Pervasive political differences
The U. S. has pervasive political differences. They go beyond Republicans and Democrats; it's disagreements about religion, abortions, guns, race, crime, gender and many other political issues. When we are feeling like we are beginning to hate someone who is on the other side of one or more of the issues, we need to remember that we are all human beings. We don't learn anything of any substance if we only have contact with people that are on the same side of the issues that we are. If we want to expand our knowledge and experiences, we need to find people that live lives that are totally different than ours. If they say or do something that we disagree with, we should not only tolerate it, but we should be thankful and then respectfully ask them if we can find out more about their point of view. This is vital to our well-being and the health and safety of our democracy.
Douglas R. Holm
East side
Parents' powers
If a parent is directing the education of their child in Arizona as allowed by state law, can that parent insist that their children be exposed to the 1619 Project, the factual treatment of minority groups and/or other groups not currently accepted or valued by the current Republican Party in public schools?
Can parents insist that the above materials be available and provided by public schools; and if not, can parents provide these materials to their children so that their child’s presentations in class include such material?
Just trying to figure out how parents who want to present a truthful and factual education to their children can do so in Arizona's public schools.
Interesting to note that non-public schools that accept public money to educate students currently are not limited in what can be presented to their students or materials used for that education.
Craig Whaley
Oro Valley
We're all equal Americans
Each one of us has a vote that will be counted the same as any other American. That is what makes us all equal. One person, one vote. Equal treatment under law. Well, except maybe for the millionaires. They have the power to hire legal teams that intimidate the legal system to the point they can never even be arrested for rape and can get away with murder. And there are currently about 9% of Americans who are millionaires. So current American equality depends on the size of your bank account. Which could explain crappy voter turnout. Lots of the non-millionaire 91% of American voters know that the vote can be rigged by money so why even bother to vote. And we see any voter-based legislation to control dark money will be overthrown…by dark money. So maybe we need to change to "Land of the Free Millionaires."
Thad Appelman
Northwest side
Teenage drug overdoses in AZ
Arizona legislators are considering passing the “Ashley Dunn Act,” which will make it a felony to sell a drug that results in the death of another person. This act comes after Arizona has seen a rise in deaths and overdoses related to drugs laced with powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
After a student overdosed on opioids on school property in 2019, Tucson schools began stocking their offices with Naloxone, an opioid-overdose reversing drug. Currently, Naloxone is only being distributed to medical professionals and trained school staff. Research has demonstrated that Naloxone drastically decreases opioid deaths in areas where it is available. Local and state health organizations must increase the availability of Naloxone to adolescents.
We must make Naloxone accessible to reduce the number of overdoses in our state that affect not only the youth, but our entire community.
Sincerely,
Erin Mills, Dulce Maria Vivas Cruz, Isabel Fangman, Negar Katirai, Oscar Salinas, MPH students at the UA Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
Downtown
Allocation of Colorado River’s flow
Re: the March 19 article "$250M for Lake Mead may delay CAP cuts to Tucson."
Once again, we proceed with the dividing up of the Colorado River’s water without taking into consideration its flow into the Gulf of California.
Plants and animals in the riparian areas along the Colorado River, the delta region, as well as aquatic plants and animals in the Gulf of California are totally dependent upon the flow of fresh water from the Colorado River. A percentage of the river’s original maximum flow must be allowed to empty freely into the Gulf of California. Without the freshwater of the Colorado River native animals and plants cannot exist.
We must include the “State” of the Gulf of California when considering the allocations of the Colorado River’s flow.
Bill Kendall
Downtown
Truth or consequences
Two years ago, Tucker Carlson’s taped admission “I lie” went viral. And still viewers continued to follow him. Now, thanks to the Dominion defamation lawsuit against them, we know Fox News lies go all the way to the top. According to internal emails, on-camera personalities and corporate executives knowingly spread falsehoods, unfounded personal attacks and conspiracy theories, and laughed at their viewers’ gullibility all the way to the bank.
Because they have exemplified it all along, Fox understands what it means to be “Fake News.” Their for-profit lies have stoked fear, anger, resentment, and ultimately violence. Unfortunately, all of us have suffered the consequences of their lies for far too long.
Perhaps this time, Fox viewers will take stock and consider their options. With plenty of legitimate news outlets to choose from, they can hear the truth or continue to embrace destructive lies. They can be well-informed or remain ignorant about current affairs. They can be independent thinkers or corporate stooges.
Jacolyn Marshall
Oro Valley
Freedom caucus
One positive outcome of Justine Wadsack being a state legislator is she hopefully will be too busy throwing her extremist ideas around in Phoenix to disrupt any more Vail school board meetings.
Connie Amspaugh
Southeast side
Hypocrites
Wait a minute. Republicans are oh so worried about children reading books with any hint of sexuality or "inappropriate" content. So concerned, they have a book-banning movement going strong. These same Republicans have little issue with Trump's dalliance with, and hush money paid to, a porn performer, seemingly no problem with the many alleged assaults on various women. Let's not forget Donald's highly publicized and denigrating remark "grab 'em by the *****"(insert crude term for female body part). Certainly not things children should see or hear, especially coming from a president! Where was Republican outrage about this highly publicized lewd behavior and remarks? The children! Such hypocrites.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Irony becoming less ironic!
Another session of, “Are you kidding me?” from the GOP. We listened for years about Hillary’s laptop and endured endless chants and banners of, “Lock her up,” even though nothing of any importance was ever found. We now see the noose tightening around the former guy and the minions come to their leader's aid. Kevin McCarthy notes that any indictment or conviction would be, “political.” To me, that means he broke the law on numerous occasions and he is a very political person. So what?
Alan Barreuther
Foothills
Book banning
I'm post-retirement age. My mom, when I was in third or fourth grade, told the town librarian that I could check out whatever I wanted. It spurred a lifetime of reading. Book banning is asinine, particularly when people like Wadsack want to ban books she hasn't even read. Studies have shown most children are exposed to online pornography by 11 to 12. They see stuff that would put Wadsack on a fainting couch. Talk to your children. Thinking they can be kept in a cocoon against reality isn't preparing them for life.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Learning U.S. history
As approved, SB 1694 prohibits programs that “describe or expose systems, relations of power, privilege or subordination on the basis of race, sex, color, gender, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation. Nor could they describe methods to dismantle or oppose those systems.”
It appears we will no longer need to teach those pesky Constitutional Amendments (13-15) that dismantled the system of enslaving and subordinating African Americans, or the 19th Amendment, which helped dismantle the oppression of women by granting them the right to vote.
Sadly, Sen. Jake Hoffman seems to have overlooked the sweeping consequences of his proposed legislation. Here's hoping the Arizona House of Representatives defeats it.
Laura Penny
Foothills
MLK quote
I watched Sen. Jake Hoffman quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the state Legislature the other day. You know the quote — the one about judging others by the content of their character not the color of their skin. Well, Sen. Hoffman, I judged you by the content of your character when I watched you bully the mild-mannered, well-qualified Dr. Theresa Cullen so badly that she withdrew her bid to become director of the state Department of Health Services.
I urge everyone to tune in to capitol television at AZleg.gov to watch our legislators at work. Then vote according to the content of their characters.
Kathleen Dubbs
West side
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