Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.Byline: The Register-Guard Selfish attitudes I am struck by the hypocrisy of many citizens who testify against any and all development and land use changes. And, I wonder if the people living in the area north of Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. know that where they are living was once "prime farm land." When I was a teenager (40-plus years ago), I helped my father bale hay about two blocks north of the Santa Clara market. You will notice even now there are filbert filbert: see hazel. filbert or hazel(nut) Any of about 15 species of deciduous trees and shrubs that make up the genus Corylus, in the birch family, native to the northern temperate zone; also, the edible nuts they produce. trees, walnut trees and cherry trees in many of the yards. These were all productive orchards (farms). Many of us who have lived in this area for more than 50 years grow weary of having relative newcomers protest anything and everything we want to do with the land - land we have lived on and maintained for many years. This clearly seems like, "I now have my piece of prime farmland Prime farmland, as a designation assigned by U.S. Department of Agriculture is land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is also available for these uses. ; we must preserve all the rest." LINDA L. VANORDEN 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, An oath forsaken for·sake tr.v. for·sook , for·sak·en , for·sak·ing, for·sakes 1. To give up (something formerly held dear); renounce: forsook liquor. 2. Once again members our U.S. Congress have voted themselves a cost-of-living salary increase of 3.4 percent. This equals $4,900 per year, raising the annual salary of federal lawmakers to $150,000. Bear in mind that these are the very same people responsible for inflation via their deficit spending Deficit spending When government spending overwhelms government revenue resulting in government borrowing. deficit spending Expenditures that are in excess of revenues during a given period of time. policies. As of Jan. 1, people receiving Social Security retirement benefits received an annual increase of 2.6 percent. Why the difference? Clearly, our representatives in Congress consider us to be second-class citizens. This increase was passed in the middle of the night by a voice vote. Since voice votes are not recorded, we will never know who voted for or against the raise. What's galling is that these are the people we elected to serve the best interests of our nation, who have taken a biblical oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States Constitution of the United States, document embodying the fundamental principles upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution was signed on Sept. against all enemies, foreign and domestic," and who have sworn to serve a 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. of the people, by the people and for the people. How does a federal lawmaker's exorbitant salary, and subsequent increase during our slumping economy, demonstrate this oath? Integrity and honesty - where, oh where, have you gone? It's a pretty sad commentary to find that we have 535 people elected to serve our nation who must make deals in the dark. Maybe 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 to worry less about the enemy at the gates At the Gates are a Swedish melodic death metal band. They are one of the forebears of the Gothenburg sound of heavy metal along with other bands of the Gothenburg metal scene like Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. and worry more about the enemy within. 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. VAN EYK EYK Expand Your Knowledge Springfield Protect elderly As a resident of Churchill Estates Retirement Center, my friends and I are concerned to read (Register-Guard, Jan. 26) that the state budget cuts are on the way, and we're worried. When we hear that Medicaid will be a target for budget cuts, it's important to say very clearly that our elected officials in Salem need to look somewhere else to cut. The very last place for budget cuts should be for seniors in assisted-living facilities and nursing homes. The staff members at Churchill Estates work very hard to see we are well taken care of, and there is no room for cutting our benefits. I also see how hard it is here to keep good caregivers and other staff. More budget cuts will make it even more difficult to find high-quality staff. Policy makers cannot put vulnerable seniors like us at risk by cutting the already bare-bones Medicaid budget. We want our elected officials in Salem to know that tampering with Medicaid benefits for vulnerable seniors is an unacceptable means of balancing the budget. ALICE L. ALDRICH Eugene Consider hospital choice Wouldn't it be nice if money didn't constantly interfere with our decisions and dictate how we live? Just think what it would be like if we could still simply base our decisions on integrity, common sense and community values. I am sure if this were the case we would all decide to welcome McKenzie-Willamette as our preferred hospital and tell PeaceHealth to take its high-powered maneuvering back to Bellevue, Wash. Give it some thought and ask yourself: Does PeaceHealth care about our communities and our lives, or just our livelihoods? Has Sacred Heart The Sacred Heart is a religious devotion to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of the divine love for humanity This devotion is predominantly used in the Roman Catholic Church and also used in the Anglican Church. become sacred money? If we have to make a choice between the two hospitals, I've made mine. PATRICK THOMPSON Hugh Patrick Thompson, known as Patrick Thompson, (born 21 October, 1935) is a British Conservative Party politician. Thompson was Member of Parliament for the marginal Norwich North seat, gaining it from Labour in 1983. He held the seat until his retirement in 1997. Marcola LETTERS LOG Letters received in past week: 172 Letters published: 63 What's on readers' minds: The hottest Mailbag topic this past week was the Lane County Board of Commissioners' decision to reconsider Eugene Sand & Gravel's proposal to locate a mining operation off River Road north of Santa Clara. We received 28 letters about Eugene Sand; 13 about the state of Oregon's efforts to deal with a projected $720 million budget shortfall; 10 about a Jefferson Middle School Jefferson Middle School is a middle school located in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The middle school is home to the football team the Elks, which has won more conference champs than any other middle school in Tennessee. parent's complaint about a teacher's allegedly racist remark; eight about a column by Lane County Commissioner Cindy Weeldreyer on Sanctity of Life Week; seven on the collapse of Enron and the corporation's influence on the Bush administration, and five on McKenzie-Willamette Hospital's lawsuit alleging that PeaceHealth is violating federal anti-trust laws. - The Register-Guard 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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