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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2016)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 FRIDAY EXCHANGE Some extremists ire guns; other extremists promote guns Food is like art A fter reading the Mouth of the Columbia’s review, “Life in the Slow Lane” (Coast Weekend, June 2), I feel compelled to share my point of view. Food is like art, different people like different things. Who are they to say the way it should be, what they didn’t like, and what they could have done better? I have been occasionally reading these reviews for years, now, and am appalled at their seem- ingly mean and holier than thou tone. Tastes differ, and if yo feel the need to employ a food critic, why can’t they be subjective, and helpful in their reviews, instead of mean and hurtful? I made a point to stop by and introduce myself after reading the review. The owner stated to me that she was up all night crying because of it. They have obviously put their heart and soul into a place that they thought peo- ple would enjoy. Let people decide whether they like it or not — and God forbid, if they don’t, then they can go to Yelp and TripAdvisor and play food critic. They don’t have to come back. Let the people decide on their own. To include three other businesses as better alterna- tives in one review is simply unfair. With quotes like “attire that’s oddly aristocratic for the carnival fare,” and “food is an afterthought,” are nega- tive things to say about a new business trying to make it. Why doesn’t this person say it wasn’t to my liking? Lastly, why does The Daily Astorian still feel the need to hire someone who slams new or old local businesses in these antiquated reviews, unless, of course, The Mouth likes them? Shouldn’t The Daily Astorian want to help promote and support local businesses, especially the new ones? ERIC JENKINS Astoria It’s not too late A s I saw all the pictures and celebrations of the young people in our area graduating and moving on with their lives, I thought to myself: How many times I’ve said to myself (and perhaps you have, too), boy, I wish I knew then what I know now when I, like these graduates, was just getting started in life. What a difference it might have made. Of course we can’t go back, but we can realize why it’s so incumbent of those of us who have accumulated wisdom in our many years of facing the ups and downs of our lives, to mentor the younger generation. Retired, bored, bound up with your own problems? Why not ind a way to get involved with the younger generation? Volunteer, teach, share your trials and triumphs with them. Someone has said, “What I kept I lost, but what I gave I have.” How many of us go to our graves with a message in our hearts that we’ve never shared with family or friends that would have been a lift, a blessing to them? It’s not too late. Write a letter, make a call, make a visit. As you bless, you’ll surely be blessed. JIM BERNARD Warrenton Ban neonicotinoids I appreciated the article, “Beekeepers struggle to keep ag buzzing” (The Daily Astorian, June 10). Bees are critical to our food system, helping to pollinate nearly one in every three bites of food that we eat, and their high rates of decline are alarming. As the article states, numerous factors contrib- ute to hive losses. However, neonicotinoids, which are 6,000 times more toxic than DDT, should be recognized as a key contributor. In addition, more than any other factor, neonicotinoid use is some- thing we can control — we have the ability to make sure these toxic pesticides stay off the market. Admirably, Oregon has been at the forefront of acknowledging this, with Eugene becoming the irst city in the nation to ban neonicoti- 5A By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service O ver the past two decades, Canada has had eight mass shootings. Just so far this month, the United States has already had 20. noids, and Portland following suit in 2015. Of course, this should be celebrated and rep- licated, but with hive losses as high as 45 percent, we sim- ply don’t have time to wait for individual cities to ban neon- icotinoids on their own. What we really need is a ban at the federal level. To make this happen, we must call on the Environmen- tal Protection Agency to move forward with their research and take action to ban neon- icotinoids. Failure to ban these bee-killing pesticides will have disastrous effects — after all, no bees means no food. CASHEN CONROY Environment Oregon Portland Big questions W hy in their “right” minds did Columbia Memorial Hospital consider building a wing on the adja- cent ill area for their expan- sion in the 21st century? Eight years before, geological stud- ies put forth a case of lique- faction during an earthquake for Scow Bay, illed in during the early 1900s, where the hospital and football ield were built. The medical facil- ity traded a stadium built near the dump for the football ield next to them, possibly because