April 2 Letters to the Editor

Where has our pride gone?

Driving back home from Portland this past Sunday was an eye opener for me. Plastic bags, hamburger bags, cans, paper, etc., all up and down the I-5 corridor. There were a few trash bags on the roadside where someone had volunteered to pick up some. Even around Longview trash has built up on Ocean Beach and other roads. My contention is it shouldn’t be there in the first place.

I often wonder if these law breakers homes look as bad; it is against the law to litter our roads and highways. I often find pennies on the sidewalks and parking lots around town. Ever wonder why? I pick up pennies because they make dollars and shouldn’t be wasted. I guess some people have all the money they need and pennies are nothing but a throw away item.

There are some litter strewn countries and the good old U.S.A. shouldn’t be one of them. I believe that the majority of our population really cares and takes pride in cleanliness. People with pride tend to be closed mouthed and say nothing. I think it’s time we made a roar about the rubbish strewn highways and streets. I am just a concerned citizen of the United States of America, with pride.

Ernie Gerald

Longview

Lighten up

I would much rather dine in a restaurant with a happy, thriving family than a bunch of judgmental people straight from the Victorian era who sanctimoniously tell nursing moms to keep their “bratty” infants home. (That’s hardly polite.)

I say get over yourselves and quit taking life so seriously. Nobody survives. I’d give anything to hear my “brat” of a grandson cry, cry, and cry some more, anytime, anywhere. He was silenced forever at the age of six months.

Nancy Wavra

Toutle

Property taxes

Now that we have all heard about the decline in property values in Cowlitz County, we are waiting for the revised statements advising we owe less property taxes.

We have the right to expect integrity in our county government.

Irene Breitenbach

Longview

More civil, not evil

Regarding the Parade article of March 29 by Sen. Jim Webb, “Why we must fix our prisons,” Sen. Webb quotes statistics that the U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate, and states only two possible reasons: we are home to the most evil people on earth, or our prisons are counterproductive.

I disagree. We have more people in custody than most other countries because we are more civil, not evil. We do not maim or torture or violently kill those who have broken our laws. We do choose to fairly try and incarcerate those who are justly convicted, and have in place comprehensive programs to rehabilitate them while in custody, and after release.

Addressing the senator’s assertion that minor drug dealers should not be jailed, that would be akin to the policy of letting wildfires burn themselves out. I believe our criminal justice system and our prison system need to be in a constant state of review and upgrade, but I would also argue that it still works better than anywhere else. Point in mind: Cowlitz County’s crime statistics after expanded capacity of our containment facility.

J.D. Smith

Toutle

Do the research

“Admitting you’re liberal” does not put a “target on your back in America” (Syndi Bay’s March 1 letter). It comes after making outrageously inaccurate statements and having the audacity to demand the “source” when refuted.

If the information had been researched the source would be obvious. It’s called history and is available from many sources including books. Anyone in the local library can help.

Don Cullen

Kelso

Concern was valid

A few years ago some folks began to attempt to warn people about the coming One World Government and they were for the most part ridiculed and laughed at and called conspiracy theorists and several other unflattering names. But, as events have unfolded in the recent past, we can see that perhaps these folks had a valid concern.

There is the almost frantic movements by our new administration in Washington, D.C., to push America into socialism. And just this week the United Nations has called for, with the support of the European socialist countries, a world currency which our esteemed Treasury secretary says is worth looking into. The word “Globalism” is now the catch phrase being used by those who are in favor of, that’s right, One World Government.

Globalism is just the latest member in the extended family of “isms” that began with feudalism and gave us such erstwhile systems as communism, naziism, fascism and totalitarianism. Get out your dictionary and look up the description of the above systems. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Daniel Stanley

Longview