Thought for the day
March 6, 1999
Most days you wouldn't see even one headline story from Oregon (where our namesake river is located) but today we have two! However, neither story is actually "new" more of a slow-news weekend, but hey it's still featured placement on CNN.
First of all, Oregon is the only state where it's legal for a doctor to help a terminally-ill patient end their suffering by ending their life. The "news" today was that only about a third of the surveyed physicians were willing to provide such assistance. I think that's fine, the law wasn't intended to FORCE all doctors to offer this service to their patients any more than a law making it legal to perform kidney transplants would require all doctors to do that. It's about compassion and the right to be free from having the government tell you what to do. Something like that would enjoy widespread support amongst the right-wing, yes? Naw, people who "talk the talk" about less government and states' rights are curiously opposed to actually allowing individuals dominion over their own carcass. They frequently follow the "Our beliefs tell us that we should make you do this" doctrine.
The second news item relates to the oil tanker "New Carissa" which currently lays broken and leaking fuel oil off our rugged and majestic coastline. This is the SECOND wreck of this rusty hulk. The first one broke the vessel in half and explosives were used to burn-off many thousands of gallons of oil before it could leak onto our beaches. But they tried to tow the bow-section out to sea to sink it in the briny-deep, hoping the frigid waters and extreme pressures of the ocean would prevent further pollution. The sea had other ideas. A moderate (by our standards) storm broke the mighty steel cable they were using and the ship (again) washed ashore, leaking. The story in all this (which isn't new) is that many entrepenuring Oregonians have tried to find the positive in all this by selling T-shirts, souvenirs, and off-season hotel rooms. Not much help to the oystermen, fishermen, birds or other coastal inhabitants, but we do what we can.
If you want to see a wreck, don't come. By the time you get here, it will be gone (I hope). If you want to die, and your state isn't as enlightened and free as ours, you might come here, but I don't want to see Oregon turn into the nation's graveyard (for humans OR old ships!).
It might be better to visit our state for its' own sake. See the coast, smell the forests, walk the arid inland, drink some of our fine wine. Then go home. Call your senator and your representative and tell them to get the government out of your body's business. They'll probably resist at first, because they really like having that power over you!
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