LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.Byline: The Register-Guard Arafat demonized by Friedman Following in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times columnist Thomas Friedman's steps, I went into Google but punched in Friedman's name instead of Yasser Arafat's. The most befitting be·fit·ting adj. Appropriate; suitable; proper. be·fit  ting·ly adv.Adj. 1. description of Friedman was that of being a "professional demonizer" and a "manufacturer of news," which is reflected in his latest editorial column and has long been expressed in many past ones when he is writing about Islam, Arabs and the Palestinians. Friedman may write what he wants about Arafat, but the greatest crime Arafat committed and will never be forgiven for by Friedman and his ilk is that it was Arafat who brought to the world's attention the plight of the Palestinian people For other uses of "Palestinian", see Definitions of Palestine and Palestinian. Palestinian people (Arabic: الشعب الفلسطيني, . It was Arafat who exposed the refugees expelled from their own land and the suffering of the Palestinians under Israel's inhumane in·hu·mane adj. Lacking pity or compassion. in  hu·manely adv. occupation.
Much of the world was not cognizant of this suffering, or of Israel's crimes against humanity, which are very well documented now by all respected human rights organizations throughout the world, even that of Israel's well-known group of B'tselem. Now that Arafat has passed on, it will be interesting to see at sometime in the future when punching Friedman's name into Google whom he chooses to demonize de·mon·ize tr.v. de·mon·ized, de·mon·iz·ing, de·mon·iz·es 1. To turn into or as if into a demon. 2. To possess by or as if by a demon. 3. in Arafat's place while still manufacturing his distortions, courtesy of The New York Times. NADIA SINDI Eugene Teach ethics rather than morals Oral Robbins' Nov. 7 letter highlights perfectly the me-first attitudes of President Bush's supporters, which boils down to "Teach your children how to get theirs first and leave everyone else to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps as well as they can." Of course, that implies that everyone has boots with straps, but that's another letter. The polarization in this country comes down to the difference between the scarcity principle and the principle of sharing. Deluded by the former are those who are afraid that if they give anything away, there'll be less for them. Those who subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; the principle of sharing know that the very act of giving ensures that one will always have more to give, as well as more than enough to live a clean and simple life. It's not morals we need to model and teach, it's ethics and spiritual principles. Therefore, instead of encouraging our children to get, to grab, to hoard, why don't we teach them that we are not separated from each other, that we own everything in common with all of humanity and the other kingdoms of nature and that only through sharing can we ever hope to progress? When children everywhere have learned this lesson and express it through their daily interactions, only then will the world know peace, having learned through experience that sharing is abundance enough. NANCY DAVISON Dexter War is worst kind of terrorism Terrorism is not a country, or a person, or a beast to be hunted down and killed. Terrorism is intense fear. How do we win a war on fear by bombing a country to rubble, slaughtering 200,000 Iraqi men, women and children and mutilating five times that many? Isn't war the most extreme terrorism? Doesn't waging war make us extreme terrorists? Terrorism grows out of poverty, out of hunger, out of disease, out of ignorance. It is a woman bearing children she can't feed, can't keep healthy, can't educate. It is a child who has no childhood, no hope and no future. It is a man without a job to provide for his family. It is our old folks who must choose between food and medication. It is our boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. sent off to kill people who never threatened their country, never did them any harm. It is our kids coming home, their lives ruined, their jobs gone, to a country unwilling to pay for their healing. Using violence to make ourselves feel safe is a failed policy. Doesn't it make more sense to use our resources to alleviate the causes of terrorism? VIRGINIA CONLEY Springfield Arafat a terrorist and murderer After reading Susan Palmer's article on Yasser Arafat (Register-Guard, Nov. 6) in which she strives to convince her readers of the goodness of Arafat, I am compelled to respond. The plight of the so-called Palestinians is the fault of surrounding Arab nations, not Israel. Some facts to consider: 1) Arabs were not "driven off their land" by the Jewish people, regardless of what a University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. professor states. These Arab people chose to leave their homes for their own safety to enable their Arab brothers to march through Israel and to exterminate the Jewish people. Then, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. their way of thinking, all of Israel would be theirs to plunder TO PLUNDER. The capture of personal property on land by a public enemy, with a view of making it his own. The property so captured is called plunder. See Booty; Prize. . Problem for the Arabs - they lost every war in their attempts to do so. 2) All Arab people who did not fight against Israel and remained are now citizens of Israel. 