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P age A 2
A ugust 7, 1996 • T he P ortland O bserver
Editorial Articles. Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The JJartlanh © bseruer
J
1 1
Not all bombs are planted by terrorists
»
m Run HARD
\ hd E,
Six
r re . , .In
J r
E. S
incere
’ ithout a doubt, the bomb
that exploded in Centen­
nial Olympic Park in A t­
lanta early on July 2 7 was the
work of an evil person with mali­
cious intentions.
pedigree. Aristotle recognized it
even if it had no name at the time,
when he wrote that "the first aim and
end of tyrants is to break the spirit o f
their subjects." What we know as
terrorism can be traced to the Rus­
sian nihilists and anarchists o f the
19th century, who gave a name to
movement or arouse admiration, (2)
secure funds and build up the move-
ment s moral or prestige, (3) dis­
credit and demoralize the authori­
ties, (4) provoke the authorities to
take excessively harsh repressive
measures, designed to alienate citi­
zens and force a large-scale opposi-
Two people-an African-Ameri­
can businesswoman and a Turkish
joum alist-w ere killed, with 111 oth­
ers injured. Law enforcement offi­
cials are justified in using all legal
means at their disposal to find and
prosecute the murderer.
It is, however, troubling that both
law enforcement agencies and the
* Whoever planted the bomb in Atlanta was most
news media are treating this crime as
a terrorist event. Not all mass mur­ likely a ‘lone wolf’ who was seeking some sort
ders are acts o f terrorism. Not all
o f personal affirmation by seeing his morbid act
bombs are planted by terrorists.
Terrorism is fundamentally a po­ reported on television and in the newspaper."
litical act. Terrorists act to advance a
what would otherwise be considered
tion to counter-terrorist measures.
cause. They mean to create tyranny,
“random acts o f violence” that were
“Coercive terrorism,” is similar but
either directly or indirectly, so that
performed to advance their revolu­
complementary. It attempts to de­
the political order that they prefer
tionary cause. They elevated terror­
m oralize the civilian population,
can take the place o f the current one.
ism to a high moral plane One of
weaken its confidence in the govern­
Terrorists can be either rebels seek­
them, Mikhail Bakunin, exclaimed:
ment, and instill fear o f the revolu­
ing to overthrow a state, or states
The passion for destruction is also a
tionary terrorists. It also, by making
seeking to overthrow the internation­
creative passion.”
examples ofwell-publicized victims,
al order, or states to maintain privi­
British military analyst Brian Cro­
tries to enforce obedience to the ter­
lege for rulers and stifle dissent among
zier wrote in his 1974 book, 4 Theo­
rorist movement leaders.
the people. In every case, the motiva­
ry o f Conflict, that terrorists have
Whoever planted the bomb in At­
tion for terrorism is explicitly, with­
several aims, fall ing into two catego­
lanta was most likely a “ lone w o lf’
out an exception, political
ries. Through “disruptive terrorism,”
who was seeking some sort o f per­
Terrorism has a long, if tainted,
they try to ( I ) gain publicity for their
sonal affirmation by seeing his mor­
bid act reported on television and in
the newspaper. He was no more a
terrorist than Jeffrey Dahmer, whose
murderous and cannibalistic behav­
ior was disgusting and uncivilized,
but had no political content.
The danger o f elevating the tragedy
at the Olympics to terrorist status is
that it will give the U S . government
more excuses to erode our constitu­
tional liberties. Already thisyearanew
terrorism law took effect, which limits
the rights o f foreign nationals to appeal
deportation proceedings, which grants
the T BI and other government agen­
cies broad new authority to listen to
our telephone calls, which limits the
right o f habeas corpus for those ac­
cused o f capital crimes.
In short, it shrinks the Bill ofRights
to a skeleton o f what is should be
Another new law, “justified” by the
Atlanta bombing, may rip the guts
out o f our freedoms o f association,
dissent, and privacy.
It ill-serves us to redefine simple
crimes as terrorism when the result is
expanded government power and
shrunken human liberty. Such redef­
inition also, in perverse sense, glori­
fies the criminal when our goal should
be shame and punishment.
