LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.Byline: The Register-Guard Japan would have kept fighting Advocates often cite casualty avoidance for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan. People extrapolate extrapolate - extrapolation from 48,000 American and 230,000 Japanese losses at Okinawa to 500,000 American and millions of Japanese casualties for mainland invasions. Estimates could have understated casualties vastly. At 374,000 mountainous square miles, Japan enables, mathematically, more than 500 defensive redoubts, comparable to General Ushijima's construction inflicting most Okinawa losses. The War Faction adopted the motto of "100 million Japanese deaths" for planning final mainland battles. Besides kamikazes, redeployed Kwantung divisions and bamboo spears for civilians, the allies faced biological warfare biological warfare, employment in war of microorganisms to injure or destroy people, animals, or crops; also called germ or bacteriological warfare. Limited attempts have been made in the past to spread disease among the enemy; e.g. . Occupation searchers uncovered large stockpiles of viruses, spirochetes and fungus spores throughout rural Japan. One delivery plan directed Japanese to infect themselves and then surrender. "The Greatest Generation" and their parents would have been enraged en·rage tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es To put into a rage; infuriate. [Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. to discover a cabal satisfied their moral orthodoxy by condemning more than 500,000 Americans who might otherwise have been saved. I have not seen mentioned the critical role Kokutai played in surrender. Any prominent Japanese lived out this spiritual combination of emperor, citizen, land, ancestral spirits, government and Shinto religion. Hirohito appointed a Peace Faction in January 1944, but he and advisers debated through 20 months of continuous defeats and 1.3 million additional Japanese deaths before atomic bombs removed the "final battle" argument, allowing the War Faction to relent re·lent v. re·lent·ed, re·lent·ing, re·lents v.intr. To become more lenient, compassionate, or forgiving. See Synonyms at yield. v.tr. Obsolete 1. , Hirohito to assume his unprecedented role and no one to lose face. They remained within the fabric of Japanese from all eras who had sacrificed themselves for emperor and empire. Nolan Nelson Eugene Let Congress know our priorities The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. has been overseas for more than four years fighting "the war on terror This article is about U.S. actions, and those of other states, after September 11, 2001. For other conflicts, see Terrorism. The War on Terror (also known as the War on Terrorism " and has spent untold amounts of money. The human cost of this has gotten beyond belief. Now, we find the real terror is here at home with our country's infrastructure coming apart at the seams. Our lives are in danger because we haven't repaired what we have. I urge everyone to spend $1.23 (a cup of coffee) a week for a few weeks. Let's let Sens. Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (born May 3, 1949) is Oregon's senior United States Senator. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Early career and personal life Wyden was born in Wichita, Kansas to Edith Rosenow and Peter H. and Gordon Smith
Gordon Harold Smith (born May 25, 1952) is Oregon's junior United States Senator, currently serving his second term. He is a member of the Republican Party. and Rep. Peter DeFazio Peter Anthony DeFazio (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician. He serves as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Oregon, representing the 4th Congressional District and is currently serving his 11th term. know, with the written word, that we must start spending money here at home. If the U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. had to carry huge bags of mail into the Sam Rayburn Building, someone would start to pay attention to what we, the people want. But we must make our opinions known. The written word is still powerful. Let's use it for change. MARGE RAICHE Eugene Motorcycle rider was foolish I'm commenting on the front page article in the Aug. 8 Register-Guard about a very foolish young motorcyclist who attempted to elude the police on Interstate 5. Excessive speed on heavily traveled highways is foolish, and attempting to avoid the legal consequences by running from the police is even more foolish. This young man was very lucky that he wasn't killed. At the speeds cited in the article, the only possible result from a crash would be certain death. Given what he's already paid out in fines, and will pay for this incident, he could have paid for six or seven days of track time at Portland International Raceway Portland International Raceway (PIR) is located in Portland, Oregon's Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. The track hosts a Champ Car race every year and ICSCC and SCCA road racing and autocross events. , an environment where it's safe to go fast. In addition to the risk to himself, his actions also contribute to the public hysteria about high performance motorcycles and the people who ride them. Another factor that contributes to the poor reputation of high performance motorcycles is misinformation mis·in·form tr.v. mis·in·formed, mis·in·form·ing, mis·in·forms To provide with incorrect information. mis from news media. This may seem like a trivial difference, but there has never been a production motorcycle that is capable of 210 mph without modification. There are several models available that can approach 186 mph, based on an agreement among motorcycle manufacturers Motorcycle manufacturers in production Austria
Carl Best Eugene Support new interim fire chief It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for the South Lane County Fire and Rescue District to move on. Once again, the district board of directors has made a decision. At this time, it only serves to disrupt the entire organization to argue whether the board's decision was right or wrong. Once again, district employees, volunteers and patrons have been given the opportunity to make this merger and district work for the benefit of our children, our senior citizens and everyone in between. I have met and served on state boards state boards Examinations administered by a US state board of medical examiners to license a physician in a particular state; these examinations play an ever-decreasing role in state medical licensure, as these bodies now rely on standardized national examinations with interim Fire Chief George Dunkel. He has an excellent reputation, superb credentials, and is a decision maker. It is up to everyone to bury personal and political agendas and focus on one goal - supporting the new interim chief and making this merger work. As many readers in South Lane will know, I have worked and volunteered in the