FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Editorial —
The spirit of
the law
We’re thinking this holiday season
of the gentleman who shot and killed
a wolf by accident in adjoining Grant
County and is now facing jail time
and a severe financial penalty for the
crime.
The hunter mistook the crouching
animal for a coyote, and when he real-
ized his mistake, he proved himself
so honest that he did something we’d
bet 99% of those who might shoot any
animal by mistake would never do—
he turned himself in.
Only a month after the accident, the
wolf in Oregon was removed from the
endangered species list, and although
one would think this change would
lessen the charges the hunter faces, it
doesn’t. ODFW says the penalties for
a delisted wolf are the same as for one
on the endangered species list—which
is a baffling fact in and of its own,
and probably the topic for a different
editorial altogether.
Then we think: How many times
have ODFW officials themselves been
unable to concretely verify that a wolf
was a wolf based on tracks or images
captured on a trail cam? They’re the
experts, right?
Someone we respect pointed out
today that this hunter may not have
adhered to the letter of the law, but
he certainly adhered to the spirit of it.
He didn’t intend to commit a crime,
and when he realized his mistake, he
attempted to make it right.
If this man is punished to the full
extent of the law, anyone remaining
outside the “shoot, shovel and shut
up” camp will surely switch sides over
to it afterward.
2 Corinthians 3 flashed through
our minds, where we’re told (loosely
paraphrased) that the letter kills, but
the spirit gives life.
We’re hoping the spirit is con-
sidered, and these charges result in
justice tempered by mercy.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
— Letters to the Editor —
Fighting ISIS
To the Editor:
As we head toward the future, which
looks like some kind of war, I’m reminded
of the Vietnam era. One of the conven-
tional saying was, “if we don’t fight them
over there we will have to fight them
over here.” I’m hearing it again. Sounds
profound and wise but is it? A little
geography might be appropriate here.
The U.S.A has a big ocean on both sides,
a weak southern neighbor and an ally
on the North. Last time I checked ISIS
was lacking a Navy and an Airforce. So
how would it be that we would have to
“fight them over here?” Well they have
to get here and it seems like the way they
travel is by air on commercial airlines that
land at an airport. It would seem logical
that before they get on that airplane they
would be vetted and when they landed at
one of our airports we should check them
out again and keep track of where they
went and if they overstayed their wel-
come. If they can’t come we don’t have
to worry about them fighting over here. If
we control our borders we don’t have to
fight them over here. If we start restricting
the numbers coming over here the less we
have to worry about fighting them over
here.
We should hold off on the boots on the
ground push because they are over there
and they are changing the way the leftist
governments of Europe think. They might
have to fight them over there and might
just decide to drop the disarmament of
their populations. Possibly those coali-
tions to fight Radical Islam might actually
end up being coalitions instead of America
and some tokens.
Steve Culley
Baker City
Bazaar Time of the Year
To the Editor:
It is time for us all to check out all
those homemade goodies and gifts at
local Christmas bazaars and shops. What
wonderful things can be found! But one
needs to remember to carefully check
items you are going to purchase as gifts
to assure that the knit or crocheted item is
done well, clean, and not going to unravel
when washed.
How about those nice soft pillows with
the hand-sewn appliques? Are the seams
finished well and going to hold up or fall
apart completely when washed? Take this
advice from one who has had that experi-
ence—these are things that need to be
kept in mind while shopping, to ensure
that not only will your loved one be de-
lighted by the gift you purchased, but will
be delighted with their gift after the test of
time. Nothing is worse than picking up the
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker
County Press reserves the right not to pub-
lish letters containing factual falsehoods or
incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or
detracting from specific for-profit business-
es will not be published. Word limit is 375
words per letter. Letters are limited to one
every other week per author. Letters should
be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty-
Press.com.
Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
pieces after that first wash!
Christmas gifts, especially handmade
ones, are wonderful examples of the
season. But those making the items for
sale as well as the ones purchasing them
should keep this advice in mind to assure
buyers will be back again.
Missy Baine
Sumpter
Pot Odors are Subjective
To the Editor:
I have thought almost endlessly for days
about the idea of an ordinance against
marijuana odor. I have researched what
other communities have done in response
to a few complaining citizens. I’ve come
to the conclusion that it would be ridicu-
lous.
I sympathize with the handful of resi-
dents that may be allergic to marijuana
pollen. However, there are many residents
allergic to a myriad of substances we
frequently have in our air—cottonwood,
lilacs, wood smoke, roses and grass clip-
pings just to name a few. We don’t find
ourselves discussing at length as a com-
munity how to handle these irritants. We
don’t threaten to force people to remove
trees, or bushes, or lawns, for that matter,
because the neighbor has a health prob-
lem.
We leave it up to the individual to either
obtain allergy medication, stay indoors, or
move away from the problem. Why would
we treat marijuana any differently? Why
the vendetta against a single plant? Like
it or not, marijuana is legal to produce
(excepting a couple of age and quantity
related limitations) and should be treated
as such.
