Opinion
Posted inOpinion

Trick or Cheating: Taking the easy way out on Halloween, crazy Coulter, and sex talks

Eric Flowers

The Queen of Shock

Trick-Or-Driving
Upfront was primed to launch a tirade on this page about the apparent death of trick or treating, seeing as how last Friday we only had three groups of masked children come to our door. But we soon learned, upon arriving in a different neighborhood, that kids are still hitting the streets en masse to get a free sugar fix and that Upfront's dearth of trick-or-treaters was due to our non-streetlight, plenty of broken-down cars street.
Apparently, kids and their parents, not unlike Hemingway, enjoy a clean, well-lighted place to knock on doors. While there were plenty of costumed children in this pristine neighborhood, there was one troubling practice we witnessed: parents driving their children from house to house. Folks were loading up the kids for a 25 foot trip to the next house and then repeating this process all the way around the block.

Posted inOpinion

For President: Barack Obama

It’s been said that next week’s election is a referendum on the past eight years, which have been characterized by the catastrophic mistakes of the
Eric Flowers

It's been said that next week's election is a referendum on the past eight years, which have been characterized by the catastrophic mistakes of the current administration. Senator John McCain has labored hard to distance himself from that storyline.

Posted inOpinion

Bend Voters’ Choice: Community Interests vs. Special Interests

Eric Flowers

Bend voters have a clear choice between community interests and special interests in the November 4 election.
Four City Council candidates-Jim Clinton, Linda Johnson, Peter Gramlich and Jodie Barram-stand out because they have demonstrated a commitment to the community and are not beholden to special interests.
Their four opponents-Don Leonard, Kathie Eckman, Tom Greene and Jeff Eager-are the candidates of special interests, specifically the political action committees (PACs) of Central Oregon's realtor and developer organizations that are blatantly trying to buy this election.
Oregon Secretary of State records (www.sos.state.or.us/elections) show that the Central Oregon Association of Realtors and the Central Oregon Builders Association PAC (called Central Oregonians for Affordable Housing) have contributed $49,669 of the $99,460 raised by Leonard, Eckman, Greene, and Eager-an astounding 49.9 percent.

Posted inOpinion

Political Intolerance

Somebody - we think it might have been Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes - said that freedom of speech means freedom not just for the
Eric Flowers

Somebody - we think it might have been Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes - said that freedom of speech means freedom not just for the speech we like but, more importantly, freedom for the speech we don't like.
In this frenzied presidential election campaign, hysteria is mounting on both sides and people are showing their dislike for other people's exercise of freedom of speech in some rather alarming ways.

Posted inOpinion

Numbers Don’t Lie: Palin loses Alaska, race baiting and Madonna’s sex schedule

With the latest poll numbers showing Obama’s lead widening, Sen. McCain appeared this week on Meet the Press to engage in a Bush-esque denial of
Eric Flowers

With the latest poll numbers showing Obama's lead widening, Sen. McCain appeared this week on Meet the Press to engage in a Bush-esque denial of reality, claiming that the race was actually getting more competitive in battleground states (perhaps because McCain is bailing out of key states like Michigan and conceding them to Obama). The reality of the situation is that the GOP campaign is coming apart at the seams, the election is still a week off and the finger pointing has already started. There were widespread reports that Palin and her inner circle are revolting on their GOP handlers waging a sort of "rogue" campaign that reflects her ticket’s desperate position - give her credit, at least she recognizes that the ship is sinking. Publicly the campaign has retreated into scare tactics and aggressive attacks that do little but incite the party's base of wing nut conservatives. (Check YouTube "McCain" and "Rally" if you have any doubt as to with whom the ACORN and William Ayers accusations resonate).
So much for a home field advantage.

Posted inOpinion

BAT is No Frill

Soviet Leader Vladmir Lenin said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth”. Unfortunately, sometimes once is enough. Accordingly, this letter is a response to
Eric Flowers

Soviet Leader Vladmir Lenin said, "A lie told often enough becomes the truth". Unfortunately, sometimes once is enough. Accordingly, this letter is a response to the 10/24/08 letter by Steve Stambaugh wherein he states the ridership of BAT "is declining….down to one person per mile".

That claim is as far opposite from facts as the claim that, "the Holocaust never happened." The facts are that BAT ridership is constantly increasing to the extent that sometimes there remains only standing room.
Transportation is not a luxury; it is a necessity. During World War II, of which I am a veteran, General Patton and Rommel spent as much time racing for sources of fuel (necessary to keep their tanks rolling) as they did fighting each other.
Within the limitation of 400 words, I cannot state all the advantages of a public transit system for Bend and thus voting YES for measure 9-60. For one thing, thriving businesses are absolute necessities for a thriving economy. And what is necessary for a business to thrive? Customers. Regardless of its goods or services or location, a business (any business) must have customers. And the more customers, the more that business thrives.

Posted inOpinion

Support Barack

Support Barack
Eric Flowers

I believe the health, perhaps even survival, of our nation depends on three issues: the economy, energy and our relationships with foreign nations.
America is weakened. Our economy is stumbling, our infrastructure is crumbling and we are militarily over-extended. I support Barack Obama because I believe we must change direction, significantly. We've been on a "Borrow and Spend" free-for-all. Our nation now has an unprecedented $9 trillion national debt. We must change direction.
Our economic crisis is worsened by our precarious energy situation. America now imports 70% of our oil. McCain's response calls for more domestic drilling. I give Obama credit for telling the difficult truth on this issue: America consumes 25% of the world's oil but we have only 3% of the world's oil reserves. We cannot drill our way out of dependence on foreign oil. To regain independence we must aggressively develop renewable energy options. Obama's energy plan is spot on.

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