Give abusers a taste of what Medicine Dog got
After reading Wednesday’s guest opinion by Karen Pomroy (“Animal cruelty must be punished“), it took me a while to calm down before I could write this. Otherwise, you would not be able to print my thoughts.
The fact that Gordon Allen Bates was found not guilty is an atrocity of justice. Dragging a horse behind a truck, beating it with a pipe and almost letting it die from strangulation are not crimes of the most heinous nature?
Was the jury made up of Bate’s relatives?
Bates and his daughter should be tied to the back of a pickup truck and dragged and beaten with a pipe to see what that feels like.
And the fact that Bates is a nurse who cares for the aged? If I were his employer, I would take a real close look at that.
The Comanches called them (horses) “God Dogs,” the Sioux, “Medicine Dogs,” the Blackfoot, “Big Dogs.” They were revered and considered a gift from the Great Spirit.
They have made our lives and our very existence possible. They were not meant to be dragged behind a truck, beaten and strangled.
God bless Karen Pomroy and her organization for all they do. She is a beautiful person with a heart to match.
Too bad that can’t be said for our justice system.
Mike Fascetta
farrier
Big Brother’s tobacco tax keeps poor man down
Everybody in the local and national media is touting this new tobacco tax, imposed on April Fools’ Day, as a good, healthy thing not affecting people too much. Please allow me to be a voice for poor people.
I was a heavy drinker and smoker for 30 years. After quitting drinking more than three years ago, I thought stopping smoking would be easy. Even though I have a brain and know the health risks, it’s hard.
I’m poor, and like most poor people roll my own cigarettes to save money. The price of pre-rolled smokes went up some chump change while rolling tobacco went from $10 to $20 per can. A can is equivalent to a carton of cigarettes.
I don’t feel sorry for myself, but I empathize with poor smokers with children.
If a couple smokes one can per week, their budget takes a $50 hit. I have already seen several domestic disputes over this. I’m sure I’ll see more. This tax has caused a moral dilemma for poor people with kids.
This reminds me of a popular phrase in my 1960s childhood, “Big Brother is keeping the poor man down!” Here we are in 2009 with the poor getting poorer while rich, greedy, white-collar criminals are being bailed out for something that is completely their fault and getting bonuses in the process.
If you’re poor like me, there seems to be no justice.
JEFFREY B. COOK
Take your pic: Camera wins in a photo finish
Re: Mark Kimble’s column “Photo Radar” on Thursday: Nice article. I was sorry he overlooked the fact that, unlike cops with radar guns, the photo units – stationary and mobile – have giant signs to warn everyone they are there. The cops sure don’t give notice when they set up to enforce laws.
Photo-based citations don’t add points or increase insurance rates (for those who actually have insurance).
People whining about photo enforcement ought to be thankful to have the machine instead of a human.
As for money, law enforcement isn’t about making money but enforcing laws. Such complaints make as much sense as complaining that fines on drunken drivers don’t pay for having officers enforce them.
I recognize that some programs use money better than others, and we should carefully consider which we use.
Those complaining about photo enforcement would complain even if private citizen with deep pockets paid for the cameras and government didn’t.
Their real gripe isn’t that our government is wasting or making money; it’s that their odds of getting caught when they speed or run red lights just shot up.
These people are in a hurry and put the rest of us at risk. Some rationalize that they’ve been safely speeding, running red lights or driving drunk for years without killing anyone, thus they deserve a free pass.
Photo enforcement is a great idea whose time has come, and I’m all for it.
John Baron
Casa Grande
Homeland Insecurity expands list of threats
So Janet Napolitano has dismissed the Homeland Security report sliming veterans. That’s not all. The report also warns about conservatives (people who didn’t vote for Obama) as “right-wing extremists.” That’s almost half the population.
Add gun owners and people who want something done about illegal immigration. The report talks about anti-Semitic radicals, forgetting that those radicals have been shooting at our military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’s nice to know she lumps every American who doesn’t care for the messiah’s “change” as potential enemies.
Not to worry, your royalness, nobody would want to harm our president because of what would take his place, and nobody would want to harm the vice president considering that the next in line already thinks she should be queen.
I thought we were being done a favor getting rid of Napolitano in Arizona, but it seems now she is in a position to do more damage.
It seems we have a new aristocracy in Washington determined to keep us little people in our place!
John F. Sukey
retired military