Hi. I am not from here but I know a good thing when I read it. The last two columns by Michael Grady were fantastic. Touching and funny—not easy to combine. My husband and I are still laughing about his column about running, and his statement about how he saw a photo of himself completing a marathon and he looked just like his father being electrocuted. We just lost our dog, so the most recent column on things we can learn from our dogs really hit home. Keep it up, Michael. Disclaimer: This was not written by his mother. I have never met him.

Good morning. Gee, thanks all you pathological-type twitterers who are helping a certain admitted guilty-type murderer make a TV soap opera farce of law. Court, judge and jury in Arizona look even dumber than those in Florida. Way to go stupid. We really need God to help us now.

Hot dogs and beer at a ballgame are baseball staples. But cocktails at the ballgame? We saved the public from cigarettes, now they’re advertising just plain old booze. Will they ever learn?

Hey what happened to the East Mesa Times? I haven’t been able to find one since February. You print me all the time, but I haven’t got any issues from March and April. Where are you hiding them in East Mesa? All I can get is Lovin’ Life After 50. I miss you. I hope you miss me cause you print a lot of me.

Editor’s Note: We recently started delivering the The Times directly to Valley homes. Unfortunately, that means some of our regular pick-up locations have disappeared. You can subscribe to The Times at www.timespublications.com.

 I thought if you committed a crime, you’re called a criminal. But here, if you cross the border illegally, you’re an illegal alien or you’re a “dreamer.” Something’s gotta change. Either we open the borders and allow them all in, or we punish them for doing what’s wrong. It’s a crime to be here illegally. Why do you have to talk about it? Put their names in the paper and make them a movie star because they’re breaking the law. I’m sorry. I work too hard for my money and I pay good taxes yet I’m supporting them all. Bring them over. Have a baby, and we’re all paying for it. Somebody’s gotta put a stop to it. Now is the time before we’re overrun and we’ll be a Middle Eastern country. It’s the United States of Mexico now. It’s time to step up and take our country back

This is for the person who was talking about Nancy Pelosi—saying it’s time to leave the office. The person was complaining about Obama and Obamacare and how disrespectful he’s been to the Republicans. We all know that’s a bunch of bull. If everybody thinks long and hard, they can remember good old Cheney using the F-bomb on the senate floor no less. John Boehner telling the president to blank off. Excuse me? The horrible, horrible people of the Republican scum are the knuckle draggers. They have no common sense. They don’t even know how to be polite on the road with all their flags waving in the wind, but they’ll cut you off and flip you off at the same time. It’s amazing to me all the right wing nuts we have in Arizona. If I didn’t have to be here for three more years until I retire, I would leave.

Good morning. Shame on you limited level of intelligence, nit picking, holier than thou critics of everything other people do or say. You’re probably among the homeless, mush-faced, my way or the highway spoiled-child, bullied troublemaker no one could admire even if they tried. Pretty is a blessing everywhere in this world. Look everywhere for pretty and enjoy.

With all the brains in current telecommunications (industry) why isn’t someone sending North Korea the same type of phone that brought about the Muslims information for people to fight for equality among themselves? Send seeds to farmers. Send hope for peace.

I have found being on the receiving end of the downward spiral of the bad economy that no one wants to help you unless you do not work or you live in a slum or your last name is Lopez. A white single woman with two hungry children to feed with no income besides an $11 an hour job cannot make it in this world without some help, but good luck finding any. Instead of using your gross pay as an income requirement, how about using your take-home pay as a guide because your take-home pay is what is used to pay for mortgage, HOA, utilities, food, clothes, gas, medical and so on. It is no wonder no one wants to work! It doesn’t pay to work in this state! Bust your butt for what? So that you don’t have enough money to pay your bills while (someone else) collects government money for “not working” while she cleans homes on the side for cash?

The Sunday morning TV and all the experts have their opinions but no one has the answers. The media is blamed for constructed information. If it weren’t for PBS, free radio and CNN, we’d all be as brainwashed for North Koreans. Cell phones are now the better weapon than any bombs ever were.

I just have to tell you how much I enjoyed Michael Grady’s “The Up Side” column in your April edition. The subject was things we can learn from our dogs. I laughed till I cried, then read it again, and laughed some more. Having been a dog owner all my life, I can relate. I’ve cut it out, Michael, and am keeping it for whenever I need a lift. Clearly, sir, you have a unique style of writing. And your thought processes are bordering on genius! Thanks for making my day, several times over.

What is the big hurry around here? A lot of people drive like idiots, going fast, cutting people off. Why? Just to save one second of time getting somewhere. The highways here are like NASCAR speedways. The on-ramps are like drag strips. Come on people, slow down a bit, be nice, drive safe, and the people using cell phones...—Joe from Gilbert

Looks like the leader of North Korea is appropriately named “Dumb.” He doesn’t know his country’s history of his father and grandfather losing their great wars and his starving people are only being fed by people whose countries he plans to kill. Now that’s real dumb. Broadcast it to them please, however you can.

