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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1985)
Page 2, Portland Observer, October 2, 1906 EDITORIAL/OPINION _ Letter^ to tjw Editor^ To ihr Editor, Schultz is in no position to criticize President Reagan and Secretary o f State George P. Schultz recently criticized Moscow for their human rights record. Everyone is aware of the violation o f human rights by the Soviets, both abroad and in the Soviet Union. However, many do no, realize the human rights violations being committed here in the United States by the Reagan Administration. Since Reagan look o ffice in 1980, the A d ministration’s policies have violated the rights of m illions o f poor and low-income people. The Reagan Adm inistration has attacked past civil rights laws that have helped to assure basic human rights fo r m inorities, the elderly and women. I he Reagan Justice Department, headed by Attorney General Edwin Meese III, urged all 50 states and local agencies to seek removal o f racial preferences fro m court-approved programs designed to remedy past job discrimi nation against m inorities and women. Most agencies refused to go along. In fact, the N A AC P filed a suit in the federal court to stop the Justice Department from trying to “ disman tle and wreck” a ffirm a tive action programs throughout the United Slates. To illustrate the A d m inistra tion’s efforts to deny basic human rights to some o f its citizens, one must look a, the actions o f the Justice Departm ent in Indianapolis. Over the o p position o f Indianapolis city officials, the A d m in istra tio n went to court in an attem pt to remove num erical em ployment goals from police and fire departments’ affirm ative action plans. This was the first time the federal gover nment attemi d to overturn existing goals lor hiring minorities and women in the absence of a local dispute. Although many citizens arc being denied basic human rights as a result of Reaganism, Blacks are suffe ring the most. The A d m in is tra tio n claims there is an economic recovery, a decline of the poverty rate, and a falling unemployment rate. However, the state o f Black America is disastrous. W hile many Blacks are livin g in depression-like conditions and increasing Black unemployment, the Reagan Adm inistration is cutting back federal employment and social ser vice programs. In fact, the income gap between the wealthiest American families and the poorest American families has widened during President Reagan's first four years in office. Not only does the A d m in is tra tio n violate basic human rights by attacking the civil rights programs that help to insure minorities oppor tunities to compete in society, it supports other countries that deny basic human rights to their citizens. President Reagan has supported the racist government of South Af rica since his first term in office. Reagan’s policy of ‘ ‘constructive engagement” has strengthened South A frica ’s government control o f the Black m a jo rity in that country. Over 24 million Black citizens are denied such basic human rights as where they can live or work and the right to vote. I his A d m in istra tio n ’ s support for the bar baric government o f South Africa and its poor human rights record at home, makes the criticism of the Soviet Union pure hypocrisy. It is hypocritical for a child molester to criticize a murderer, since both are wrong. The same prin ciple applies to the Soviet Union and the United Sta.es, when each accuses the other o f human rights violations, for both countries are guilty. It is just as wrong fo r the Soviet U nion to ja il people who exercise their human rights as it is for the United Stales to create new poor citizens. I hope those w ho have “ jum ped ship” on Oregon’ s historical dedica tion to building a fair taxation system are preparing to rededicate themselves to our tra d itio n a l values and w ill re new e ffo rts to achieve an equitable balance in our taxation system. Many o f the latest deserters tear for adequate support fo r schools i f the sales tax measure is defeated. It w ill be. Hut support fo r schools w ill be not be increased by adding the consider able cost o f a new bureaucracy to col lect and adm inister increased taxes. And support fo r schools w ill noi be enhanced by a sales lax which shifts still more taxes fro m large property owners and those with high incomes to those with lower income levels. School support w ill come only as schixils sell themselves as deserving of support There should be greater slate participation along lines long recog nized as desirable by the stale legisla ture but not yet fully implemented The total lax lake in Oregon is not unequal lo dial o f other stales: without a sales lax. properly taxes and income taxes must bring in more revenue I his doesn't mean overtaxing is a serious drawback lo continued growth W hat it does mean is that close a tte n tio n must