Our readers' views May 21

It seems we hear so much about the kids who are always in trouble, but the fine, upstanding ones get little press.

I was honored within the past few weeks to present some awards at both Prairie and Battle Ground high schools to JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadets. They do such great community work, and are so proud to be Americans. They are the future leaders of our country and well deserve our praise.

Way to go, kids.

Bonnie Waliezer

Brush Prairie

In his May 17 opinion column, "Greed can create its own punishment," George Will does us a service in attempting the education of John Q. Public re: the definition of greed. I thought I would help.

Greed is finding legal ways of taking the life savings of seniors and laughing all the way to the bank … then the bank takes the money and greed causes them to make a great leap of investment faith, or stupidity, without really looking. A "greedy" bank then asks for a bailout, so they can give a bonus to the "greedy" people who told them to make this wise investment in the first place.

Greed is a millionaire who dreams up a Ponzi scheme to bilk investors so he can become a billionaire.

Greed is creating products that don't work, or improve our health, but "creative" advertising is created to convince us how wonderful these products are.

Greed is more about the unethical how and, more importantly, the who it hurts, not about the "it." Greed is not that hard to define. We know them when we see them, hear what they are planning, and how they failed.

Darrell Anderson

Battle Ground

Like my friend Paul Noel, whose May 17 letter noted how he thought he'd never agree with a column (in his case it was one of John Laird's), I felt the same about George Will until the one about greed appeared on May 17, "Greed can create its own punishment." My problem is that Will doesn't go far enough. Why doesn't he denounce the outrageous CEO salary, bonus and perks packages?

Maybe I don't agree after all?

Richard Miller

Ridgefield

The center of the bridge smoke and mirrors trivia is nearly always pointed toward cost. Never once has it been pointed at fairness or perhaps a level playing field. A level playing field would have to eliminate all of the associated cost that would have to be incurred just to make any bridge, even the bridge currently in place, work efficiently and effectively.

If a new bridge is for implementing light rail, let TriMet bring light rail to the water's edge. If the bridge is to correct exit mistakes in Multnomah County, the state of Oregon is well funded with strong-arm taxes from Clark County workers. If the bridge is simply hiding the cost of Oregon's mistakes, why proceed?

Jerry A. Lund

Vancouver

Winston Churchill said, "for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Our national debt now exceeds $11 trillion, ($146,700 per family of four). To pay off that debt at $1 per second ($3,600 per hour) would take 349,000 years. Not only we, but our children, grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, will spend their entire lives slaving to pay the interest alone on that debt.

President Obama and the socialist spendthrifts in Congress are adding another $1.8 trillion deficit — four times the last deficit of the previous administration. The damage inflicted on us by this debt vastly exceeds the damage being done by this recession (which it will only worsen and prolong). This punishment for electing "compassionate liberals" is what those who voted for these radical left-wing fanatics deserve.

Robert Wassman

Vancouver

In a May 17 letter, "Untie judges' discretion on sentencing," Tracy Hoggatt tells us that he was given a life sentence for just removing some items from a house. Somehow I think there may be more to it than that.

First of all we know that there had to be at least three serious offenses in order to get a three-strikes conviction, not just the simple offense described. Those sentenced under the three-strikes law are sent to prison for a continuing life of crime in order to protect society, not just a single "minor" offense.

Steve Douglass

Vancouver

The New York Times, a liberal propaganda outfit, ran a story May 19, "Scouts train to fight terrorist, and more," about the FBI and Homeland Security training Explorers, an affiliate program of Boy Scouts of America between the ages of 14 -21 years, to fight terrorists. The Boy Scouts' traditional values involving camping and survival techniques and leadership are disappearing and instead they are being trained to "confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence."

"Gestapo Scouts" could be required to battle right-wing extremists like war vets and true patriots. Because of the failing economy, the government is approving a stimulus package to jump-start the economy and there will be job positions in defense, commerce, homeland security and Veteran Affairs departments.

The New York Times will be used to be the propaganda machine to sell the militarization of Scouts to U.S. citizens using the bugaboos of Arab terrorists, drug cartels and marijuana cultivators to justify the necessity.

Desma Jones

Woodland

In his May 18 letter, "Hate accomplishes nothing," Jeff Morton chastises the Arab states for not providing a state in their lands for the Palestinian people. He also claimed that "Palestinians are the only people on Earth born as refugees, having been removed from Jordan many years ago." Fact is nearly 800,000 Palestinians were driven from their land in 1948 by heavily armed Israeli troops; 500 towns and villages were overrun, 33 of those villages suffered massacres at the hands of Israelis. Today millions of Palestinian refugees and their children still live in camps all over the Arab world, while Israel continues to steal their land in the West Bank.

It's not up to surrounding Arab states to give Palestinians a land of their own, as they already had one before Israel stole it. It was called Palestine and it dates back to antiquity. For more history, visit ifamericansknew.org.

Logan Johnson

Battle Ground