Eric Flowers

This week's letter comes from Mike Caba who continues our ongoing dialogue over interrogation practices with a nice meditation on the moral perils of state-sponsored torture. Thanks for the letter, Mike. You can pick up your winnings, a pound of Strictly Organic Coffee, at our offices, 704 NW Georgia.
With this business about torture our country has accomplished two bits of the devil's business, namely, we are both more evil within, and less protected from evil without. When this unfortunate practice is examined, we see that discussion surrounding the use of torture nearly always circles around two pivot points, the moral and the utilitarian, summarized as follows: is it evil and, does it work? On the first question, nary a voice is heard in opposition to the contention that torture is essentially evil at its core; and those who have practiced it in the past, or who unfortunately still practice it today, have often devalued their victims to a subhuman status in order to soothe their own moral vibes against the use of various devices (e.g. the Nazis and the untermensch).

The Bend Metro Parks and Recreation District has applicants for its summer programs in a bind suitable for Ken Kesey or Joseph Heller. We've tried to hack our way out only to be ensnared by the befuddling labyrinth of BMPRD's Dickensian circumlocution office.
BMPRD plans to queue up all walk-in summer program applicants-seniors, other adults and children alike-at the Senior Center at 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 9, and to use the DMV model (take a number and wait your turn) once the doors are opened to the clamoring throng. We are a group of senior hikers who object to this procedure.
Recent registrations until now have reduced crowding for everybody either by accommodating different groups simultaneously at different facilities or by registering different groups on different days in the Senior Center.

Being a recovering climbing "dirt bag," I used to spend A LOT of nights out at Skull. Most of the people camping out there are climbers.

I was so amused by Mr. Epstein's letter in Source (April 16) that at first I thought it intended to be satirical. It was such a perfect presentation of the usual non-sequiturs, pseudo-history, myth making, errors and canards of the loony Right, that I assumed it must have been written in jest. Its delivery, in the tone of one who is as uninformed as he is supremely self-assured - so like the boss in "The Office" - was first class. The "Jesus Loves You" finish was a classic of the condescension and hypocrisy at which American Evangelicals lead the world! I even drafted a quick note to the editor of Source to compliment him for being so brave as to publish a letter that so effectively satirized the Christian Right. But Mr. Epstein, like the large slice of the US population he so closely resembles, is serious - and dangerous.

This week's letter comes from Gene Seigal who keeps the dog licensing debate well-stoked with this missive on tiered licensing. Thanks for the humorous take Gene. You can pick up your winner's prize, a pound of Strictly Organic Coffee, at our office, 704 NW Georgia. As a dog lover and owner, I was immediately drawn to the Letter of the Week regarding dog / owner rights and licensing tiers. While I would like to agree with the writer's, as the Source puts it – "out of the box thinking," there are just too many flaws with this concept to take it seriously:
Who determines what tier a dog belongs in? Will it be some sort of government testing? Who will administer the tests? Will it be government employees or outsourced to certified dog trainers? Either way, it would likely open the door to new costly government bureaucracy. Maybe a DMV type structure could be devised to have the certified dog trainers administer the tests. First you step outside to have the certified dog trainer determine the proper licensing tier. Next it will be back into the building - fill out some forms, then have the dog and owner get their picture taken together, (a means to prevent fraud). A license could then be issued. It must be kept in the dog / dog owner's possession at all times.

As I was driving down the road this morning I was listening to the Democracy Now show on KPOV 106.7 radio.

Torture is wrong because it doesn't work. Societies must, at times, walk into questionable moral territory, but when that happens, you should at least get results. With torture, you don't. The confessions obtained are no good, and the enemies you create in the process will be highly motivated, and knock back at you hard.
First point, torture is useless: In the age of instant communication, whenever an Al Qaeda operative is picked up and detained, you can be sure that every plan involving that detainee will be changed within a few moments of his detention. These days, changing strategy wouldn't even require a phone call about the detention. A twitter between comrades will do the trick. Indeed before you have time to muster your most menacing voice and start waving cattle prods in someone's face, you can be sure that word has gone out about the arrest. These days, no act of war takes place in an outpost. Nothing takes place in the dark. They know what we're doing, and will adapt according to whom we've picked up and questioned.

I was saddened to read the personal story about the closing of Santee Alley (Leaving Downtown: Contemplating the end of an era and a dream). It was just another reminder of how the economic downturn has battered the Bend-Redmond area, destroying too many dreams.
I'm doing what I can to help. Part of my job at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro is to spread the word about our commitment to environmental stewardship, so I manage a photo contest called "Oregon Naturally presented by Intel" that celebrates Oregon's natural beauty. I was delighted when JELD-WEN Communities stepped up to offer the prizes - including vacation stays of up to 5 nights at Brasada Ranch and Eagle Crest Resort. I hope our contest advertising is helping attract visitors and that our winners are spreading the word about Central Oregon.