Editor’s Note: The above post refers to last month’s cover story, “Let ‘Em Play” in which Jimmy Magahern’s story focused on “daddy coaches,” who some parents allege are ruining little league baseball by giving preferential treatment to their own kids. You can read the story on our website, timespublications.com. Just scroll to the archives. Candidates brought forward by the GOP and the Democratic parties represent their parties and the special interests that fund them, not you and me. These candidates must conform to one of the two, usually diametrically opposed, political platforms. This candidate selection process gives us fiction-based polarizing campaigns, a failed education system, trillions in public debt and a tax system for special interests. Candidates should represent the people who elect them. That is how the U.S. House of Representatives is supposed to work — members represent the voters from geographical districts within each state. We should be voting for individual candidates, not a political party. There is a process that does allow citizen representatives to be selected by the people in their local district. These candidates are not associated with any political party and will limit themselves to two terms. Go to www.goooh.com to learn more. Serving in Congress should be an honor, not a career. — Billy D. CliffordThere was a little league and I went to the all-star game and the child that hit the home run and ran the bases and didn’t even hit the base. But he happened to be a coach’s kid. It’s really hilarious that the coach’s kids think they’re all that and the other kids don’t get to play.I was wondering, did the police officer that left his dog to die in the car because he forgot have the same judge and jury from California that O.J. Simpson had? Totally unbelievable. Then they give this idiot over $100,000 for being an idiot. Why don’t they put him in the back of the car for hours in 100-degree heat, and if he comes out, the stupid court can give him the money. What a great state Arizona is, where you can break laws, be an idiot and even get money for it. Oh, excuse me, I left my wife in the walk-in freezer last night. Darn, I just forgot. — Don from Apache JunctionHi, this is my like uh, oh, um, my dad left me when I was like 13, and now my mom is having a really, really hard time with her money and stuff. So I’d like to say thanks to all the dads who left their single mothers.My message: Diaper down, diaper down, diaper down. It’s time to take that darn diaper down off Los Arcos. If they want to keep a tent, then they ought to send it to tent city and let the prisoners enjoy it. They need to be punished one way or the other. That would be good punishment. I’m so sick of that tent over there, and that diaper, get rid of it soon. It’s enough to get anyone sick.Hi, this is a message for your paper, “We want to hear from you.” OK, started a message: The president talks jobs, but his actions destroy jobs. He stopped the pipeline from Canada, drilling on (inaudible) land and in the gulf. The president has signed into law 21 new taxes. The White House has 5,000 more regulatory actions waiting to be acted on. The president’s projected $2.5 billion increase in regulatory budgets in 2012 will cost the economy 6.2 million jobs over five years. Check it out at the American tax reform www.atr.org. — Signed, C.S.It would be laughable if it weren’t just so plain sick. Image of greedy stupidity when millions of dollars must be spent at public events to widen the seats to fit the overweight behinds of the spectators. Now you know what’s wrong with America today: Greed, greed, greed.Legalizing the South and Central American cartel drugs won’t put them out of business. They’ll just sell to the pharmaceutical corporations of the world and become stockholders. It’s the normal way of doing dirty business for the corner drug stores and the people who need all these things to get through the day in this crazy, crazy world.
Oh yeah, bring back the slapstick stupidity of The Three Stooges’ so-called comedy — just when we’re trying to fight bullying. Are there no producers left with common sense? Where do all these greedy producers come from?Gee, I guess (journalist) Salvador Rizzo really told Gov. Brewer and Sheriff Joe when he said they need to obey the law immediately. It was in response to an injunction halt endangering us to the thoughtless boneheads that interrupt and impede traffic to pick up day labor and which, I might add, as Judge (Susan) Bolton said, there are already laws in place to protect. It would be nice if the laws were working. Our governor knows what she’s doing. Since when does an alien have the right to change traffic laws, and how does Judge Bolton have the right to give them to them? We’re tweaking this country’s laws for alien speech right. Legal residents should know better. There’s no excuse. How many people need to be injured or delayed before the right thing is done?Why are there no traffic warning signs, reduced speed, in the vicinity of the BASIS Charter School located at 1800 E. Chandler Blvd.?
