Document text
Letters to the Editor, Jan. 17 Tuesday Jan 17, 2017 at 12:01 AM One look was enough Following Randy Dolinger's advice (Letters, Jan. 12) I paid a visit to Jeff Rense's website. I must have missed the links to "peace, love and understanding," buried as they were beneath an avalanche of hatred, bigotry, xenophobia, quack medicine and clinical paranoia. I'd urge everyone to take Mr. Dolinger's advice as well and visit the site for themselves. One look was enough for me. Grover Gardner Medford A win for biodiversity This is a momentous time for our region. We were thrilled to hear that President Obama moved forward with expanding the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. There were many community members and several invested organizations, including the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council and KS Wild, that worked tirelessly to advocate for an expanded monument. This expansion provides an opportunity for the region's unparalleled biodiversity to remain resilient, especially with the threat of climate change. The expansion is an additional 48,000 acres, 5,000 of which are in Siskiyou County in California. Both of Oregon’s U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, strongly supported the monument expansion. We give them a heartfelt thanks for ensuring the continued protection of biodiversity in Southern Oregon now and for our future generations. Terry Dickey, chair, Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Ashland Trump lacks integrity Integrity is the quality of being honest and fair. Most of us would probably like to be thought of as displaying integrity since we generally value integrity in others. When someone, politician, businessman, neighbor, or family member shows us dishonesty or deception, their integrity is lost. Like virginity, integrity is an attribute that, once lost, can never be recovered. In science, integrity is critical. If one’s opinion is challenged by the evidence, integrity demands questioning the opinion, and rejection if it’s falsified by the evidence. We must hold science and scientists to the bar of integrity. Apparently, no such expectation exists for politicians. We have just completed an election cycle when the candidate guilty of more transparent lies — probably than every prior presidential candidate through our nation’s history combined — managed to secure enough votes in critical states to achieve the presidency. We’ll soon have a president totally lacking in integrity who will serve as a model to our kids and the world demonstrating that dishonesty, deception and blatant lies are rewarded in this country. And what are the missile launchers expected to do if they receive an order to launch our nuclear weapons? Wonder if it’s a joke? Trisha Vigil Talent Revise, don't repeal Rep. Greg Walden's election to chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee puts him right in the middle of revamping the ACA. From what I've read, he is in sync with Speaker Ryan's and PEOTUS Trump's plan to "repeal and run," potentially leaving health care delivery in chaos for an unknown period. Trump's promise that a replacement would follow very quickly is not reassuring. We're talking about Washington, D.C. About 65,000 people in Jackson County depend on the Oregon Health Plan, which depends on expanded Medicaid, which depends on the Affordable Care Act. Please join me in asking Congressman Walden to do the right thing; protect your Jackson County and other District 2 constituents. Revise, don't repeal, the ACA. Jim Bachman Ashland