Opinions? I’ve got plenty. Some are even considered opinions.

For instance, the more I think about it, I can understand why the Arizona Daily Star didn’t reprint the April 22 New York Times’ story on the relationship between local developer Don Diamond and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential candidate. Why?

It wasn’t exactly news, as Star reader advocate Debbie Kornmiller explained in her May 4 column. In fact, she said the Times took some liberties with the facts. So, it turns out the only news angle is that it was a story in the Times. Big deal. The Times is pretty shaky when it comes to political journalism. At least when people like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh go after somebody, they make no pretext of coming from an impartial point of view. The Times would like for us to believe they’re different but they’re not.

What’s a phone book?

What’s with phone books these days? Who uses them? Several weeks ago I came home and found one in my driveway. This one was a localized book for a part of town I don’t frequent. The book went directly into recycling.

Bistro Costco

With the tough economic times these days, Costco is getting busier as a place to eat. No, not the snack bar area where they sell pizza slices and hot dogs. I’m talking about the giveaways throughout the store. I swear people must go there just to eat - and some are really hungry when they get there, too. At the mere sight of a sample they’ll leave their cart in the middle of an aisle as they bolt for a scrap of food, oblivious to the fact they’ve blocked others from shopping.

Arizona’s clogged artery

Is there any more boring drive - scenery-wise - than Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix? Some politicians have grumbled about state revenues from traffic enforcement being down. One reason may be that I-10 has become so crowded it’s impossible to drive faster than the 75 miles-per-hour speed limit. If we had a decent freeway, we could speed. Think of all the "waste of a finite resource" money the state could be collecting.

Which way do I go?

Did you catch the two-part Road Runner column by Andrea Kelly in the May 5 and 12 Star about driving pet peeves? People who move here from somewhere else often tell us we don’t have real traffic issues in this town, at least compared to wherever it is they came from. But can you imagine some of the drivers we have in this town surviving in any other city?

It goes to our mindset here. People here drive like we do a lot of other things - without purpose. We don’t drive as if we want to get anywhere - except for the dim bulbs who run red lights.

In most other places, the left lane is for faster traffic and it’s legal to get your vehicle going the speed limit. But not here.

Please people, take charge of your life; do something. Even when you drive.

E-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237.