Markets need honesty

Marketolatry has been the reigning religion of global capitalism. It has exhibited blind faith in Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" (I. H.), which Smith believed governs the allocation of resources, capital and labor in the most efficient possible way.

While Smith's confidence in the market to self-regulate was conditional, later apostles like Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan turned that principle into dogma. And dogmas have a way of becoming unconditional. That's too bad because this one has now produced chaos.

The effectiveness of Smith's I. H. depends on open, honest and full information on all aspects of any and all business transactions. Without this, the hand is operating blind.

Picture a surgeon operating blind, and you understand why a disaster is now afoot in the world economy. When the I. H. confronts multiple Ponzi schemes, all the hand has left to give is a finger! George Soros explained all of this in detail 10 years ago in The Crisis of Global Capitalism. He wrote there: "What I predict is the imminent disintegration of the glo-bal capitalist system."

As Friedman himself said, "There's no free lunch." The gravy train ran out of track.

John Goodwin, Lebanon

The suffering of animals

It is estimated that, every year, 4 to 5 million homeless animals are put to death in shelters in the United States. Every year!

Countless other animals are abandoned and left to suffer the effects of a harsh and cruel environment. Have you ever witnessed a beautiful, healthy animal being euthanized because no one wants it? It's heartbreaking.

Living, feeling creatures that are byproducts of pet ownership.

If you, as a pet owner, don't think you are directly responsible for this, then think of this: Every time you get a pet or a pet product, it encourages the breeding of more animals and the production of more pet products. Supply and demand. An industry that people in the U.S. spend $10 billion a year on.

Whether people get an animal for companionship, protection, status, or just because they love animals, it's all about the person, isn't it?

Millions of animals that, if it weren't for the selfish desire of people to own a pet, would never have to be brought into this world to begin with. Millions of animals produced by breeders that, along with pet stores, prey on people's emotions to make a buck.

Millions of animals that are bred, sold and then "humanized" by their owners. Animals that spend their entire lives in cages, tied in the yard, left alone for hours and hours every day, or even fed live to other pets. Many suffer abuse too horrible for words. The number of pets that are treated well can never justify the deaths of millions of animals every year.

Certainly there are other ways of satisfying one's emotional needs than by supporting the propagating of living, feeling creatures whose very lives totally depend on people.

Carol Hiler, Albany

Bull's eye on marijuana

William Conde (Mailbag, "Our Most Expensive War," Dec. 23) got an arrow-splitting bull's eye: where would President-elect Obama be if ...?

Once Obama takes office, there should not be another responsible U.S. citizen caged for using or possessing small amounts of cannabis (marijuana) ever again.

Conde was mistaken about the expense of incarceration, however. Caging humans for using the relatively safe, socially acceptable, God-given plant cannabis is a money-making gravy train for the prison industry, police, drug testing industry and their unions; lobbying efforts are one of the reasons cannabis and hemp prohibition perpetuates.

A sane argument to continue caging responsible citizens for using the plant doesn't exist. Cannabis prohibitionists are like vampires.

Stan White, Dillon, Colo.

A snag with insurance

When you enter the hospital to have surgery and the doctor deems it necessary that you remain in the hospital for several days, you expect Medicare and your insurance to cover the costs as per your policy. Wrong.

I entered the hospital on a Thursday for repair of three inguinal hernias. Because of difficulties she encountered, she was only able to repair two of them. I was not released from the hospital until Saturday evening, at which time the doctor was reluctant to let me go, but did. When I received my billing, I discovered that the charges for Friday and Saturday were billed as "Observation" and classified as "Out Patient." Thus most of the charges were denied by Medicare and my insurance paid only $3.55 rather than the $800-plus that they should have paid. Then I received a personal bill for $877.

Neither I nor my family were told that I was not covered as a patient in the hospital. If we had been, I could have gone to a nursing home where I would be fully covered. To me, this seems like a scam by Medicare and/or the insurance companies. If the doctor deems you ill enough that you shouldn't go home, then the coverage as per the policy should prevail.

Mary F. Dugan, Albany

The mystery of 'Luella'

Luella Allen found a historic jacquard woven coverlet "at friends home in Lebanon," in Oregon. In the mid-1930s Luella gifted it to Kathryn Cornwall Smith. In 1985, KC Smith passed the coverlet to Giff and Mary Jones for safekeeping. On Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008, the Joneses brought this bit of Lebanon's heritage back home. The coverlet may have been woven in the 1840s.

According to KC, Luella told her the coverlet, "came from Virginia over the Oregon Trail with the pioneer Moise family." Today, it's believed Moist may be the correct pioneer family instead of Moise.

Who is "Luella Allen?" Was she in the mid-valley? Was her "friends home in Lebanon" area a Moist family (1845, Oregon Trail)? Or was it a member of other Oregon Trail pioneer families - 1852-McDonalds, 1852-McCullys, Crawfords or Reeves?

Where was Kathryn Cornwall Smith in Oregon in the mid-1930s? KC was a Californian in her early 30s, up here studying Oregon pioneer history. She became a journalist. Probably born in San Fernando Valley, Calif., in 1906, and died in Goleta-Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1986.

For more information, check http://alaskaquilt.com/coverlet.

html, or call Chris at (541) 258-1774, Peggy's Alaskan Cabbage Patch B&B, 194 S. Second St., Lebanon.

Douglas Christopherson, Lebanon