Let’s not over-react to the Atlanta
bombing. Ifw edo, far more than 113
people will be harmed.
Drugging the elderly-a parody of help
ighty-eight year old Verda
Broome, was billed more
than $ 2 5 ,0 0 0 for a two
w eek stay in an Orlando, Florida
psychiatric assessment center.
According to her daughter, Ms.
Bonnie Broome, the only treatment
she received was psychiatric drugs
which “zonked her out.” “ I consider
it a complete pretense used by the
psychiatrists to extract more than
$25,000 o f my mother’s Medicare
funds,” Ms. Broome stated.
A 65-year-old women was admit­
ted to a New Jersey psychiatric facil­
ity suffering depression following
the death o f her mother. She was
taken into a room, strip searched and
drugged. She was then kept locked in
a ward where she was rough ly thrown
into a chair and shackled. She sus­
tained a tom ligament and had to
receive extensive medical treatment-
for this abuse, her insurance com pa­
ny was charged and continued to be
billed until her coverage had run out.
Then she was released.
These are not isolated cases. Thou­
sands o f elderly citizens are being
abused across the nation, with more
than 700,000 elderly dying from re­
actions to prescription drugs every
year. Psychiatry: Victimizing the
Elderly-D enying Respect, is a new
booklet published as a public service
by the Citizens Commission o f Hu­
man Rights (CCHR) and exposes the
inexcusable drugging o f the elderly.
CCHR Commissioner and medi­
cal doctor, Dr. RobertoCestari, said:
“Psychiatry ’s answer to the basic
problems o f aging is to label them as
depression,’ a sa lossoftheirm ental
faculties, or even a disease and, when
the person complains or protests this
indignity, this too is labeled as fur­
ther mental illness, often ’dem entia.’
It is profitable for psychiatry to make
money out o f life’s normal course
and the elderly person’s protest about
being unproductive.”
The CCHR booklet adds fuel to
the growing argument that Medicare
should not cover psychiatric services
and should be made available for
proper medical care that the elderly
need and deserve. A July 1995 sur­
vey by Citizens Against Government
Waste shows that the elderly popula­
tion felt that acute medical care, in-
patient/out-patient hospital services
and doctor visits were the most im­
portant services which should be
covered and they were willing to pay
a greater share for-psychiatric and
mental health services ranked last.
More than 40 percent o f those sur­
veyed said that if Medicare had to be
reduced, psychiatric and mental
health services are what they would
like to have reduced or eliminated.
“Psychiatrists use life’s natural cy­
cle for their own ends. They claim that
old people who refuse to remain cheer­
ful in the face o f their progressive
loneliness, uselessness, and helpless­
ness, are ‘mentally ill’ or ‘senile,’ that
watching their partner or their peers
die around them are not causes for
sadness and that their own mortality is
staring them bluntly in the face if no
State park pride
f we allow 6 3 o fo u rs ta te
parks to close on Sep-
tem ber 3rd, we will be
<
c u ttin g off public access to wa­
terfalls, beaches, and forests.
This is unacceptable! Oregonians
are proud o f our state, and with good
reason. We decided a long time ago
that our beaches and scenic areas
would remain public domain. Re­
ducing access to our natural places
attacks the one thing about Oregon
that most often inspires us.
In an era when each successive
economic crisis is more pressing than
the last, will we ever regain public
access to our state’s natural places
once we lose it?
What can we do right now to make
a difference? Contact our legislative
representatives, volunteertime forpark
cleanup, orm akeatax -deductible con­
tribution toour favorite park. We must
stand up for what is important and fight
to keep our parks open. The Oregon
State Park Trust (503)362-1905 has
additional in fo r m a tio n
Sincerely, Teresa Spillm an
“Say what you mean
D ear Editor,
'“VKT
ecently, Congresswom-
en Furse found it provi-
dent to issue a press
release challenging Candidate
Bill W itt to join her in a pledge
to conduct a clean, positive
cam paign.
She added that she and Mr. Witt
should talk only about what they
stand for, not what they are against.