 Instead of looking for a mad-dog killer, police would have more luck searching for a teenager’s lost puppy who ran away from his instructor and can only hide in a dark hole somewhere. Sad, sad, sad situation

What we need to understand about radical military fundamentalist religions is that male dominance has moral force. The male authority in the family has the power of life and death over wives, children and relatives. There is no such thing as domestic violence. There was no such thing as juvenile delinquency in the Old Testament. If the child disobeyed his parent, the child could be killed. No problem. Fundamentalist religions like the polygamists north of us in Arizona tend to follow this, and radical militant Islamists can’t assimilate in America where we believe domestic violence is wrong. His religion tells him to treat his family well, but if he doesn’t, you’re taking away his freedom by arresting him for domestic violence. This is a cultural thing, folks.

While we’re worrying about the Mexicans ... the Mexicans have been in America so long. They cut our grass. They paint our houses. They build our roads. Why are we so concerned about the immigration of Mexicans when we have Chechens in Boston? We have all the other people coming in here from China, sex slaves, Filipinos. The only people harming America are non-Mexicans. Yes, they bring drugs in America for the drug addicts in America, but I think we need to concentrate more, not on the Mexicans, but all the other people sneaking in America. Mexicans are good for America. Look at Boston. Look at all these other people that tried to bomb the World Trade Center the first time. Now there are airplanes. I think we need to take all this emphasis off of Mexicans

Did you notice the camera was waved away from those over 300-pound fat cat sheriff deputies in the Glendale news story. Yuck. No wonder, oh yuck good old Joe look-alikes. Sick, sick, sick

Why is everybody bashing Barack Obama? He’s no worse than all the other 52 presidents that came before him—George Washington, the slave owner general. Just love Barack Obama. He’s good for America.

The other night I was watching the news and it made me feel so good to see this boy with muscular dystrophy in a wheelchair and he became prom king. It made me think back to high school. My good friend, her brother had muscular dystrophy and was wheelchair-bound, too. He wanted to take me to a school dance. I told my friend to tell him to ask me. I went. I remember being on that dance floor with him and everybody was laughing at us. You know, I didn’t know back then what I do now. A lot of those kids don’t have a long life ahead of them. I found out a few years later after graduation that my friend’s brother did pass away from muscular dystrophy. It made me feel good that I made a difference in his life. He came home gleaming from ear to ear because I went to the school dance with him. I don’t care how many people laughed at us. I was the kind who always stuck up for kids like that. In junior high we had a kid who was not all there. It made me mad when kids would always pick on him. I would hang out with him and they would say, “What, are you retarded like him?” These poor kids, they have feelings too. Think about if you were in their situation. It hurts when you pick on them. I made a difference in a lot of these kids growing up. Congratulations to the prom king.

 If you’re going to do evil, do it in the name of religion. This is a tried and true way to defend evil. The commandment that God’s name should not be taken in vein should be rewritten. God shall not be used to condemn or condone evil on the part of anybody anyone’s religion, especially. People, how can God have been on both sides of our own Civil War? Both the North and the South believed that God was on their side. They went into battle just being justifying by God and praying to their God. This is ridiculous. This is ancient history. Religion should not be used this way. It gives God a black eye.

II am so upset about what Scottsdale Unified School District is doing to the schools. I am so upset that there’s going to be two more students per class. They blame it on the funding and the declining enrollment. I’m pulling my kids out. I’m sick of this. We’re gonna do charter. I’d even do private. We need to do something else. They need to look at cuts in administration. They need to get half of the people out of there who are comfortable in their jobs that blow off and don’t do anything about issues and problems. Scottsdale Unified School District is not a good thing

On my cell phone I have all bad things blocked. All text messages are blocked. People I do not know are blocked. I would like to know if anyone else is having a problem with (names a bank) texting. They text me all the time. I have asked them to remove me, yet they still continue to do it. I will never go to (names bank).

Dear District 18 residents, Public safety is not a partisan issue, as it is the most important function of government. Few elected officials understand this better than Rep. Bob Robson, Rep. Jeff Dial and Sen. John McComish. I work with the dedicated and professional men and women of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. I, like many DPS employees, chose the profession of law enforcement for one primary ambition—to serve the citizens of Arizona. I have seen firsthand what criminal elements can and will do to harm our loved ones. Arizonans have had proactive, engaged officers to help decrease crime. Officers are honored to give everyone a peace of mind that we will be there to help them when needed. Public safety has always received support and open communication from our District 18 elected officials. As state lawmakers, they went to bat for us time after time to make sure public safety was properly funded, even in lean budget years. This session, Rep. Robson sponsored and Rep. Dial and Sen. McComish co-sponsored an important bill that will create less red tape for a fallen officer’s family to receive health benefits. Families can be emotionally distraught and financially impacted after the loss of their hero. Robson, Dial and McComish understand that an officer’s family should not be forgotten. This bill was successful and signed into law by Gov. Brewer on April 5, 2013. Our members stand behind Rep. Bob Robson, Rep. Jeff Dial and Sen. John McComish because they stand behind law enforcement. The citizens in District 18 should be proud to have legislators that understand the value of public safety.—Sgt. Bob Gilbert Arizona Highway Patrol association vice president District 18 resident