THE DAILY ASTORIAN FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
5A
A straight face
he presidential sweepstakes
that have been so prominent
over the nation’s TV programs
for so long, have produced some
rather humorous incidents as the
candidates of both parties are
subjected to a seemingly inter-
minable list of questions from
news reporters.
So far, the most humorous
interview, in my opinion, was
held recently when CBS news
reporter Scott Pelley asked
Democratic candidate Hillary
Clinton, whose reputation as
a serial liar has been well-es-
tablished over the years, if she
had always told the truth. Her
answer: “I’ve always tried
to. Always. Always.”
Coming from a person with
her reputation, that answer was
funny enough. But even funnier
was the fact that she managed
to keep a straight face ... and it
takes an enormous amount of
practice to possess that ability.
E. ROBERT NASSIKAS
Astoria
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his past week’s smorgasbord
of current events included
a dish with hot ingredients, the
pope and leading presidential
contender, Donald Trump.
The taste of it was the pope’s
questioning Mr. Trump’s Christi-
anity by commenting, “A person
who thinks only about building
walls, wherever they may be, and
not building bridges, is not Chris-
tian. This is not the Gospel.” The
pope’s comments were alluding
to Mr. Trump’s campaign pledge
to build a wall on the southern
border of the U.S. in an effort to
stem the inÀu[ of illegal immi-
grants into the country.
We can all appreciate the
pope’s clarity and bold declara-
tion of what the Gospel is not.
But the story does uncover an
unanswered question. Namely,
while we are told what the Gos-
pel is not, we are not told what
the Gospel is. We learn from the
pope that building walls is not
the Gospel and building bridges
has, according to the conte[t,
something to do with being
Christian. OK, ¿ne. But what’s
Gospel?
Turns out there is a “te[t-
book” de¿nition of the Gospel
found in the book which is the
authority on the subject, the Holy
Bible. In I Corinthians, Chap-
ter 15 starting in verse 1, the
Bible says: “Moreover, breth-
ren, I declare unto you the gos-
pel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand; By which also
ye are saved, if ye keep in mem-
ory what I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain.
)or I delivered unto you ¿rst of
all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures; And
that he was buried, and that he
rose again the third day accord-
ing to the scriptures: And that he
was seen of Cephas, then of the
twelve: After that, he was seen
of above ¿ve hundred brethren
at once.”
Remarkable. And more than
a de¿nition, a declaration as
in “I declare unto you”) in sim-
ple, plain English, no word more
than three syllables.
Key point: there are answers,
but like with a manual of any
sort, you have to read the book
to get them.
GARY MAURO
Warrenton
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oncerned Seaside residents:
There have been some deci-
sions made during the last seven
months that will impact all res-
idents, some much more than
others. In any event, we will all
be impacted.
BrieÀy, there is a contingent
of people, public and private,
who insist we the city of Sea-
side) need more land in order
to have suf¿cient land available
to cover the needs of the bur-
geoning population of Seaside.
The issue being referenced is
“The Urban Growth Boundary”
also known as the UGB. I have
attended the Planning Commis-
sion meetings regarding this
since last summer. I have yet to
hear one Seaside resident stand
up for this; the only proponent is
Weyerhaeuser.
At issue here is how the
numbers various statistics)
developed as they did, in order
to qualify this endeavor. It’s
really quite simple: Does Sea-
side have enough vacancies and
other land to meet the inÀu[ of
people to Seaside in the coming
years?
We have to ask: Whose idea
C
Support plan to build up MERTS
fter a year’s search for living wage
employment in 2002, I enrolled in
the merchant maritime program at Clat-
sop Community College, the Maritime
and Environmental Research and Train-
ing Station. Within a month I had a U.S.
Coast Guard commercial mariner’s
license and began to look for jobs. After
nine months I found one with lucrative
pay and good healthcare — body, den-
tal and eye.
