The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

To the Editor:

My father served in both World War II and in the Korean War as a Japanese linguist/Naval intelligence officer. My father-in-law served as a soldier in combat in the Korean War. My brother served two tours as a Seabee in combat zones during the Vietnam War.

My husband and I spent eight months in the former Soviet Union as Foreign Service Staff Officers countering Soviet anti-American propaganda on a U.S. Government exhibit.

After the Soviet Union fell, and while I was working as corporate counsel at U.S. Bank, I spent many hours volunteering for the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative, assisting the newly independent countries of the former Soviet bloc adapt their legal systems to the norms of democracy and the rule of law.

My older son is a licensed EMT. My younger son was awarded several medals for his service as a civilian in the Pentagon during both the Obama and Trump Administrations.

We have all served our country in different ways.

As should be apparent from the foregoing, for letter writer Chet Davis to accuse me of being a socialist is wrong and offensive. “Marxism” and “socialism” are labels that are used in wildly inappropriate ways to smear and discredit people with whom the right disagrees. Name-calling is precisely the kind of conduct that doesn’t advance the civil discourse and fact-based dialogue that have been absent for too long.

The facts I cited in my op-ed (“Let’s start with the truth,” The Nugget, December 16, page 2) are supported by citations to reports by the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, the bi-partisan Senate Intelligence Committee, and the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, plus well-researched media accounts. They refuted the false statements in Jeff Mackey’s Letter to the Editor.

Mr. Mackey was probably acting very sincerely when he repeated these false statements, which have been widely propagated by right-wing media outlets. But they are not true, and they cause people to form viewpoints that are not consistent with reality. When false statements go unrebutted by the truth, we, as a society, are all harmed. I’m trying to do my small part to repair that harm. I hope I can partner with others in Sisters Country to do the same.

Mary Chaffin

To the Editor:

I loved Lisa May’s article on the true joy of Christmas. Some will suffer greatly in this life while others suffer less, but we will all encounter suffering in this world. Empathetically, I would not consider myself to have an easy solution. Suffering can be extremely intense and I could not say to this point in my life I have experienced torment. I have deep compassion for Lisa and her bottomless sorrow as well as others who live in agony.

I can say along with Lisa that there is no hope for our sufferings, none whatsoever, unless there is a door to eternity such as through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

When we consider that God did not leave us alone to suffer unbearably, as some might think, but rather He entered into our suffering by choice, through the cross. What a host of possibilities exist for our sufferings when we consider the resurrection to eternal life. We may determine to contemplate our perseverance and endurance in this realm to be exchanged for something greater in the next.

Janie Martin

To the Editor:

With the “year of COVID” barely behind us, we look forward to the New Year and the customary resolutions: reduce personal weight, reduce time on social media, and reduce consumption of animal foods.

Yes, that. Nearly 40 percent of Americans are already eating more plant-based foods. Hundreds of school, college, and corporate cafeterias have embraced Meatless Monday. Even fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr, Chipotle, Denny’s, Dunkin’, Starbucks, Subway, Taco Bell, and White Castle offer plant-based options.

Dozens of start-ups, led by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, are producing plant-based meats, milks, cheeses, and ice creams. Every ice cream manufacturer boasts nut-based flavors. Even meat industry giants Tyson Foods, Perdue, Hormel, and Canada’s Maple Leaf Foods have rolled out their own plant-based meat products.

The reasons for the skyrocketing popularity of plant-based meat and milk products are compelling: they are more convenient, healthier, more eco-friendly, and more compassionate than their animal-based counterparts.

The resolution to explore plant-based foods requires no sweat or deprivation — just some fun visits to our favorite supermarket and food websites.

Siegfried Neufhaus

To The Editor:

In response to Ms. Baldessari’s Letter to the Editor, I am really against folks breaking the law. Specifically, crimes against others. Allowing vagrants/homeless to occupy the same spot on public land more than 14 days is a crime — against all of us.

But if your problem is really within one or two miles radius of Sisters, I believe the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (Sisters Outpost) would be your best avenue of solution.

The local Sisters Ranger District Forest Service Office/kiosk has not even found a way to reopen since March, thus disbanding services such as map distribution, various permits including tree cutting, and other services.

I do believe lawlessness spirals out into the community if it is not enforced.

Have you had your place of business robbed this year? I have.

Did you and 20 of your neighbors, get your locked mailboxes jacked open on Christmas Eve this year? I did.

Here’s the reason I write: It’s cause “you don’t S.C.U.B.A. dive alone.” “You shouldn’t ski powder on your own.”

And if you are scared or paranoid to encounter a male on a trail, better to hike with a pike, in your chainmail.

Derek Damerell