which way does the wind blow? What are the optics? How do the polls read? That's the guidance of a "politician." The record shows he's plagiarized, he's cheated, he spins and he lies … it's Biden’s brand of politics and all true. It appears that ideology has now created the debacle and carnage in Ukraine. One thing for sure, he never has been, and still isn't, a competent leader! And yet, here he is at the top and unable to be decisive and act in face of the facts. Yep, Biden is nothing more than a “politician.”
Dave Efnor
East side
