Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Stories and photos about guys and their cars could fill
this newspaper for at least a year, especially with reminisc-
ing about “The First Car.” I don’t like to think about my first
car because it was a bomb. At least, it smoked like one
that had exploded.
It was The Car I Had To Have because when I turned
16 years old, California DMV decreed that I was eligible to
drive by myself. My Dad didn’t think it was a good idea for
me to use his car instead of me letting him use it for his
job. I had been
driving with a
learner’s permit
for six months
prior. My first
car was ‘52
Ford in which
someone inex-
plicably had
installed a ‘54
Olds V-8 and
three-speed
automatic trans-
mission.
Unfortu-
nately, the job
had been done
haphazardly.
There were jag-
ged edges,
The Editor, (with hair) and his ‘55 Buick
loose connections
and lots of smoke. But dear ol’ Dad put out 500 of his hard-
earned bucks for my first car. It was a fast machine. And I
had three moving violations during the first four months I
drove it to prove that.
Eventually we got rid of the smokin’ thing, and Dad
gave me his ‘55 Buick. This was around 1960, when he
bought a new Chrysler. The Buick, a Special model with
three portholes and a V-8, had something like 125,000
hard miles on it when he turned it over to me. But I was OK
with that because it didn’t smoke. And I had no more repair
bills because of too much Olds torque on a Ford axle. I
also saved money on reclaimed oil which I poured into the
engine, which seemed to swallow it and quickly spit it out.
Another advantage was that the radio in the Buick
worked all the time instead of sporadically.
The Buick was living proof that unleaded gasoline
worked fine. Dad, a pharmaceutical salesman whose pri-
mary territory was Tijuana and Ensenada in Mexico, Baja
California, bought 90 percent of his fuel from Pemex
(Petróleos Mexicanos). The Buick ran fine with unleaded in
its veins. Of course, when I became a teen-age cruiser, I
used U.S. fuel that was leaded. Didn’t seem to make any
difference in performance or mileage.
Arggh. I just remembered that premium gasoline in my
days cost like 30-cents per gallon; regular was a quarter.
Once I got a hold of the blue-and-white machine with
Rivera style body, I popped off the hubcaps and painted
the rims black. Then I had overloads put on the rear to give
“my car” a rakish look. I also painted the front wheel wells
white, which was awfully corny, but I liked it.
I “customized” it by removing the Buick “propeller” from
the middle of the Marilyn Monroe front bumper, and put
three small chrome things there. To use a phrase from
those days, it was bitchin’. Or crazy, man!
Oh, yeah, and I had dual exhausts with glass-pac muf-
flers installed. You know how we teens liked the resulting
roar and rapping. We were way cool.
So I cruised San Diego County, stopping at various
popular drive-in eateries. Some out there might remember
the Oscar’s drive-in chain that was all over the place, or
Louie’s Round-Up in Chula Vista. Lived on black coffee,
french fries and onion rings, although sometimes I
splurged on double-cheeseburgers and vanilla milk
shakes. Or grilled fish sandwiches with heart of lettuce
salad. Way cool.
Now I’m driving a bit more sedately. Had to give up the
fries and burgers, although I’m still cool. But that’s because
I’ve lost most of the hair on my head.
Concrete
Remodel
New Construction
592-6609
CCB 174891
By ED FEULNER
ened by someone with a
(Editor’s Note: Views
The Heritage Foundation
deadly weapon.
and commentary, including
“What could possibly go wrong?”
And there are times
statements made as fact, are
That’s what members of Congress probably thought when they
when no deputies are on duty,
strictly those of the letter-
began shoveling bigger subsidies at ethanol producers. Now, with
so a call-out would take
writers.)
food riots erupting in some parts of the world, we have our answer --
awhile.
* * *
a lot.
I applaud Mayor Tony
Other factors -- a weak dollar, high energy costs, low crop yields
Paulson and Sheriff Gil
Typed, double-spaced
in places such as Australia -- have played a role in this crisis. But
Gilbertson for taking the
letters written solely to this
diverting food to fuel is clearly a contributor, and it exacerbates the
“bull” by the horns and tell-
newspaper are considered
situation.
ing it like it is. We have to be
for publication. Hand-
How serious is the problem? According to U.N. Secretary-
ready to defend ourselves, not
written letters that are dou-
General Ban Ki-Moon, without emergency intervention, “We risk
in a Wild West no-holds-
ble-spaced and legible also
again the specter of widespread hunger, malnutrition and social un-
barred way, but in a reason-
can be considered. “Thank
rest on an unprecedented scale.” The world needs more food -- espe-
able, legal way.
you” submissions are not
cially corn, large amounts of which are being used for fuel.
