Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.Byline: The Register-Guard A giddy administration Now seems an appropriate time to correct a mistake made at the end of World War II End of World War II can refer to:
This euphemistic ploy helped the military to continuously claim a large fraction of our national wealth. It is far easier to convince legislators and the citizens to sacrifice for defense than for waging war. The Bush administration reveals daily its enthusiasm for warfare. No one demonstrates it more than the Secretary of Defense, who is downright giddy to be presiding over war. JEROLD WILLIAMS Eugene Call for true science I don't want to be on either side of the recurrent debate over evolutionary theory
Contemporary science has become crippled by the politics of a belief system that demands an accidental universe, where humanity's autonomy and self-appointed authority over itself and nature is based on the virtue of being the most complex accident. To avoid offending the human ego, we are to believe that something came from nothing gradually over long periods of time, and that the relentless increase of sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. in life processes - and, indeed, human affairs - is motivated only by the random collisions and encounters of entropic processes. Paradoxically, it is this antiauthoritarian accidental universe that requires something or someone to wind up the clock and provide all this energy. The clock then winds down, temporarily creating life through random collisions for the convenient life-span of the observer, and then relapses into meaninglessness as the big bang big bang Model of the origin of the universe, which holds that it emerged from a state of extremely high temperature and density in an explosive expansion 10 billion–15 billion years ago. fizzles Samuel Beckett used the word "fizzles" to describe eight short prose pieces: For to end yet again, Still, He is barehead, Horn came always, Afar a Bird, I gave up before birth, Closed place, and Old earth. out. Sounds like an elaborate political construction to me. Or a religious one. Better to rule in an accidental universe than to serve in a meaningful one? The universe astonishes the honest observer because it is replete with sophisticated order in which our experience is apparently part of a continuum of relentless progress. Please avoid explanations that have more to do with your personal or political issues than with new science, no matter what side you're supposedly on. WILLIAM DiMARCO 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, End exile of comics Why do the comic strips
Mallard Fillmore is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bruce Tinsley. The strip follows the exploits of its title character, a politically conservative anthropomorphic green-feathered duck who works as a reporter at " remain ostracized from the daily lineup? When complaints of their offensiveness first prompted the paper to move them, I hoped it would be a passing phase for both the people of this community and the newspaper, like that of a child who dislikes Brussels sprouts Brussels sprouts, variety (gemmifera) of cabbage producing small edible heads (sprouts) along the stem. It is cultivated like cabbage and was first developed in Belgium and France in the 18th cent. . But now I realize that people are content to remain ignorant of two unique - and therefore valuable - perspectives. It is egregiously ironic that the same logic that keeps "Mallard Fillmore" and "Boondocks" hidden away has not led us to relegate rel·e·gate tr.v. rel·e·gat·ed, rel·e·gat·ing, rel·e·gates 1. To assign to an obscure place, position, or condition. 2. To assign to a particular class or category; classify. See Synonyms at commit. disagreeable news of terrorism and war to the inside pages of the paper. PETER DILLON Peter Dillon (June 15, 1788 - February 9, 1847), was a sandalwood trader, self-proclaimed explorer, raconteur, and discoverer of the fate of the La Pérouse expedition. Early career Peter Dillon was born in Martinique the son of an Irish immigrant also called Peter Dillon. Eugene Describe pending bills I appreciate that The Register-Guard published an article on Jan. 1 describing some of the new laws New Laws: see Las Casas, Bartolomé de. that our state lawmakers passed in the last session. This was very informative, but it would have been much more so if these laws has been outlined when they were under consideration so that readers could have given our representatives some input on them. When we first moved to Oregon, The Register-Guard published a weekly rundown of all bills under consideration; they were listed again when they were either passed or defeated. Listing local lawmakers who voted for or against them would also give us an idea whether our representatives are representing us or big business, and we would have a better idea who to vote for in the next election. It would also help if all elected officials had e-mail addresses and if someone in their offices would at least answer our e-mail. Not everyone is on the Web, and constituents should not be ignored because of this. Writing letters wastes a lot of paper, and they are often ignored as well. FRANCES COOLEY Coos Bay Coos Bay (k  s), city (1990 pop. 15,076), Coos co., SW Oreg., a port of entry on Coos Bay; founded 1854 as Marshfield, inc. 1874, renamed 1944.
Access should be free The fee demo program should be stopped. As The Register-Guard's editors mentioned in their Jan. 7 editorial, we, the taxpaying public, should not have to pay twice. Our public lands are here for the enjoyment of all citizens, not just those who can afford to pay up a second time. If we need more funds to run these lands, we should stop giving away our natural resources to the extractive extractive /ex·trac·tive/ (-tiv) any substance present in an organized tissue, or in a mixture in a small quantity, and requiring extraction by a special method. ex·trac·tive adj. 1. industries that use our public lands for profit at subsidized rates on the taxpayers' backs. If we stopped all subsidized extractive uses of our lands we'd have plenty of money to allow every citizen free access. It's our right. MICHAEL SAUBER Silver City, NM CAPTION(S): 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 |
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