LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.Byline: The Register-Guard Now GOP is blamed for slavery I'm almost 78 years old, have a degree in history and belong to the National Military Historical Society, and I didn't know until I read Charles Dalton's Aug. 8 letter that the Republicans and conservatives were responsible for slavery. I always thought that Abe Lincoln and the Republican North had freed the slaves. I grew up in the Old South, which was controlled by the Democratic Party. I remember Jim Crow Jim Crow Negro stereotype popularized by 19th-century minstrel shows. [Am. Hist.: Van Doren, 138] See : Bigotry , literacy tests and separate drinking fountains. I am not trying to defend slavery - however, the cruelty, lynchings, sexual mutilations, etc., were extremely rare, and were not considered "family entertainment." We had "wrasslin," roller derby For the skate brand of the same name, see . Roller derby is an American-invented contact sport—and historically, a form of sports entertainment—based on formation roller skating around a track. and stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States and Great Britain held largely on oval rings of between approximately a quarter-mile and 2. . I do remember a quote from Cassius Clay Noun 1. Cassius Clay - United States prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942) Ali, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Muhammad Ali before he became politicized: "I've been to Africa, and I'm glad granddaddy caught that boat." I am perplexed, stunned stun tr.v. stunned, stun·ning, stuns 1. To daze or render senseless, by or as if by a blow. 2. To overwhelm or daze with a loud noise. 3. and just plain bewildered by Dalton's third paragraph about Abu Ghraib See Abu Ghraib prison and Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. The city of Abu Ghraib (BGN/PCGN romanization: Abū Ghurayb; أبو غريب in Arabic) in the Anbar Governorate of Iraq is located 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of and the manifestation of our conservative heritage. What blue site did that come from? Yes, Abu Ghraib was wrong, but it was a few ill-trained National Guard troops - and it was blown out of proportion by the lunatic left, who will use any incident to tar the Bush administration with a black brush. The left would rather lose this conflict than lose the political argument. Dalton's letter is an insult to generations of Americans who have served their country. I am embarrassed when white-trash punks use the Confederate flag as a symbol of hatred, but I am more embarrassed by Dalton's diatribe di·a·tribe n. A bitter, abusive denunciation. [Latin diatriba, learned discourse, from Greek diatrib . Jeff Crocker Eugene Find a new site for hospital Dean Huston's Aug. 9 letter asks why anyone would build a hospital between two rivers Two Rivers, city (1990 pop. 13,030), Manitowoc co., E Wis., on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Twin River; inc. 1878. Two Rivers is closely associated with its twin city, Manitowoc, both of which are highly industrialized. in a flood plain. Sure, it hasn't flooded since three or four dams control the water flow coming into the valley. However, news reports show that bridges, dikes (New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded ) and dams can fail - or, worse yet, be a terrorist target. My view is, why take that chance when people's lives are at stake? Get away from that most dangerous intersection of Belt Line Road traffic and, like Medford's hospital on the hill, eliminate the flooding issue. Huston's views of where the population growth is moving should be a clue as to where a hospital could do some good. Lyle McEldowney Junction City Junction City, city (1990 pop. 20,604), seat of Geary co., NE Kans., at the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers; inc. 1859. The rail, trade, and processing center of an agricultural and dairy area, it grew as the supply point for nearby Fort Riley, Speed doesn't always save time For 17 years, I biked from 29th Avenue and Willamette Street to North Eugene High School North Eugene High School is a public high school of about 1,200 students in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is located at 200 Silver Lane near the Santa Clara area of Eugene.[1] North Eugene's mascot is the Highlander. . This six-mile bike ride takes 20 minutes. In my car, it takes just 12 minutes. Riding my bike was fun. For example, I was continually amused by motorists who, when the light turned green, would gun their engines and jackrabbit jackrabbit, popular name for several hares of W North America, characterized by very long legs and ears. Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers and fast runners. In normal progress leaps are alternated with running steps; when pursued the hare runs fast and close to the to the next red light. There, they'd impatiently wait for the next green light. At my turtle's pace, I usually arrived just as the light turned green. They had gone faster, but not quicker. All of us have experienced the freeway speedsters who endanger everyone by weaving in and out of traffic and by passing wildly. Zoom: Off they race into the distance. Then what? After about 10 minutes, we catch up to the speedsters who, once again, are stuck behind some traffic. They drive faster, but not quicker. And, of course, cyclists who break the law are just as irrational. They don't save much time when riding against traffic and running red lights. Also, by irritating motorists, they just make cycling dangerous for most cyclists who do obey the law. My point? Speed does not always save time. Relax. Smart driving is better than irrational driving. It is better for your car, your health, the environment, the safety of others, and your wallet. And it enables you to enjoy the joy of living in a town where a long bike commute is only 20 minutes. George Jeffcott Eugene Iraq's legislative bedfellows It's an outrage that members of the Iraqi parliament are taking a month-long vacation! Their people's economic future is devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by war as their military citizens are killed and their people's health deteriorates. Their political parties are overcome by dysfunctional factional infighting in·fight·ing n. 1. Contentious rivalry or disagreement among members of a group or organization: infighting on the President's staff. 