Letters
Feb. 27, 2010

Libraries serve minds

Are you content to have television and computer games form the content of your children’s minds?

In my opinion, our public libraries, especially if used to full capacity, are the solution.

My children grew up without television or computer games. I have always told them that they should put that on their resumes. It will tell potential employers that their minds have been allowed to range widely in creative and critical thinking.

Support your public libraries.

Leslie Davee
Hood River

Newsletter replies

Recently 520 newsletters were mailed to Cascade Locks residents. Enclosed was a stamped postcard to return asking if the East Cascade Locks Interchange were to close would they still be in favor or opposed to the proposed casino.

Only 114 replies have been received so far. More information can be obtained on our Web site, www.nogorgecasinos.com. The library has computers if you do not. The Web site is being constructed and additional data is posted frequently.

I would like to address some of the comments on the cards.

1. We have no hidden agenda.

2. We approve of other groups opposing the casino. We are financed solely by our members’ donations, not the Grand Ronde.

3. The return address is in Stevenson, Wash., where the closest bank is located; it made sense to open the post office box there.

4. Most of our members live here in Cascade Locks and pay taxes. Other members live in the county and the Gorge and pay taxes. The tribe would not pay taxes.

5. We had nothing to do with the high school closing. The Memorandum of Agreement, signed by the Warm Springs, has no guarantee of monies to our local school — only to college students within the state.

We have our facts straight and spend hours on research. Some of our members have firsthand knowledge of living in, or near, a casino town.

We are not going to move out of town.

It has been more than 10 years since the Port and City of Cascade Locks have put all of their eggs in one basket. The proposed casino may or may not be approved. In the meantime, the high school and many businesses have closed, and the East Cascade Locks Interchange is next.

All we have heard is spin. Have stimulus funds been applied for? How will they be used?

Ask yourselves why Hood River and The Dalles are getting and keeping industry and we are not. I agree the town needs good jobs and new business, but this antiquated thinking will not result in improvement.

Do your own research. We do not need the overwhelming traffic or a tribal town.

Carol A. Taylor, co-chair
No Gorge Casinos Org.
Cascade Locks

More Vance, please

I enjoy the cartoon strips by Norm Vance.

Clever humor with a local flavor. Keep them coming.

Patrick Rawson
Hood River

20th century Sneetches

Before I moved to Hood River and began reading the paper I thought I understood there were two major political parties: Republican and Democrat. Each had a different set of philosophies and ideology about fiscal and social issues. Boy, was my U.S. History teacher wrong!

After reading all the letters over the past few months I have a much better understanding of the differences. To be called a Democrat strongly suggests you possess a poor work ethic, that you are uninformed, dislike personal freedom and are just plain unintelligent with no concept of fiscal responsibility.

On the other hand, you may be called a Republican by some. In this case, you are an expert marksman (see Dick Cheney), extremely intelligent (see 9/11 = WMD equals Saddam Hussein, etc.), your fiscal policies are sound and ethical (see Tom DeLay and Enron) and you love freedom (see The Patriot Act).

I only wish the Democrats hadn’t ruined our entire economy with their shortcomings. I so wish I could afford the star for my belly.

Steve Kaplan
Hood River

Storm memories

Columbus Day, 1962: If you were around Northern California, Oregon or Washington that day you don’t need any more clarification.

Do you have a 1962 Columbus Day Storm story?

I am collecting stories about the infamous Columbus Day Storm and will compile the stories into a book as a fundraiser for the Friends of the Independence Public Library. It’s an opportunity to tell your story and help a cause.

The publication will be for sale in 2012 in time for the storm’s 50th anniversary.

E-mail stories to elizabethplude@aol.com (please no attachments) or call me at 503-838-4039.

Elizabeth Plude
Independence

ANOTHER VOICE

Historic black leaders stood for personal freedom

By ALVIN JACKSON

As I reflect on the lives during Black History Month, of some of America’s most prominent African-Americans, such as Frederick Douglass, Matthew Henson, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune and specifically, Dr. Martin Luther King, I’m drawn to what they fought and died for on behalf of black Americans, which were equal rights.

The Founders of this great nation wrote in the Declaration of Independence that some truths are self-evident and one of these is the fact that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

These words, our Founding Fathers knew, would eventually lead to the demise of slavery some 87 years later. Words they knew would give us the freedom to try; the freedom to buy; the freedom to sell; and the freedom to fail.

Yet everyone knows no two human beings are alike in any respect. The diversity of our nation is its strength; however, we are equal. We are equal in the sight of God; in the sight of law; and in the protection of our rights.

Dr. King, a Baptist minister, spent his entire life championing those principles. I wonder how he would view the state of the world today, specifically, America. Yes, he would be quite pleased with the fact an African-American could ascend to the highest office in the land. I wonder, however, if he would prescribe to the ideology/philosophy of today’s leadership.

Today’s leaders seem intent on abdicating their primary responsibility to provide for the protection of the equal rights of all Americans. Instead, they appear to be heading down the unwanted path of providing “equal things.” My study of some of these great African-Americans and their philosophies indicate a contradiction with today’s leadership.

For a people that have been so shabbily treated by the majority of Americans, why would we want to give the government more power over our personal lives and more power over what we’ve worked hard to attain?

Real freedom means independence from government intrusion, which means we have to take responsibility for our own actions and decisions. When the government assumes that responsibility, it takes away our freedom. Freedom is the very thing for which blacks in America were fighting.

An African-American myself, who’s been a small-business owner and now a vice president of a prominent company here in the Gorge, I’ve modeled myself after the principles I’ve learned through study of these great Americans.

Fighting for that freedom is what I do and teach my children on a daily basis.

n

Alvin Jackson lives in Hood River.