Letters to the Editor, Feb. 1, 2023

Relieve Housing Shortage Pressure

PeaceHealth has 90+ openings here in Florence; the school district and veterinarians are short staffed.

A few months ago, Johnston Motors closed the Body shop as replacement hires could not find a place to live. I am sure there are more I don’t know about.

Some of these needed folks have RV’s and nowhere to park them, parks are quite often full.

Many folks have driveways they could fit in, off the street. Some have RVs not being used.

The city does not allow this “camping,” as they call it.

I’m not suggesting that.

I’m suggesting at least month-to-month stays to relieve housing shortage pressure.

Springfield already allows something similar as reported by KVAL.com

—Rob Shepherd Florence

Editor’s note: While the PeaceHealth Peace Harbor website does include 90 job postings, it’s unclear how many of those positions are still open. Siuslaw News will reach out to Peace Harbor on their exact figures, how it compares to other time periods and any issues they may have with housing.

No Super Bowl for You!

If you’re a DISH Network subscriber, you won’t be able to watch the Super Bowl this year — at least as it stands now. 

This year, the game is being broadcast on FOX network. The local FOX affiliate and DISH are in a contract dispute over money. As a result, we’re not receiving any programming from that channel — and that will include the Super Bowl coming up shortly.

If you would like to voice your displeasure over this situation, you can call both entities.

KLSR, the local FOX affiliate, can be reached at 1-541-683-3434.

DISH can be reached at 1-800-333-3474.

—John Schreiber Florence

Jefferson was no saint

I have read the 6-volume set of Jefferson and His Time by Dumas Malone, among others.

While I can attest to the inspirational words of Jefferson, I don’t believe that, by examining Jefferson’s life, he has been “vilified, castigated, misrepresented by the uninformed…”

Joel Marks’ letter of Jan. 18 would have you believe that this has been going on for the past half-decade. 

A poem anonymously published on July 10, 1802, in The Port Folio, a Federalist literary paper, titled “Our massa Jefferson he say,” is a criticism of his statement that “all men are created equal” to the hypocrisy of his life as a slave owner.

Jefferson is not an American saint. There is plenty of evidence of this.

Is DNA good enough? 

Ms. Hemings could not defy what her owner demanded. The “relationship” between them was one of rape. Jefferson, over the course of his life, enslaved approximately 600 people.

Apologists have asserted that Thomas Jefferson can’t be held to accountability because of the society in which he lived — an absurdity.

Jefferson was heavily influenced by the Two Treatises on Civil Government by Englishman John Locke (published in 1689). The Declaration of Independence liberally incorporated Locke’s philosophy. In his first Treatise, Locke asserted that each person has property in his own person — that is, each person literally owns his own body. 

Other people may not use a person’s body for any purpose without his permission.

Our Black brothers/ sisters have been grievously harmed by slavery; and 400 years later, are still being harmed from the coverup of truth.

It’s long past time to rationally dispel myths that have harmed people of color.

James 1:22: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” 

If Thomas Jefferson had heeded all men are created equal, his legacy (and perhaps the United States) would have been different.

In 1766, Swedish scientist/philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg wrote a manuscript, Charity, asking the question “Who is the neighbor?”

In summary, Swedenborg defined “the neighbor” as “the good and the true” which we are to encourage.

Conversely, we are to recognize evil/falsity and to oppose it.

—Judy Ebbe Florence

Childish Board

Is there anyone on the Mapleton Water District Board over the age of 12? 

—Francis Straley, Florence

Political Purgatory vs. political damnation?

I am what some would call a “Cradle Catholic.” My upbringing included attendance at Sunday School and two weeks of summer religion classes where the nuns explained to us what could happen if we strayed from the straight and narrow. 

One thing they dwelt on was the important topic of sins, both venial and (shudder) mortal. 

We learned that venial sins were somewhat minor infractions; call a fellow third-grader a “jerk” and you could end up in purgatory, where you served a limited time in incarceration. 

But call him a “G… D… jerk” (even after eight decades of existence, I cannot bring myself to say or even write what that stands for) and you were doomed to burn in agony for all eternity, or at least until hell freezes over.

There were all kinds of other perils for you to avoid. 

Have you eaten just half of your hamburger and suddenly realize it is Friday? Do you immediately throw it away?

That response deserves a short purgatory stay, the length of which depends on how long you sat there thinking about your choices.

But continue eating it? We all understood the dreaded result of that choice.

And out on the playground, as you were climbing up the slide ladder, did you catch a glimpse of the undies of the girl in front of you? 

Quick, avert your eyes and get a lesser sentence. But did you dwell on that sight right there before your curious eyes? 

It gives a new perspective on “hot pants.” 

So how does this relate to today’s world? The Siuslaw News published one of my letters several months ago. In it, I explained how my many years of work experience in companies that required government clearances gave me an unparalleled appreciation for the importance of dealing with classified documents. 

We were clearly told the penalties of violating security requirements and I disparaged anyone who did not take that obligation seriously. 

At the time that letter was published, a former occupant of the Oval Office was under fire for egregious breaches of security, which required the FBI to intervene. And now, we have evidence that there is a second “partner-in-crime.” 

Does that change my feelings on the seriousness of these security violations? 

Well, perhaps somewhat. 

Falling back on what the nuns ingrained in my thinking way back when, it sure looks to me like there are venial and mortal security violations. 

Based on the well-publicized contrasting behaviors of the two individuals involved — and the previously cited example of climbing the slide ladder — I am quite sure Joe Biden would have looked away in short order. 

In contrast, the preponderance of evidence including — the Access Hollywood tape — makes it pretty obvious what Donald Trump would likely have done. 

So, are these two security cases equivalent? Are voluntary and forced compliance equivalent? 

I still firmly believe that we need procedures to assure that our country’s military and nuclear secrets are kept secure. 

So, send Joe off to political purgatory. Let him serve his term and then let him go commingle with the angels. 

For Donald, an eternity denying, whining and complaining about injustice (and oh yes, sweating) seems appropriate.

—Kenneth Janowski, Florence