Sayso

Monday, January 31, 2000     Page: 10A

THE LICENSE PLATES for Pennsylvania, I think they stink, they’re ugly. You
think that with the new license plate they would have had a license plate that
represented the state of Pennsylvania and I don’t mean coal either. Like a
green plate with pine trees on it, have a deer on it or have a bear on it,
something that represents Pennsylvania, you know to make it unique.
   
I’VE BEEN HERE for three years and all I hear about is Tom McGroarty. You
think there would be something else these people could talk about. It’s really
getting tiring listening to these people complain about him.
    I REALLY, REALLY, enjoy this article in the paper “Lost at sea” by
Douglas Campbell. It’s like I can’t wait for the next day of the paper. Very,
very, very interesting stories, and I was just calling to compliment you.
Thank you and goodbye.
   
FOR THE CEMENT head that wants more hockey coverage, move to Canada.
   
FARMERS ARE STILL having problems with the federal government with their
milk prices. Why don’t you take a hint from the oil industry and cut your
production of milk, that will raise the price just like the oil industry does.
And if the government don’t like it, tell the government to “go to hell.”
   
I WAS TICKLED to death to see that a class action suit is going to be filed
against the state by lawyers representing tobacco smokers. That’s great, keep
up the good work, that’s where the money belongs. The money belongs to the
people who were smoking, not to the politicians to have a good time with.
   
REGARDING THE ATHEIST in the SAYSO column of Thursday, Jan. 27, you asked
what others think of the new section (Faith and You), and I for one think it’s
a very fine section. The person’s comment was “not everyone believes in the
same religion” and obviously you’re putting in different things every week in
that column and it’s not the same. We have different beliefs in our area and
I’d like to see them all explored. And this person sounds so very angry I
think he does need some bit of the Bible and our Lord in his life to get rid
of his anger. Thank you very much for your newspaper and your column.
   
I WAS VISITING recently at Geisinger Hospital in Plains and I saw nurses
having to push beds and wheelchairs around. Where are the escorts that other
hospitals have? These nurses should be caring for their patients. Someone
should look into this.
   
FEEDING A PERSON on heroin through a tube for a month, you probably meant
well, but did you every see anyone on methadone? I have, my brother. If he had
methadone regularly and therapy regularly he’d be alive. Please educate
yourself more before you call about an issue so deadly it makes your skin
crawl. Apparently you don’t know enough about it.
   
THE LIU ALLOWED a fellow by the name of John Bau to take a default
judgment, now the LIU is going to owe him a lot of money, back pay, benefits.
Can you find out why they did that? Get some investigative reporting on them.
   
I WAS WATCHING CNN the other day when the presidential candidates landed in
New Hampshire, and I saw where Mr. Gore was getting off a United States of
America plane. Isn’t that taxpayer dollars being used for his campaign, while
everybody else either has to supply their own money for their campaign or use
fund-raisers? Could you please give me an answer to this?
   
COMMISSIONER URBAN, you were elected because we voted against Red Jones,
not because we voted for you. You have no track record. We won’t vote against
Kanjorski, yet. So stay in office, do a good job and show us what you were
made of and maybe in four or eight years we’ll vote for you, rather than
against someone else.
   
INSTEAD OF BURGER King recalling their Pokemon toys or instead of the
family suing Burger King for their Pokemon toys, the grandmother should be
sued or put in prison for murder, for leaving a Pokemon toy in a crib of a
4-month-old infant.
   
URBAN WAS DEFINITELY the wrong choice for electing to a county commissioner
position. As a matter of fact he’s probably the wrong choice to elect to any
position. Proof is the fact that, since he’s taken office he has done
absolutely nothing but solicit, he has petitions to run for another office at
a higher level.
   
THURSDAY, JAN. 27, another negative on Wilkes-Barre. How many miles of
roads does Kingston have compared to Wilkes-Barre and especially how many
hills to cover?
   
ALL THESE PEOPLE complaining about the price of gasoline, there’s a very
simple solution. Drive less, drive slower and quit complaining. Even the
tractor-trailer trucks are driving slower to save fuel, they’re only doing 75
on the interstate now instead of their usual 85 mph.
   
THEY GIVE THE kids off a day for safety reasons but then the caller was
right, you do see all the teachers out shopping or the gyms and stuff like
that, and also all the kids are out down at the Y and the CYC and all. If it’s
safe for them to go out to those places, then it’s safe to go to school.
   
THE ATHEIST WHO thinks that the new Faith section is an attempt to jam
religion down their throat, I give you the same advice that has been given for
decades to people of faith who have objected to the profanity and vulgarity on
TV and in movies, etc. Don’t look at it.
   
I DON’T LIVE in Dennison Township, but I’ve been following the dispute
about the shooting range, and the caller today seems to think that someone who
wants to stop the Game Commission from building a shooting range in their
backyard is a radical. What’s radical about that? It’s just a question of
safety and noise pollution and all the rest of it.
   
IF PEOPLE in this area were more educated regarding methadone and drugs,
they wouldn’t call such stupid comments into SAYSO as comparing methadone to
giving people cigars to get them off of cigarettes. Actually it may have the
same effect of heroin, but it gets them out of the clutches of the drug
dealers. And if this person thinks that you can get a heroin addict off heroin
completely, simply because they go through detox and they’re finished, that’s
a lifetime fight and most addicts aren’t willing to commit to a lifetime
fight.
   
THE BOOK STORE in the Murray Complex is called Global Books, and yes they
are very helpful and their tapes and books are reasonable.
   
I’VE BEEN PAYING school taxes for years, yet the family down the street who
rents doesn’t have to pay anything and they have six kids.
   
I WOULD LIKE to point out to a recent caller that the Confederate flag
isn’t the same thing as the Civil Rights Act. The caller seems to suggest that
African/Americans wanting the Confederate flag removed from the South Carolina
capitol building are asking for the same thing as if Americans protested the
Civil Rights Act and that’s just ridiculous reasoning. I’m a Southerner and
yet I agree that we should remove the Confederate flag from common use,
because it’s offensive.
   
TO THOSE WHO continually berate public schools and say teachers don’t teach
and children don’t learn, I say how come technology, medicine and the economy
are so good as compared to years ago. Who do you think did most of this?
Public school students, that’s who.
   
THE NEW NAME for the arena stinks. The more appropriate name would be the
“Taxpayer Funded Gymnasium.”
   
SCHOOL TAXES? Why do people that don’t have children think they don’t have
to pay taxes? Who do they think paid for them when they were in school? Other
people that didn’t pay taxes.
   
REFERRING TO YOUR Friday, Jan. 21, 2000, obituary page and probably others.
I notice you honor all the veterans with an emblem of the American flag in the
final paragraph, which I think is commendable. My question about the Friday,
Jan. 21, 2000, page is why was this honor placed for World War I, World War
II, and Korean Wars, and yet an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, not accorded
the same honor?
   
EDITOR’S NOTE: The flags are a new feature of our obituary page and several
have been omitted because of human error. We apologize for the oversight and
pledge to do better.