Uev.
Hults
Editorial'
Now & Then
There are many ways to lake a giant step
outside your mind; our favorite is ot Zen.
Your Beloved Editor is, in tact, the only Minister
in the “Rastified Church of the Cow boy Buddha”
w hich is an extremely small Zen sect. The
Cowbov Buddha believes that we can cither add
to or reduce the chaos, by buying into 01 bailing
out of “the system’. The choice and it’s timing
arc important.
This being said, here are our reccomendations
for the November ballot measure initiatives.
There at 23 measures up for a v ote. 15 amend the
Constitution of Oregon. We think 2 ol them
should be voted for, one for reasons serious and
the other amusing. Measure 28 corrects a
problem with Veterans eligibility, and it scctns to
make sense to pass it. Measure 39 on the other
hand is the one that allows alternativ e health
services to be covered under the Oregon Health
plan. This is a sneaky ploy on the part of the
tobacco industry to spend $750,000 and split the
resources of the medical industry , so they won t
be able to overcome the media blitz to defeat
Measure 44, a thirty cent tax on cigarettes. We
think it would be nice to let the tobacco industry
win one, and we can get any kind ot health care
w e w ant, and we think we should let them lose
one so we can pay for it. Cool, huh? Yes, your
beloved editor is a smoker and any smoker
would be a fool not to be willing to spend thirty
cents a pack to make sure there is a health care
system in place when, not it, they need it. We
recommend only 8 yes votes over all.
O u r c h o ic e s are 2 8 , 3 2 , 36, 37, 3 8 , 3 9 ,
43 & 44.
( 32, is Light Rail, yes, it will be worth the
money. 36, is raising the Minimum wage to
$6.50 in three years, yes, it will too be good for
small business. 37 & 38 are the bottle bill and
the clean streams initiatives, yes, they will be
good for Oregon’s environment and reputation.
43, is to allow collective bargaining for public
employees in essential sen ices like police and
fire. These people protect our lives, yes, they
can be trusted to bargain in good faith. )
The rest seem either to be just plain dumb,
mean, or overkill.
We are again forced to deal with Bill Sizemore
and Don Mclntrey, and their concept of micro-
management by mass manipulation. These guys
and the one trick dog and pony shows have
reached their zenith, hopefully. Voters have
realized that a quick fix is often the beginmg ol a
slow and on going problem.
Yes, representational government is not
efficient, but the alternative is wild guesses at
what might or might not work, made-up out ot
whole cloth by folks who have not been elected
by the people to do the job. No, we don t want
to discourage citizens who are willing to
participate in the process, but we do think it is a
good idea to check out the history of an issue,
and what the ramifications of your ideas might
be. The painful example is Bill Sizemore’s
Measure 11 from the last cycle. This was the
three strikes, mandatory sentencing, and minors
tried as adults measure that will be forcing the
taxpayers of Oregon to join California and
several other states in spending more on prisons
than they do on schools. Which Molly Ivens
correctly defines as a sign of a doomed
civ ilization. Mr. Sizemore wrote that measure
without consulting the legal or political minds in
the state, and has earned their everlasting
mistrust. Not to mention costing the taxpayers
more than can be calculated without a degree in
accounting.
As we ponder Volume 1 of the Voters
Phamphlet, we feel your pain as a voter. There
is a lot of crap there. We took page after page ot
notes until we could get a rough idea what was
going on. But it wasn’t without it's giggles. The
neat thing about the voters’ pamphlet is that any
nut with $500 bucks can say what they want, so
we get some weird reading material every
election. We have scattered some of the more
interesting quotes throughout this issue.
Also scattered hither and yon are some lovely
drawings that the humble Ms. Lackaff drew lor
June's Garden. My, wouldn t it be nice to have
a tidy and presentable little volume of June’s
columns with some lovely drawings by young
S ally? Just a thought.
