Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 08.26.15

Requiring 5 job contacts isn’t enough

Asking a person who is collecting money from a system supported by workers like me to apply for a job once a day should not need to be mandated.

They should be doing it at a double or triple rate.

Having Observer editors try to describe how much extra work it is for everybody, including the unemployed, is ridiculous.

We are all out here working very hard. Asking those who receive benefits to do extra work to gain employment is just like a job. It is “work,” but it pays the bills and allows for a more comfortable and satisfying life.

Pittenger should disclose ethics letter

Congressman Robert Pittenger tries to justify the markups his previous company charged investors. Yet on page 12, one sees another article where Mr. Pittenger has again refused to release the letter from the ethics committee in reference to the same company. (Pittenger declines, again, to disclose House ethics letter, Aug. 25)

Not to say the congressman is being dishonest, but as the old saying goes: “If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck...”

Can’t believe Will and I agree on Trump

I actually felt the earth tilt a bit as I agreed with an op-ed piece by George Will. (“On immigration, Trump wants big government,” Aug. 23 Viewpoint)

Is Donald Trump aware that birthright citizenship is written into the Constitution, and that deporting children of illegal immigrants will be deporting American citizens?

Will’s tongue-in-cheek comment about requiring illegal immigrants to wear yellow stars has to resonate with anyone who has been observing the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, and what happened to a nation when it scapegoated a segment of its population and started to “deport” them.

Let’s hear more talk on political issues

It’s a long way to November 2016, but I can’t help but be amazed at the differences in issues being discussed by the parties.

Conservatives – all 17 of them – seem focused on how best to deport millions of people and defund Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest provider of women’s health care.

Liberals are more concerned about the income gap between the top 1 percent and the rest of us, and also propose ideas that will get the economy going and reduce student debt.

That’s quite a contrast and a clear indicator of the two parties’ priorities.

Frame those selfies, don’t send to me

At last someone had the guts to point out this narcissistic behavior for what it really is: a form of one-upsmanship. The worst part is that there is no defense.

What we see as self-centered, the narcissists see as generosity – you now have the privilege of seeing the world through their “me” glasses.

Here’s a suggestion: Take your pictures and hang them on your wall at home. That’s a polite way of saying what I really think you should do with them.

Too quick to blame Ferrell, the victim

It’s interesting that one juror believes Jonathan Ferrell had other options rather than moving toward Officer Kerrick.

It’s always the victim’s fault; question his behaviors but not the officers’.

Officer Wes Kerrick had other less deadly weapons on him and two fellow officers on the scene. Didn’t he trust his fellow officers to intervene to help/save him?

Don’t spend on another jury trial

What’d we get for that $15K city spent?

Now that the Kerrick trial is over, I’d like to hear from City Manager Ron Carlee about what the city got in exchange for the $15,000 he decided to pay to an outside media consultant.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 08.26.15."