As a mariner for si[ plus years with
Crowley Maritime Services, I cooked
on the old tug and barge system vessels,
set and broke bridles, hauled lines, and
operated cranes. As crews evolved to
the modern Articulated Tug and Barge,
I moved there, too.
A
was this, who is ¿nancing this,
who stands to gain? You know,
interesting questions like that.
Weyerhaeuser is the sole
stake holder in this venture. The
city of Seaside is using the ser-
vices of a consultant, who is
paid for by Weyerhaeuser. Wey-
erhaeuser owns appro[imately
140 acres of the proposed 200
acres needed “to cover the needs
of the inÀu[ of people to Sea-
side.” The city of Seaside is
under no directive to do this.
The city is being led by the con-
sultant who is — that’s right,
paid by Weyerhaeuser.
The current proposal being
considered has an unmet hous-
ing need of 833 units, whereas
reasonable statistics show as
few as 41 housing units needed.
While the Planning Commis-
sion and the consultant are seek-
ing another 200 acres to be
included in the UGB, there is no
mention of the 100 acres Sea-
side has in inventory already.
The real kicker to all this
is the buried agenda in all this
UGB garbage. They have the
intension of e[tending South
Wahanna through the wetlands
to the south in order to hook up
with Beerman Creek. Whether
you have a stake in this or not,
this undertaking solves nothing
for anyone. I’m at a loss as to
whom this would bene¿t. Why
would it even be considered?
There are details ad in¿ni-
tum, I encourage you to come to
the ne[t Planning Commission
meeting, held at Seaside City
Hall at 7 p.m. March 1. Your
attendance is crucial.
BUZ OTTEM
Seaside
Tobacco 21
want to thank The Daily Asto-
rian editors for the editorial in
support of raising the state’s age
of tobacco sales to 21 “Raise
smoking age from 18 to 21,”
Feb. 18).
Recently, the American Can-
cer Society Cancer Action Net-
work, and more than 20 other
organizations, held a news con-
ference in Salem to announce
our “tobacco 21” campaign, and
I was lucky to be one of about
40 volunteers at the capital urg-
ing our state legislators to sup-
port these efforts. We hope this
will culminate in legislation
ne[t session to raise the age of
tobacco sales in Oregon to 21.
Every day, seven Oregon
kids start smoking and 95 per-
cent of lifelong smokers begin
smoking before the age of 21.
Just think of the number of lives
that can be saved if this legisla-
tion passes. If we don’t take steps
to curb smoking rates, 68,000
Oregon kids alive today will die
prematurely from tobacco.
Thank you again for taking
such a strong position on raising
the age of sale to 21. It’s won-
derful to have your support.
LOIS FITZPATRICK
Seaside
I
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he article claiming that Ore-
gon is “trailblazing” with
the highest minimum wage in
the nation overlooks the conse-
quences of embarking on such
a path “Oregon lawmakers
approve landmark minimum
wage increase,” The Daily Asto-
rian, Feb. 19).
Oregon has long had one
of the highest state minimum
wages in the country, and its
least-skilled job seekers have
suffered as a result. In 2015, for
instance, the state’s youth unem-
ployment rate of 22.2 percent
was over 5 percentage points
higher than the national number;
during the worst of the reces-
sion, the state’s teens faced an
unemployment rate above 30
percent.
T
The Paci¿c Ocean was my play-
ground. For $800 tuition and a month
of classes, I obtained a union maritime
job starting me off at $50,000 a year. A
schedule of 28 days on and 28 off gave
me almost si[ months vacation per
year. When I left, I was making con-
siderably more money and had a pen-
sion with the Inland Boatman’s Union.