the people in charge didn’t see the big picture. And so it goes with the continual promise of the Bond Street Reconstruction. For three years I’ve been ask- ing the Astoria City Coun- cil, the mayor and my council representatives in community sessions: When will Bond Street’s slide be ixed so we have a two-lane street for a trafic outlet? My concern: Marine Drive is the only other major exit from the city on the west. Bond Street has a traf- ic light, for low, to regulate additional vehicles to Marine Drive. How long will it be until it’s repaired? I’ve con- tacted the Oregon Depart- ment of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), Asto- ria Public Works (Ken Cook) and Council Representative Cindy Price. I’m hoping for progress. P. MATTSON McDONALD Astoria Water wise I am writing this letter as a shout out to all homeown- ers who live in the Youngs River Lewis & Clark Water District. The YRLC Water Board made a decision — not on independent engineered data, but on their need for some fast cash. The decisions the YRLC board makes today will affect us all 20 to 30 years down the road, and there will be no going back. The board is 100 per- cent behind a zoning change that would allow for the con- struction of 168 apartments at Miles Crossing. I believe that the district’s irst allegiance should be to ensure that there will be adequate water sup- ply to current users, and to those property owners who may wish to build a home in the future. There are people in our district who have been paying taxes on buildable lots for many years. Will there be water for them when they want to build, or will we have another long moratorium? According to an article in The Daily Astorian, “Paciic County rivers at record lows” (June 9), Paciic County is experiencing its lowest stream lows on record in the Willapa and Naselle rivers. They have been keeping records for 86 years, and the rivers are run- ning at 26 percent of aver- age low. This is scary. I want to know that my family will have water now, and in the many years to come. The water board refuses to budge on their position, but you can let your county com- missioners know how you feel about this. It is not too late now, but it will be soon. ELENA MILLER Astoria Thanks for paper A ll I wanted to write to you is to say thank you — you, and everyone else who works at The Daily Astorian, does a wonderful job, and I enjoy reading a few articles every once in awhile. You guys do a great job with selecting topics and bringing out news that I would not have heard from any- where else. I am always able to ind at least one topic in the newspaper that I can enjoy at any given time throughout my day. I hope to keep seeing new stories that can kill some time when I have nothing to do during the day. CHRISTOPHER MONTANO Astoria Time for Hillary I t’s time to throw in the towel, boys. Bernie, take your inger-wagging, apo- plectic, righteous indigna- tion schtick back to Washing- ton and do what senators are elected to do — shovel that pork back to Vermont. And, D.T., it was great entertainment while it lasted, in the great tradition of Amer- ican political buffoonery, much loved by the likes of Will Rogers, H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain and Groucho Marx. “Crazy Bernie” and “Pocahontas” Warren was brilliant, and upstaging Hil- lary’s trip to the ladies’ room was genius, to say nothing of your front page photo-op with the Pope. As show business people are wont to put it, “There is no such thing as bad public- ity.” And, from beginning to end, you knew how to garner it. But, the party’s over and its time for you to get a gig with Saturday Night Live — per- haps doing parodies of Don- ald Trump. It has been dinned into our ears for decades now that men in power have been screwing up the world for millennia, and it is time for the nurtur- ing, caring, supportive, con- ciliatory hand of a woman to lead us into a halcyon future. In November, we will have that opportunity. Let’s just do it. LOUIS SARGENT Gearhart Canada has a much smaller population, of course, and the criteria that researchers used for each country are slightly different, but that still says something important about public safety. Could it be, as Donald Trump suggests, that the peril comes from admitting Mus- lims? On the contrary, Cana- dians are safe despite having been far more hospitable to Muslim refugees: Canada has admitted more than 27,000 Syrian refugees since Novem- ber, some 10 times the number the United States has. More broadly, Canada’s population is 3.2 percent Mus- lim, while the United States is about 1 percent Muslim — yet Canada doesn’t have massa- cres like the one we just expe- rienced at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, or the one in December in San Bernardino, California. So perhaps the problem isn’t so much Mus- lims out of control but guns out of control. Look, I grew up on a farm with guns. One morning when I was 10, we awoke at dawn to hear our chickens