Category Archives: Letters to the Editor
You can’t ignore the impact guns have
I think the president is right. Those shooters are mentally ill, and they had easy access to guns. You can’t take guns out of the equation. You can’t just say the problem is mental illness. Without guns, the mentally ill would have to find some other means of killing; but there is nothing to compare […]
Continue readingWords have the power to incite violence
This weekend I watched with horror along with a vast majority of my countrymen and the world as the El Paso shooting unfolded. I was further horrified when the shooter’s alleged manifesto was released because the words sounded very familiar. The manifesto speaks of an “Hispanic invasion of Texas” and warns that white people are […]
Continue readingAllen needs to be replaced in LD6
Sylvia Allen is my LD6 Senator in the Arizona legislature. She is the Chairman of the Education Committee. She made a statement on July 15 at an Arizona Republican Party event that our country would soon look like “South American countries” and implied that immigrants would eliminate freedom of religion and claimed that feminism and […]
Continue readingThorpe’s weak response to short-term rentals
On Wednesday (July 24), I attended a Sedona city hall meeting where Rep. Bob Thorpe (R-Flagstaff) answered questions from residents who feel devastated by the impacts of short-term house rentals. These rentals include everything from owner-occupants renting rooms to corporations that are buying up houses and building 6,000-foot “mini-hotels.” Most of those in the room […]
Continue readingA reminder about how schools used to be run
The recent news of the death of Sam Borozan, “Mr. NAU,” reminds this retired faculty member of a time when NAU was regarded (along with other state universities) as a place that was worthy of substantial public support. Both our state government and fellow citizens once valued as a public good that our public schools, […]
Continue readingUrging O’Halleran to fight for BEARS Act
The Bears Ears region is a precious natural and cultural resource, not only to those who use it recreationally, but to the native peoples who inhabited the land ancestrally. Numerous endemic and threatened plant and animal species inhabit the region as well. And as a matter of personal importance to me and other rock climbers […]
Continue readingAllen’s comments prove she is not fit to serve
It gives me no pleasure to say this, but Sylvia Allen, the state senator representing Flagstaff and the rest of Legislative District 6, is a white supremacist. I’ve considered this deeply in the days since her shocking remarks, and there’s no other logical or meaningful interpretation. She referred to research on the “browning of America,” […]
Continue readingPartisan politics have no place in voting rights
Published in the Arizona Daily Sun on July 21, 2019. Many long for the days when our two-party system tried to work for the benefit of the people of the United States. The hostility generated by party politics must stop. Our country has been polarized before and especially during and after the election of 2016. […]
Continue readingPartisan politics have no place in voting rights
Many long for the days when our two-party system tried to work for the benefit of the people of the United States. The hostility generated by party politics must stop. Our country has been polarized before and especially during and after the election of 2016. The strategy of this administration has been to divide and […]
Continue readingIs this the America we really want?
How do we envision America’s future? Will we embrace education, diversity, critical thinking, pluralism, respect for all? Living in a democracy is not easy. It takes diligence, patience, participation and compromise. Do we truly love our country when we say “love it or leave it” or “go back to your own country” as our president […]
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