During my time at sea, we were
required to take safety training,
refresh our maritime skills, and pass
hazardous materials courses to keep
our certifications. These trainings
were held for groups of us in Seattle,
sometimes California. Often these
trainings were in muddy waterside
mobile homes withport-a-potties and
The empirical data support
the harm suggested by these
top-line ¿gures. For instance,
in a study in Economic Inquiry,
economists from the Univer-
sity of Oregon in Eugene found
that Oregon’s higher minimum
wage generated “consistently
negative” effects on employ-
ment in the restaurant industry.
Raising the state’s mandated
wage Àoor further, whether in
a three-tiered approach or all at
once, will only compound this
damage. The takeaway from
Oregon’s past e[periments with
the minimum wage is clear:
Trailblazing on minimum wage
levels is a dangerous venture.
MICHAEL SALTSMAN
Washington, D.C.
Protect medical pot
pen letter to Oregon sena-
tors: Please protect medical
marijuana.
Marijuana, or cannabis, is
a medicine. Edibles, tinctures,
creams and oils are potent med-
icines and should be recom-
mended by a physician who
understands their properties and
side effects. Allowing a person
to get anything they want at a
dispensary is the same as allow-
ing them to go to a pharmacy
and get medicine without seeing
a doctor or a pharmacist.
Our bodies, just like the can-
nabis plant, make cannabinoids
major ingredients) and we have
receptors for them everywhere
including the brain, blood sys-
tem, liver, lungs, ovaries, kid-
neys, etc. The cannabinoids in
marijuana are very therapeutic.
Getting high is a side effect of
cannabis. Historically it was used
by the plant to protect itself from
animals that liked to eat its leaves
but would go to sleep when
into[icated. Most of my patients
do not like to get high and have
learned to adjust the dose so that
the psychoactive effects are mini-
mal. They use marijuana because
of its remarkable medicinal prop-
erties — research-based for pain,
nausea, appetite issues, seizures,
an[iety, depression, Alzhei-
mer’s diagnosis, neuropathies,
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD) and cancer.
Like all medicines, mar-
ijuana can be dangerous for
patients who have not been edu-
cated in its appropriate use and
have not seen a physician.
What are the risks, particu-
larly high for seniors and mid-lif-
ers? They include: Suffering a
heart attack from tachycardia or
rapid heart rate; a stroke from
increased blood pressure; los-
ing consciousness from lowered
blood pressure; fractures sec-
ondary to falls from poor motor
control; bleeding internally, as
marijuana may interfere with
blood thinners; psychotic epi-
sodes, either predisposed or
from using a large amount of oil;
and children becoming into[-
icated with edibles, as the con-
centration is unreliable.
You have a moral and legal
obligation to protect the citizens
of Oregon.
Please use your God-given
privilege of serving others to
promote what is right and hon-
orable. Keep medical marijuana
as a separate entity, and do not
legalize the purchase of edibles,
tinctures, creams, and oils with-
out a doctor’s recommendation.
Do not cater to those who think
that money is more important
than human lives.
Also, please save our small
farmers.
JUDY EMANUEL, D.O.
board certi¿ed physician
Ashland
O
‘Beggars belief’
egarding “Respite center
commits to secure rooms”
The Daily Astorian, Feb. 18):
R
other substandard facilities.
Not only will an improved maritime
education center train students for liv-
ing wage work but also could attract
crews from many maritime areas for
the annual trainings and recerti¿cation
of licenses. Sailors wanting to “move
up the hawsepipe” would be able to
complete coursework to move into
higher levels of seamanship. Adding
e[panded curriculums in ship-building
skills, diesel mechanics and maritime
engineering would open doors to even
more living wage jobs.
Please support the college plan to
build up the offerings at MERTS.
P. MATTSON MCDONALD
Astoria
Secure rooms? That means, if I
read it correctly, that “patients”
— and who called these folks
patients anyway — are going to
be locked in.
If they are locked in, then
who locks them in? A judge?
How can one be deprived of lib-
erty without due process? As
I understand it, the “residents”
of the “respite center” are most
likely to be homeless people
who are picked up for allegedly
committing some crime or pub-
lic nuisance, but not run-of-the-
mlll homeless — whether men-
tally ill or not. Are they going
to be referred from the jail? Or
from the policeman on the beat?
Or the Emergency Department?
Or can anyone just call up and
say, “My wife is nuts. Come and
lock her up.”
If “patients” are not “free
to walk away” — and presum-
ably, most of those “patients”
will have been free probably
homeless) before they were
placed in the “respite center” —
are they then being held against
their will, and effectively pris-
oners? If they aren’t prisoners,
why couldn’t they “just walk
away”?
Who is going to keep the
keys? Who is going to supervise
these “secure rooms’? Is there to
be a sheriff deputy or Warrenton
policeman on duty 24/7? What
if they do go violent or ber-
serk? Will they be taken to jail?
Is someone going to medicate
the psychotic residents? Who?
Clatsop Behavioral Health can’t
manage what they are doing
right now. It beggars belief that
they could supervise 16 “inpa-
tients” — four of whom might
be “violent”.
I really don’t understand
what is going on, and I hope
there will be some more
in-depth reporting. Mental ill-
ness is a comple[ problem that
governments worldwide just
hope will go away, but it won’t.
And it costs a lot of money to
even begin to deal effectively
with that problem. I’m not con-
vinced that Clatsop County has
really thought this through.
I applaud the various agen-
cies involved for their concern
and effort, but there seem to be
too many loose ends and too lit-
tle transparency about goals,
required resources and detailed
operating systems at the pres-
ent time.
Easy to build buildings.
Much more dif¿cult and e[pen-
sive) to create a functional orga-
nization. This has the makings
of an embarrassing ¿asco.
TOM DUNCAN
Astoria
Key climate bills
ho knows what spark can
turn the tide of climate
change and its costs to us and,
more painfully, to our grand-
children? This spark may come
from our North Coast legisla-
tors in Salem in these ne[t two
weeks.
Two well-considered bills
W
begin to tackle the shift from
fossil fuels to an alternative
energy economy sit poised for
a vote. Rep. Deborah Boone,
D-Cannon Beach, has led the
advancement of the coal tran-
sition bill HB4036 through the
House, now cleared for a Sen-
ate vote. The Healthy Climate
Bill, SB1574, which sets a cap
and price on carbon, was initi-
ated in the Senate. It sits in the
Joint Ways and Means Com-
mittee, co-chaired by our Sen.
Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose.
The future may be riding on our
districts to move the inertia of
democracy — all by March 6.
It tears me apart watching
this lumbering process while
facing what science, and now
our own e[perience, say is an
increasingly challenged future
for our grandchildren.
The Healthy Climate Bill,
generates huge bene¿ts seem-
ingly tailored for the North
Coast. It targets early effects of
climate change, storms, drought;
helps build a 21st century alter-
native energy economy, jobs,
job training; helps rethink our
forests looking to carbon off-
sets as a powerful new reve-
nue source for the region; rein-
forces the resiliency efforts led
by Rep. Boone, looking to the
risks of earthquake, tsunami and
climate change; and, in this new
low carbon economy, reduces
the pressures for risky transpor-
tation and infrastructure for fos-
sil fuels.
This bill hits close to home.
Then, beyond us, it joins a
snowball already rolling in our
region, nationally and globally
that just might begin to reverse
the accelerating drought, Àood-
ing, erosion, storm damage,
ocean acidi¿cation and warm-
ing around the world. Maybe
our sinkholes here can energize
a global change.
Gratefully, a huge part of that
democratic process is us, our
letters, calls, art, marches, cof-
fees, meetings with our legisla-
tors. I speak for a group here in
the Nehalem Bay communities
who have joined this powerful
statewide movement for these
bills. Your added voice may be
the one that pushes them over
the top.
Go to www.reneworegon.
org/healthy_climate_bill
for
more information.
MIKE COOK
Nehalem
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Clatskan ie
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