The US southern border
Recently, a letter was published that said that the human species was in self-destruct mode. I cannot disagree.
Just this week, in the UK, a 200-year-old sycamore tree was cut down for no logical reason, damaging Hadrian’s wall.
A defensive fortification of Britain, built in AD 122, it crossed the entirety of the boundary between Scotland and Britain, of little use other than a target, although currently, tourists find it interesting, now minus the 200-year-old tree. Walls are ineffective.
Surely the answer to the migrant problem lies with the countries of origin that for too long have gotten a pass on doing something, anything, to make life for its citizens more reasonable than riding on the top of a freight train into an unknown future.
Do we as a species have a built-in self destructive gene? Are we lazy, or just too easily led? Mussolini, Hitler, Putin, Un, Berlusconi, Bolsonaro, Trump all speak to that being an accurate assessment.
Virginia Gethmann
Northeast side
Terry Francona
Re: the Oct. 1 article “Genuine Francona a class act.”
To add on to Greg Hanson’s Sunday Notebook, I had a great experience with Terry myself back in 1999. I had won a lunch with baseball legend Terry Francona via a Tanque Verde Schools silent auction night. After the MLB season was over, Coach Francona called me and we agreed to meet up at Austin’s restaurant. Although I thought we would be scarfing our lunch down quickly and then out the door to meet his schedule, we spent 2+ hours talking major league baseball, U of A sports, our Midwest home towns, and our families. It was a great lunch, with a really humble and interesting guy!
Bill Swain
Foothills
City of Vail incorporation — community consensus?
Residents within the boundaries to the proposed Town of Vail have until Nov. 7 to decide a question that will shape the future of our community — a decision that should be based on a common vision and community consensus. Unfortunately, the pro-incorporation effort has been met with suspicion and distrust and has served to divide our community. The division is, in part, self-inflicted. Early reluctance to disclose the funding sources for the pro-incorporation campaign sparked rumors of dark money and backroom deals. The limited number of public meetings to inform the affect public, all hosted by the pro-incorporation organizers, suffered from confirmation bias. The future of Vail is too important a question to decide without the solid foundation of a shared vision and broad community consensus.
Sheldon Clark
Vail
Term limits
Term limits are not the answer to chaos in our federal government as many profess. We voters need to be aware of the consequences of our votes. Term limits may speed up the removal of some poor choices, but wise choices in the first place is a better solution. I’m sure there have been occasions when Republicans have regretted putting term limits on the presidency of our country.
Toni Kane
Oro Valley
The need for independent investigative journalism
Re: the Oct. 11 article “MAGA has made millions for AZ-based group.”
The Star’s excellent piece of investigative reporting underscores the critical need for independent journalism and illustrates the vital services that newspapers — such as the Star — provide the public. The unbridled self-serving greed and unethical behavior of those affiliated with Turning Point described in the article serve as a stark reminder as to why such hardline organizations, hiding behind the veils of non-profit agency and opaque limited liability companies, need to be held accountable for actions that make a mockery of responsible civic engagement and that violate the law. We trust that the light now shined on Turning Point and its enablers will inspire continued coverage by the Star and result in consequences for those associated with the enterprise that will deter such callous disregard for our civil norms in the future.
Janel and Scott Feierabend
Foothills
Generate a catchy subject line
Dread grows inside me, as I know the worst is yet to come. Without international intervention, Israel can cut off access to vital necessities in Gaza.
After days of coverage, I appreciate that The Arizona Daily Star is finally featuring a Palestinian voice, revealing the horrific reality in Gaza. We must heed Fadi Abu Shammalah’s warning and call for immediate de-escalation to protect the children and prevent further loss of life.
As a Jew, I understand the consequences of dehumanization — never again means now. I urge The Daily Star Editorial Board to speak out against Israel’s impending genocide campaign in Gaza.
Jeffrey Chimene
Sonoita
Friday the 13th
Today while walking around near downtown I observed a dapperly dressed bicyclist approaching a stop sign at Stone approaching Cushing. He slowed and pretended to turn right, but didn’t. He proceeded straight on Cushing, quickly glancing both ways to see if cars were approaching. They weren’t. He lived; without stopping. Several bicyclists and motorcyclists are hit and injured every week in Tucson, and even some are killed. Is it worth it to “run” stop signs and/or stop lights. That’s why they are called STOP lights! Ironically, the back end of our Main Police building is on that corner just mentioned, but there are no windows there so no one saw this bicyclist scofflaw, but me.
And it is getting cooler now so hundreds of “snowbirds” are flying and driving back to the Old Pueblo to add to the traffic congestion. Tucson Meet (Eat) Yourself was this weekend. I stayed miles away from this culinary madhouse.
Kenneth Unwin
Southeast side
Disinformation is so destructive
What is Sinema up to these days? I’m sure the Senator is off pirouetting in the woods.
Sen. Mark Kelly has spoken out about these positions having unconfirmed leaders because of Tommy Tuberville in posts on X.
I’m just amazed at how much disinformation can affect someone’s point of view. The fact is, Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Senator who lives in Florida, has refused to allow any appointments because he doesn’t like that the military is allowing paid leave for its members to access health care.
I agree with the writer to get up and hold our elected officials to do their jobs. I also feel it is important to know some facts first, and to bark up the right tree, especially if you want to be taken seriously.
Larry Robinson
Northwest side
Stopping aid to Ukraine is a mistake
Stopping U.S. aid to Ukraine would be a more costly error than continuing our support. If Putin succeeds in annexing Ukraine, he can move on to other countries. We could not avoid direct conflict with Russia. Some readers may not remember the Iron Curtain, the Eastern Bloc, or the Cold War. The Soviet Union was a world power endangering world peace for half a century. Putin remembers Soviet dominance and influence. He was born in the Stalin Era and spent over half his life in the USSR. Now as president of the Russian Federation, he wants to reclaim control of Eastern Europe. We must not equivocate in aid to Ukraine winning Putin’s war. To do so sends the wrong message to friend and foe alike. Aid to Ukraine to defeat Russian aggression is our best option for peace.
Al Reppine
Northwest side
Republican leadership fight
I am trying to decide if the Congressional Republican leadership battle reminds me of Abbott and Costello’s WHO’S ON FIRST routine of just a classic Laurel and Hardy movie. What do you think?
Bob Feinman
Foothills
A better way to see and serve
Re: the Oct. 17 article “A duty to serve those who protected us.”
Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s opinion piece seems to assume voters in his district are blind to how the U.S. government works. Maybe a brief lesson is in order. The U.S. House is charged with passing bills and a budget that fund the government. Except the U.S. house has been leaderless for two weeks and prior to that, there were threats to shut down the government. And yet Ciscomani wants us to believe the VA system is “preparing to implement a policy change that will hamper access to health care for veterans in Arizona and nationwide.” I am sure the VA would love to be in the position of being in charge of funding their operations. Rather than trying to shift the blame to the VA system, our representative should look in the mirror. No Leader in the House? Threats to shut down the government? I think what is needed is a whole hall of mirrors for the Republicans to see where the blame lies.
Fran McNeely
Northeast side
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
