Letters to the Editor 2/9/05

To the Editor:

What kind of person can compare Auschwitz to Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo? On one hand you have genocide of an entire segment of humanity, on the other hand you have some prisoners wrongly abused and humiliated.

Jane Stevens in her letter to the editor last week implied that some future president would have to muster up the courage to apologize for American atrocities (her words, not mine).

Abuses she apparently believes reside on the same level as the atrocities committed at Auschwitz. Abuses worthy of their own memorials, no less. It’s noteworthy that she doesn’t even mention the possibility of a memorial for the hundreds of thousands killed by Saddam, but there should be a memorial for the prisoners abused at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

I’m sorry, but I can’t even begin to comprehend such a comparison. I didn’t like the pictures out of Abu Ghraib any more than Ms. Stevens, but to make the leap that it’s on the same level as what millions of innocent men, women and children suffered at the hands of the Nazis is irresponsible, disrespectful and offensive.

You should be ashamed, Jane Stevens, for making such a comparison…oh wait, that’s right! She already is ashamed. Except Jane Stevens isn’t ashamed for her callous and insensitive comparison, but for being an American (earlier letters).

As far as our “addiction” to petroleum, it must be hell to be Ms. Stevens.

Just the pure agony of knowing that the paper, the ink, the printer, the computer on which she wrote her letter and virtually every item in her home is made from petroleum-based products must be tearing her apart inside.

Jeff Pullig

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To the Editor:

Having a P.O. Box in Sisters is not an option for most residents. If you live in town and want your mail, you must have a P.O. Box.

There have been several new mail box complexes erected by the post office at new housing developments in Sisters. Those folks get their mail delivered to them for no charge. Would you like to have free home delivery? Part of the cost to the post office to install new mail box complexes would be offset by freeing up many PO Boxes which could then be rented to people who truly desire one.

I just got done reviewing the Postal Regulations (D910 Post Office Box Service, 5.0 Fee Group Assignments, 5.2 Free Box Service [Group E] at http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm/d910.htm) and it appears that all or nearly all in-town residences and businesses qualify for the free size ‘E’ PO Box.

This regulation is enforced at the discretion of the local Postmaster. I’ve asked at the post office about this and never have I gotten a clear answer.

Assuming I am in the PO’s fee group #1 and have a size ‘E’ PO Box, the rent is $35 a year. I’ve been here since 1977, so (adjusting for inflation), minus one year I got the box for free, I’ve paid $945 for my box rent, and that is at the Postmaster’s discretion.

Is that how it should be? What ever happened to the proposal that Sisters would get local delivery?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike the folks at the PO, they’re good people. It’s just some of the bureaucratic policies that I have a problem with! There are a lot of questions here, I wonder if I’ll get any answers.

Kirk Jacobsen

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To the Editor:

I am writing to express the frustration and disappointment I encounter every year for the last 20 years when trying to find accommodations for the Sisters quilt show.

I have tried everything — booking right after the show was over, booking a month before, two months before, 11 months before to no avail.

My option? Leave Portland very early on Saturday morning, exhaust myself walking around Sisters to look at the quilts and then drive back to Portland for three hours when I am tired, about to fall asleep at the wheel and am hungry because I didn’t have enough time to stop and eat lunch since I only have a few hours to see the quilts after my long drive back and forth.

For such a quaint-looking town, Sisters is not very gracious in accommodating visitors. If you give a party and you don’t have enough room for everyone then don’t invite folks to your party.

In the last 20 years I have only been able to find a room for three of those. One problem as I see it is some of the hotels allow those who booked a room to book for the following year. This does not give anyone else a chance to book that room, ever.

And many of the hotel and B&Bs have minimum stays — where does that leave those of us who live locally yet a little too far to drive for only an afternoon stay? In the street!

I have heard from many quilters across the country who vow to never come back nor recommend the Sisters quilt show for these reasons.

Many have complained of large crowds, expensive room rates, rigid hotel policies and high prices.

Trying to attend the quilt show has become a chore for me, one I will no longer take on. It’s a hassle and is definitely not worth it anymore.

Cynthia Miceli

Washington

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To the Editor:

Through arrogance, ignorance or willful design, President Bush seems determined to wreck not only Social Security, but further destroy the already inadequate health insurance system in this country.

The path to privatization Bush is eager to foist on us has been tried in Great Britain, Argentina, and Chile, and failed in all three countries. Indeed, in Great Britain, catastrophically.

In fact, Great Britain is now considering switching to a model that works very well: the U.S. Social Security system.

Bush’s health insurance proposals are perhaps worse.

His prescription for health insurance is that everyone buy a catastrophic illness policy and be allowed nontaxable health savings accounts to supplement.

We learn from a Harvard University Study released February 2, that nearly 50 percent of all bankruptcies in this country are due to medical debt.

And most of those who filed had medical insurance: the very kind of catastrophic insurance that Bush proposes we all have.

The Bush propaganda machine has manufactured a Social Security “crisis” so effectively that millions of people actually believe this lie.

It is a vivid example of the propaganda principle developed by Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany and perfected by the Soviets: tell a lie often enough, and vociferously enough, and people will begin to believe it.

I only hope that Lincoln’s observation holds true: You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

R.T. Tihista