be given lo how our property and income taxes arc levied Herein lies the agenda fo r the fu tu re — a fte r the sales tax goes down A dm inistration costs can be held lower by sticking with our h isto rica l taxing system Hut changes do need to be made and Ore gonians who care about the future o f the state need to get with it! Oregon's agenda should include: • A reversal o f a long-standing trend to remove large classes o f real property from the tax roll, this policy has shifted too much o f the burden to those left lo pay fo r local budgets • A re-exam ination o f h isto rica l exemptions and an application o f at least a minimum property tax to cover services provided for all real property — such as police and Tire protection. • Serious consideration o f taxing intangible property, particularly that which ls income producing Revenue fro m the above sources would reduce the load fo r those who now carry an unlair burden because o f so much property being tax exempt The $64 question is whether each citi zen and each business is willing to con tribute an equitable share to provide for the common good. • Adjustments are needed in the in come tax laws: exclusions from taxable income result in overloading those who now carry the load. • , hose who care must soon con cern themselves with the national tax program which is also peppered with exclusions and loopholes. I hough we've heard much from national lead ers in both the executive and legislative branches about reduced federal budg ets and increased stale and local re sponsibility, these leaders continue to present and adopt record breaking budgets A t the same tune they have refused to balance these budgets by slashing revenues and insisting on no new taxes. It is the responsibility o f every concerned citizen to do his part in reigning in this interlude of national irresponsibility by letting our repre sentatives know we’ ve had enough, that we expect more dicipline and more fairness in federal programs o f taxa tion and spending. Never before in the history o f this nation has there been a greater need for both the executive and legislative branches to return to reality. HAROl.DE. I BARTON To the Editor: H aving attended R adical W om ens' fo ru m on p ro s titu tio n , I read w ith interest N athaniel Scotts* a rtic le . P ro s titu tio n : legalize or decriminalize. U nfortunately, the ar ticle did not adequately address key points made The most im p o rta n t p o in t made, and made very c le a rly , is that economic necessity drives women into p ro s titu tio n . W o u ld a w om an (o r man) who could adequately support herself and her fa m ily choose to live the life o f a streetw alker, under the constant threat o f police harrassment and assaults fro m custom ers and pimps? When economic factors allow em ploym ent fo r a ll, free child-care and education, and when women are viewed on equal status w ith men in society, then there w ill no longer be a prostitution problem. U ntil that time, legalization o f prostitution is the only lair alternative for those who are fo r ced into the life thru no fault o f their own. harm J Huisman A UNITED WAY AGENCY Healthwatch EDITORI AL/COMMENT ARY by Steven Badey N. D. Fasting—safe and healthful USTO, GOTTO W OUR P09T10H OH SOUTU ftiwncD? ENDWG ODNGRiUM iGRtÖOGN TO GW W T OURU1D£_ Portland Observer * , K Publishers A s m ahon ■ Tbs TtfK eorr «USPb 9N9 680I «5 (MjWwbsri svsry Thursday bv h * PubMbmq Company. Inc 1463 N F KtHtrsyA worth Portland Orsgon 97211. Post O ffc a Bo« 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 Second claw postage l*a<1 at Portland Oregon lb s R»rr/uar/ Oftsrrver was mtabfcahed m 1970 MEMBER N M Ä PER A tto c ith o n Founded I M i Subset pt>on» $15 00 par year *n tha Tn County ame Post roasts* Sand x M ra w « bangs« to tha P o rib n d (H w trvir. P O 288 0033 Bo« 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 Alfred I Henderson, Iditor/Publisher Al Williams, (tenera! Manager N a tio n a l A d v e rtis in g R ep resentative A m a lg a m a te d Publishers Inc N e w York l asting, or the abstaining fro m all or certain foods, has been practiced throughout w ritten history Anim als n a tu ra lly abstain fro m fo o d in response to in ju ry o r disease, and most ol us have experienced a loss o f appetite while in the grips ol a flu or other acute illness W h ile many people could benefit from a restricted dietary program, improperly conduc led fasts may actuallv do more harm than good There arc some basic techniques in volved in tasting w hich can help to avoid many o f the problems encoun tered by poorly structured programs Understanding some ol the principles and reasoning behind tasting should be helpful in understanding why these techniques should be included When a person dram atically sun plifies their diet or follows a liquid or water diet, many changes lake place throughout the body I he changes are quite d iffe re n t in some aspects bet