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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
FRIDAY EXCHANGE THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016 The Donald’s time I t seems that it is in vogue to rage against The Donald (I am, of course talking about Donald Trump). From my point of view, it is as if the major television networks are upset that they cannot create a per- sona (like they did with Barack Obama) that is to their lik- ing and therefore, they choose to attempt to discredit him at every opportunity. In this day and age of news programs and not simply news reporting, ratings mean more to the news stations than accu- rate reporting, or any form of an unbiased stance that they could take. It is rather humorous that what I consider to be gross vio- lations of the law are swept under the proverbial rug for potential candidates like Hillary Clinton, but when The Don- ald and his supporters voice their opinion, they are painted as heretics. How interesting the world has become since the media have taken control of our opinions, and basically told us what we should think. As for those citizens who are threatening to leave the U.S. if The Donald is elected; I say good deal. These are probably not the Americans you want to have to appease when you are attempting to turn the economy of this country around. It is interesting though, how many citizens moved off shore during the current administra- tion; and nobody made mention of that, even though it could be considered a mass exodus of sorts. Like they say: “It’s who you know,” and who you have shaping your image. Perhaps it is time for a pres- ident who cannot be bought by anyone; who can, in fact, do what he really thinks is right and in the best interest of the country, because he does not need to profi t from this job. That is what I think; I could be wrong. DAVID GRAVES Astoria Dump Trump T oday’s world really seems like it is going to hell in a hand-basket. Why is there so much hate and anger spewed out of the politician on the GOP side? That hate and anger only begets more hate and anger. It is a vicious circle. Isn’t life hard enough in the world, without making more people hate more peo- ple? Really. His mind must be warped by all his money and privilege. He is so used to getting his own way that it is beyond him to believe he might not be in charge of everything. That he will lose to a woman, of all things. He thinks so little of the opposite sex that it is driv- ing him crazier than he already is. The problem with all this craziness is he is taking his fol- lowers with him. They have lost hope in their own lives, and are turning to him to fi nd them- selves because they are lost. Only those who are lost would follow this guy. I feel sorry for them, as they cannot think for themselves and need some- one to tell them what to do. How sad is that? These people are following a reality star, for God’s sake. I’m sure God has nothing to do with this, as he likes to pre- sume. He is a complete fake. There is nothing religious in his plans for this country. He will take us right into war and destruction. The rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer. The only thing to trick- le-down is something we won’t want to be under. That is enough of my vent, but it is hard to watch what is going on and believe someone so hateful is being allowed to represent a political party. Does money buy everything? Vote Blue. I certainly will. M. DIEBOLT Seaside Time for reform A lthough it’s been several years since George W. did his impression of the world’s smallest man, it appears the Republicans want the Ameri- can people to accept an even greater misfi t and misanthrope as their next president. We should be insulted and outraged, but we must real- ize the central mission of the GOP has been to bring such a degree of ineptitude to any pub- lic offi ce they have held, that to expect anything better would be delusional. They have not produced a convincing presi- Flag at half-staff alf -staff. Our fl ag was at half -staff again. As a child in a post World War II era, I recall seeing our fl ag fl y proudly. There were a few identifi able events that the fl ag would be at half -staff. The most notable was the 30 days of mourning after the assassination of President Kennedy. As I look about in today’s world, I see that the fl ag is frequently, maybe more than not, at half -staff. It more rarely fl ies proudly as before. And it seems the majority of events are related to some form of gun violence. As I continue to look up at our now half -staff fl ag I will be forever reminded that this is now the price we will all have to pay for the “right” to bear arms. BUD PERSCHEK Seaside H dential candidate since Dwight Eisenhower over 50 years ago. Now, you may ask, if that is the case, didn’t they elect Nixon and the two Bushes? And I will say, “you’ve made my case for me.” These presidencies starkly illustrate how successful they have been over the last 40 years in their strategy to reduce confi - dence in electoral politics in our national life, and replace it with corporati zation. By that, I mean attempting to make all facets of government subject to corpo- rate control and funded by tax dollars. In other words, it becomes government for profi t. We’re told that corporations are more effi cient than governments, so why not let them do the work of government departments and agencies, and pass the savings along to the corporations and their stockholders? If there ever was an argu- ment for election reform we have it now. If this candidacy is the best they can do for a major political party, then we are in serious trouble. If this is the best they have to offer, we have to ask, “are they truly relevant any more?” It’s an insult, not only to the American people, but to what we have held dear for over 200 years — that the purpose of our government is to further the hopes and aspirations of all our people through law and local ordinance. If you accept this shallow, cynical view of public life, then it doesn’t matter what your leader says or does, just so the bucks keep rolling in, that it’s OK when the streets go to hell and the sewers back up, if you’ve got money in the bank and a house in the Barbados. This is way too cynical for me. I don’t want to have to look away when I fi nd my ex-neigh- bor pan-handling