ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
PHIL WRIGHT
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
THuRSDAY, MAY 27, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
State likely
to look
for more
of your
money
I
f playing the lottery is your thing,
you could get one more chance a
week. The Oregon Lottery Commis-
sion soon will vote on whether to allow
an additional Powerball drawing.
It’s almost certain the commission will
do it. It doesn’t set the rules for Powerball.
It participates in Powerball along with
other states. And the “Powerball Prod-
uct Group” has approved an additional
drawing on Monday to accompany the
drawings on Wednesday and Saturday. If
Oregon wants to keep selling Powerball
tickets, it needs to allow the additional
drawing.
What will the change mean? The states
selling Powerball tickets are not benev-
olently trying to create more winners.
They hope it will mean more sales of
tickets and more revenue over time. Staff
of the Oregon Lottery project increased
Powerball ticket sales will mean about a
5% increase in sales in Oregon.
More drawings can mean more excite-
ment. Lottery operators hope you buy the
fantasy: Never work again. More millions
than you could ever need. Raining cash
down to help your family, your friends,
your favorite causes.
The reality is your chances are pretty
awful. The probability of winning the
Powerball grand prize is 1 in 292,201,338.
Winning $4 is much easier at 1 in 38.
If you have the money to lose, Power-
ball can be fun. It also is like a voluntary
tax. Since 1992, Powerball has generated
between $10 million to $20 million per
fiscal year in Oregon for education, state
parks, services for veterans and more.
The breakdown for 2020 in Oregon
was:
Gross sales: $31,196,079
Prizes: $15,589,343 (50% of gross)
State transfer: $10,615,363 (34% of
gross)
Retailer commissions: $2,472,882
(sales) and $115,176 (prizes)
The gross sales figures in 2020 were
about half what they were in 2018.
If you buy Powerball tickets thinking
it’s the answer to bring you long-term
happiness, you are likely to win disap-
pointment. Think of it more as buying
a fleeting dream that also goes to some
good causes.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East
Oregonian editorial board. Other columns,
letters and cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not necessarily
that of the East Oregonian.
LETTERS
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. Letters
must be signed by the author and include the
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The phone number will not be published.
Unsigned letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
Artificial intelligence lacks sense of humor
TAMMY
MALGESINI
INSIDE MY SHOES
I
recently received a warning from
Facebook regarding a comment I
made in jest on a friend’s post.
I want to believe the comment was
picked up via artificial intelligence
(which obviously isn’t very intelligent
given the context) and that a real human
didn’t read the post and take it seriously.
The original post discussed respecting
people’s right of choice in regards to
getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
At the end of the copy and pasted
message, it stated:
“So whether you choose:
• CV shot
• No Shot
• Tequila shot
You’re OK in my books and I respect
your decision.”
Given that my bestie hasn’t drank in
more than 25 years due to past problems
with alcohol, I decided to make a joke.
“If you choose to have a tequila shot,
Ima gonna kick yer a$$,” was my exact
tongue-in-cheek response.
Shortly thereafter, Carol sent me
a message asking why I removed my
post. It was at that point I discovered
the Facebook police flagged it, saying,
“Your comment goes against our
Community Standards on violence and
incitement. … We have these standards
to prevent and disrupt offline harm.”
I stared at the message and said
out loud to myself, “You’ve got to be
kidding, it was a joke.” Then I chuck-
led to myself and thought if Facebook
really thinks it has the ability to make
an impact on whether people carry out
real threats of harm, it really should
have utilized that power to squelch the
upheaval in Portland and cities across
the country this past summer.
I decided to challenge the decision
to remove my post. However, because
“artificial intelligence” doesn’t have a
sense of humor, the original decision to
hide my comment and give me a warn-
ing stood.
Seriously?!? For the better part of the
past year, I can’t count the number of
times I read comments and statements
that were incredibly demeaning — but
that’s OK as long as you don’t jokingly
say you’re going to kick someone’s bum.
According to a November 2020 arti-
cle on CNBC, Facebook announced
artificial intelligence software detects
a high percentage of the posts that are
removed from its platform. However,
the same report acknowledged AI
doesn’t always understand sarcasm or
slang.
Well, there you have it — I guess I
have to accept the fact that some of my
attempts at being an amateur comedian
may be flagged and censored by Face-
book.
While I find that annoying, I’m kind
of walking on eggshells. I don’t want to
risk getting put in Facebook jail because
I utilize the platform to stay in touch
with friends who I don’t see on a regular
basis, to find information about upcom-
ing events in the area and, most impor-
tantly, posting photos of my canine kids.
———
Tammy Malgesini, who recently
returned as an East Oregonian commu-
nity writer, enjoys spending time with her
husband and two German shepherds, as
well as entertaining herself with random
musings.
Simpson and his minions need to
prove their scheme to breach our dams
and destroy our economy, at such a great
cost, will result in the return of even one
more fish to our rivers. The burden of
proof is on them alone, nobody else. If
they cannot prove their case, they need
to shut up and go home.
Dick Sherwin
Lewiston, Idaho
so a reduction in property tax would
unlikely benefit them. In addition, the
move to Idaho would also mean an
additional 6% sales tax on their already
reduced income.
Second is the cost to implement such
a shift of borders. A quick review of
past speed limit changes for a vari-
ety of states reveals such changes cost
anywhere from $75 to $135 per sign.
What would be the cost to change even
more signs should we choose to join
Idaho? Oregon highway signs that
would need to change to Idaho, signs
for cities, businesses, schools, telephone
numbers, addresses, driver licenses,
voter registration, etc. Who would pay
for such changes?
But in the end, what are we asking?
Do we want our government to spend
needless hours on this issue instead of
on more immediate problems that affect
us all, like droughts and wildfire miti-
gation? One could just move to Idaho
without the complications.
Jason Yielding
La Grande
YOUR VIEWS
Dam breach proponents
must put up or shut up
Why does Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson
expect others to present alternatives to
his $33 billion plan to gut the economy
of the Pacific Northwest? He claims “we
need to have honest conversations.” So,
let’s be honest.
The science has already been proven
and recorded as fact — fish and dams
can successfully coexist. As a matter
of fact, the highest numbers of both
salmon and steelhead ever recorded
returning to our rivers came during a
10-year period that began 25 years after
the last dam was completed.
From 1938-47, approximately 1.9
million anadromous fish returned over
Bonneville Dam, the only dam in the
river system at that time. From 2000-09,
approximately 6.8 million salmon and
steelhead returned to our river system,
an increase of 358%. The last dam was
completed on the Snake River in 1975
— proof positive that fish and dams can,
and do, coexist.
Greater I-da-no
As we contemplate the Greater Idaho
move, I would like to bring up a few
consequences such an action may bring.
First is the serious pay cut some of
our most hardworking citizens will
take with such a move. If one earns
minimum wage in Oregon, their pay
could potentially decrease by $4.25 an
hour from $11.50 down to $7.25, or a
reduction of $8,840 per year for full-
time minimum wage workers — way
more than the income tax reduction the
change might produce. It is common
that such workers tend to be renters,
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us