On George Taylor, single-sex schools, Mona Charen's definition of treason and the English language

Looking forward to more of Taylor

Sunday I was skimming through the G-T and happened to turn to George Taylor's column, "Weather Matters." I painfully recalled that I had fully intended to write and extend my best wishes on his recent retirement - but I had kept putting it off. With the "it's better late than never" words bouncing around in my head, I finally pulled out my keyboard and started.

While I've read George's column for years, there was only one time I have had the opportunity to meet him and hear him speak. Just as he comes across in his column, in person I also found him to be easy-going and friendly - very open to questions. As to the presentation, it was well thought out with clear observations given to support his points. In no way did he "preach" his position, but rather, he just spoke of the conclusions he had come to concerning weather patterns and the supporting evidence he had observed.

I have been saddened to see many of those who disagree with his findings concerning global warming, turn to making personal attacks on George and his character (and this includes our current governor). I believe this says far more about the integrity of those people than it does about George. If you have not read it, please look back and read his article, "Setting the record straight," in the Feb. 24 Sunday paper.

Finally, I look forward to reading many more of his columns; but most of all, I wish him a wonderful "semi" retirement!

John Wood

Philomath

Single-sex schools? That's funny

I am amused that many people advocate a return of sex-segregated education. (Theresa Novak, "Single-gender schools: An idea worth going back to," March 9).

Only 60 years ago, reputable medical journals suggested that homosexuality was caused by the tradition of segregating boys and girls at school. Implementing co-ed schools was their homophobic "cure."

For example, in the March 22, 1947, esteemed medical journal "The Lancet," Dr. D. Stanley-Jones postulated that boys became homosexual due to "the public school system of education, in which boys are thrown together in circumstances that necessitate an artificial prolongation of the homosexual group."

The internationally renowned "British Medical Journal" during 1946 and 1947 printed over 20 pages of letters from doctors discussing homosexual development due to bad parenting, sex-segregated schooling or prison experiences.

Today, many anti-gay Christians still believe better parenting and prayer will help gay children become "ex-gay former homosexuals." To "prevent homosexuality," they oppose single-sex schools.

Also, which school would transgendered children go to? Protecting children from such human diversity will only retard their development.

Thomas Kraemer

Corvallis

Disapproval is not treason

I am appalled by Mona Charen's Sunday column. She almost cringes at the thought that Barack Obama's mother married outside her race and nationality. It is such blatant racism, it brings to mind the apartheid laws against miscegenation in South Africa, in the Deep South before civil rights, in certain conservative Jewish groups, in Israel today where Israeli Arabs cannot marry West Bank or Gaza Arabs and live together in Israel.

Charen also implies that any dissatisfaction with American policies or leadership is tantamount to treason. Heck, I exceed Michelle Obama in my shame over the record of most of our country's leaders around the world. Like the Iran/Contra support of death squads in Nicaragua; like our CIA's overthrow of the democratically-elected leader of Iran in order to install the Shah who would let us have their oil; like our illegal pre-emptive invasion of Iraq - a country that never attacked us; like all the lies about WMDs; like the CIA-led assassinations of two Central American anti-American presidents -Guatemala's Arbenz and Chile's Allende; like the U.S.-supported attempted coup against Hugo Chavez over oil interests; like our $13 million daily support of Israel's military so they can crush the attempts by Palestinians to get their own land back; like our arming of Fatah strongman Dahlan's militias against Hamas; like our fake "we support democracy" crusade that turns against those we don't want elected such as Hamas; like our CIA's car-bombing of a mosque in Beirut in 1985, killing 80 and wounding 256, mostly girls and women; like so many more.

I love America; hence I criticize its leaders. This would be a great country if we would help the world's poor and desperate, instead of arming our lackey countries against their own people (Indonesia is our most recent debacle).

June Forsyth Kenagy

Albany

English no longer required?

In the Sunday paper, March 9, there was an article written by Roosevelt Montas, "Hispanics go for Billary." In it, he states that his mother passed her citizenship examination in Spanish two years ago.

People no longer need to speak English to become a U.S. citizen?

My husband is a World War II veteran. He says he helped fight a war so we would not speak Japanese. But now, we are being taken over, without fighting a war, to speak Spanish.

We would also like to know if all the babies (and there are more than a few) born to illegal people automatically become U.S. citizens? It seems they should be whatever country their father belongs to.

We also wonder about illegal people voting by mail. When we voted at the polls, we could challenge someone's vote if we had doubts. But now, no one knows what goes on.

Jessie Clayton

Scio

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