down on Market Street or look at his boarded up house and his yard going to hell because he lost his job when Wall Street went belly-up, and couldn’t keep up the payments. I want more for myself, and I want more for my neighbor, and I don’t see it hap- pening if we elect a guy who cares more about his hair than he does for any of the rest of us. It’s your choice America — pray you make the right one. JACK GUYOT Astoria Hair trouble I have been in the hair busi- ness off and on for more than 25 years, and still I meet owners and beauticians with interesting dispositions in this business. Being challenged, I thought I would do a Google search. When I looked up these words uppity, snobby, conceited and vain, I found actual salons with names including these words: The Uppity Salon, Van- ity Salon, Conceited Salon, Snobby Salon. Which only proves a point. Working in the hair business can be challenging, contend- ing with such . I have come to a conclusion that the best way to go is own your own shop, run it alone, and call it The Humble Hair Salon, which I could not fi nd in a Google search. I believe this is a competi- tive business, and the custom- ers are not generally where problems arise. Employment opportunities are slim, and you should not be chosen by how “cool” you are, but how well you do the job. Now I am work- ing in retail. R. HARRIS Warrenton Let it go I n his Open Forum letter “Part of the conversation” (The Daily Astorian, June 21), Mark Kujala does protest too much. Having been on the board of the Skipanon River Watershed Council for the past eight years, I am bewildered by Kujala’s ref- erence to the “project” involving the Eighth Street dam. Members of the Kujala fam- ily have sat on our board of directors and know the facts. The crumbling infrastructure of this old and ineffectual dam has led to a consensus that it should be removed. The state and fed- eral governments agree, and have issued necessary permits. It should be torn down because it is an obstacle to fi sh passage, dangerous for vehicular traffi c, and, like any culvert system, could become obstructed with debris and fl ood the town. Originally, the road on top was intended only for main- tenance and city vehicles, but the family developer has been using it for large trucks deliver- ing fi ll, causing further deterio- ration. The town of Warrenton was offered the dam, but has never wanted to take responsi- bility for maintenance and pos- sible accidents, and turned the offer down. They were offered a new free bridge, but haggled over how wide it should be, and then rejected the offer outright. The Columbia River Estu- ary Study Taskforce (CREST), the Skipanon Watershed Coun- cil, and the Skipanon Water Control District are doing the 5A right thing for the town and the river. What do Kujala, his family, and his cohort Nygaard really want? The dam had its tide gates removed, and is no longer functioning for fl ood control, if it ever did. It is being decommissioned and is slowly crumbling into the river. It is time for it to go and for all of us to move on. MARGARET HINES Warrenton Leaking the truth R egrettably, the Astorian editorial “Carbon choices are climate choices” (The Daily Astorian, June 20) focused on carbon and carbon dioxide as though these are the only global warming problem. They most profoundly are not. Carbon dioxide is certainly the major contributor to global warming, but there are several other responsible gases. Most notable among them is meth- ane, a gas that is 87 times more effective at warming the earth than carbon dioxide on a 20 year basis, which is relevant because this is about the time we have to act. Methane is the major com- ponent of natural gas. While burning natural gas to produce electricity releases less carbon dioxide than burning coal or oil, hence the misnomer “the clean fossil fuel,” the problem is natural gas leaks at a startling rate — well above values that used to be reported by industry and the Environmental Protec- tion Agency. The leakage, particularly from the fracking technology employed to extract the gas from shale, has been reported far higher than necessary to negate the combustion benefi t. Thus, natural gas is probably worse than coal as a cause of global warming — but because of methane, not because of car- bon dioxide. Additionally, cur- rent oil and coal extraction tech- nologies also release methane. Fortunately, the Oregon pro- posal should target the prob- lem: greenhouse gas emissions as carbon dioxide equivalents. Newspapers could help by edu- cating the public accurately about the problem, and pro- posed solutions. ALAN JOURNET Jacksonville, Oregon 2016 Published for more than a quarter of a century by The Daily Astorian Charting the newcomers and business pioneers of our region The Daily Asto rian’s THE NORTH C OAST'S BUSIN ESS 2015 CEDR AWAR D Entrepreneurshi p, Small Busines s 2015 CEDR AWAR D CEDR Commun ity GUIDE • 2015 Partnership 2015 CEDR AWAR D Entrepreneurshi p-Large Busines s 2015 CEDR AWAR D 2015 CEDR AWAR D 2015 CEDR AWAR D Business Service to the Creativity in Ada Reuse of a Hist ptive oric Building 2015 CEDR AWAR D Job Creation Outstanding Customer Service Community 2015 CEDR AWAR D CHAR TING TH Economic Imp act E NEWCOMERS AND BUSINES S PIONEERS OF OUR REGION Join us in celebrating the rich history of our area! • A special plaque designation relecting your number of years in business • Advertising format that tells the story of your business history • Businesses are highlighed from oldest to newest • Copies available for an entire year SPACE & COPY DEADLINE JULY 8, 2016 Publicaton date July 29, 2016 At our Astoria clinic, exper t treatment is always right at • Inserted into The Daily Astorian • Feature stories will honor the 2016 CEDR award winners from Clatsop Countty • Online for an entire year at dailyastorian.com • seasidesignal.com cannonbeachgazette.com coastriverbusinessjournal.com and chinookobserver.com 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 Who’s Who represents the following communities: Astoria, Warrenton, Hammond, Gearhart, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Knappa, Svensen, Clatskanie, Manzanita and Nehalem RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE CALL: ASTORIA 503-325-3211 OR SEASIDE 503-738-5561 hand. 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