1001 C onnecticut A venue NW
S uite 1010
W as h in g to n , DC 20036
UffER LOT EDGE WOVE«MR M
In volume 2, T h e C a n d id a te s, is not nearly
as weird. We hope our readers in Oregon will
join us in supporting Tom Bruggere for the US
Senate, he is the Democratic millionaire. He
seems like a funny guy, and we especially like
his line about government protecting us from
“erection to resurrection” and his recent reply to
Gordon Smith’s charge of extremism, for
accepting the endorsement of the Oregon Natural
Resources Council, (after Smith had accepted the
endorsement of the Oregon Citizens Alliance in
the last go round) was nicely stated; ”1 would
rather be endorsed by people who love trees,
than people who hate people.
We did attend the Furse/Witt debate at the
Coaster Theater here in Cannon Beach, and were
our typically obnoxious self. We asked Mr. Witt
if he had managed to settle the little fine (:$40
grand?) that he was allegedly levied, for turning
back the counters on copiers he had sold to
schools and churches, but he explained that w e
w ere mistaken, and we of course took his word
for it 11 did bother us a bit that during the debate
he did seem to enjoy describing people as “pro
abortion” and the graphic details ot the late term
procedures.
Bill, the women in the audience, and yes,
some of the men, find that about as relevant to
politics as the procedures for a circumcision.
The final blow was when you spoke about a
constitutional amendment to ban flag burning,
when the moderator Lars Larson was wearing a
necktie that looked like an American Hag. Hell,
Abbie Hoffman got busted for that, back when
you were a kid.
Yes, dear readers il you want values, and
character, Ms. Furse has shown them tor
decades, founding the Peace Institute in Portland,
and serv ing the people of Oregon with dignity
and tenacity in Congress. These are things you
don’t slip on like a campaign tee-shirt these are
For Oregonians these are the two most
important votes we will cast this time. If we can
keep Elisabeth Furse, and elect Tom Bruggere
w e hav e a pretty good chance of making it onto
that bridge to the twenty first century ‘ole slick
Willie’ keeps talking about.
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N o v ^ o rth c bad news. If you do in fact hold
this issue in your hands it is because once again
the magic worked, or someone had pity on this
poor publication, and loaned us enough to print
and distribute, thus putting your belov ed editor
deeper in debt than he has ever been. This must
stop We are tired of begging, we are sick ot the
worry and pain. It costs $668 to print each ten
page issue of the Edge, it costs another almost
$400 to distribute it each month, not to mention
various other costs. This, you might notice,
doesn’t include any money for writers, artists,
editors etc. As we write this the balance in our
bank account is less than $500, and our accounts
receivable are about the same, but there s no
telling when or if they will come in. Our
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ladvertisers are having a tough time too. It is
winter again on the Upper Left Coast ol America.
Well, the point is we will try to fulf ill our
promise to publish for the full five years (March
would be the last issue), but at this point the odds
don’t look too good. Fair warning. Our plans
■ for publishing Uncle Mike s Real Guide to the
■ Oregon Coast are likewise suffering from lack ol
■ support, and it may not reach the stores until
■ spring.
So, what will it take to stop this vvhining? We
are trying to throw a bunch ol benefits lor the
■ Edge and the Left Coast Group, our non-profit
group that will be publishing Uncle Mike’s
Guide, as well as Ms. Sally’s Wildlife on the
Edge, and you can too. Take the invitation below
la n d fill in the blanks, send it to a bunch of
| friends, and take donations for the Edge, and
■ orders for the books, ($20 each for autographed
(lim ited editions), and send it in. Hell, it might
work. If not, thanks for trying, and thanks for
all your support over the years and the kind
■ words about our little paper, we love you all,
■ very much.
—
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~ Billy __________
«
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UNCLE MIKE'S G U I D I « / /
TOTHEREAL-
«OREGON COAST
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Speaking of the Commander in Chief, we
noticed that the Big “O” got it wrong again, they
arc for Smith & Witt, and they are against the
bottle bill, and for Bill Clinton, for the second
time in the last hundred years, they endorsed a
Democrat. Granted a Corporate Democrat.
