Heard from the front porch:

“Thank God for cranky people for they teach us not to be that way. If you are a cranky person and don’t want to teach us, get more rest and your teaching career will be over!”

Code convolutions

I have, in the past, written numerous letters concerning the housing next to Hood River Middle School.

I thought that this was the height of bureaucratic incompetence. I was wrong.

The recent units directly below the hospital reflect much more incompetence.

I defy anyone to be able to drive into these so-called garages.

The fact that four units are now allowed into land that previously had been designated as fit for one speaks volumes about changing values.

Ironically, this is not the only example of the incompetence of decisions made recently. Another example would be the units on Belmont, next to a church.

I think that it is time that we look at the current attitude concerning “in-filling” and concentrate on building for a “lifestyle” objective.

In other words, we do not need to put as many people as possible into a small area; perhaps we need to look at “quality of life.”

I encourage anyone with a problem with the current decisions relating to building codes to contact city representatives.

Parking request

I wanted to take the time to thank the City of Hood River for allowing free customer parking in the Cascade lot (across from the post office) during the Urban Renewal project on Oak Street.

I know a lot of people sacrificed their parking spots so that we could offer free parking to our customers.

I would ask that all employees please respect the city and the permit holders by not parking in that lot.

Paper clip power

One small town in Tennessee made a difference.

Upon hearing the horrific news that al-Qaida is now training young boys to kidnap and assassinate people, I am compelled to share a documentary about teaching tolerance.

The award-winning documentary “Paper Clips” is about middle school students from Whitwell, Tenn., studying the Holocaust.

Paper clips were invented by the Norwegians and were worn on their shirt collars as a symbol of solidarity against the Nazis.

To help understand the 11 million Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and disabled people killed, the students from this small Appalachian town began writing letters asking for paper clips in memory of the people known to have been victims of the Holocaust.

As word spread through the television news, media and Internet, paper clips began pouring in from all over the world.

Find out where the millions of paper clips are kept and the memorial made honoring the Holocaust victims and survivors by watching this powerful documentary.

You will never look at paper clips the same.

Iraq refugees

Conditions in Iraq continue to deteriorate and the majority of Americans now agree that the situation has grown urgent.

Over the last four years, efforts to implement democracy, security, and stability in the region have elicited little success.

The media continues to inundate us with images of insurgent attacks, roadside bomb explosions, and U.S. military fatalities. It has become increasingly clear that Americans support U.S. disengagement in Iraq. What most of us don’t realize is that we will be leaving behind one of the largest refugee crises in the world’s history.

Since 2003 more than four million civilians have been forced from their homes and communities. At least two million Iraqis remain internally displaced. For security purposes, civilians reside in remotely located refugee tent camps. Thousands are expected to die in these camps this winter.

The American government and its citizens are failing to recognize the long-term socio-economic and political implications that accompany a refugee crisis of this magnitude.

The Middle East continues to be engulfed by instability, occupation, and violence. Despite repeated promises from western politicians, we have yet to see a functional resolution to the 1948 Palestinian exodus from Israel. The U.S. must work collaboratively now with the international community to alleviate political tensions and address the enormity of the humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

We (the public) have a responsibility to act as advocates for the creation of cohesive, effective, and just foreign policy legislation — we have a responsibility to be informed. Please visit www.collateralrepairproject.org for more information.

New pharaohs

Once, as we learned in grade school, pharaohs and emperors used armed warriors to keep their populace controlled, while taxing for themselves and their friends the fruits of the land. To keep the warriors happy, some fruits, of course, were diverted their way.

The people said “Oh good — no expensive big-government interference in our lives, simply an army to be paid.”

Oops, sorry, that wasn’t what the people said, now was it? Guess we’ll learn the answer when (if) the votes are counted in this November’s election. Meanwhile, seniors and poorer persons, stay healthy, while Medicare, Medicaid, and health research take another Bush-hit.

Wonderful gift

There have been several recent letters suggesting a lack of public input in the waterfront park project.

In my own experience, nothing could be further from the truth. I watched the park plans take shape at public meetings of a public committee for more than two years, and then I saw the plans approved at public city council meetings with opportunity for public testimony.

While some folks seem to have missed the years of meetings, fortunately the issues they’ve raised in their letters have already been discussed. I personally expressed the desire to keep windsurfing from dominating the park to the exclusion of other activities. I was convinced that the size of the park and its design would allow our city staff to manage this park for the enjoyment of all in our community, not just windsurfers.

I hope everyone can join me in applauding the CGWA and all the other entities — the port, foundations, businesses, and individuals who allowed us to build this park without appropriating any city funds for the purpose.

We’ll all get to enjoy this wonderful gift this summer.

Send Oregon info

I am in the fifth grade at Ripon Christian Elementary School in Ripon, Calif. I have adopted your state as a class project. I will be doing a report and making a display about Oregon. Toward the end of April or beginning of May my class will be having a “State Fair.” I will display and show everything that I have gotten and learned about your great state to my whole school.

It would be helpful to me if you could ask your readers to send me postcards of your state, maps, brochures, information about wildlife, industry, neat places to visit, statistics, sports teams and any other information and items your readers feel would be helpful.

I hope your readers will help me with my project. I can be reached at Mrs. Terpstra’s Class, Ripon Christian School, 217 N. Maple Ave., Ripon, CA 95366.

I’m looking forward to hearing from them and promise to send a thank you to them for helping me. I am excited to learn about your state.

Lesson of ignorance

In the recent eruption of tribal warfare in Kenya, there may be a lesson for the rest of the world. The outbreak of violence was occasioned by the Dec. 28 presidential election in which Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, was narrowly defeated by President Mwai Kibaki in an election that was contested by Odinga’s Luo tribe as well as by international election observers.

The rioting drew world attention, not only because of its grisly brutality, but because Kenya is considered to be among the very few prosperous post-colonial African democracies. Most of us wondered how even a contested election in such a peaceful democracy could result in such murderous violence.

What we didn’t know was the extent of the favoritism exercised by the Kibaki government. To members of his own Kikuyu tribe have gone most of the jobs, the official appointments, and municipal services like paved roads and running water.

Because the Kikuyus and Luos live in areas apart from one another, it has been reported that most of the Kikuyus were not aware of these vast discrepancies in living standards, nor the deep resentment this was causing. The Kikuyus were enjoying Kenyan prosperity and assumed the Luos were, too.

The lesson that we should all learn from this tragedy is that it is never safe (let alone right) to live in ignorance of injustice and oppression, especially when it works in one’s favor. The decline of colonialism in Africa didn’t remove the colonial attitudes of those benefiting from it.

In all matters of foreign affairs, we should be careful not to favor a country’s privileged class at the expense of the poor and under-served, whether for military, political or economic reasons. While both we and a foreign country’s rulers may be advantaged in the short term by doing so, the chickens always come home to roost.