Gift of music
Aaron Meyer's third annual holiday concert for kids is on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. at the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn. Aaron's passion is introducing music into the lives of young children. At this year's kid's concert, several Hood River music students will perform on their violins with him.
My name is Gordy Sato, and I am president of the Hood River United Way (UW) council. Because all kids who have an interest in learning more about music might not be able to afford to come to the concert, we at UW are offering 100 free tickets to kids and a parent to attend this amazing concert!
During this time of holiday giving, please donate to help give this opportunity to kids. You can write a check made out to United Way and send it to me: Gordy Sato, 5171 Baseline Drive, Parkdale OR 97041. Our 4 p.m. show is our 13th annual holiday concert with Aaron Meyer and is so greatly appreciated.
Gordy Sato
Parkdale
How?
When Donald Trump won the presidency the first time, I reassured myself, as many of us did, that he couldn't be as divisive and dangerous as he seemed. Watching the election results coming in last night, one thought kept going through my mind: How could this happen, how did we let this happen, now that we KNOW how dangerous a threat to democracy the president elect is?
I am sure the 30 million Germans who voted for Adolf Hitler had similar thoughts: No one knew how his cries of "Germany for Germans" and vociferous pledges to "rid" the fatherland of "vermin" could really play out. Germany was in ruins thanks to World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1918 to ensure that Germany could never become a world power again.
For the first time since I retired from the military, I am glad I am not serving now. Trump has vowed to use the military on "the enemy within" (more Hitler speech) and I could not in good conscience bear arms against my fellow Americans. Soldiers defend the Constitution of the United States, a document I believe Trump still has not studied. We obey the orders of our Commander in Chief. I don't believe I could do that now because for the first time in my life, I am not proud of my country's actions. We elected this man; we must now face the consequences of having a convicted felon as our leader. God save us from ourselves and bless America, the land that I love.
Cody Yeager
The Dalles
Lies, lies, lies
Well, we could remove the liability exemption from websites, so websites such as Facebook can be sued for lies posted. Right now the internet is a turbulent, toxic sea of lies, posted by liars who gain from their lies without consequence. That would help a lot!
That said, what I find troubling is that in the last few weeks of the recent campaign, the darker and creepier Trump got, the more his support increased. Our country has had its ups and downs, its cycles of bad directions and good directions, and more or less tended to move in sorta positive directions. If this is part of this, we'll get by, I expect.
But there is the cautionary tale of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. It got worse, and then even worse, and worse, and worse, the result being death in the millions by war and government-supervised mass murder, a relatively few people saw this happening in the 1920s and got out. My tendency is to hang in there and see how things work out, but I do think about this possibility some. Puerto Rico looks good.
Concerning The Dalles in particular, for now I am slightly optimistic that if Trump tries forcible ethnic cleansing in the tens of millions on a scale really quite unprecedented even in Nazi Germany or the Nakba businesses in The Dalles will be going, "Hey, wait a minute, you're talking about 40% of our business receipts!" The result could be lack of cooperation, even armed push-back, including the killing of contract bounty hunters greedy for the money involved in wholesale kidnapping of anyone who looks sorta Hispanic-ish, much of the kidnapping illegal but done even so. This would be similar to the killing of bounty hunters of escaped slaves or whomever might have black skin, free or not, that happened in northern states prior to the Civil War.
Jerrold Richards
Lyle
Doomed to repeat
America, it was nice to know you. The people have spoken and put the rump in charge. Unfortunately, you the people were duped by a con man. This is a classic case of when we don't remember history, we're doomed to repeat it. The next four years are on you. The only people who will benefit from this presidency besides ol' orange-face are the late night TV show writers who will have yet another full term of mind-blowing material that you just can't make up.
To those who voted for truth over lies, honesty over dishonesty, integrity over deception, and respect for the constitution over egotistical self-worship, please hang in there. I choose to remain an optimist with the hope that reason will prevail.
Brian McCavitt
White Salmon
Don't understand
Why is it so many U.S. citizens hate our country so much they would elect a person convicted of 34 counts of falsifying documents in a hush money investigation. A person who over stating worth of properties to gain better loan rates at the expense of loaners. A person who admires and cozies up to enemy dictators across the world. I won’t be surprised the United States falls into an other civil war. I believe Donald Trump has full-fledged Alzheimer’s disease. His father had it too. He is so unfit to be president. But the majority of voters don’t care, have no concern what a Trump second term will do to the United States, our allies, and the lives of us all.
Gary Fields
Hood River
Laughing on their superyachts
Our ruthless billionaires have successfully bought another election, enabled by the disastrous Citizens United ruling in 2010. Their top priority is to extend massive tax cuts for the rich and cut government regulations on anything they desire. Since the 2017 Trump tax cuts, U.S. billionaires have doubled their net worth to $6 trillion. That extra $3 trillion is more than $20,000 per household channeled to billionaires. Are you $20,000 richer since 2017? Sixty percent of American households live paycheck-to-paycheck.
It’s no wonder that the working class is frustrated, and now they’ve been conned into voting for another devastating round of oligarchs mismanaging and lying to us. Bernie Sanders notes that “real, inflation-accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now than they were 50 years ago. Today, despite an explosion in technology and worker productivity, many young people will have a worse standard of living than their parents.”
The Democratic Party has been trying to find a middle ground that tries to unwind some of the income inequality, but that strategy simply became a battle of billionaires flooding (or owning) most of our media outlets. Independent newspapers that are still left: The Guardian, ProPublica, Democracy Now — and Columbia Gorge News and Columbia Insight!
Meanwhile, this election result will add even more to global warming than the inadequate path we were on. Many studies have warned that our current trajectory may not support organized civilization. Envision a billion immigrants moving northward, large cities sprouting up in Alaska and northern Canada, food and water shortages — in an organized way?
For the sake of our children and grandchildren, and all species and ecosystems, we all need to be cutting our climate emissions as much as we can. The good news is that household electrification options save money and the government incentives aren’t going away for years. The thrifty way to electrify is to plan for an electric car, heat pump, and water heater now, then upgrade your vehicles, furnace, or water heater when those wear out.
Read: The Uninhabitable Earth, electrifyoregon.org, Electrify by Saul Griffith, Project 2025.
Eric Strid
White Salmon
Church news
Exciting growth is happening at Husum Community Church of God. The church is always ready to welcome new members and visitors. A vibrant craft group meets on Tuesdays 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Crafters work on quilts, art, home decorations, sewing projects and home crafts.
This group presented their annual bazaar for missions Oct. 26. They would like to thank Ryan's Fruit of Hood River for donations of apples for pies. They also thank Beneventi's of Bingen for donating bread sticks.
Other church activities include: Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. facilitated by Daryl Horn, and worship service at 10:45 a.m. led by Doug Radliff. Pastor Steve Masters focuses his sermons on "how the Bible relates to our current lives." Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. is worship team practice, and the group welcomes new musicians. At 6:30 p.m. is an open Bible study. The last Sunday of each month, the church holds a potluck luncheon.
For more information, call the church at 509-493-2724.
Robin Masters
Dallesport
Farmers Irrigation meeting
This is in follow-up with the Farmers Irrigation District's rate increase answers. Please make sure to attend the next Board Meeting this coming Wednesday, December 18th at 12 noon at their facility. They should be responding to our many questions and concerns from the November Board Meeting. Hoping to see you all again as before. FID needs to understand their poor communication, and the increase of our bills without adequate warning to us customers prior played a major part of our concerns.
Tina Dye
Carson
Commented