2. Fighting or boxing at close range. . Thus they can't meet their sworn obligation to provide for the vital needs of their citizens by reaching legislative consensus. They avoid passing a comprehensive oil policy, even as an energy crisis explodes. Their people's basic freedoms are being forfeited to an obscure promise of greater security that masks an oppressive need to control. Their people live in a state of fear. Fundamental constitutional rights constantly diminish as the crisis unfolds. All the while their country bakes in the desert-like heat of global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. . Relax, all is well as the U.S. Congress breaks: Iraqi bedfellows, hypocrites-in-arms. And it took a village to elect the idiots. Steve Mosher A mosher is a person who is crossed between goth/punk/skater they have long hair and listen to music like slipknot and metal music. Some people call them headbangers. At certain music shows they have something called a mosh pit, basically its a fight pit with loads of people bashing each other. Eugene Duggar criticism unwarranted Norma Townsend (letters, Aug. 13) made her disgust publicly known toward a family she has never met and apparently knows little about. It seems a "responsible" and "self-controlled" person (such as Townsend?) might not be so "indulgent" in venting her mean-spirited and overstated o·ver·state tr.v. o·ver·stat·ed, o·ver·stat·ing, o·ver·states To state in exaggerated terms. See Synonyms at exaggerate. o rhetoric. I couldn't believe she actually suggested that the Duggar family could benefit from the wicked and oppressive Chinese forced abortion policies. It's chilling that someone would hold that government's dreadful lack of respect toward human life as something to be emulated. The Duggars actually do understand the value of children and don't need to learn anything from China or any other nation. If Townsend bothered to get to know the Duggars from any of the news reports and Web site information easily accessed about them, she would find that they actually do have more than a "shred of concern for our world environment" and, more importantly, for the people living in it. People who labor building their own house with their children and then teach those 17 children in an orderly and hospitable home can hardly be called "ignorant," "selfish" or "irresponsible!" Lisa PoinDexter Eugene Buyers care about audience Dave Woodward writes incorrectly that the majority of media buyers do not care about the political nature of listeners. While Woodward has been in radio for many years, I also purchased radio time for clients for many years. Any local manager would agree it would not be an exaggeration to say I placed millions of dollars of air time in Eugene. The majority of buyers and clients care very much about the quality of listenership lis·ten·er·ship n. The people who listen to a radio program or station. . I would remind Woodward of KAVE's audience success and advertising failure. It is well known in the measurement crowd that self-described liberals are notoriously bad buys. They rarely contribute to causes they profess, rarely respond to messages targeted at them and have disdain for commercial enterprise. Most important, as an aggregate, liberals lack the financial power to make the needle move. They are most important only to themselves. The difference in advertising response from men ages 25 to 54 listening to Air America vs. Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (born January 12, 1951) is an American conservative radio talk show host and political commentator. Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, he is a self-described conservative, who discusses politics and current events on his program, is clearly reflected in the cost per thousand differential. Woodward knows the right-wing premium; he carried Limbaugh for years. I have heard him explain it while telling us to pay more for his products for many, many years. George Chapogas Guanacoste, Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. Third political party needed We are engaged in what is being called a war against terror, but there is no visible offense being waged. We have two armies - military, and an even larger army of contractors - and I would suggest that bringing the contractors home would end the need for the military. The army of contractors with their cost-plus contracts have depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d the treasury, so we need to bring them home. Iraq could then proceed to correct the mess we have created for them. The Iraqis might not run their affairs to our liking, but they have always run their affairs the way the Iraqi people do things, which would be more satisfactory to them than the current arrangement is. Here at home, both political parties appear to have a mutual interest in maintaining the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. . They are doing nothing to bring an end to the mess we have created and are not offering any real reason for not doing so. The need for a third political party has never been so great. Al Ratledge Eugene Boise State could win in China I read with interest the editorial "4th and 9 in Shanghai?" (Register-Guard, Aug. 9). It does sound like it has many possibilities, not the least being to promote the 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. academically. It would be interesting to see how many "quacker backers" book a trip to Shanghai. It also would be interesting to see how many people will complain about the funds being expended for such an undertaking, even though they would be generated through outside sources. The editorial did overlook one possibility, and that would be that Boise State - no longer anybody's patsies - would thrash thrash - To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything useful. Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded waste most of their time moving data into and out of core (rather than performing useful computation) and are therefore said to thrash. the Ducks, and the 390-pound Chinese high school kid, who can run the 40-yard dash in less than 4.5 seconds, would end up going to Boise State. That would be interesting. John A. Hyder Florence Public needs fast alert on drugs The U.S. House and Senate passed drug safety legislation without sending the final bill to President Bush. We need this protection now! We only need to look at the recent problems with the diabetes drug Avandia. It has been on the market for seven years and only now do we find out its serious risks and see the need for prompt action to avert further tragedies. The legislation passed by Congress would help us all by giving us notice more quickly about the risks from new medications. Len Hockley Eugene |
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