Source Weekly

You asked some people about the overturned law that the people of California passed on gay marriage. Most of the people stated that government should not be allowed into our bedrooms.

Bend's TV news has recently reported on dogs getting caught in leg-hold traps on public land. Because of that, it was termed a controversial “sport.” Apparently as long as no pets get caught in these barbaric devices, it is considered “sporting.” But what is sporting about the torture and killing of innocent and beautiful wild animals by evil machines left hidden and unattended?
Hunting and fishing are sports; trapping is commercial cruelty condoned by a society that should know better by now. Oh yeah, I forgot: the Bible says that God put all non-human animals on our planet specifically for us to use and abuse as much as we like because we are the only creatures with “souls.” We mutant-mind monkeys have the “God-given right” to cause other creatures extreme suffering because “the Bible told me to.” Why should anyone doubt human-induced climate change, widespread species extinction, or other ecological devastation when such deplorable behavior is justified by mainstream religious and legal dogmas?

It is interesting the bias and misinformation that attempts to sway public opinion. For one, the advocates of a sensible approach to allowing motor use on Waldo Lake are not looking to “zoom around in power boats.” As a sailor who has made weeklong summer visits to Waldo Lake for the past 25 years (until 2010) the “motorized recreation advocates” are not looking to turn Waldo Lake into a powerboat Mecca. The request is to allow the use of clean, quiet, four-stroke, 10-horsepower, or less, motors, which provides a fair compromise for both sides of this issue. I would offer the following counterpoints to your editorial bias:

Nike CEO Phil Knight argues that Joe Paterno, the late Penn State football coach, is not responsible for any of that school’s child molestation scandal. The real villains, Knight claims, are the university trustees who fired Paterno in the wake of the scandal. Paterno, says Knight, did all he needed to do when he told university officials that he had heard something about his former assistant coach who is now charged with having sex with children.