This is my Sound Off: I would like to know if you deserve an apology from your doctor who makes a wrong diagnosis and has your family planning your funeral, or who gives you a wrong prescription and causes a rush to the emergency room. This is Teresa McMillan.What a gun-crying shame. By vetoing the well-written no-guns-in-buildings law (what the “news” media and rights deniers labeled the guns-in-buildings bill), we’re all less safe. Now, instead of guaranteeing that sensitive places are truly gun-free — using metal detectors, controlled access and guards — we can merrily believe wide-open buildings with no-gun signs (and absolutely no controls) are gun free. It’s Pollyanna on steroids. Truly sensitive buildings that should be protected needed that law and the safeguards it provided. Now all you get are feckless paper signs. Thanks, governor. Make no mistake. Your libraries, public schools and public buildings are stark naked targets. No guards, no scanners, you won’t even have law-abiding armed adults present to respond, which the vetoed bill authorized. Gun bigots did this by falsely screaming, again, it would magically turn good people into psychotic killers. Complicit media concurred. Remember — police are second responders. People assaulted are always the first responders, despite deceptive “news” reports. When seconds count, police are just minutes away. Now you have gaping open public places, without even your own Auntie Annie there to offer defense. Shame on those who would deny our civil rights in the false name of safety. — Alan Korwin, author, The Arizona Gun Owner’s GuideThis letter is very important! Our horses here in the U.S. are in crisis. With hay prices driven way up and our bad economy, many horse owners can no longer afford to keep their cherished horses. With no luck selling or giving them away, many young, healthy horses are now going to auctions where they are bought by “killer buyers” who ship them to hellish slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada. Mamas and babies (sometimes the babies are fattened up first), ponies, race horses, draft horses, our national treasures the mustangs, donkeys/burros, mules, family pets and all types of equine are victims. These are all innocent, nice horses who have done nothing wrong. (The vast majority are not old, sick horses who are being “helped” as some would have you believe.) So, besides the many abused, abandoned and neglected equine, now the ones sold because of skyrocketing hay prices, etc. are added to the terrible problem. It is a nightmare! We can easily help these beautiful companion animals. The next time you are on your computer, please simply look up horse rescues/sanctuaries in Arizona or any other states and find out which ones you would be interested in donating to. Although much is needed, any donation at all is so very much appreciated and stretched for the horses. These rescue people are dedicated and incredible. So please, without lessening any support of charities and good causes you already donate to, add horses to your heart.Good article. Little league needs to worry about the amount of kids actually participating in little league. My son is in North Scottsdale Little League, and this year we had only enough kids to field four teams of 12. Of course the bottom three of the 12 really should be in minors. We have too many teams in a particular area, and they need to expand the boundaries. Scottsdale, as we are close enough should join together and have enough kids, to make it 12 teams and teams of 11 and not 12. As mentioned, little league is for having fun and playing, not just two and one and done for the kids that need some help. They will never get better. What you need is less players on the team and to allow the kids playing time. The Chandlers and the Arrowhead, Arcadia, have, like, 800 to 1,000 kids, year in and year out, and put out a competitive league. The Mountain View, McDowell Mountain, McCormick Ranch, the Cactus, Horizon, North and South Scottsdale all need to partner up and make a couple of different leagues. The kids will be much better, less daddy coaches, because of the teams would more than likely have some experienced dads who have played. This is the real problem, not enough kids and the leagues will soon either need to join together or lose their little league for good. You will always have the dad and the son who is great and not so great, and the favoritism. You have it in every sport, regardless, and yes, more so with father/son, but the real issue is the less involvement and the boundaries not being large enough to support the leagues.As much as we would like to deny it, we all take things for granted. Even if you live under a bridge with barely any food, you still can see and hear. If you were to just stop a second and think how much there is in your life, you can be a much more understanding person. I’m not trying to preach words of God or Jesus, I’m trying to make a difference in this world. Atheist or believer, young or old, male or female, poor or rich, smart or dull, take a minute and count your blessings.To the person who was upset with the local police, the police have better things to do than tell people to lower their music. If you knew they had drugs, you should’ve mentioned it for better response time. The police are more worried with burglaries and murders, not your “beauty sleep.”I like how the City of Mesa puts in a parking lot at Sycamore and Main for light-rail users and it sits empty! Why on earth don’t they let people who use the light rail park there? It’s being wasted! It would be nice to park there instead of the hike way out to the one they want you to use.To all these people who think Ron Paul is in cahoots with Mitt Romney: All I have to say is that you simply don’t know Ron Paul. Maybe you should do some research before spouting off wild conspiracy theories. Ron Paul 2012!With Bank of America giving their CEO a monstrous pay raise again, while they only paid me one cent per share on my stock, which I own 350 shares, I want to know where the justification is when my tax money helped bail the banks out of the crooked mess they created in the first place. Between the banks and our government, who is the biggest crook? It is time, U.S.A., for some big changes in our government, period. Thanks. — Jim Thomas, Phoenix Bill Maher’s endorsement will mean many votes for Barack Obama. He has gained a following with policies that go back to the Garden of Eden. Maher’s far-left studio audience applauds his filth while well-meaning liberals sit in silence and blush. Many liberals who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s were led to believe that the far-left shared their concern for eliminating poverty and promoting equal justice in America. Many conservatives also thought of the left as a peaceful, rather liberal nonviolent wing of the Democrat Party. It is now clear that the hard core far-left is part of a worldwide movement to eliminate Christianity and promote a one world secular government. The longer liberals live in denial of what is happening to destroy America, the more tragic their awakening will become. Christians expect to be persecuted; liberals do not. God bless America. — Bob Blazier, MesaFollowing Arizona Senate’s decision to exempt Amazon from collecting sales tax on local sales, the sales tax departments around Arizona have found a new way to charge extra tax on small businesses to make up the lost revenue. They are sending demand letters to owner-occupiers of small business premises demanding 1.65 percent privilege tax on their mortgage payments going back five years, their rational being that this is equivalent to a rent payment. Of course they could not get away with this on residential mortgages, there would be such an outcry, but maybe they are hoping to quietly impose this tax on the smaller number of office condo owner-occupiers. I hope our congressmen and senators will take some action to protect our small business community, but I am not holding out much hope. If anyone would like to join me in a campaign to fight this action, please contact me at (480) 661-0708. — David Bonfield, Body Aware Inc.What a disappointment for an out-of-state senior visiting family in Sun City to have experienced such shoddy treatment on this trip, especially with such a renowned company as (name of theater company omitted) in Peoria. Seeing their advertisement in the Arizona Republic advertising A Little Night Music, with prices listed at $11 to $31, I called on Saturday, March 17, to order four tickets. I was told the lower-priced tickets were all sold out, and the only tickets available were these priced at $31 (plus $4 surcharges). I called back 30 minutes later, ordered four tickets, paying $140 for the Sunday afternoon performance. Imagine my chagrin, when seated at the theater on Sunday, March 18, to discover all seats behind us were empty, as were the “side” lower-priced seats. All empty! The assistant manager I spoke to after the play seemed surprised that I was told these were the only seats available, but she couldn’t help. However, she suggested I contact their public relations about this situation. I called Monday, March 19, and explained what had occurred in my telephone conversations with (the theater company). She contacted the director and called back to inform me that “since you had seen the play,” the director could not or would not do anything about this overcharge! I hope other visitors will not have this experience. — Patricia McQueen, Columbia, S.C.How do you feel about paying your income tax last week? Do you feel like (1) you are participating in a fair taxation system, (2) you are only paying your fair share and (3) everyone else is paying their fair share too? The fair tax is superior to the income tax. If adopted, the fair tax would do away with the IRS with all its shortcomings and be a huge boon for American businesses. The fair tax is essentially a national sales tax. Among its advantages: absolutely everyone pays (including illegal aliens and tourists) and American businesses will be on a more level playing field with their international competitors. American-made products will be cheaper for both American consumers and export. Those living below the poverty level are protected. The fair tax was introduced into congress in 1999 and has been buried in congressional committees even since; it’s never been voted on. If your congressional representative is unable to give you an acceptable explanation of why he/she has not been a supporter of the fair tax, you need a new representative! Defeat your congressperson in the primary if possible, even if that requires voting across party lines. There’s always November. — Edward Ferrell