community for 32 years. I ask a favor of those who know me: Support the new interim chief and work for a much-improved district. If the effort fails, the only ones who will be the losers will be the patrons, employees and volunteers of South Lane Fire District - in other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , everyone. Don Williams Past fire board member Cottage Grove Cottage Grove, village (1990 pop. 22,935), Washington co., SE Minn., near the St. Croix River; inc. 1965. There is farming (cattle, sheep, corn, and soybeans) and manufacturing (chemicals and machinery). Could be a job for the Huskies Let me get this straight: They've poisoned our pets with bad food, they've poisoned our children and grandchildren with lead-based paint, and now we want to reward the Chinese with a visit by the Duck football team? Can't we send them the Huskies instead? Kim Morrison Harrisburg Fuel safety crucial to reactor use Much has been written lately on the construction of new nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity and the development of reactors that are less prone to meltdown. Oregon is fortunate to have a law that prohibits any new nuclear electrical generation facility unless there is a permanent depository for the spent fuel from the proposed plant. There are plenty of geologic formations that have been stable and suitable for spent fuel disposal for the ideal 240,000 years (10 half-lives of plutonium 238), but they're all in somebody's backyard. The three major issues for me to understand when there is talk of siting a nuclear facility are, broadly: radioactive waste radioactive waste, material containing the unusable radioactive byproducts of the scientific, military, and industrial applications of nuclear energy. Since its radioactivity presents a serious health hazard (see radiation sickness), disposing of such material is a disposal, fuel cycle safety and nuclear weapons proliferation. All three issues are interrelated in·ter·re·late tr. & intr.v. in·ter·re·lat·ed, in·ter·re·lat·ing, in·ter·re·lates To place in or come into mutual relationship. in . Fuel cycle safety, from mining enrichment and electrical production through disposal, is very uneven. We don't do any aspect well, and some parts we do much worse than others. The commercial interests that want to revive construction need to fix this for the current facilities, if they can. Nuclear weapons proliferation is possible anywhere in the fuel cycle, especially now that talk of dirty bombs is rampant. On a higher technical plane, meltdown-resistant nuclear reactors that employ loose, ball-shaped fuel may be more proliferation-prone than their fixed-fuel cousins. It would be easier to extract and replace fuel to obtain the optimum weapons material from modified reactors. Dan Solitz Eugene Good luck on language cleanup In the Aug. 3 letters to The Register-Guard, Jane Dods faults a teacher for using the words "pissed and passionate" in describing Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. protesters. I'm sure the first word bothered her more than the last. She calls the expression "crude." I call her protest picky pick·y adj. pick·i·er, pick·i·est Informal Excessively meticulous; fussy. picky Adjective [pickier, pickiest] Brit, Austral & NZ and petty. If she wants to clean up our English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. , she has a formidable task ahead of her. ALICIA H. TOWER Eugene Keep dogs in parks on leash I am 8 years old, and my sister is 5. We went to Fox Hollow to the playground. Before we were about to leave, we spotted the owner of two dogs, one with a leash and the other without. The dog without a leash barked over to my sister, Hannah, and started chasing her. The result was almost a bite. The "I'm sorry" from the owner of the two dogs did not impress me. People should simply keep a leash on their dogs. JOSHUA 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. SAYRE Eugene Ticket feature needs changes After reading the June 29 Ticket "Best of" article about beef jerky Noun 1. beef jerky - strips of dried beef jerked meat, jerky, jerk - meat (especially beef) cut in strips and dried in the sun , I was perplexed that there was no mention of 4-Star Meat Company. This local company has been producing six varieties of beef jerky for many years. Its style is much like Capella's, in that the jerky jerky see biltong. is thick and moist. The company's jerky is the best I've ever had, thus my bewilderment that the article didn't even mention 4-Star, much less judge its products the best. I investigated. Talking with the writer, I found that she didn't even know about 4-Star and that Best of... is not meant to be either comprehensive or authoritative. Oh, really? It implies so, and readers assume the newspaper has been diligent in its "contests," "blind tastings" and all. She said she found her contestants from the "retail meat" section of the Yellow Pages. There are nine listings, and 4-Star is No. 5. She said she didn't have time to call all of them. Oh, really? Register-Guard Managing Editor Dave Baker Dave Baker (born July 30, 1937 in Coffeyville, Kansas) was a defensive back in the NFL. In his three year career, he played for the San Francisco 49ers. David Baker grew up in Bartlesville, OK where he was a three sport All-Stater in football, basketball and baseball. said that often, the writers don't taste anything and make their proclamations from staff opinions. The Best of... feature has an influence in the community, and I am stunned that the newspaper would sully its reputation with such sloppiness. We are fortunate to have one of the truly best small-city newspapers in the country. I urge The Register-Guard to change the Best of... feature so that it actually means something. Otherwise, if it's just a puff piece, why waste the space? John Galloway Eugene To contribute a letter The Register-Guard welcomes letters on topics of general interest. Our length limit is 250 words; all letters are subject to condensation. Writers are limited to one letter per calendar month. Because of the volume of mail, not all letters can be printed. Letters must be signed with the writer's full name. An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released. Mail letters to: Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: 338-2828 E-mail: rgletters@guardnet.com Letters in the Editor's Mailbag To contribute a letter The Register-Guard welcomes letters on topics of general interest. Our length limit is 250 words; all letters are subject to condensation. Writers are limited to one letter per calendar month. Because of the volume of mail, not all letters can be printed. Letters must be signed with the writer's full name. An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released. Mail letters to: Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: 338-2828 E-mail: rgletters@guardnet.com Letters in the Editor's Mailbag |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion