Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
JENNINE PERKINSON
Advertising Director
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
In defense of
Madonna’s farm
Madonna, the Queen of Pop,
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is a farmer. As with most of her
millionaires. Besides, they claim
ventures, her entry into agriculture is she isn’t really planting a nursery,
not without controversy.
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view from the road to her estate.
the Material Girl’s estate in the
Here we rise to Madonna’s
Hamptons, the chic enclave for the
defense. These development
rich and famous at the outer end of
easements are a common tool that
1HZ<RUN¶V/RQJ,VODQG6KHERXJKW has become ever more popular in the
it for $2.2 million.
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Which would have been a
The town made the original deal
steal in those environs, had local
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governments
up for more
not
mansions.
Ooh, you’ve got to
purchased the
The
development
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Let your body move to family accepted
rights from
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the town’s offer
the music
family, who
must have
Ooh, you’ve got to just and
once grew
agreed with its
potatoes there,
Let your body go with goals. Whether
in 2010 for $10
she’s an
the flow
million. The
honest farmer
land came with
or a wealthy
Ooh, you’ve got to
restrictions
star who can
vogue
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afford to guard
Madonna from
her privacy,
building, and
Madonna paid
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the family a bundle for a piece of
for “production for commercial
land that came with some fairly
purposes of agricultural products.”
restrictive covenants that prevent her
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approved her plans to create a
potential.
nursery, and recently crews have
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been planting Leyland Cypress,
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eastern white pines and Robusta
deals are a perfect way for farmers
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bill on the parcel to less than $2,300. ZKLOHNHHSLQJLWLQVRPHW\SHRI
If she has $10,000 in sales over two
productive use.
years, the bill drops to under $300.
One might legitimately argue
So Madonna is a nurseryman and WKDWDJULFXOWXUHSURSHUW\WD[EUHDNV
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should go only to “real” farmers
According to the tabloids, critics
producing true commercial crops.
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We could go for that. But until then,
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Madonna and thousands of other
They note that had the original
landed gentry who meet the statutory
owners sold the property with all
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rights in tact, the acreage would
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have sold for $17.5 million and the
A thin premise on which to base
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$150,000 a year.
chance to feature Madonna on these
Madonna, they say, is stealing
pages.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher
Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
OTHER VIEWS
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DV1LNHFKDLUPDQDQGPRYHPRVWRI for athletic apparel. The state’s natural
beauty and commitment to environmental
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stewardship have positioned it well in both
company was not surprising. He’s 77 and
tourism and green-related industries. And
has focused increased attention in recent
climate, soil conditions and innovation
years on non-corporate matters. A little
helped the state emerge as a force in the
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wine and beer worlds.
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But while building on those strengths,
share of controversy over the years.
the state chose to disregard another
Knight also has been intensely private.
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watched traditional manufacturing
muscle. How many people can convince
decline, a nationwide trend but one that
a governor to call a special session just to
is particularly painful here because of
address an issue affecting his company?
manufacturing’s role in the economy and
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over the past 50-plus years Knight and his WKHODFNRIEOXHFROODUMREV
Phil Knight, in contrast, started out
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degree because of the branding power
grown to be by far the largest Oregon-
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based business, has helped attract many
in the 1980s. In ensuing years, it would
other companies to Oregon, has donated
create a leading golf brand from scratch
millions to charity and has become an
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integral part of the state’s image. If you
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been, the website 24/7 did the math. Over
professional sports teams and became ever
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2,300 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500, more creative.
Don’t let mistakes cripple you: It’s
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percent.
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the state is prepared for the post-Knight
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era. The state’s political leaders could
U.S. athletic shoe company, in part by
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broadened its product line, introduced the
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Build a great brand:7KLVLVRQH1LNH “Just Do It” slogan, regained the No. 1
trait that Oregon already shares to a certain VSRWDQGQHYHUORRNHGEDFN
Oregon, in contrast, has gone from
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one unproductive education initiative
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to another and has largely ignored the
tolerant and an overall cool place to be.
problems in rural Oregon.
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Despite all his success, Phil Knight was
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2UHJRQXQHPSOR\PHQWFKDUWV7RWDNHLWV among fans of UO. Some of that probably
is a product of his personality and some
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state aggressively.
Build beyond your natural strengths: that’s the biggest difference. It’s hard to
be successful without fully embracing
This might very well be one of the most
success.
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The Oregonian
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Ending Greece’s bleeding
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urope dodged a bullet on Sunday.
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Confounding many predictions,
growth.
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In the failed negotiations that led
their government’s rejection of creditor
up to Sunday’s referendum, the central
demands. And even the most ardent
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supporters of European union should
permanent debt relief, to remove the
be breathing a sigh of relief.
cloud hanging over its economy. The
Of course, that’s not the way the
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creditors would have you see it. Their
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Paul
story, echoed by many in the business
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press, is that the failure of their attempt
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Comment
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was a triumph of irrationality and
independently that Greece’s debt
irresponsibility over sound technocratic advice. cannot be paid. But will they reconsider now
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and threatening general chaos, all with the
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almost open goal of pushing the current leftist
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the euro is the best of bad
was a shameful moment in a
options.
Europe that claims to believe
Imagine, for a moment,
in democratic principles.
that Greece had never
It would have set a terrible
adopted the euro, that it
precedent if that campaign
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had succeeded, even if the
of the drachma in terms of
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euros. What would basic
What’s more, they
economic analysis say it
weren’t. The truth is
should do now? The answer,
that Europe’s self-styled
overwhelmingly, would be
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medieval doctors who
the drachma’s value drop,
insisted on bleeding their
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treatment made the patients
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Of course, Greece no
more bleeding. A “yes”
longer has its own currency,
vote in Greece would have
and many analysts used to
condemned the country
claim that adopting the euro
to years more of suffering
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under policies that haven’t
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would set off devastating
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crisis. But at this point that
the economy faster than it
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reduces debt, so that all the
happened, so that the biggest
suffering serves no purpose. The landslide
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victory of the “no” side offers at least a chance QRWJRIRUWKHEHQH¿WV"
for an escape from this trap.
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But how can such an escape be managed?
well as Iceland’s highly successful devaluation
Is there any way for Greece to remain in the
in 2008-09, or Argentina’s abandonment of its
euro? And is this desirable in any case?
one-peso-one-dollar policy in 2001-02? Maybe
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Greece receives really major debt relief, and
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to additional funds, helping to precipitate panic only plausible escape route from its endless
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economic nightmare.
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are bad Europeans. Greece’s debt problem
that the previous freeze was political, but if
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it doesn’t it will effectively force Greece into
irresponsible borrowing, and in any case the
introducing a new currency.
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of Europe’s common currency, it’s because
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that common currency offers no respite for
choice but to start paying wages and pensions
countries in trouble. The important thing now
with IOUs, which will de facto be a parallel
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the new drachma.
Paul Krugman joined The New York Times
Suppose, on the other hand, that the central
in 1999 as a columnist on the Op-Ed Page
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and continues as professor of Economics and
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International Affairs at Princeton University.
Europe’s
self-styled
technocrats are
like medieval
doctors who
insisted on
bleeding their
patients —
and when
their treatment
made the
patients sicker,
demanded even
more bleeding.
YOUR VIEWS
Lack of security leading to
thefts at Hermiston Cemetery
I have been wondering if it would
be appropriate to have more security at
Hermiston Cemetery.
Last Memorial Day I decorated some
graves as usual. Around my parents’
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bedding plants each of white violas, yellow
snapdragons, orange marigolds, portulacas,
and red dianthus, also single containers of
lobelias and violas. I thought they made an
attractive display.
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disappointment they were all gone. I had read
previously about such things happening, but
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sad and hurt.
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The cemetery was still beautifully
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but to plant. I suppose that to someone’s
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bargain.
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that thieves have been around for a long
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to steal from a cemetery. Such a person is
disrespectful to both the dead and the living
and, I might add, to God.
I doubt that the city would be willing to
invest in a few well-placed security cameras at
the cemetery, but for some people that might
serve as a deterrent when the deterrent of
conscience is missing.
LETTERS POLICY
Ron Ingle
Hermiston
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper
reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and
products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must
be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number.
The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send
letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
or email editor@eastoregonian.com.