FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion
— Editorial —
Cognitive
Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance. We’ve heard
the term used in the media, on social
media and in classroom settings for
years. But what is it? We saw this
definition online:
“Sometimes people hold a core be-
lief that is very strong. When they are
presented with evidence that works
against that belief, the new evidence
cannot be accepted. It would create a
feeling that is extremely uncomfort-
able, called cognitive dissonance.
And because it is so important to
protect the core belief, they will
rationalize, ignore and even deny
anything that doesn’t fit within that
core belief.”
Of course, this explanation is pretty
simplistic, and ultimately chang-
ing the core belief would also be an
option, but the definition started us
thinking about how much one single
belief can define a person’s life and
the entire way in which they view
themselves. What we think so much
creates our own realities.
It’s tough to accept that what we
might have spent a lot of time believ-
ing might be wrong. Or that maybe
more than one “right” option exists.
When we look to politics, for
example, we see the protestors who
are absolutely convinced President
Trump will destroy our country. On
the other hand, his proponents are
convinced he will undoubtedly save
it. Same man. Same situation. Oppo-
site perceptions.
Plus, all of these claims were
formed before the man was even in
office and as of today, has still been
in office such a short amount of time
that the facts don’t yet reveal what
his presidency will be. But if one at-
tempts to state that to someone with
a strong core belief fully ingrained in
their mind, you might as well be talk-
ing to a brick wall.
If you talk with a person indoctri-
nated into a cult, for example, who
has a concrete belief he is following
the design of whichever divine cre-
ator— you can argue with facts out-
side the cult’s beliefs. You can even
present facts within that cult’s system
that contradict the belief. You’ll still
get nowhere fast.
It is confusing and uncomfortable
for a person to set aside an idea that
has, up until now, defined their very
existence.
It’s fun to think about what sort of
event it would take to really, truly
change the nature of a person and
their mind ... Next time you turn
on Fox News or CNN, deliberately
challenge the way you accept what’s
presented. At least it’s not boring.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
— Letters to the Editor —
Mental health articles
To the editor:
I’m pleased to see mental illness dis-
cussed, but saddened how unaddressed
this need is. To mix religion into mental
illness is such a slippery slope and pres-
ents such a fine line between blasphemy
and genuine piety. Interesting subject.
Maybe Ms. Werner could tackle depres-
sion in one of her articles? That is my
request. Thanks.
Jennifer Johnson
Hillsboro, Oregon
More thoughts on marijuana
To the editor:
In continued response to a letter to the
editor last December.
“Marijuana use leads to increased (non
traffic) injuries, accidents and absences
from school or work.”
I searched the internet for hours and
could find nothing from a reliable source
about increased non-traffic injuries or
accidents related to marijuana. Absences
from school because of marijuana use is
reported. However, once again it must
be stated that legalized marijuana is not
available to school aged children just as
cigarettes and alcohol are not available.
“Inhalation of marijuana smoke is 20%
more harmful than regular tobacco.”
According to this report from ABC
News “the THC found in some cannabis
actually helps fight cancer cells and Har-
vard University researchers have found
that, in both laboratory and mouse studies,
delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cuts
tumor growth in half in common lung can-
cer while impeding the cancer’s ability to
spread.” (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/
Healthday/story?id=4506595&page=1)
While cigarette smoke does cause lung
cancer marijuana smoke does not accord-
ing to this report which shows why ciga-
rette smoke is more harmful. (www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277837/)
“Tobacco use kills more than 6,000,000
people annually, 30 percent of whom will
die from cancer-related diseases due to
smoking. If current trends continue, to-
bacco use will kill 8 million people annu-
ally by 2030, 83 percent of whom reside
in low- and middle-income countries.”
(www.cancer.org/aboutus/globalhealth/
tobacco-control)
“Tobacco use costs all Oregonians.
Tobacco use is the No. 1 preventable
cause of death and disease in Oregon,
killing 7000 people each year, and costing
Oregonians $2.5 billion a year in medical
expenditures and lost productivity due
to premature death. All told, the burden
of tobacco use equals $1600 a year per
Oregon household.” ( ublic.health.oregon.
gov/PreventionWellness/TobaccoPreven-
tion/Documents/tobacco_facts/costs_of_
tobacco.pdf)
According to this report, in Time
Magazine, there have been “two con-
firmed deaths directly related to marijuana
worldwide.” (time.com/10372/marijuana-
deaths-german-study/)
Even the United States Drug Enforce-
ment Agency stated that there are “no
known deaths due to marijuana overdose.”
(www.dea.gov/druginfo/drug_data_sheets/
Marijuana.pdf)
Is tobacco smoke actually worse than
marijuana smoke? Which one causes the
most problems and costs us, the taxpayers,
more money? Information, to be useful,
needs to be factual and not opinions.
