Posted on November 5 at 1:53 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
whatdidyousay, How do you know I have contributed nothing to this country? I think I have and so do many people. It sounds like you are the socialist dictator deciding who deserves freedom and the right to voice our opinions through our votes. Before you claim others have done nothing for our country maybe you should actually know who you are talking to. How do we not deserve freedom? I would hope that someone as proud as you seem to be about fighting for our country would think we all deserve freedom, otherwise, why would you fight? Do you have murderous thoughts? If so maybe you are the one who does not deserve freedom and should be locked up. People like you who want to deny others freedom are the problem. They were also the problem in WWII and WWI, so whose side are you falling on now little Mr. Hitler?
Posted on November 5 at 10:35 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Whatdidyousay, first of all this country did sink like a rock (thanks Bush and the republicans who voted for him). Second, Obama has more experience than Bush Jr. or Bill Clinton. If you liked the Republican candidate it would not have been much better, he wanted an absolute moron to be his VP.
Also, I wish people would stop throwing around "I fought for this country" -- who cares, so did lots of other people. The last few times people have fought WE LOST, not something to be proud of. There are plenty of vets who don't brag and feel entitlement to more "freedom" than others. What you fought for did not bring us freedom or protection (unless you are talking WWII), you fought for money, power, idealism or some other vague thing that does not make us more free or safe, and definately should not make us proud. Also, it does not make you more American than liberals who don't want to fight. To me, not wanting to kill someone/be killed seems more intelligent than running willy nilly to enlist. We are all American, and we all contribute -- get over it.
On Why is there no green for the gardens?
Posted on October 21 at 1:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
SuperDave -- While I will grant you the objection to my road example, I do not see you commenting on city or county parks. Also, I do believe an elderly handicapped individual benefits from services you believe should be paid for by private citizens. Even if they cannot enjoy a feature of a community, they benefit as long as the feature makes the community a better place to live. If funding the gardens, skate park etc... makes Janesville a more attractive place to people who are looking for somewhere to relocate it does benefit everyone. I never said I wanted to live in any of the places I listed, only that they have a better quality of life than we do. Regardless of what type of government system we have in place comparing our country to countries that are better than us can only make us stronger. By the way, the countries I listed may officially be monarchies, but they also have very strong democratic governments, so they are not that different from us (except the people understand paying taxes for the greater good of all). You claim "money is better spent by people than by government." Although I do not have complete faith in our system, I believe the government is roughly made up of our people, especially local governments (ie. city council etc). Looking at the state of the American people, economy, and foreign relations, it seems we are not well equipped to spend our money. If we were left to fund what we wanted, I do not believe our country could function much at all. Many people are not capable of deciding what the greater good is let alone how to help it.
One final point, even if I were to give you the we should pay for "little extras" argument (which I am not), what about those who cannot pay for them? Should the poorer members of our community not be able to go see Rotary Gardens, play organized sports, or do other activities you feel they should pay for? The elderly person you describe should not be looked to when it comes to paying the vast majority of taxes, rather it should be people who are living very comfortably (driving the BMWs, and living in $500,00 homes) who should be looked to when it comes to funding the bulk of our government services. I know, I know , many people say they already do, but oh well, if you don't like your taxes move somewhere else: this is the United States of America, and we pay taxes to help ALL people, not just ourselves.
On Why is there no green for the gardens?
Posted on October 21 at 10:48 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Well SuperDave, I hope you do not take advantage of any publicly funded leisure programs or sights. Do you ever go to a city park, maybe a county park. The fact is, these "little extras" ought to be funded by all of us as they do benefit all of us even if we do not use them. I will not use the skatepark, but I am sure glad I won't have to be burdened by as many wandering kids. In a time when so many youth are over weight, I am glad the city is putting in athletic fields even though I will not use them. We are part of a community, and as a community we support one another (or should). Just because you will not personally use something does not mean it should not get city/state/federal funding. Using your line of reasoning, a person who does not drive should not have to pay taxes to increase the quality of our roads. Why is it so many people get upset over our small tax rate when we get so much from it. Looking at other (more prosperous) countries in the world (I'm thinking Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland), we pay next to nothing. Of course our quality of life isn't as good, there is more unemployment, obesity, unhappiness, and poverty, but I guess your money is more important than the well-being of the country. I say the city should fund the gardens, they bring people into the city, and in some cases keep them here. In these trying times for Janesville, we need all the positive places we can find.