squawking frantically and saw a fox trot- ting away with one of our hens in its mouth. My dad grabbed his .308 rile, opened the win- dow and ired twice. The fox was unhurt but dropped its breakfast and led. The hen picked herself up, shook her feathers indignantly and walked back to the barn. So in the right context, guns have their uses. The problem is that we make no serious effort to keep irearms out of the hands of violent people. A few data points: • More Ameri- But it’s not too cans have died from dangerous to allow guns, including sui- the sale of an assault cides, since just rile without even a 1970 than died in background check? all the wars in U.S. If we’re try- history going back ing to prevent car- to the American nage like that of Revolution. Orlando, we need • The Civil War to be vigilant not marks by far the only about iniltra- Nicholas most savage period tion by the Islamic Kristof of warfare in U.S. State, and not only history. But more Americans about U.S. citizens poisoned are now killed from guns annu- into committing acts of terror- ally, again including suicides, ism. We also need to be vigi- than were killed by guns on lant about National Rile Asso- average each year during the ciation-type extremism that Civil War (when many of the allows guns to be sold without deaths were from disease, not background checks. guns). It’s staggering that Con- • In the United States, more gress doesn’t see a problem preschoolers up through age 4 with allowing people on ter- are shot dead each year than ror watch lists to buy guns: In police oficers are. each of the past three years, Canada has put in place more than 200 people on the measures that make it more dif- terror watch list have been icult for a dangerous person to allowed to purchase guns. We acquire a gun, with a focus not empower the Islamic State so much on banning weapons when we permit acolytes like entirely (the AR-15 is available the Orlando killer, investi- after undergoing safety train- gated repeatedly as a terror- ing and a screening) as on lim- ist threat, to buy a Sig Sauer iting who can obtain one. In MCX and a Glock 17 hand- the United States, we lack even gun on consecutive days. universal background checks, A great majority of Mus- and new Harvard research to lims are peaceful, and it’s be published soon found that unfair to blame Islam for ter- 40 percent of gun transfers rorist attacks like the one in didn’t even involve a back- Orlando. But it is important to ground check. hold accountable Gulf states We can’t prevent every gun like Saudi Arabia that are well- death any more than we can springs of religious zealotry, prevent every car accident, and intolerance and fanaticism. We the challenge is particularly should also hold accountable acute with homegrown terror- our own political igures who ists like the one in Orlando. But exploit tragic events to sow experts estimate that a serious bigotry. And, yes, that means effort to reduce gun violence Donald Trump. might reduce the toll by one- When Trump scapegoats third, which would be more Muslims, that also damages than 10,000 lives saved a year. our own security by bolstering The Orlando killer would the us-versus-them narrative of have been legally barred from the Islamic State. The lesson buying lawn darts, because of history is that extremists on they were banned as unsafe. one side invariably empower He would have been unable extremists on the other. to drive a car that didn’t pass So by all means, Muslims a safety inspection or that around the world should stand lacked insurance. He couldn’t up to their fanatics sowing have purchased a black water hatred and intolerance — and gun without an orange tip — we Americans should stand up because that would have been to our own extremists doing too dangerous. just the same. Shut the Mouth P lease shut the Mouth of the Columbia. To what end is the anonymous restau- rant review continued? To ill space? To possibly sell ads? To possibly sell ads for rebuttals? To enhance one business over another? In previous generations, our small town newspaper writers were usually aware of the local residents, knew them, their history, and relationships. However, today’s generation, through the ubiquitous use of the social media, with no con- straints, can anonymously bully, hate, and deride any- one. At least the modern ven- ues such as Yelp or TripAdvi- sor generate various opinions and votes; a single published review does not. Further observation seems to indicate that a trend of urban replants to a small town brings with it a would-be elitist atti- tude allowing mockery of the provincials therein. PAUL VAN DER VELDT Astoria S E E I N G YO U T H R O U G H A L L O F YO U R V I S I O N N E E D S At our Astoria clinic, exper t treatment is always right at hand. From comprehensive eye care to cataract surger y to our newly expanded optical shop, our team of providers is here to ser ve you. Call 5 03 33 8 - 3 8 03 to make an appointment or visit www.ohsu .edu /astoria.
