 |
  |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
When State Rep. Pat Farr expressed satisfaction that a bill had passed signaling that "Oregon is open for business," you might have thought the bill funded the repair of Oregon bridges, or education for the workforce, or adequate policing of our crowded highways. No, Farr was happy that he had voted for yet another round of tax breaks for corporations. How likely are these monies to return to our state and contribute to the common good? According to the Legislative Revenue Office analysis, the bill Farr supported (HB 3813) is expected to produce 21 new jobs in Oregon at a cost of more than $300,000 per job! Farr sits on the House Revenue Committee. Is this committee's job raising revenue or giving it away? Farr has talked about his concern for workers who have a hard time finding and keeping family wage jobs in Lane County. There are many ways that state revenue might help working families and also signal that Oregon encourages socially responsible businesses to locate here. I doubt so-called corporate incentives are the way to go. Farr needs to examine tax loopholes for additional funding rather than make such loopholes bigger and more numerous! Erik Muller
HUMAN DIGNITY It will be a grand day when our society demands more respect for our sisters, daughters and mothers. The provocative imagery currently on two billboard ads for Bud Light along the Highway 105 freeway in Springfield is offensive to me as a father, brother and son. Certainly, in this example and countless others, our
communities can demand more positive imagery for citizens to reflect
upon other than the sexually exploitative depiction of women. Let's
rewrite the script for human potential and demand the best for all of
Craig Satein
THANKS, GEORGE Thanks to President Bush's tax cut, our paycheck is a little fatter this month. We're pledging the increase to Howard Dean's campaign. Ken and Priscilla Tollenaar
PART OF THE SOLUTION? Today I received a care package with a copy of EW, dated May 22, 2003. I am grateful for the support I get as an individual soldier here in Mosul, Iraq with the Oregon National Guard. I was reading the letters to the editor, and I am not sure I understand all the facts and opinions expressed. Here in Iraq the folks I have met so far seem friendly. My Army unit is an engineer battalion doing construction in the city. I am not sure what long-term goals the U.S. has for our official relationship with the good people of Iraq. Please do not sit around weakly writing complaint letters. Try to offer some kind of solution. I am not at home watching the wheels turn, waiting for things to roll my way. I hope I am part of the new freedom of Iraq. You can find out more about the Oregon National Guard's mission in Iraq on the Internet. Michael Coker
CRIMINAL ATTIRE A short note to Laci Stevens ("Just Want a Hoodie," Letters, 6/26). Clerks are supposed to be keeping an eye on everyone, but you may be getting more than your share, yeah, because you look like you could be a professional shoplifter. Professional shoplifters often wear baggy clothing because they can put seven or eight items of clothing under them and have the theft not show. If this happened to you recently, it may not have anything to do with your facial piercings, but it may have a lot to do with your baggy clothing. Right now is one of the peak seasons for professional shoplifting. (Christmas season is another.) Margaret Weller OPPORTUNITY FIRST If you read sports sections, you probably have seen articles about women's sports and how the continued existence of their pro leagues is in jeopardy. However, perhaps the most shocking was the recent article in The Oregonian on NASCAR's new line of women's merchandise — hoping that fashion will bring in more women fans. All I can say is I'll start supporting NASCAR when men begin to support the WNBA, which needs the help much more. To put it nicely, women's pro leagues are in serious trouble. They're losing fans, and with them, money and TV coverage. But perhaps no one has really explored what this means. If women's sports were put to rest it would result in lost hope for millions of dreaming girls. It would be stripping these amazing athletes of their right to play and show off their talent. It would be taking away everything these girls have worked hard to accomplish. It hurts to know that the future of women's sports lays in the hands of men. These men do not need the money they may possibly be losing on the sport. These people need to open up their eyes and realize that sometimes it's not all about the money, but about hard work and dreams. Please — let's not ruin dreams and put talent to rest. Instead, let's support women's sports. I suggest — no, I challenge you to watch a women's sport. Maybe you'll even enjoy it. Let's do the work and watch women's sports flourish. Kyra Rose Buckley
LEARN FROM PAST I recently re-read the Declaration of Independence with a certain amount of trepidation in that I genuinely felt this document was antiquated and not applicable to today's needs or concerns. Boy, was I wrong! After plowing through the first six paragraphs, where
the founding fathers elaborate upon the abuses imposed upon the colonies
by King George, I became sickeningly aware of the similarities between
then and now. I was further shocked at what the writers of this document
so articulately stated: "… and accordingly all experience hath
shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
than right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
In plain language, we become comfortably complacent with bad government,
even though it is destroying our very Virtually every statement after the sixth paragraph perfectly describes the current condition of our government. As I read further, I wondered to myself, how did we manage to get ourselves into this quagmire, without so much as a lost step toward a march to the past? King George of England represented a monarchy whose reign and power was only limited by his ability to control the wealth of his empire. He used taxation and military power to dominate his citizens and the rest of the world. Today, our own King George Jr., represents not a monarchy, but a corpo-cracy, that is principally identical to that of King George's. Hey folks, it's time to wake up! William A. Fleenor, Ph.D.
EMOTION IN MOTION While I can certainly understand Brian Ellis's concern over protecting our children from violence in the media, I must take issue with his assessment of the film Hulk ("Angry Green Giant" 7/3), and in fact question whether he has actually seen the film he considers to be such a danger. I've always been pretty sure that the underlying intent of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creation was to decry the dangers of repressed emotion, and surely Ang Lee, a filmmaker who has used swallowed passion as a motif in many of his films, can point to the father-and-child relationships in his film as partial evidence that he, in fact, has some of the same concerns that Mr. Ellis does. Make no mistake; our society and its media are far too violent. But I suggest that one must do more than watch a Mountain Dew commercial before attempting to lead the crusade against it. Durden Kent
SENATOR SELLOUT One has to marvel at the course Tony Corcoran's political career has taken recently. It all seemed to start with the glowing full-page write-up the R-G did on him several months ago. Imagine: a labor activist getting positive treatment from this notoriously anti-union rag! But one can only wonder if it was a harbinger, for it was not long after that testimonial saw print that the good senator did his now-infamous 180 on PERS. You know, the one that has elicited from him an escalating gamut of emotion — from being "hurt" at the accusations leveled against him by his "friends" (EW, a couple of months ago), to "insulted" (the latest issue of Local Focus, the UO's SEIU publication), and now to sarcasm, as suggested in his July 10 EW column, wherein he states that he must be right because "splinters from both sides" are against him. An interesting argument; ironically, it's similar to that which the R-G uses to defend its alleged "moderation." Well, Tony, if I may: You might not have been so widely reviled by public sector labor had you been a little more straightforward and open, and given us some hint, at least, about your planned "sellout vote" (what a "friend" would have done); instead, we had to find out about it in, of all places, the R-G. Talk about "hurt" and "insulted." And keep this in mind, too: The unions that now question your integrity represent hundreds of thousands of state, county and municipal employees — hardly a "splinter." And — we vote. Bill Smee
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