Actions speak louder then words,
and, frankly, too many politicians
sign too many pledges that are later
rendered meaningless.
As a voter I want to know what
issues candidates support and op­
pose But, I find it odd that Con­
gresswomen Furse should think it
im proper for candidates to reveal
what issues they are against.
I want to know if a candidate is
against bigotry, press censorship,
i fitter
99
constitutional exceptions and knee
jerk bureaucracy...to name just a
few.
Mr W itthasarticulatedhisposi-
tions in these areas. Congresswom­
en Furse has demonstrated her po­
sitions, and Congressional effec­
tiveness, by her votes and the lack
ofsuccess in her legislative agenda.
If Congresswomen Furse is seri­
ous about an even handed cam­
paign, she should give back the
thousands more in out o f state dol­
lars she has accumulated over Mr.
Witt. Then she could issue a press
release to make a real pledge: to not
outspend her opponent.
If that’s a pledge too far. I’d at
least like to see her seriously ad­
dress Mr W itt’s earlier challenge
to public debates. To date she’s not
publicly responded.
Harry Babin, Newberg OR
Zfo (Scditur
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, P0 Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
cause for concern either. And in doing
so, psychiatrists have created one of
the most disgraceful hoaxes o f the 20th
century. Many elderly are merely suf­
fering from physical problems related
to their age.”
And CCH R’s message to the eld­
erly? Government insurance should
not be lent to this hoax. The aged
person needs to be treated with re­
spect and proper care, not be subject­
ed to psychiatry’s brutalities-m ind
altering drugs, electroshock and oth­
er psychiatric practices. This is not
medicine, it is at best victimizing the
elderly; at worst, euthanasia.
CCHR was established by the
Church o f Scientology in 1969 and
investigates psychiatric violations o f
human rights; it has an impressive
history o f helping to obtain criminal
investigations into psychiatric fraud,
government inquiries into psychiat­
ric abuse, and having several psychi­
atric treatments banned.
Written by the Citizens C om m is­
sion o f H um an Rights
“No Hounding
& Baiting”
z-v'J
<
n 1 9 9 4 , Oregon voters
approved M easure 1 8,
banning the cruel and
unsportsm anlike practices of
baiting bears and hounding bears
and mountain lions.
The measure did not ban the sport
hunting o f either species, and it even
allows state and federal damage con­
trol agents to use bait or hounds to
kill individual bears and mountain
lions threatening livestock or public
safety.
Now, less than two years after the
vote, a small group o f unsportsman­
like hunters have qualified ballot
Measure 34 to overturn Measure 18
and to repeal all rules and regulations
affecting wildlife that have been pro­
mulgated by executive agencies oth­
er than the Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission dating back to July 1,
1975.
The Oregon Bear and Cougar
Coalition opposes Measure 34 for
the following reasons:
♦ Baiting and high-tech hound
hunting are cruel and unsports­
2 It|e ¡ P o r t l a n d ( © b e c r o c r
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T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver
V
last w e ek ’s statem ent
I
I about the colum nist
| and TV personality, Tony Brown.
(Tin' P o rtla n d (©bseruer
(USPS 959-680)
Established in 1970
Charles Washington
E xecutive Editor & Publisher
Gary Ann Taylor
Business M anager
Daniel Bell
Advertising Sales M anuger
ceed
S ubscribe to
Gathering up the pieces
I ^ J jfT *rst ° ^ - ,et m® complete
standards in the country... Edward
Roeber, a testing expert with the
Council o f C hief State o f School
Officers said “O regon’s standards
“At his ‘Chataqua’ speech glv-
are equal to any being developed
I en last week, Tony launched
anywhere. Oregon is the on ly state
into an ebullient description of
in the nation that places equal im­
his new and latest concept. He
portance on employability and a
promises to have six year-old
college education.” Well whoop-
geniuses doing anything a 35-
de-doo, but hear this!
I year-old can do.”
