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Taxes, more taxes
Once again, the season of giving.
However, the City of Hood River continues the season of taking. This
time with a sewer tax. And by a remarkable coincidence it starts at
approximately the same time as retired people on a fixed income get
their Social Security cost of living increase.
So why doesn’t the city eliminate the middleman and have the increase
sent directly to it? After all, they’re probably going to figure out a
way to get it anyway. Lest we forget, let’s look back in time to see
what’s happened in the past, starting with the shafting we took on the
water rates where we paid the same but only got half the water.
Now, this probably affected two income levels. Upper used the water
for the lawn, lower used it to flush the toilet — odd and even days of
course. This would work well if there were only two people in the
house. This was probably designed to conserve water for the storm
drain tax.
After all, this type of tax during the summer months when there is
nothing to drain is like keeping studded tires on all year in the
event it might snow. This shows that not all flakes are snow-related.
Now the city could put that surplus water in tanker trucks and flush
it down the streets on dry days to justify the tax.
Then came the ill-advised business license tax. It was quickly shot
down and is now dead but not buried. It has just gone south, but
knowing the city somewhere, somehow, the South will rise again.
And now the latest raid on your pocketbook: the sewer tax. According
to what I’ve read there will be three $4 charges over a period of
time, equaling 10 dollars. I hope the person who did the math here was
not a graduate of our school system.
But why do I have the feeling that somewhere there’s a drawing board
with the next tax increase and convenient excuse on it? But I will
give the city credit or helping stamp out obesity. The philosophy
behind this is that if you keep taking money away from an individual
that person will have less to spend on food.
Hood River, where it’s still all about money.
John Codino
Hood River
Book praise
My thanks to Sue Ryan for the thoughtful interview (“My Favorite
Books” in the Nov. 22 Gift Guide) and the chance to discover, too,
what books other county residents recommend. Ms. Ryan is a
thorough and delightful interviewer and the article excellent.
One clarification — Mount Hood resident Mary Schlick is a highly
regarded historian and author; Sharon Wood Wortman wrote “First
Voice: Poems and Field Notes.”
Finally, none of us seems to have mentioned two extraordinary
classic works: Dostoevski’s “Crime and Punishment” — a must — and
Tillie Olsen’s brilliant stories collection, “Tell Me a Riddle.”
Paula Friedman
Parkdale
Show ‘Truth’
“An Inconvenient Truth,” the documentary about global warming,
starring former Vice-President Al Gore, was a surprise box-office
success this summer. The response from critics and viewers alike
was that everyone, including children, should see this film.
The producers of the film decided to offer 50,000 free DVDs to the
National Science Teachers Association for educators to use in
classrooms.
But the NSTA rejected the offer, expressing concern that accepting
the DVDs might offend targeted supporters of their organization.
It turns out that those supporters include Exxon Mobil, Shell Oil
and the American Petroleum Institute — groups that have done
everything possible to discredit the science, pressure lawmakers,
and muddle public understanding and concern over the issue of
global warming.
Some of these efforts have even been directed at classrooms. A
1998 API memo leaked to the media advocates “Informing
teacher/students about the uncertainties in climate science to
erect barriers against further efforts to impose Kyoto-like
measures in the future.”
The NSTA should be ashamed of itself for rejecting the DVDs. The
evidence is overwhelming that heat-trapping pollution in the
atmosphere is altering our climate at a rate never previously seen
before. There is widespread consensus in the scientific community
that this is the primary environmental threat facing us. I would
hope that such an organization as the NSTA would have enough
critical thinkers to tackle the scientific literature, decipher
the information, and figure this out for themselves.
Who better to get the message about global warming than our
children? “An Inconvenient Truth” presents the science of global
warming in an understandable and entertaining way.
It is a documentary film with an important message and
cross-generational appeal. Teachers, educators, and the rest of us
have a responsibility to educate youth, raise awareness, and take
actions to limit global warming.
I hope that teachers in Hood River and elsewhere will accept this
responsibility. They should use the film and all other materials
to bring the global warming issue into science classrooms, in
spite of the NSTA’s shameful position.
Tim Mayer
Hood River
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