The Inquisition next?

I read that Pope Benedict has revived the Latin Mass. Apparently nothing compares to a worship service where 98 percent of the attenders have no idea of what the priest is actually saying.

I read he has decided the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches are "defective." I read he has decided that all other Christian denominations are not true churches.

I read that that for the second time in a week he has "corrected" decisions of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) that he has decided were was erroneously interpreted.

When will I read that the Jesuits are gearing up for Inquisition II?

Ted Salmons, Lebanon

Friends with Kory Wiens

I am very disappointed in the article printed about Kory Wiens. The person who wrote the article failed to interview true friends or family of his. I have been best friends with Kory for six years now, all the way through high school and through my enlistment in the Marine Corps and his into the Army.

Kory and I met our freshman year at WAHS, and we dated for over a year. We were best friends. He would always come to my sister's house and work on his car and truck with my brother-in-law, play with my nephew, and visit with my family and me.

Kory never failed to have a positive outlook on life, and always had a smile. When it came to helping others, Kory always would go out of his way to help anyone. I remember when he was stationed in Missouri and I was stationed in North Carolina, he would call me almost every day and we would talk for hours about anything and everything. Sometimes we wouldn't talk, and we didn't need to. Just having each other's company and hearing our voice was enough for us.

I want to let his family know that I am here to help anyway possible, and I am flying home on Friday to attend the services. I love you all. Kory truly is an American hero. To know that he is having his dog Cooper with him is of some comfort to me, because Kory loved that dog like a child.

My heart goes out to those who have lost members of their family due to this war, I understand your pain and we will all get through this. Semper Fidelis.

Lance Cpl. Kimberly Stewart, Jacksonville, N.C.

Keep the Y for local kids

When I and my brother, Mike were probably around 10 or 12 years old, our grandparents thought we could walk to the Y from their home on 36th Avenue without getting hit by a car. We thought we were big shots and would go to swim or play racquetball whenever we could get away with it (and they would pay for it). I think the YMCA should consider opening another location and keep the current one open for local, drop-in kids like we were.

I don't know about the Timber-Linn Park location. It doesn't sound like people want the trees cut down (a big tree does 60 to 70 times the pollution removal of a small tree - U.S. Forest Service). I would think a location near the city pool might be a better location, for at-risk kids to walk to; it might give them something constructive to do and make the area more livable. Maybe the Y could get a grant from the city to build along the waterfront.

If I ran the Y I would reach out to those neighbors first (they could use the help) and keep the current building also.

If the city does allow anything to be built in Timber-Linn Park, maybe for every big tree that is cut down we can plant 60 to 70 trees in other parks to make up for the loss of the large tree's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, pull particulate matter from the air, prevent floods and keep temperatures at livable levels.

Cameron Blagg III, Albany

What would be better?

Now that we are four years into the liberation of Iraq some of those who supported the intervention now say that if they had known then what they know now they would have never supported the war. The corollary is that today's Iraq would be a better, safer place under the iron fist of Saddam Hussein, his sons, and the Baathists. Such a position is pure horse manure.

Many people seem to believe that the current sectarian strife in Iraq was caused by the intrusion of coalition forces in the spring of 2003. Such a position is pure drivel. At that time a despotic Iraq had only one option: dictatorship under a murderous tyrant. The events leading up to 2003 all pointed to either an internal implosion or some sort of external intervention to remove Saddam.

In either case, foreigners were going to step into the power vacuum and arbitrate Iraq's future path. Imagine the bloodshed if Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia had intervened to pursue their own agendas. Only the U.N.-supported coalition offered federalism as an option where the different Iraqi factions could settle their differences through democratic means.

The many blunders of the Bush administration's postwar plan do not change the fact that the world is a better place with a democratic Iraq. Those who advocate otherwise need to show how in 2007 a dictator like Saddam, or an occupation by other foreign powers in the region, is a better solution for Iraq.

Gordon L. Shadle, Albany

On family leave, let's catch up

It's unfortunate that paid family leave didn't pass the state legislature last month. With the majority of parents now in the labor force, paid family leave is a policy that's needed to bring us into modern times. In fact, it's a national embarrassment that we don't have this policy in place, particularly since we are one of only four countries, in a Harvard study of 168 countries, that doesn't offer some form of paid leave for new mothers. We share that dubious distinction with Papua New Guinea, Liberia, and Swaziland. It's time to catch up with the rest of the world.

In addition, paid family leave has been shown to reduce infant mortality by as much as 20 percent (and the U.S. ranks a low 37th of all countries in infant mortality so we need as much help as we can get in this area), as well as to help keep families out of poverty.

Right now, having a baby is a leading cause of "poverty spells" in this country.

Poverty spells are a time when income dips below what's needed for basic living expenses like food and rent. And a full quarter of families with children under 6 years old live in poverty here. We need paid family leave to help Oregon's families, to decrease poverty, and to lower infant mortality.

Passing this policy should be top priority next legislative session here in Oregon.

Stefanie Zier, Albany