LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.Byline: The Register-Guard Remember to help the needy
I was watching the news coverage of the University of Oregon-Oregon State University Civil War football game on television. They were featuring the tailgate party In North America, a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating often involves alcoholic beverages and barbecuing. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas before, and occasionally after or during, and showed a church group giving out free hot dogs and hamburgers to the crowd of the pregame festivities fes·tiv·i·ty n. pl. fes·tiv·i·ties 1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival. 2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration. 3. . I was shocked at the irony of feeding people free food who can well afford a ticket to the game, when one in five people in this county depend at some time on donations of food just to survive. What would Christ have done? Please remember the neediest at this time of year. STEPHEN HOLTZMAN Eugene Public needs to know truth The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC or WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas (SOA; Spanish: Escuela de las Américas), is a United States Army facility at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. , formerly the Army School of the Americas, has taught massacre and torture, and has done nothing about the fact that so many of its graduates have been perpetrators and have not been brought to justice. It is part of the military arm of global economic policies that create poverty and environmental destruction. Nine Eugeneans went to Fort Benning Fort Benning, U.S. army post, 189,000 acres (76,500 hectares), W Ga., S of Columbus; est. 1918. One of the largest army posts in the United States, it is the nation's largest infantry training center and the home of the Army Infantry School. this year to join 10,000 others from around the country and many parts of the world for two days of testimony, music, speeches and workshops, ending with a solemn funeral procession in memory of the hundreds of thousands who have been massacred, tortured, assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. and who have disappeared throughout Latin America. After much reflection, I decided to cross the line with about 40 others in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience civil disobedience, refusal to obey a law or follow a policy believed to be unjust. Practitioners of civil disobediance basing their actions on moral right and usually employ the nonviolent technique of passive resistance in order to bring wider attention to the . After walking around the huge chain-linked fence that was erected after Sept. 11, we were arrested and have a high risk of spending several months in prison. To us, the boundary line and the fence represent a barrier to the truth about the school. We walked and demonstrated to expose the truth. Over 200 people who have crossed the line over a period of 14 years have served a cumulative 70 years in prison. Our trial is scheduled for Jan. 26 in Columbus. I am grateful for the local media coverage of my action and for the strong position that The Register-Guard has already taken in favor of closing this infamous school. We go to jail to bring the school to trial. PEG MORTON Eugene Don't imprison im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- accused soldiers Where does it end? We are losing an average of one soldier a day in Iraq. Now our country is going to charge some of our soldiers for mistreatment mis·treat tr.v. mis·treat·ed, mis·treat·ing, mis·treats To treat roughly or wrongly. See Synonyms at abuse. mis·treat of prisoners and of homicide. I'm sorry, but maybe we forget that we lost a lot of our own countrymen to a couple of flying jets not too long ago. As usual, we go on our merry way griping daily of the luxuries we have that others don't. Leave these soldiers alone. We're not there. We don't walk in their shoes. Let's not let what happened to us on Sept. 11 become acceptable casualty losses and imprison those soldiers being charged. Discipline, maybe. Prison? I don't think so. GINO GINO Godzilla in Name Only (1998 US film version) GINO Galactica in Name Only (Battlestar Galactica 2004) GINO Graphics Input Output GINO GPETE Initial Outfitting ACUNA Springfield Veterans' programs fall short The latest grandstand performance by George Bush - Thanksgiving with our soldiers in Baghdad - sharpens the ambivalence this administration shows toward our active-duty armed forces and veterans who have performed similar service to our country. The effusive ef·fu·sive adj. 1. Unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; gushy: an effusive manner. 2. Profuse; overflowing: effusive praise. praise for our fighting men and women around the world today is well deserved and I salute that. In marked contrast, the shortchanging of our veteran's programs, primarily not sufficiently funding the most important segment - health - by the administration and Congress is another example of the superficiality our government shows in ballyhooing its support and funding for hot issues while ignoring many of its important domestic responsibilities. It is worthy of the contempt and dissatisfaction it engenders among those of us not taken in by the rhetoric and posturing of Bush and his cohorts. HAROLD ANDERSON Springfield |
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