Demanding Accountability

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"Greedy People"

Dear Editor,

As an acquaintance of one of the Sunny Valley, OR, strip joint picketers, I have learned that the lawsuit served against the picketers by the owner of the club was thrown out of court because it was a frivolous lawsuit served in an effort to make them stop picketing. I also learned that a similar lawsuit, filed by a patron named Greg Staten, is going forward.

Greg had no knowledge of the defendants he is suing. All information in the lawsuit was given to Greg by either attorney Claude Ingram, or Larry Lacey the owner of the club. It seems that Greg and his wife were lured into this lawsuit by the promise of a fast buck. From what I have been told the protesters are planning to counter sue Greg for filing a frivolous lawsuit against them. The First Amendment Right, which is the basis for the protesters' defense, has been upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Claude Ingram has a very poor track record, having been disciplined by the State of Oregon for unethical conduct. He has a reputation for stealing innocent people's property on sham proceedings. He lost a case against the U.S. Observer and Larry Lacey's case against the protesters. If Ingram were a competent attorney he would have advised Greg to drop the case. I personally believe the greedy people in this case need to get their just reward.

John Bertrand
Sunny Valley, Oregon

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Lariat Letter

Dear Edward Snook,

After reading your recent article in the US~Observer “Letters to the Editor” I felt compelled to write in response to the “Demand for Retraction letter” you received from the acting Members and Directors of the Lariat Group.

I am outraged and disgusted by the audacity of the men in this Lariat Group, who continually act as though they are here doing God’s work, and find it quite appalling that they would ever reference themselves as having anything to do with Christian Charity. I’d like to ask Mr. Bob Chamberlain, alias John Hanson if it’s all in the name of Christian Charity that he is pursuing a lawsuit right now, trying to take his recently deceased brother’s house away from his wife and children? This is a house his dead brother and wife and kids have lived in and called home for over 13 years, also a house I might add that at one time was used as collateral for the purchase of Mr. Bob Chamberlain’s own home. The fact is that just a couple weeks after Bob talked his brother into bringing his whole family to Grants Pass from Portland for alternative cancer treatments, his brother died in his care. Then, within just a few short weeks of his brother’s death, Bob then underhandedly entered his widow’s house, changed the locks, packed up her and her children’s things and lied to police officers who were called to the scene, stating that his brother’s wife was a renter and that he was the landlord who was serving an eviction notice for non-payment of rent (all lies and is a matter of public record as a police report was made). The Christianity in this “Good Deed” goes on to shine through with the fact that Bob, secretly, already had their house sold to a buyer paying well under market value. Imagine the buyer’s surprise when he came to the door to find the occupant stating that she was in fact the homeowner, not Bob Chamberlain and that she had no intention of moving out of her home of 13 years. Needless to say, the sale fell through as the buyer pulled out of the deal; however this has not stopped Mr. Bob Chamberlain in his pursuit of obtaining this property in the slightest.

You might also find it interesting that Bob Chamberlain is using a “trust” where he is the trustee as he attempts to acquire this home out from under the wife of his dead brother. Make no mistake; In my opinion if this man is capable of doing this to his own family members, he is capable of so much more than is alleged in any US~Observer article you’ve ever written.

I welcome any Christian explanation from any acting Director of the Lariat Group, as they were all there and involved in what happened, and/or any Christian response at all from Mr. Bob Chamberlain himself. Shame on you Bob, for your selfishness, greed and sin will surely be your ruin. I only hope you reap what you sow and get what you truly deserve from God Himself, as you are a disgrace when you use God’s name and connect yourself to Him in any way.

Sincerely,

A citizen not involved in any way, shape, or form with the Lariat Group, its members, Directors or any of its affiliates. So tell us Bob, where is the motive here?
--Portland, Oregon

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Social Security Stability

To the Editor:

This letter is for all concerned with Social Security and the future of it in light of all the remarks regarding its future failure and the need to cut back benefits in Medicare and Medicade.

In 1958, I paid into the social security system for the first time. This week, March 2006, social security will be taken out of my paycheck. During that time I have seen the rate go from 3% or so to almost 8%! No problem; that was what was needed to support the system. For current and future needs we simply need to raise the contributory percent by 1/8 of 1% for now. If it needs to be raised 1/8 of 1% next year so be it. If it was alright to raise it before, why is there any objection to raising it now? The law should incorporate one stipulation! NO RAIDING THE SOCIAL SECURITY COFFERS EVER AGAIN! The answer is so simple. Why does everyone make it a complex issue? Simple - 1/8% percent this year and 1/8 % next year, if needed! Do it! Now! Pay the people who paid into the system for 40 years plus.

Mark Christianson

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Gilbertson or Anderson for Sheriff?

Dear Editor:

Short & Sweet! If you are HAPPY with the Josephine County Sheriffs Department’s poor attitude, bad morale, shift the blame to the commissioners, waste, we can’t get it done conduct, lets go chase Speckles and then sue, so the tax payers of Josephine County can pay huge legal bills then vote for under-sheriff Brian Anderson in the up-coming primary election! Remember, Brian Anderson was Dave Daniel’s right–hand man, he was right there to assist with all the blunders of one of the most incompetent terms of office for any Sheriff in Josephine County history. At a recent forum in Cave Junction Brian Anderson was asked to explain the reason for the bad moral within the Sheriff’s Department. He stated point blank that it was due to a lack of funding. Do you want another four years of listening to a Sheriff snivel, lie and constantly threaten the public with no law enforcement if they won’t agree to huge tax increases in order to fund a dysfunctional department? If you do then vote for Brian Anderson…

However, if you are ready for change - go hear Gil Gilbertson, candidate for Sheriff!

Jan Caprio
Josephine County, Oregon

Editor’s Note: The US~Observer will be looking into all candidates in our next issue.

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Cougars, Guns and Hunting

To the Editor

Many people reading the mountain lion articles in this publication may find these controversial issues hard to believe or the authors of their articles incredulous. Consider this if you will.

The ODFW’s “Cougar Management Plan” is available on their website: (dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/cougar) or just punch in ODFW cougar management plan. I would like to draw your attention to pages 9-12. If you can read these pages written by the ODFW and come away still doubting Nevada Jim Ornellas, Cecil Fredi, et al … Then scope your eye on page 45- “Assumptions and Rationale.” Comparing these pages will freak you out. I guarantee it. For those who choose not to read the pages and articles are those who make up a significant segment of our country. (Here goes.) Yawh! I know all about those lions. I’ve seen hundreds of ‘em. They’re fuzzy and got long tails, 4 legs and are damn near extinct!. What else is there to know? Unless we become a bit more educated than the (facetiously stated) Budweiser graduate we are “going” to lose our hard fought for and rightly earned heritage of hunting; and right behind it, our guns.

I receive solicitations for money from N.R.A. 3 times a week just like you do, to save our second amendment right to bear arms. What about saving our hunting? When will N.R.A. wake up and realize I have no use for guns except to hunt with, like 90% of all hunters (with the exception for protection)?

It’s time for N.R.A. and other national organizations and magazines to get involved in this mountain lion, wildlife predator issue to help change the future of hunting. For them to steer clear of it sends a message that they choose to stay up there on the political moral high ground while we fight our own battles. But then - just keep sending us money, hunters.

Hey guys, I feel just like you do, so you’re not alone! Am I wrong?

Bud Sonnentag
Gabbs, Nevada

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Rules will hurt small farmers

Editor;

You buy a license for your dog, but what about a license for your horse or sheep or even your chicken?! Sounds unheard of, but it is something we will be hearing more about in the not-so-distant future. The USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is taking steps to put its animal identification plan in full force by January 2008, and "animal tracking" would become mandatory in January 2009 - if there are no advances or delays.

The NAIS would require:

1) premises registration;
2) individual animal identification.

Every person who owns a horse, cow, pig, sheep, chicken, pigeon or just about any livestock animal will be required to register their home and be keyed to the Global Positioning System coordinates in a federal database. Animal owners must also obtain a 15-digit ID number for any animal that ever leaves the place of its birth. So, if you want to raise animals for your own food, the animals must be individually identified. Even if you enjoy taking your horse out on the trails or to horse shows, you will need an individual ID.

The NAIS would require animal owners to report the birth date of an animal, the application of every animal's ID tag, every time an animal leaves or enters the property, every time an animal loses a tag, every time a tag is replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, or if any animal is missing. The previous would have to be reported within 24 hours. The USDA has not yet specified the "enforcement" it will include for noncompliance. Fines and/or seizure of animals?

Who will pay for all these new regulations? The animal owners, of course. Who will be affected by these new regulations? The small farmers, of course. Large-scale producers will be allowed to register large groups of animals, while owners raising animals for their own use will under most circumstances have to identify each individual animal. Who will benefit from these new regulations? The big companies in the meat production industry and the manufacturers of the animal ID equipment.

Are there any benefits of the NAIS to the small farmers who want to raise their own food? No. The USDA claims the NAIS will enhance export markets for U.S. livestock products and allow trace back to farms of animals which are diseased. Small farmers, raising animals for their own use, don't profit from export markets. As far as disease is concerned, most small farmers raise their animals in more healthy conditions than the large meat producing companies. The animals on a small farm are usually raised in large areas or pastures where the animals can eat more natural food, have more exercise, and more area for dispersal of waste, resulting in less chance for disease or bacterial contamination.

Please visit www.usda.gov/nais to learn more about this plan. Please pass this information on to other farmers. There is still time to oppose the NAIS. Opponents can write their federal and state legislatures. (Go to www.vote-smart.org or www.firstgov.gov.)

When you hear that the public comment period on a NAIS rule is open, please submit an individual comment. There is a planned issuance of a NAIS rule for public comment coming up in July. Please visit www.usda.gov/nais to read the entire Draft Strategic Plan and Draft Program Standards.

Michelle Czygan
Rapid River, Michigan

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Community
Involvement

If you are enjoying your lifestyle and feel you are having a decent life and things are good, perhaps it is time you gave back to your community !

When is the last time you helped a neighbor build a barn - attended a meeting to identify the candidates for sheriffs office or county commissioner - or helped a movement with its fight against evil such as strip clubs - helped an aging friend with senior moments and senior difficulties !

We all owe to our communities as our part in making it a better, safer, more drug free place to live !

Do not call yourself Christian and refuse to make the commitment to better your community !!!

Think about it - get off your butt and:

1. Help thy neighbor
2. Fight a good fight against evil; “It’s the right thing to do !”
3. Be kind to your senior friends or neighbors - you will be there one day !
4. I personally know a lot of non-professing Christians who endeavor every day to better the Sunny Valley/Wolf Creek area - shouldn’t all professing Christians do at least as much!
5. Please, look in the mirror!!!

Jerry Parrish

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