“Mr. Roeber warned the State
P ro m is e s ,
Board o f Educa­
I promises, prom-
tion th at O re ­
1 ises! Remember
gon’s standards
when the educa­
will be so high
tional establish­
that a substantial
ment swore that
num ber o f stu­
the “New Math”
d e n ts w ill not
would make ge-
meet them... get­
niuses ofall our children and would
ting the standards implemented will
place American in an unassailable
be the greatest challenge... he said
position as the scientific and intel­
state and local educators need to
lectual leader o f the entire world”
ask themselves how they will re­
And do you remember the “met­
spond when this happens.”
ric system”? We were told that with­
A better question would be
out a comprehensive grounding in
"Why didn’t many o f these people
the European parameters (continen­
‘respond ’ when other o f us taxpay­
tal), American workers and indus­
ers asked questions or sought to
try would be hard put to compete in
make input early on in the devel­
the technological world that would
opment o f this process?” That is
beonhandbythe 1980’sand 1990’s.
the feeling o f a number o f my fel­
There were assurances that the coun­
low m em bers, “ A ssociation o f
try would be relegated to an eco­
Oregon Industries”, and many par­
nomic dung heap if immediate and
ents and teachers with whom I have
massive funding were not brought
contact. Madison Avenue hype is
to bear.
one thing, but a well-structured
“Ebullient” is the term I used
delivery system is something else
earlier, “the quality o f lively or en­
again; industry people know.
thusiastic expression ofthoughts or
Speaking o f “avenue” and “re­
| feelings.” Doesn’t that sound nice?
sponse” it is always so rewarding
But such an approach to the educa­
when you get positive feedback
tional process in this particular case
from the readers and community.
brought no measurable progress in
My recent articles on the impor­
the nation’s faltering school sys­
tance o f well-structured language
tems. Many hundreds o f millions o f
development and phonics in early
dollars were spent in light-hearted
childhood developments has once
abandon for the development o f
again inspired a host o f enthusias­
curriculum and learning systems
tic p ra c titio n e rs (“ e b u llie n t”
whose remnants lie today at level
smiles).
13 o f some rural land-fill (right
One teacher has made a doll to
above a lot o f “model cities” para­
represent the concept I introduced
phernalia).
o f a “Norma Loquendi” (the peo­
These reflections were brought
ple s parlance) and in the process
to mind by reflections on the grow ­
o f writing some ‘phonics-articula­
ing financial problems o f O regon‘s
tion- curriculum made a discovery
school districts (more on that next
o f her own. The word “avenue”, a
week) and by a media headline,
principal way or path’ came out
‘National Review Team Praises
av-e-nue, but she was quick to per­
O regon’s Academic Standards” .
ceive a relationship that escapes
After plowing through reams o f
most; “a-venue". “Venue” as we
glowing and “ebullient” praises and
use it outside o f its legal meaning is
hosannas, you get to the bottom
used generically to refer to ‘ways’
line’.
o f doing things; and what else is a
First, we are told, "Oregon is on
street but a venue to get some­
the right course to set the highest
where?
m anlike m ethods o f trophy hunt­
ing. Hunters can kill bears and cou­
gars without bait or dogs. Trophy
hunters killed 31 cougars and 624
bears in the first year without bait or
dogs-providing unmistakable evi­
dence that skilled hunters can suc­
♦ This initiative is a deceptive
m easure, failing to state that it re­
peals a voter-approved initiative and
failing to indicate that it repeals doz­
ens o f executive agency rules and
regulations.
♦ B aiting and hounding cause
m ore bear and m ountain lion in­
teractions w ith people. Bait habitu­
ates bears to human food sources,
produc ing garbage-raid ing and camp-
ground-invading bears.
♦ This m easure is so poorly d ra ft­
ed that it repeals dozens o f rules and
regulations affecting wildlife adopt­
ed by state agencies and other local
authorities through a legitimate pub­
lic process.
From, Nancy Perry, Director, Or­
egon Bear an d Cougar Coalition
per s p e e t / r e s
Iesha Williams
Production Specialist
Sabrina Sakata
News/Copy Editor
Paul Newfeldt
Graphic D esigner
Mark Washington
D istribution M anager
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