On Police investigate political confrontation
Posted on October 20 at 11:11 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The comments below are a wonderful example of what is wrong with our community. A woman has been assaulted and our community members comment on how the violence was acceptable. Not only that, but they threaten people with arrest. Wow Janesville, wow.
On Turtle hunter is ducky friend
Posted on August 5 at 4:10 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
This is fairly ridiculous. Killing 30 year-old turtles to protect some baby ducks. If the ducks really produce as many ducklings as the landowner predicts I seriously doubt the turtles are being that much of a problem. These turtles have been around a long time and deserve more respect than the gazette is giving them here.
On Judge denies water sampling at Larson Acres
Posted on May 30 at 11:04 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Irishgirl, I have a few comments to make in response to your remarks. First, you write, “do you really think that Larson's have the monopoly on polluting the ground in that area. There water is pulled from a well in the ground, not the city water.” THEIR water may be pulled from a well, but their runoff goes into everyone’s wells; it is not a matter of country vs. city water. Second, I will agree that the Larsons do give back to the community via jobs, but at what cost to the rest of the community (i.e. small farms)? Third, I appreciate you trying to stay objective, as it makes this discussion more productive and civil, but when you claim the opposition to the Larsons is coming from “an "organic" farmer wannabe” you leave objectivity behind and move into snarky name calling. I know some of these “wannabes,” and they do not deserve to be insulted, whether or not they are justified in wanting to test the Larson’s water. Also, why do you continually put “factory farm” in quotations? Thank you.
On Company plans to close Orfordville, Albany facilities
Posted on May 1 at 1:02 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I am not sure what the problem is with this Obama quote. As someone who grew up in one of these "hick" towns, I have to say I pretty much agree with him. If you want to find justification for Obama's comments all you need to do is look at many of the discussions on this site.
On Minority students sought to apply for scholarships
Posted on April 2 at 9:05 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Bill,
I know that for some it may seem the racial atmosphere in Janesville is one of happiness and understanding. Yet for many others it is place where people of color do not feel welcome. I know students of color at local universities and colleges who have been severely discriminated against in Janesville, and because of this refuse to come here. These are very intelligent people capable of distinguishing between racism and simple coincidences. Because of the racism they have suffered in Janesville they refuse to shop, eat, or simply drive through the city.
Consider this, according to the 2000 census the racial breakdown in Janesville is as follows
White: 93.9%
Black: 1.3%
Latino/a: 2.6
Now, when you think about the racism some non-Janesville residents see in their short-lived visits, imagine the 3.9% of Janesville's population that must deal with this on a day to day basis. I hope Janesville will, one day, realize how prevalent its racist attitudes are so we can begin to break them down. I do believe this discussion is a good place to start, thank you.
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On Obama wins Wisconsin
Posted on November 5 at 3:58 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
To begin: whatdidyousay: I would not call what you felt love if you are ready to give up on our country already, more like a feigned interest as long as the polititians were your type. If you truly loved it you still would. There is nothing truly Marxist about Obama, no more than Bush was a facist. Well, I guess you could say that he wants to help the people who need it through government programs. If this is what you call socialism, well ok, at least it is better than continuing on the country's current downward spiral.
And now to the fun post: kraut60,
Whether or not the wars were won/lost by politicians does not mean they were not won/lost. I also take issue with fighting for the constitution OR the president. What about cases where the president was ordering unconstitutional wars (ie. Bush and his lying to Congress, the U.N. and all our other allies about the reasons for entering conflict). It seems at times the biggest threat to the constitution are people who misuse it (many polititians on both ends of the spectrum). Also, if you look at the context of my original post, the only reason I brought up veterans was because it was used in a way to make one person's views on America more valid than non-veterans. This type of argument is not a good one. Just because someone was a veteran does not make them more American or even more patriotic, it just makes them a veteran and like you said there are lots of them.