Sound Off: Common sense
The following is what Kane County Chronicle readers sounded off about in the past week:
Common sense in short supply
The opinion page of the Aug. 17 issue of the Chronicle contained two typical left-wing rants. Blame the Republicans when the fact is that the Democrats control the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and have enough votes to pass anything their little hearts desire. Again, the left's answer to every problem is to raise taxes, regardless of how it may impact individuals or businesses. The political left has never understood that taxes on business are just passed on to the ultimate consumer and therefore not nearly paid by the business. The fact that both of these articles were published in a Massachusetts paper is no surprise. Common sense seems to be in shorty supply these days.
Buying in bulk
Why are some grocery stores advertising that if you buy 10 items, you can get the items at a reduced price. I will not shop at your store if that's what you want to do. I cannot use 10 items before the expiration date. Why do the people who can use 10 get the item cheaper? Why can't I buy two or four and get a cheaper price? You probably will sell more if you let someone buy two items and get them cheaper. Use some common sense. Thank you.
Editor's note:To recap our first two items, a need for common sense applies to both those in the political left and grocery stores
Call of the chicken herders
This is everyone's favorite little Havanese pup dog calling in to support last week's Sound Off pro-chickens caller. We Havanese, as you maybe know, have a long, distinguished heritage as chicken herders in Cuba. We are ready and willing to round up any of the chickens in the Valley. We quite enjoyed ourselves back in the day, and our tails are wagging in excitement over the idea of a madcap, delightful roundup of chickens here in the Valley. Just the thought makes us shout, "yahoo!" and "woof woof!"
Editor's note:Frankly, I'm befuddled every time the Havanese pup calls the Sound Off line. How does it dial with paws?!?
Stay on the bike paths
This is for bicyclists. If you are riding a bicycle, please ride on a sidewalk or a bike path. Stay off the streets. There have been several times when I've been driving right alongside of a bike path, like on Route 25, and the cyclists – I don't know if they're, you know, just not very intelligent – but here they are riding on the street. Please ride on the bike path. You see often in the paper that bicyclists are hit. Well, duh. No surprise. I do know that a lot of the bicyclists are wearing helmets, which is a good thing because, like, when they get hit, they're going to need them. But please, stay on the bike path or the sidewalk and don't get hit. You'll always lose to a car or truck.
Editor's note:As I learned in college, bikes also lose to walls.
Return of the Havanese pup dog
This is everyone's favorite Havanese pup dog calling in to woof out a thank you, thank you, thank you for not printing my last Sound Off about chickens. I got so carried away by my memories of madcap chicken roundup that I fear I sounded a wee bit flippant. Let me say that there is no more noble a creature than a chicken. They are tidy. They are quiet, except during a Havanese poultry roundup and some have sweet dispositions. I believe that they could be as good of pets as most cats. I feel my opinion should carry some weight. I refer my faithful readers to the American Kennel Club Web site, where they describe my breed's history as loving performers, companions, pampered lap dogs of royalty and poultry herders for Cuban families. If I shut my adorable almond eyes, I can feel my Havana silk fur glowing as I handle my chicken herd like the best quarter horse in a horse (unintelligible)… I, of course, disagree with the term pampered lap dog description, but one has to some accept some media distortions. Woof, woof, woof.
Editor's note:Still befuddled. And slightly scared.
Coyotes on the prowl
Good morning. Just when I thought they were all gone, the coyotes are all showing up again. We live on South 7th Avenue with the woods in our backyard, and this morning – it's a Tuesday – we had our dogs out in the backyard about 5:30. My husband saw a shadow and it turned out to be a coyote in the backyard. We picked up our smaller dog and we got both of them in the house. So, I'd like this to be a warning to everyone who has pets, especially small ones, not to leave them outside alone. They could be seriously injured, or worse yet, killed. Thank you.
Editor's note:Quick, hide your Havanese and chickens!
Absolutely ridiculous
Hi. I was just reading in today's paper, which is Tuesday, about the St. Charles 1st Avenue to get a name change because it's confusing for people. Well, we have 2nd Avenue and 2nd Street, we have 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street, we have 4th Avenue and 4th Street, etc. Are those all going to be changed, too? Because people for years and years and years that have lived here know that the east side of the river are avenues and the west side are streets. I feel sorry and I'm so happy I'm not one of those businesses that had to go through the expense because one person thought, "Oh, we should change because people don't know the difference, they can't read avenue from street." You know, St. Charles is getting absolutely ridiculous.
Hazardous streets?
Has any member of the Batavia School Board driven or walked on Pine Street and have it called hazardous? There are sidewalks on both side of the street from Kirk Road to Raddant Street. What is hazardous about sidewalks for the students at J.B. Nelson? The complaint seems to be that the parents living inside the free bus route do not want to pay to have their children picked up, so they grouped their neighborhood with another neighborhood, which has free bus pickup. The Batavia School Board should not even apply for a hazardous route except from Raddant, the west side, to Hart, because there are no sidewalks on the north side of Pine.
Wide-spreading weeds
I know money is tight in city and county budgets- but it’s time to do something about the wide spreading weeds sprouting on Kaneville Road west of Fargo. If it was just an aesthetic issue then I’d say don’t spend the money but the size of these weeds, some over a foot high, are starting to destroy the pavement and curbing. They may also be hindering water flow to the sewers.
Loudness belongs outside
Just want to comment on the loudness of motorcycles. For your information, they have to be loud so people take notice and see them. Without the loud pipes of these bikes, people pay no attention to them. If you can hear them coming you can better prepare yourself to see them. And while I am at it, loudness belongs outside. God bless our bikers!
Let people invest
Barack Obama distracted everyone’s attention with his reverential respect for the rights of Muslims to build a mosque at Ground Zero that no one noticed his fear mongering over the right for people to invest their own retirement money. He was singing the praises of the insolvent Social Security system in his weekly radio and Nancy Pelosi baked a 75th birthday cake in honor of the defunct program. Politicians have been raiding our Social Security funds for decades to pay for programs that help them get re-elected. Obama’s threat that people will lose all of their money in the stock market if they are allowed to invest is an absurdity. In fact there is virtually no way for anyone to do a worse job of investing money than the government has done for the past 75 years. While the stock market has earned a compounded rate of return of 10 percent including crashes and corrections, the Social Security system will deliver about a 1 percent return on your money. The federal government does not exist to be a pension company nor does a city government exist to run health clubs. Use the November election to send the message that we’ve had about all the government help we can afford.
Geniuses at IDOT
Well for goodness sake, what genius at IDOT thought working on both these roads at the beginning of the school year was a good idea? Route 25 closed till October 29th?! Does that mean folks will have to use Country Club Road, Wayne will love that, or cut through Fox Glen or Fox Chase? Couldn't this work at least have been done earlier in the Summer and one road at a time? The drivers on 25 and 31 are maniacs already, this'll push them over the edge!
Compassion for neighbors
When I read an article in a local paper that Batavia will now start policing how many garage sales people are having, I couldn't believe what I was reading! With so many people losing their jobs, I'm appalled that anyone would make an issue out of someone trying to make a few dollars by selling items from their own property. Did anyone ever think maybe they are trying to put food on their table or pay a bill? I suppose those concerned citizens who are complaining about it would rather see these people go on food stamps or welfare. Whatever happened to having a little compassion for your neighbors?
• You can sound off, as well, by calling our Sound Off line at 630-845-5240 or by sending at e-mail to soundoff@kcchronicle.com.