ween a water fast and a juice or sun pie restricted diet. As I leel a water last o f greater than 24 hours should be monitored by an experienced prac titio n e r in most cases, I w ill w rite about the m ore gentle fasting programs that involve sim plification yet adequate n u tr itio n to p e rfo rm normal daily routines. A fasting program in which I am particularly experienced is a five day vegetable fruit juice fast that my Nor thwesl associate and I have guided over 400 people through A live juice fast provides abundant n u tritio n for norm al a ctivitie s and also provides dram atic re lie f lo the digestive tract and associated organs. W hen we are eating a ''n o r m a l" diet we exert energy in the processes of chew ing, digesting and m e ta b o lizin g the n u trie n ts in to storable and elim inatable products From the time we begin the relatively small work o f liltin g the food to our mouths until we eliminate or store the p ro d u cts, there is an inestim able number o f chemical and mechanical activities that take place The young sciences o f " m o le c u la r " n u tritio n , physiology, cn d ixn n o lo g y, etc. have already id e n tifie d thousands o f changes that take place in response to eating, and the amount o f energy that this equates to is considerable. A long w ith the m uscular a ctivity involved as the food passes through the digestive tra c t, there are also secretory and absorptive processes oc curring at a cellular level throughout digestion. In the m o u th there is ce llu la r secretion o f saliva, some mucous is secreted by cells in the esophagus and when the h x x l reaches the stomach it encounters secretions o f secretin, h y d ro c h lo ric acid and pepsinogin (lo r protein breakdown), mucous and intrensic factor (involved in H 12 a s s im ila tio n ) to name the major stomach Huids. As to ix l reaches the small intestine the p rim a ry flu id s secreted fo r digestion o rig in a te fro m the pan creas and involve enzymes lo break down fat, protein and carbohydrates I he liver adds bile to these enzymes which ads as a soap to help make the dietary fats " s o lu b le " in the body ’ s Hinds. Most o l the bile used in each meal is actually recycled bile that is stored in the g all bladder u n til stimulated and released by fat in the diet. Mucous is secreted throughout the digestive tra ct and a b s o rp tio n prixessi . ix c u r throughout the small intenstine and much o f the large in- testine. In addition to the w oik involved in the direct pnxess o f digesting food there is considerable work done by the cells o f the liver which metabolizes the fo o d p roducts fo r storage a n d /o r elim ination. The kidney has to work with elim ination o f fix x l by-products and the pancreas, adrenals, th yro id and other glands are also involved in the delivery and u tiliza tio n o f n u tri ents. One o f the m a jo r organs o f digestion is the brain which regulates appetite, stimulates neuro-chenncal activity throughout the digestive tract, and the more subtle activities o f taste and smell r ' t >■. . , ’ l- In other words, " it lakes energy to make energy. ” We expci lence this energy demand when we feel a little tired after a heavy meal. And through the three meals a day, seven-days-a week habits that most A m ericans practice, we are constantly placing part o f our entire energy pool in to digestion. This non stop digestion that is only b ro ke n fo r sleep may derive energy, oxvgen and bloixl How that m ight o th e r*is e assist the im mune system, to xic chem ical metabolism, and other health m ain tenance functions. O ur bodies know enough to shut dow n o u r appetite when we have an acute illness, or ex cessive stress, yet we d o n 't appreciate this logic as a w hole in regards to health maintenance and o p tim izin g the ability o f our immune system and elumnatory prixesscs to ixcur. W hat we eat is inseparably tied w ith how we eat A n d as science reproves the validity ot "w e are what we e a t, " ju st what we eat is frightening I he .4mencan Journal o f Epidem iology recently reported that by c a lo ric percentage, the average A m e rica n 's num ber one source o f calories is white bread and rolls. This is fo llo w e d by doughnuts, cookies, and cake as num ber tw o ; a lc o h o l, number three; 4 percent m ilk, number fo u r; and ham burgers and cheeseburgers, number five. French fries at num ber ten were the o n ly vegetables in the to p 15 and w hole wheat bread, at 15 was the only whole gram As you consider the low fiber, high la l, high sugar content o f these foods, it is not hard to understand why we sec so m uch degenerative disease in our country. Next week I w ill w rite on what we accomplish through fasting and give some basic guidelines to help with any program s you may attem pt I f you are interested in one o f our organized group fasts, the final one o f the year begins October 10 (. all 224-80(0 fo r inform ation.
