Letters to the Editor

This past Sunday’s concert at the Tower featuring bluegrass legend Del McCoury was something that I had been looking forward to all winter.Bend rarely gets such a performer in town, and as Del mentioned, he had to "cross about 16 mountains to get here.
While Del and the boys put on a fantastic show Sunday, I have to say I was extremely embarrassed for our "vocal" Bend crowd. As Del usually does, he asked for requests halfway through his show. Immediately there were requests for songs as audacious as "Rocky Top" and Bill Monroe’s "Uncle Pen," among others. And even when Del mentioned that he had played "Uncle Pen" every night that he played with Bill Monroe and was kinda tired of it, he was challenged with a comment that he has had "50 years to get over it."

Each week The Source highlights a letter that stands out from the rest of the mailbag. We're rewarding those who put a little more effort, thought and passion into their missives with a $25 gift certificate from Dinner's Ready. This week's winner is Bob Jeremiah who points out what he sees as the disturbing similarities between George Orwell's dystopian vision and our all-too-real world. Thanks for the letter Bob. You can pick up your gift certificate at our office, 704 NW Bond, anytime this week. Bon Appetit.
It is hard to believe that the year 1984 happened 24 years ago.
George Orwell's story is a powerful and relevant metaphor for the informed (brainwashed?) world we now share.
1984 depicts a world where torture is condoned or ignored, war is peace, ignorance is strength and freedom is slavery. Officially controlled messages of terror from external threats and reports of imperialistic conquest pervade the news.

The occupier of the White House gave his final State of the Union address and is now tantalizingly close to retirement, where he can ride around the Crawford "ranch," crashing his bicycle instead of the economy, whacking weeds instead of people. This fake cowboy and his fraudulent administration have pistol-whipped the American public for so long that his final efforts to fleece us sound somewhat ordinary, like a song sung so often that the lyrics relate a lilting logic, no matter the words spoken.

Just wanted to drop a line and say I really enjoy reading the online version of the Source.
I am a Bend resident stationed overseas in the U.

Wow, Charles Sweckert's letter is a difficult one to reply to because it's so rhetorical – no facts, just questions.
Military recruiters have a place they can recruit; it's called a recruiting station. They have no business preying on our junior and high school students.
I think it is important that those of us who are supporting the troops by working for peace have organized peace vigils for five years in Bend, while the pro-war fanatics want to send our children off to two wars based on nothing but lies.

As The Bulletin searches high and low to find political columnists who mirror the local newspaper's incredibly conservative viewpoints, it probably needs to be pointed out what a fine job they have done with their addition of Bill Kristol. This is his most recent insight (Sunday, Feb.

The recent comments by David Rosell, chairman of the Bend Chamber of Commerce, regarding the skiing at Mt. Bachelor are extremely short-sighted. In 20 years' time the Bend Chamber will be considering installing a monorail up to Mt. Bachelor to facilitate all the winter visitors to Central Oregon.

It is interesting that Bruce Miller saw fit to highlight and conclude his article with the following quote from Bill Friedman, "The disagreement comes about because some owners believe that somehow, magically, they ain't going to have to pay for it (the repairs)."
Unless by "some people" Friedman is referring to the Papes and by "magically" he is referring to their recent allegedly fraudulent activity at the Inn, which somehow I doubt, this attempted "spin" on Friedman's part has absolutely no basis in fact.

I am pleased to see that the recent Climate Teach-Ins drew so much attention. One question: Who is talking about population growth as a driver of climate change? My guess is that it's still too volatile a topic for anyone - politicians, newspapers, even students - to talk about.