We must remember that Bill, like Bob is a
product of his time. But (or butt) so is Joe
Camel. We seriously believe that it is in the best
interest of our readers that we strongly suggest
that they chose Ralph Nader, if he is on their
ballot, as he is here in Oregon. No, of course he
has no chance, and no if you vote for Nader you
don’t have a chance in hell of getting Dole. What
you have a chance to do, if Nader gets 5% of the
vote, is doing what Perot did last time, get
matching funds. Which establishes a base to
build a party that is interested in corporate
responsibility, environmental responsibility, and
consumer’s rights. We obv iously have to reform
the way we finance our elections, and the two
party system is incapable of taking on the task.
They are both beholding to “dance with them
what brung 'e m ”, as Molly Ivens puts it. (Yes,
we like that woman.)
The amount of corporate influence on our
political process is noticeable locally in the recent
number of “news” stories about cougar
sightings, and the “dangers” of air bags, prior the
elections. We will be interested to see how much
ink they get in December.
Mo stuff,
We arc delighted to be possibly the first to
report that a local shingler of some talent was
among the finishers in the misnamed “Iron Man’
competition on the Big Island of Hawaii. Laurie
Beers finished the mere two mile plus swim,
hundred mile plus bike ride, and twenty mile plus
run, in fourteen hours and thirty two minutes.
Reports arc that she sensibly walked a ways with
one of the other contestants, and hopes to better
her time at the next event. Think about it the next
time your too tired to get up to change the
channel. Or just get a remote. It’s your choice.
MICHAEL BURGESS ,,
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w ilk (llahitbing illustrations by’ ,; .
*.i
STEVE MCEEOU.
Y<iu ttrr UiUcol
to join with your friends and neighbors,
at a fund raising event, for the
Left Coast Group
(a non-profit corporation in Oregon).
“ Uncle M ike’s Real Guide to the Oregon C oast”
by Michael Burgess,
with disturbing illustrations by Steve McLeod,
“The Best of Uncle Mike”
by Michael Burgess, and
“ W ildlife on the Edge”
by Sally Lackaff,
are ready to go to press!
We will be taking orders for the autographed limited editions of these three
volumes, as well as tax deductible donations for the
Left C oast G roup
Wbcn I__________________________
RSVP (503)436-2915 or send checks to:
Left Coast Group Box 1222, Cannon Beach, OR 97110
October 16, 1996
Letter to the Editor:
Kudos to Ken Campbell! He’s preparing to rebuild and
improve Bill's Tavern In the process of anticipating a change to
this landmark building, I reflect in this place I have danced, sang,
held meetings, conducted fundraisers, read poetry and stories, done
political activities, chowed down on burgers and consumed various
quantities of beer
1 commend Ken that he has, over a long time, conducted a
successful business A busin» ‘hat has become an integral part
of our community I've enjoyed the older version and I'm looking
forward to the new version Change rubs some folks, apparently,
the wrong way W ell-to them I say that not all changes is bad
And, in fact, some change is really good For my part, I look
forward to continuing having fun and memorable events at this
hub of town And I'm certain that Ken will continue in his behind-
the-scenes way to donate to, participate in and, in general, support
the locals whose patronage have both made this change necessary
and possible.
Mary Anne llershey
P.O. Box 856
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Advertising rates:
Business Card Size Ad
S30.
1 /1 Gth approx. 3 x 5
$35.
1 /8 th approx 4 x 7
$50.
l/4 t h approx. 6 1 / 2 x 9 $100.
1/2 page
$150.
l ull page
$300.
Back page
$400.
. . . p e r m o n th . Paym ent is d u e
th e 1 5th of th e m o n th p rio r to
th e issue in which th e ad is to
a p p e a r. C am era ready a rt is
re q u e ste d . We a re usually on
th e stre e ts by th e first
w eekend o f th e m o n th .
Please call (503) 436-2915 for
fu rth e r in fo rm atio n ; ask for
Billy.