3) All Jewish people who had lived in Arab nations for many years were driven out of these Arab nations by the Arabs and all their property stolen. Israel took in all of these Jews and gave them a home. 4) No Arab nation around Israel took in the Arab refugees who voluntarily fled Israel. The Arab nations chose to make these refugees a political spectacle A long tradition of work in political science on political spectacle[1] (Anthropologist Meg McLagan suggest as examples Edelman 1988 and Wedeen 1999), started with the work of Guy Debord since 1950s (see his 1967 major work, and Situationist); many literary critics and , which they are to this day. 5) Arafat was not a great political leader. He was a terrorist and murderer. RUSS CONKLIN Springfield Are media aiding insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. ? A recent Central Command news release illustrates efforts by major news organizations to set up photo opportunities to show the killing of American soldiers. In one ambush, our Marines killed a cameraman who worked for a major news agency. Inspection of the videotape revealed footage of previous attacks on U.S. vehicles, including use of rocket-propelled grenades, an improvised explosive device Noun 1. improvised explosive device - an explosive device that is improvised I.E.D., IED explosive device - device that bursts with sudden violence from internal energy and small arms small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Early Small Arms The first small arms came into general use at the end of the 14th cent. . As you view news footage, ask yourself whether the pictures were possible unless insurgents told the photographers where and when to take pictures. Recently, I saw footage from a camera set up at one end of an alley, which recorded a tank retriever retriever: see sporting dog. retriever Any of several dog breeds, bred to retrieve game, that have a thick, water-resistant coat, keen sense of smell, and “soft” mouth that does not damage game. Retrievers are 22–24 in. being hit by an IED Noun 1. IED - an explosive device that is improvised I.E.D., improvised explosive device explosive device - device that bursts with sudden violence from internal energy just as it passed the street end of the same alley. Ask soldiers and families of soldiers about evidence they see of media alignment with the insurgents. An Oregon National Guard soldier shared with his family reasons which assured him The Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. was working directly with the insurgents. Such behavior is not only morally reprehensible rep·re·hen·si·ble adj. Deserving rebuke or censure; blameworthy. See Synonyms at blameworthy. [Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin repreh , it can be deadly for our troops. These same news agencies have extensive access to our military, not available to the insurgents. By sharing the information they receive, their news stories can achieve a much greater level of drama and entertainment. Ernie Pyle Ernest Taylor "Ernie" Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945), was an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in 1945. and Bill Mauldin could be a terrible pain in the rear to our political and military leadership, but they were always loyal Americans. Somehow we have lost that proper definition of objectivity. NOLAN NOLAN Nascom Operational LAN NELSON Eugene LTD LTD 1 Laron-type dwarfism 2 Leukotriene D 3 Long-term depression, see there 4. Long-term disability provides important service I would like to respond to Michael J. Barker's Nov. 6 letter. It is apparent that Barker doesn't use Lane Transit District as an alternate source of transportation, or he wouldn't be so quick to make a judgment about buses running empty. I would like to invite Barker to come and ride on LTD for a week and just see for himself the service we provide on a daily basis. We not only provide transportation to the special needs folks, but also to students from elementary through college age - not to mention the commuters who ride to work, doctor's appointments, shopping, etc. I am a driver for LTD and would like for Barker to come and ride for an eight-hour shift for a week and see for himself what challenges we face daily and then make an informed judgment about the service LTD provides. I agree that we need to do something about jail overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. , but singling out LTD is not the place to start. STEPHEN P. HOISINGTON Eugene Bills address voting standards There is a high probability that the electronic voting machines, manufactured by for-profit corporations with secret software and connections to suspect ideologies, created a false result for an unpopular president. There is a very low probability - 0.1 percent - that the media's exit polls would disagree with the actual vote count, and that is exactly what has happened in Florida, Ohio and other states that used electronic voting. This disagreement did not occur in states that voted with paper ballots. The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, which would create a voter-verified paper trail and ban proprietary software, is stuck in committee in Congress. Senate Bill 1980, which is co-sponsored by Oregon's Ron Wyden, and House Bill 2239, which is co-sponsored by 157 representatives, including Peter DeFazio and Dennis Kucinich, have been held up by House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, ensuring that the voting machines would be unchallenged in 2004. It is past time to urge our representatives to get these bills on the floor for a vote. When our vote is stolen, we become slaves. We are no longer a self-determined people. President Bush has been quoted as joking on Dec. 18, 2000, during his first trip to Washington as president-elect, "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier ... just as long as I'm the dictator." Was he really joking? Are you feeling just a little bit outraged? DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. HAZEN Eugene |
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