Opinion

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Hello… 60 Minutes? Since when did it become OK to slander and discredit a person who has dedicated his life to serving others? I have known Greg Mortenson for almost 10 years and thanks to our friendship and the hard work of two wonderful ladies, plus countless others, we were able to host him here in Bend last year.
As the story about Greg aired, I actually began to think I was on the wrong channel, watching some horrid Dateline show and not the 60 Minutes I have watched and respected for years. What reporter takes one year’s [worth of] tax information out of an 18-year-old nonprofit to make some sort of point? Even the IRS takes three years. What’s up with that? Also, what reporter does not look into the actual book revenues and royalty agreements, and instead portrays a humanitarian as a book-selling, greed monger?

Regarding Oregon Legislature’s “Stupid Lawmaking Spree” (WTF, 4-6) Last fall, the Source Weekly supported Measure 71, which mandated that the Oregon Legislature meet every year instead of every other year. So we increase state government by a factor of two and end up with what? A hell of a lot more W.T.F's.
Was that what the editors of the Source were hoping for? Because it sure as hell was predictable.

One of the major reasons for the declining economy and unemployment numbers always seems to shift back to the illegal immigrants coming into the country and stealing jobs. Obviously we all know that large numbers of people are crossing our southern border for work, but how much are they really affecting the economy?
Now I am not much of an economy wizard, but something is a bit rotten on the whole “blame the illegals” thing. I had recently talked with a carpenter from California and he told me how his wage had dropped from $25 per hour to $21 per hour and (finally) to $16 an hour. The drop happened as the work force became more and more [Hispanic] in the house-building industry.
So when I asked him if the price of the houses dropped also he said “no, it increased.” So where is the extra money going? Say I am building a widget and it costs me $50 to build it. I sell it for $100 and make $50. I cut labor costs back so the cost to build is $25 and I sell it for $100. I now make $75 dollars off the widget. More money in my pocket.

One of our revered multibillionaires, a Koch brother, recently stated that they are the real doers in society and he has jobs for the people who don't want to work-in the prison! As inmates? Working through his Tea Potty people in Congress, he rightfully plans to eliminate all social government programs, except for the Giant War Machine-necessary to protect their interests in their slave markets and their world resources.
Global slavery is a huge plus. However, a 25-cents-an-hour Chinese worker for one of our billion-dollar companies in China dared to complain, wailing that [he] could not afford to feed his family on the going wage. Our global economy and unregulated capitalism function superbly and do not need wailers like him!
Take into account the 15-hour days and seven-day weeks and it adds up to a little over $100 a month. Our workers here have been lectured by our voodoo economists for years that they must learn to compete with their global counterparts or else! So the once well-paid jobs have all migrated to slave factories overseas. As it should be.