Hopefully the meeting
accepted as letters.
People, of course, consume corn, and it’s in nearly every proc-
about gun-use laws will be
* * *
essed food we buy. Livestock, too, feed on corn. Some chickens eat
scheduled soon so that we
40 pounds of it in a matter of weeks. So a jump in the price drives up
will have not only an armed
Armed population
prices in just about every aisle of supermarkets. Not surprisingly, the
population, but one that is
From Kimball Schell
U.N. found that the market prices of cereals, dairy produce, meat,
educated.
Cave Junction
sugar and oils rose 57 percent from March 2007 to March 2008.
Although there are some
There should be enough corn to go around.
who feel that an armed popu-
Assisted suicide?
“Producers plan to plant 86 million acres of corn this year,”
lation is a bit off the wall, it
From Fred Krauss
USDA reported in March. “While 7.6 million acres less than 2007,
seems an appropriate measure
Selma
this would still be the second-largest area since 1949.”
because the lack of deputies.
Assisted suicide is legal
But too little of that corn is used as food. A quarter of American
In case of a threat to life,
in Oregon with a prescription
corn is turned into ethanol, and that amount is set to rise. Last year
it’s possible that the nearest
from a doctor.
the federal government mandated that ethanol production grow five-
official help could be miles
I am wondering: If a per-
fold by 2022.
away. There could be a 30-to-
son gets a prescription from a
Sensibly, some lawmakers are moving to suspend that law, or
40-minute delay, and even if
doctor to hire someone to
even repeal it and the subsidies altogether. We can’t afford to keep
a deputy is in the valley, it
shoot them, would this be
burning so much corn while people go hungry.
could take 10 or 15 minutes
considered legal suicide?
The food crisis should surprise no one. When 25 percent of a
to reach a scene. That’s for-
Do any readers have an
staple crop is taken off the table, shortages result. Just last year, two
ever if you’re being threat-
answer to this question?
economics professors predicted the current food shortages.
“By putting pressure on global supplies of edible crops, the
illinois-valley-news.com
surge in ethanol production will translate into higher prices for both
processed and staple foods around the world,” wrote C. Ford Runge
and Benjamin Senauer in Foreign Affairs.
“Biofuels have tied oil and food prices together in ways that
Grand Re-Opening Celebration
could profoundly upset the relationships between food producers,
Saturday, May 31, 9-6
consumers, and nations in the years ahead, with potentially devastat-
Live Music by “Uncle John’s Band” 3-6
ing implications for both global poverty and food security,” the pair
Food ~ Raffles ~ Door Prizes ~ Lots of Sales Racks
wrote.
Worse, at least one prominent scientist worries that ethanol pro-
duction could hurt the environment it’s supposed to protect.
“Biofuel from corn doesn’t seem very beneficial when you con-
sider its full environmental costs,” according to Dr. William
Laurance, a scientist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Insti-
tute.
The $11 billion a year American taxpayers spend to subsidize
corn producers “is having some surprising global consequences,” he
says. That includes Amazon forests being clear-cut so that farmers
can plant soybeans.
Salon & Boutique
Unfortunately the cornfield isn’t the only place where federal
131 Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction
policy is causing troubles. Our country also is experiencing a short-
541-592-2510
tropicalisle@frontiernet.net
age of wheat, partly because many wheat farmers have switched to
corn, and partly because Wash-
ington pays them -- whether
they grow wheat or not.
5IF#SBOE:PV5SVTU
During 1996 lawmakers
passed “legislation allowing
wheat growers for the first time
to switch to other crops and still
collect government subsidies.
The result is that farmers re-
ceived federal wheat payments
FS 55 R
last year on 15 million acres
TRIMMER
more than were planted,” re-
ported The Washington Post.
$
95
Corn is the answer to our
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food problems, not our fuel
t7FSTBUJMF TUSBJHIU
$
95
problems. The World Bank
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estimates that the amount of
t'PSDPOTVNFSPSMJHIU
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corn needed to fill the fuel tank
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of an SUV is enough to feed
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one person for a year. That’s a
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