2001
erty and the pursuit of happiness.” Our Declara
tion of Independence was not written by Amer
icans, it was written hy immigrants striving to
become Americans.
Osama bin Laden’s ultimate goal is not to kill
our people, it is to change our way of life. While
our young men and women are winning the war
against terrorism, he is winning the war against
our way of life.
We cannot sit and watch Ashcroft throw
rights out for the expediency of “safety.” He has
attacked Oregon voters’ decisions, the state’s
right to govern its doctors, civilians’ right to
attorney-client confidentiality, accused people’s
right to a public trial of peers and everyone’s
rights regarding monitored communication,
nonwarranted searches and racial profiling.
1 am happy my police are the kind of people
who will take a stand for what is right.
C h r is t o p h e r
B.
W eb ster
Other large people, like the recent disclosure
of Drew Carey, eat a lousy high-fat diet, have a
genetic predisposition to heart disease and—
voila!— almost die. So, yes, some fat people get
fat because they live a slothful life!
Let’s not forget we are saturated with high-
fat food drenched with chem icals; that’s
what’s available at the grocery store. Some
thin people live a slothful life, yet they stay
thin.
Most sadly, many women diet their way up to
life-threatening diseases— wherein weight loss
surgery becomes a last beacon of hope. Being on
a perpetual diet is no more healthy than eating,
as the weight loss surgery folks have to, only a
tablespoonful of food at a time.
L in d a S. K a n z in g e r
Portland
Waffling hom osexuals
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was quite happily impressed when the Salva
tion Army announced an extension of bene
fits to employee partners. Recently, under pres
sure from conservative religious groups, it has
rescinded that policy.
1 wrote to the Salvation Army to express my
displeasure at this latest news and to say I no
longer would he making contributions of any
kind (not even for tax-relief purposes). 1 also
explained I will not allow my daughter to make
any further contributions (which come out of
my pocket).
I have explained to her that the Salvation
Army has demonstrated a discriminatory atti
tude toward its employees’ unmarried partners,
which in 7-year-old terms is “not fair" and
“unkind.” Instead, we will make little messages
of displeasure (not what you think, hut it is
tempting) to drop into contribution buckets.
I am raising my daughter to he conscientious
and kind and charitable. About the best thing I
can say about the Salvation Army is it has hand
ed me an opportunity to teach and show at the
same time. Although we are not contributing,
we will he discussing why we are giving to other
charitable agencies instead.
F lora M. R amey
Portland
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am not a homosexual, hut I have to admit I
do find the gay lifestyle immensely exciting
and interesting, and I read many gay magazines
and newspapers.
But there is something about homosexuals I
find puzzling. I remember in the early 1980s
when the A1 Pacino movie Cruising was
released. Many gays were outraged and highly
offended hy this film. I didn’t understand the big
hoopla then, and I still don’t get it.
And when the Michael Douglas film Basic
Instinct came out (no pun intended!), once
again the gay community was extremely upset,
and they complained about the way the
straight comm unity portrays gays in the
movies.
First of all, if the gay community does not
like the way they are portrayed on film, why
don’t they just make their own films instead of
depending so much on straight people to make
gay movies? Honestly, do homosexuals really
expect heterosexuals to know how to create
realistic gay characters?
Second of all, it seems as if the gay commu
nity wants to have it both ways. They complain
when no gay characters are on television and in
the movies, then they complain when they
don’t consider the gay characters to be realistic
depictions of homosexual life!
My goodness! Now y’all got me just as con
fused as y’all are! Pardon my Southern accent.
S h irley D. J a c k so n
Portland
Chewing the fat
To t h e
E d it o r :
E d it o r :
was saddened, disturbed and therein pro
voked to think at great length about the
issues raised in the articles on women of size in
your recent issue [“Bigger Isn’t Always Better”
and “Less Is More," Oct. 5J.
All fat women are not physically or psycho
logically unhealthy. There are fat women who
practice a healthy lifestyle and are not involved
in self-defeating behaviors [“Tipping the
Scales,” Nov. 2).
Not all big women are fat. Some big people
have ancestors who were big people.
c o r r e c tio r x
n the Nov. 16 article “Going Down Under,"
Jill Schuldt’s name was misspelled. In addi
tion, these statements should have been attrib
uted to Bee Williams: “We’re going to do some
fund raising to help people out.... How can you
go wrong with a bunch of gay people? It seems
like we always get together just to defend our
selves against the [Oregon Citizens Alliance], so
it’s nice to do something more positive."
Just Out regrets the errors.
I
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