I am concerned that if a code is enacted
it will be too subjective. I found Pend-
leton’s way of handling it (amending an
existing public nuisance ordinance) to
be very unreasonable. It’s only directed
toward marijuana; the level of odor is not
quantitatively measured. It is simply left
up to whichever officer responds to decide
on case-by-case basis whether or not it’s
too odoriferous. How is this fair?
In regard to the idea of mandating only
indoor grows to control the spread of odor,
there are already concerns about the abil-
ity of our power grid to handle it. I also
discovered much evidence that covering a
crop or moving it indoors simply condens-
es the scent, making it stronger than if the
plants were raised in open air.
I urge you not to open this proverbial
can of worms. It should not be the busi-
ness of legislators or law enforcement
agents to manage. It teeters on the verge
of a civil rights violation and will likely
cause more trouble than it is worth!
Sarah Heiner
Baker City
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— Guest Opinion —
Terrorist
infiltration
prevention
critical
By Sen. Ted Cruz
The self-proclaimed Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has emerged as
the new face of the radical terror that has
bedeviled the West in recent decades. As
the American people are now painfully
aware in the wake of ISIS’s murderous
rampage in Paris last Friday, they have
apparently now directly threatened both
Washington and New York. Their attacks
and threats serve as reminders that ISIS
can and, given time and opportunity, will
strike the West again.
This jihadist organization is intention-
ally infiltrating the flood of refugees that
are currently entering Europe through
Turkey, Greece, and points west. Rather
than taking the threat seriously, President
Obama has doubled down on his danger-
ous open-borders policies by proposing
to welcome thousands of refugees who
have potentially been infiltrated by ter-
rorists to the United States. This head-
long rush toward a careless policy comes
just weeks after FBI Director James
Comey told Congress, in no uncertain
terms, that our government lacks the
tools to properly screen these refugees.
Since the beginning of the Syrian
refugee crisis, more than 2,100 refugees
from Syria have already been admitted to
the United States. President Obama now
wants to accept at least 10,000 more this
fiscal year. That’s roughly a third of the
34,000 total refugees President Obama
proposes to accept from the Near East
and South Asia.
This policy makes no sense. Given the
existential nature and scope of the threat
posed by radical Islamic terrorism, the
limitations on our ability to screen the
flood of refugees, and the obligations of
our government to provide for the safety
and security of all Americans, we simply
cannot accept refugees from countries
that have a significant terrorist presence
until the terrorist threat has been elimi-
nated.
As an unapologetic proponent of legal
immigration, it brings me no pleasure to
advocate for limiting the flow of refu-
gees to America. But the first duty of our
government, which President Obama and
Hillary Clinton are ignoring, is to protect
the American people. And if that means
temporarily suspending the admission of
high-risk refugees from countries beset
by jihadist groups, then so be it.
This is why I have introduced the
Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Preven-
tion Act of 2015. This constitutionally
sound, common-sense measure would
immediately bar any refugee who is
from any country that contains territory
controlled in substantial part by ISIS, al
Qaeda, or any other designated foreign
terrorist organization ascribing to the
Submitted Photo
Senator Ted Cruz from Texas is a
candidate for U.S. President.
radical, totalitarian Islamism dedicated
to the destruction of the United States
and our allies, and whose proponents
find anyone who does not share their
faith—from couples dining in cafes to
Jews shopping in a kosher market to
satirical cartoonists—equally offensive.
The bill specifically names Iraq, Libya,
Somalia, Syria, and Yemen as countries
from which refugees cannot be accepted,
and empowers the State Department to
identify and designate additional coun-
tries as potential sources of terror.
It is important to note this refugee ban
would be temporary. It would sunset
after three years, and allow Congress to
reevaluate the global situation and make
necessary adjustments, or let the law
expire. It would in no way prevent the
United States from providing assistance
to humanitarian disasters in a way that is
consistent with our national security.
The bill would also allow a narrow
exception to the refugee ban in cases
that involve victims of genocide like the
Yazidis and certain Christian sects, in-
cluding Assyrians, who, amazingly, still
speak a form of Aramaic that is believed
to have been spoken by Jesus Christ.
This exception would only be available
for the severest cases of persecution, and
would require a high bar of proof.
The American people already know
the truth President Obama will not utter,
which is that the threat we face is radical
Islamic terrorism, not random violence.
The fact of the matter is that no Christian
or Yazidi has systematically executed
concert-goers while shouting “Allahu
Akbar.”
Pretending all the refugees are equally
likely or unlikely to commit terrorist acts
prevents us from helping those we can
while protecting ourselves from a real
threat. And the insistence of the Obama
Administration that the terrorist threat is
“not Islamic” gives no confidence that
any screening mechanism they would
design would actually identify the radical
Islamic terrorists whose stated goal is to
murder Americans.
After the horror of Paris, it would be
downright reckless not to take basic
steps to protect ourselves from the threat
of terrorist infiltration. It takes just one
jihadist to cause enormous damage and
take countless lives. This is a small, first
step toward protecting America, and I
will never apologize for defending this
nation.
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