Don’t blame fires
on climate change
President Joe Biden delivers remarks to the 2023 International Association of Fire Fighters Legislative Conference on Monday in Washington.
President Joe Biden and Democrats like to exploit tragedies for political gain. Blaming the Canadian forest fires on climate change to further their authoritarian central government costly dictates on the public. Exploiting mass shootings to further their “final solution” plan of gun confiscation. Exploiting an intentionally caused border crisis to promote Comprehensive Immigration Reform, aka legalization and citizenship for millions. Eastern Canada had a frigid and snowy winter but a hot, dry spring. In the summer/fall of 1950, the Chinchaga fires in British Columbia and Alberta burned over 4,000,000 acres of forest. A large part of the reason for forest fires is poor management of federal lands. Just two years ago, California was in a historic drought. They just had historic winter snow and rain, with most of the state now out of a severe drought designation. Over the decades, the number of forest fires and acreage burned has been more or less the same. Democrats should stop exploiting climate change as the only cause of forest fires.
Michael Wayne
Midtown
Trump is unique, indeed!
Re: the June 16 letter “Trump is unique.”
What does “first citizen president since George Washington” mean? Lack of political experience is a good thing? The constitution says a candidate is not eligible to assume the office of POTUS unless he/she is a natural-born citizen. Donald Trump is somewhat unique in that he is dumb enough to believe his own press. Quoting Julius Ceasar, “If you must break the law, do it to seize power ...” As far as making mistakes due to ignorance, if a person cannot learn from their mistakes, is it because they are blind to the obvious or just stupid? Thomas Jefferson said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country.”
If all a person values are money, power and/or self-image, they will place little to no value on other people or institutions.
James Abels
Midtown
Forgetting your roots
Henry Louis Gates Jr’s PBS program Finding Your Roots is a wonderful US history lesson-even when the people featured are not your relatives. To a personality, all are humbled and proud of their family’s struggles, accomplishments and ethnic diversity. And all are proud when viewers learn of their personal history.
I wish I could say the same for Ron DeSantis, 3rd generation Italian with roots from southern Italy, who, if his current policy ideas were now in place, would mean his own family would not have been permitted into this country. And what’s with Clarence Thomas? He readily admits affirmative action helped him but seems to be blind to his own history and others with similar stories. And then there is Juan Ciscomani, living “The American Dream” but wanting to make it hard for Dreamers. For some, once on the other side of the wall, they want to kick down the very ladders that helped them.
Fran McNeely
Northeast side
Defining gender in 2023
Since the beginning of time, we have always had LGBTQ+ people. It has only been since scientific studies have proved we can have a variety of genders in one person.
In general, most conservatives think what is below the neck determines a person’s gender.
In general those, that believe in science think what is above the neck (the brain) also has a part in determining what gender a person is.
As with all scientific discoveries (think Galileo 1616, the sun is the center of the universe, not the earth), it will take a long time to believe in the science and understand gender identity.
Two-Spirit: Many indigenous communities recognize at least four genders (feminine female, masculine female, feminine male, masculine male) as well as transgender, and most indigenous communities and tribes have specific terms for gender fluid members.
I have no idea how children should get age-appropriate information.
Donald Plummer
Northwest side
Forcing an EV down my throat
The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued new gasoline and diesel vehicle emissions regulations that will begin in 2027. The regulations are so stringent that vehicle manufacturers will not be able to meet them or not attempt to meet them because of the costs involved. This will force people into buying unwanted and costly Electric Vehicles (EV). Obviously, the Inflation Reduction Act that included $7,000 in monetary incentives to buy EVs has not worked. The average EV costs over $64,000. They take a long time to fully charge and have less driving range. Most of the raw materials used to make EV batteries come from China and are toxic to the environment. Insurance rates for EVs are higher. I think these regulations are discriminatory and racist against financially deprived communities. How will low-income folks afford to buy one? I am tired of the Biden administration forcing unwanted and expensive climate dictates onto me that I believe will have little to no impact on the climate.
Langhorne Bilby
Marana
Crime
In following the news, it seems like crime is on the rise, but the response to the crime is a lack of interest. Crime is nothing more than the violation of the rights of one by another for their benefit. The concern of the criminal is not the possibility of being captured since the likely punishment will be reduced to a vacation. This response seems to be supported by prosecution leaders that are more interested in social issues instead of criminal activity. Each unpunished or poorly punished crime sets the stage for a bigger crime, and, without any repercussions, each crime will step closer to violence and hurt inflicted on the innocent. One of the oldest stores in San Fran is closing because of the increase in crime in the area.
So, the question becomes more a matter of what will it take to convince prosecutors to punish crime and leave the social issues behind.
Loran Hancock
Northwest side
AZ law against transgender athletes
As the mother of a transgender daughter, I view this law as a slap in the face of cisgender girls and women. It implies that cisgender women are inferior to cisgender men in all sports and that winning is the only possible benefit from participation. It also implies that no matter what your height, weight, drive, heart, hard work, and ambition are, you won’t be able to win if there isn’t a “level” playing field, “level” defined only as cisgender. Title IX should take precedence over any state law. Title IX allows women to be on cisgender men’s football teams (like kickers). If it weren’t for Title IX, cisgender girls wouldn’t be allowed in any sports because sports aren’t “ladylike.” Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in tennis back in 1974. Cisgender women are just as good, if not better, than cisgender men in many sports. Rather than making broad generalizations of any kind, let’s look at individual talent, hormone levels, and training time before excluding transgender athletes.
Maria (Mimi) Kross
Foothills
Rescue costs
Re: the June 27 article “Who should pay when wealthy adventurers need rescues?.”
The article describes the downside of requiring extreme risk-takers (or their estates) to reimburse the cost of rescue attempts — people might hesitate to call for help as soon as they should, increasing the risk of more serious peril. On the other hand, knowing that rescue costs will be paid by taxpayers creates a moral hazard, encouraging people to engage in incredibly dangerous adventures like deep-sea sightseeing. Maybe we should consider a taxpayer-protection program based on “stupid motorist laws” in Arizona and Florida that force drivers to reimburse taxpayers for rescue costs if they ignore police barricades and drive into flooded areas. Buoys marked “No submersibles” in the area above the Titanic would be a good start.
Jay Lynch
Midtown
