Barbarians in the Badlands

This week's letter of the week comes from local entrepreneur Katie Stewart who asks readers to rally behind her and other small business owners caught up in a new product safety crackdown. Thanks for the letter Katie. We can't change an act of Congress but we will give you a shiny new pint glass and a cold beverage to fill it for your winning letter. Swing by our office at the corner of Bond and Georgia to collect your prize.
Many of us have heard of the toy recalls that occurred as a result of some lead-tainted toys sold in 2007 and some of us have heard of the resulting law, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, (CPSIA) that was passed this past summer and takes effect February 10th, 2009. There has been some news coverage of the potential effects of this law on thrift stores and resellers of children's products, mostly the closing of these stores as they will be unable to test all of their inventory to ensure it all meets the new safety standards. This is a terrible effect of this law, no doubt, as many families around this country rely on these secondhand stores to provide quality clothes and other products for their children, and my family is no exception. However, many Americans face an even greater problem as a result of this law, and there has been an unfortunate lack of media attention given to this.

As an emergency services provider I'd like to offer a response to H. Bruce Miller's opinion piece in the January 15 issue about installing a Jersey Barrier on Hwy 97.
I believe in Jersey Barriers; they save lives. But there are many concerns that communities must weigh before committing to those barriers. I am no traffic expert, but with 28 years of emergency service experience I must weigh in on the negatives that I see. The first is response time for those called to help (in a timely manner) to the scene of an accident or other emergency. The barriers on I-5 are one example. Between Brooks and Woodburn the barrier has contributed to increased response times. If an accident is, for example, just a half-mile south of Woodburn in the northbound lanes, emergency services must come from Brooks and travel up to twelve miles to provide assistance.

Jim Owen's In My View was published for a second time within a week in Bend's daily paper. The second printing (Jan. 14) is titled "Recent oil crisis demonstrates the need for nuclear energy." An odd title in that Owen doesn't really make a case for nuclear. But I thank him for bringing up "Peak Oil."

But first let's talk about nuclear energy. Owen neglects to inform us that as a resource (uranium) it's finite like fossil fuel! The U.S. only has 11 percent of the world's exploitable sources. U.S. annual consumption is about 62,000 tons. If consumption stays flat, our uranium would last about 57 years. However, if we double, triple or quadruple production, we'd run out in short order, and with a bad investment. Fission produces only electricity, less than 40 percent of our energy needs. And, the source of the remaining 60 percent? Another problem is disposal of radioactive waste.

Is it just me, or does the different gravel they're using on streets around Bend actually cause more dust in the air?
I was lookin' South down Wall St. the other day, kinda lookin' toward the sun, and I thought I was in a temporal warp.