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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 17, 2005 An open letter to George Bush I watched "The Jesus Factor" on public television the other evening and am prompted to explain to you, George W., that we did not put you in that oval office to be the judge of the world, nor to be a representative of God. We do not wish another pope, we want a leader/organizer who can bring the world out of this horror to peace. "Prince of Peace." Remember those words as you make your decisions and as you make sure this government acts honestly. Do the work of love and peace and stop killing. May I remind you that not all who love Jesus agree with how you are caring for and leading the people of this country. To quote Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace: " ... never before was the absurdity so evident ... that the greater part of the national wealth should be spent on continually increasing military preparations; never before was it so clear as in our time that the continual excuse for gathering and maintenance of armies - the supposed necessity of defense from an imaginary attack of enemies - has no basis in reason, and that all these threats of attack are only the invention of those to whom armies are necessary for their own purpose of maintaining power over the nations. It has never occurred before, that war threatened man with such dreadful devastations and calamities, and such massacres of whole populations, as it does at the present time. And, lastly never before have those feelings of unity and goodwill among nations owing to which war appears to be something dreadful, immoral, senseless, and fratricidal, been so widely spread. But, above all never, as it is now, was the deceit so evident by which some people compel others to prepare for war, burdensome, unnecessary, and abhorrent to all." That was written 108 years ago, an auspicious number, and yet the situation is present. You will not be alone in your responsibility. Jesus is the son of God and we are all the children of God. Therefore, Jesus is my brother and Mary is my Mother. It's all a circle, George. May it be unbroken. Jill Anne Iles Talent MAA, USFS not being responsible Picture this: it is a calm, moderate, winter night. You and your partner are standing on the north face of Mount Ashland, and the overhead halogen lamps reveal a vast field of fresh powder before you. The sky is crystalline. You slalom casually down the steep face, and eventually swoosh through a long stand of old growth, perhaps imagining spotted owls peering at you. Would this be fantastic or what! Unfortunately the realities are that you would be lucky to get off the top without a landslide, and the spotted owls have gone the way of the old growth cut for your pleasure. As have, locally, nearly a dozen species of rare plants and animals. For openers. The best of intentions are dogged by real consequences, and this is what is wrong with Greg Williams' recent defense (Dec. 27) of the MAA and its proposed ski area expansion. Williams points out that the Special Use Permit for MASA was purchased by the larger community in Rogue Valley and the California borderland, and about 75 percent of this cost was borne by non-Ashlanders. The intent was and remains that the ski area be operated for the benefit of this larger group of people, in which context the city of Ashland is "merely" the titular holder of the SUP. What he neglects to report is that the city and its inhabitants will be the sole bearers of all the negative consequences of this pipe dream. This changes the picture considerably. Sadly, at present the Forest Service is little more than a co-advocate of the interests of corporate industries. The FEIS produced in this case is a shoddy and shameful piece of scientific analysis, given the seriousness of the environmental consequences. I am a biophysicist, but have done substantial research in rheology, which is what underlies the water flow and erosion problems that threaten our watershed. The realities of any expansion on the north face are that these problems alone will impact the watershed in major but unpredictable ways, given the complexity and size of this ecosystem, that has taken centuries to stabilize to its present form. What is quite predictable however is the effect on Reeder Reservoir and our own water supply. The reservoir will continue to clog up with sediment, as it already has, but at a greatly increased rate. The dredging required is expensive. We will most likely experience more frequent episodes of floods, and droughts, which are also very expensive to correct. The quality of our drinking water is itself liable to suffer. Virtually every informed environmental organization has gone on record as opposing this expansion. The Regional Forester has recently turned down all 28 of our appeals of the ROD/FEIS on this proposed expansion (Tidings, Dec. 27). All administrative recourses being duly exhausted, all of the appeal arguments will now be repeated as part of the lawsuit against MAA and the FS in preparation. I hate sounding moralisitc or didactic; but the ability to examine the consequences of our actions is called "responsibility." MAA and the FS have clearly demonstrated that they have forgotten this. Aaron Corbet Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams