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Judging the Catholics
About the anti-pope sign: John 3:17 says "For God sent not the son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him." Jesus’ "error" in not judging has apparently been amended by Talent’s Rogue Valley Historical Seventh-day Adventist Church. I don’t blame the people, but their leaders immersed in dreams and numbers. — David Alexander, Medford Big raises for some Many folks will be very glad the state and the 17,000 members of the state employees union have come to a wage and benefit agreement. A strike which could have affected many people, not just the workers and their families, now will not happen. As one state worker said, "It maintains our commitment to a family-friendly work environment and stays within the funds available. It’s a wonder it did stay within the budget, since the legislators and many agencies are asked to "tighten their belts," to correct restructuring and budget cuts. These elected officials feel they are exempt and actually loosened "their belts" when they voted in pay raises. Could an apology be due the rest of the citizens of the state by said officials for their untimely decision to give themselves such an exorbitant gift? Do they consider themselves outside the "friendly-family work environment," beyond the others who were only being worth 5 percent? The governor and attorney general received rather large pay raises out of the $100,000 budget for all state workers and benefit increases. The state workers had to threaten a strike to get the 5 percent while those elected officials took a quick note and gave themselves a nice gift of an average 19 percent in wage increase. Does that go into effect immediately or is it spread over two years? For the record, I’m not a state employee, just someone who believes in the work they do, caring for our state and all its citizens. — Alycia Juber, Medford Couldn’t fool her After seven decades, life never ceases to amaze me. A 13-year-old child in Central Point writes a song that becomes a battle cry across the country in support of common sense. The notion that farming and growing food is more important than saving a sucker fish seems so basic, one would think even WaterWatch attorney Bob Hunter, that self-appointed guardian of all species other than human beings, would realize its truth. At the very least, he and his cohorts ought to be embarrassed at this child’s clear understanding of the issues. However his group has always known the truth. It’s simply not on their agenda. Of course, there is a reason for this. Mr. Hunter is an attorney. Environmentalism is a big business. It brings in big money. Its leaders are not the downtrodden, the poor, the uneducated, the hard-working. No! They are lawyers, college professors, and children of the wealthy who have formed a new coalition of power on which they thrive. Cleverly, they have formed a new aristocracy while leading the public to believe in their often-quoted doomsday scenarios, using questionable statistics seldom verified by independent parties. As with all aristocracies, they leave no room for dissent. Just look at the recent tirade directed at the Thomsons when they dared to criticize Hunter. No criticism can be tolerated. Hunter is right. Hunter knows the truth. Hunter is our leader. My God! The scenario is frightening. But isn’t it wonderful he couldn’t fool a 13-year-old? — Paul I. Becker, Shady Cove Value of tax cut Jan and Ken Chapman’s letter to the editor could not have more perfectly illustrated the value of the tax cut. The tax cut was intended to allow us to make our own decisions about how our money is spent. The Chapmans have made the decision to donate to the Nature Conservancy and Planned Parenthood. Fabulous! It’s your money. Donate it to those organizations that represent your beliefs and priorities. However, no one should be forced to pay a tax that funds an organization with which they disagree. I will fight to defend your freedom of association, but I should not be compelled to pay tax money to any agency whose activities do not coincide with my values. — Joshua Richardson, Medford Renaming rights I understand President Dick Cheney wants to change the name of the White House. Because of all of the money they’ve sent to him (and his puppet) the oil and electric companies now want the naming rights to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. — M. Conens, Medford |
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