Steve DeFord
Sumpter
Ferrioli talks about economy
Senate Republican Lead-
er Ted Ferrioli, of John
Day, expressed optimism
following the release of the
revenue forecast released
today.
Ferrioli said:
“The sky is not falling.
Today’s released revenue
forecast is one of the
greatest forecasts in recent
memory.
“Oregon’s economy is
performing exceptionally
well because of our small
business tax reform and
while other’s have strug-
gled, we have achieved
sustained growth.
“Now, we can move
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forward with clear vision
to provide the resources
needed for our educators
and students to reach their
fullest potential, transform
our transportation system,
and fix our broken public
pension system to protect
current and future retir-
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— Guest Opinion —
Voting
integrity
By Dennis Richardson
As Secretary of State, I am re-
sponsible for administering Oregon’s
elections, audits, archives and cor-
porations divisions. Protecting the
rights and personal information of all
Oregon voters and ensuring trust in
our elections system are serious mat-
ters to me.
So today, I will address recent con-
cerns over voter system integrity, as
well as the federal government’s claim
that state elections are part of federal
“critical infrastructure.”
Last month, President Obama
designated state elections as “critical
infrastructure” under the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS).
Implemented by Executive Order,
the “critical infrastructure” designa-
tion by DHS was foisted on the states
without consultation of any Secre-
taries of States or elections officers
across the nation. I believe its imple-
mentation should be stopped until the
consequences of this DHS empower-
ment can be thoroughly analyzed.
My concern has been elevated as it
appears this Executive Order is being
acquiesced to by the new Trump Ad-
ministration. As the administrator of
Oregon’s state elections, it is clear to
me that any elections “infrastructure”
policy by the Federal government
should only be implemented if it has
been proven to be in the best interest
of our current decentralized, state-
controlled election system.
Recently, I wrote President Trump
directly on this issue, and last week
I traveled to Washington, D.C. to
discuss it with 40 other Secretaries
during the National Association of
Secretaries of State Conference. The
urgency is this, once a federal agency
assumes authority to intervene in a
state’s constitutional duty to conduct
fair elections, such an encroachment
will be nearly impossible to sup-
plant. There has been no information
released by either President Obama’s
or President Trump’s administrations
to justify this “critical infrastructure”
designation, so I am fighting it.
My letter to the President stated that
Oregon’s November election results
were tabulated correctly and that
President Trump’s accusations of voter
fraud through internet hacking were
not relevant to Oregon due to our use
of paper ballots. But, counting ballots
correctly is not enough.
Restoring trust in Oregon’s election
system requires more than just count-
ing ballots correctly—it also requires
confidence in our voter registration
system. Voter registration is a much
different issue than tabulating votes on
Submitted Photo
Dennis Richardson is Oregon’s
Secretary of State.
election night.
It goes without saying that all
eligible Oregonians should be able
to register and vote. Key tenets of
my administration are to ensure more
accountability and integrity to the
processes and systems of the Secretary
of State’s office.
To restore greater trust in Oregon’s
voter registration system, the Elec-
tions Division staff has begun to
step-up their maintenance of the state
voter file. As a starting point, we’re
reviewing addresses where more than
ten ballots are delivered. Surprisingly,
6500 addresses have been identified-
-mostly fraternity and sorority houses,
senior care and assisted living fa-
cilities, and R.V. parks. So far, in our
evaluation of these data sets, we’ve
encountered only two that appear to be
fraudulent. We trust and we verify.
We are also cross-checking voter reg-
istration with public records like death
certificates. We want to ensure a clean
voter file while also maintaining voter
privacy. That way, we can ensure
everyone who is qualified and regis-
tered to vote gets a ballot. In addition,
duplicate ballots can be a problem for
states. For example, in a recent elec-
tion, Oregon records show approxi-
mately 95,000 duplicate ballots were
mailed to Oregon homes. Although
we have measures in place to assure
only one ballot from a registered voter
is counted, we are working diligently
to reduce the number of mailed du-
plicate ballots to avoid confusion and
reduce costs.
In short, my job as Secretary of
State is to protect and administer the
elections system assigned to me by
law, and to do so in a non-partisan,
transparent and honest manner. While
no system is perfect, I’ve been pleased
to see the dedication and integrity
exemplified by our county and state
elections staff. I will continue to work
diligently to support every effort to
improve Oregon’s elections at all lev-
els of government.
Finally, I will do everything in my
power to protect our state’s elections
system from an unwarranted, and
possibly unconstitutional, intrusion
by federal agencies and Presidential
Executive Orders.
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