Primary choices
Friday, July 18, 2008 12:45 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleJuly 18 Letters to the Editor
Primary choices
The notion of a democratic republic centers on the election of representatives to implement the values and further the interests of the electorate. The upcoming August primary offers two Democratic party choices: Brian Baird and Cheryl Crist.
If spending fuel and borrowed dollars and sacrificing your sons and daughters in a futile attempt to commandeer a sovereign nation’s oil represents your values, then Baird is your choice. If you see ending the above activities and getting serious on preparing for the declining oil production to be more in line with your best interests, then Crist is your candidate. If handing over dollars from your paycheck to for profit insurance companies meets your criteria for medical care, vote for Baird. If you prefer single-payer, tax-funded, universal coverage like the rest of the world has, then Crist is your candidate.
Loyalty and past performance are all well and good, but it is time to take a hard look at where you best interests lie. This is not Kansas.
Tedine Roos
Longview
Why charge for parking?
Once again, the Rainier Eagles has surpassed my expectation for a spectacular event and firework display.
Myself, along with numerous friends and family members, were disturbed by the parking situation. For one day or one weekend out of the year, could business owners along Highway 30 allow parking? What kind of message is being sent to nearby communities that come to Rainier Days in the Park?
Advertisements are to come join the fun on the river, then they get charged $5 and $10 to park at some lots. Other businesses just tape off their lots.
Some people may think that the parking fee is part of the event and that the Eagles are charging. The Rainier Eagles are in no way affiliated with the parking charges.
I’m looking forward to next year’s event, hopefully, with more parking.
Kathleen Allen
Longview
Nation needs more oil
The cartoon of July 5 on the “flooding” of the U.S. interested me.
Foreclosures can be caused by people buying homes with adjustable mortgages that were raised, who, barely affording the old rate, gave up. Maxing out credit cards causes bad debt.
The rest is gas prices. Anything delivered will have that new expense tacked to what they deliver and this is passed on to the consumer.
Consumers cut consumption to afford gasoline, and the suppliers of goods cut unneeded personnel.
We need oil. I understand there are capped wells that were not providing enough oil to be profitable then. Uncap them.
I lived in Alaska during the oil boom. Likely we learned to drill faster than the approximately seven years I remember.
The tundra isn’t beautiful. It is a wasteland. In summer, the mosquitoes and chiggers eat you up, and in the winter you freeze. That drilling can be compared to a postage stamp on a football field.
That last drilling was photographed every little ways, before, during and after installation. There was no great difference between before and after.
The pipeline was elevated when possible. Animals passed underneath and migrated.
Let’s drill for the oil while Congress is deciding on an alternative for gasoline.
Theda L. Williamson
Ryderwood
Parents beware
On July 8, I was having trouble sleeping, with the residual fireworks going off. I had a movie and was watching an old black and white. The movie finished around 12:15 am. I still couldn’t sleep, so I was channel surfing. I have not watched TV that late in years.
I switched to the WE channel and there was a program that looked like all of the other shopping channels, so I watch ... and to my horror they were selling “adult products.” I was shocked and mortified. I know that around the U.S. they require you to be 18 to enter. I woke up my husband and told him to “look.” These were battery-operated devices that you’d find in an adult store.
I know when I was a teenager I would have friends stay over and we would watch TV all night. I even have filters on my receiver so that when our (my husband’s) grandchildren come over they can’t watch anything over “G.” This totally slipped through my filter system due to the non-rated nature of the marketing program.
I am planning to write to the WE channel. I just wanted to let people know that on regular TV there is what used to be labeled pornographic materials for all ages to see. When will the media stop? How much further will it go, before we say enough?
Andrea Webber
Kelso
God is punishing America
Why should God bless America? Our government encourages homosexuality, which is an abomination, and doctors perform abortions, which is another word for murder.
I think God is punishing America for its evil ways. Look at the wildfires in California and the floods in the Midwest and the South. I think America needs to change its ways.
Kent Disney
Longview
Some are not complaining
Do you want to know who is not complaining about the economy, the war, the price of gas, the never-ending list of problems I personally associate with our current presidency? I’ll tell you who’s not complaining — judges, lawyers, prosecuting attorneys, probation officers, police officers, corrections officers and all their buddies.
Our government has made so many laws that getting through one day without breaking the law is almost impossible.
Oh, yes, you may be 65 or 70 years old and say this country is the land of the free and home of the brave, love it or leave it. Look around you. Fifty percent of the male population under 35 is either an ex-convict or an ex-felon. Another 10 percent is fighting a war that can never be won. And yet another 10 percent is in prison or incarcerated. The other 30 percent are police and corrections officers.
Robert Falconer
Cathlamet
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