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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2017)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017 FRIDAY EXCHANGE Republican legacies n response to the “Worst legacy” letter (The Daily Astorian, Jan. 20): Rush Limbaugh’s disciple is at it again. As another writer says, “I could be wrong,” but in this case, I’m probably right. Benghazi, worst lie in American presidential his- tory? Oops, forgot about Richard Nixon and Water- gate. Remember? “I am not a crook.” He resigned rather than be impeached. Oops, forgot about Ron- ald Reagan. Remember? Iran-Contra — how did he survive not going to prison? Thousands of documents were destroyed in a big cover up. No one talks about the god of the Republican Party, who should have been brought before a court for high crimes. Oops, forgot about George H.W. Bush. Remember? Out of the loop re Iran-Con- tra. “Read my lips: no new taxes.” Credit given: He was smart enough to stay the hell out of Iraq. Oops, forgot about George W. Bush. Remember? Talk about a lie (a real doozie): Weapons of mass destruction. Many thousands more people have died, and mil- lions are displaced, over that lie than Benghazi. And $20 trillion in debt — Bush put his b.s. wars on the taxpayer credit card. I’m sure the Bushies said the war wasn’t going to cost us anything. And remember good ol’ Paul Wolfowitz? War in Afghani- stan for 15 years, Iraq for 14 years — have they worked out well for you? Got a lit- tle shock and awe going on now? Mission accomplished. Military families have been used and used, yet only a few of our politicians on both sides of the aisle have family members in the ser- vice of their country. They are willing to get into wars, pound their chests about how tough they are, but no mili- tary service or blood is given by them, or their families. I read a statement that has stuck in my mind: You are entitled to your opinion, Mr. Nassikas, but you are not allowed to make up your own facts. Another real nightmare is just starting. The Drumpfs have arrived. I see noth- ing good coming from this entourage. LARRY and COLLEEN MORGAN Astoria I Thanks for toys oys for Tots would like to take this opportunity to thank the donors of toys and monetary value, and the toy drop places, in this last col- lection campaign. We raised $250 to purchase toys and books. We put smiles on the faces of 1,225 of children this past Christmas. The toys, books and games given to children total 6,871 distributed items: Asto- ria received 1,468; Warren- ton received 1,224; Jew- ell received 1,089; Cannon Beach received 1,271; and Seaside received 1,819. Remember, Toys for Tots here on the North Coast cov- ers Clatsop County only. We do not distribute gifts, we col- lect and give them to the pro- gram coordinators, includ- ing Barb Roberts (Astoria), Bev Hopkins (Jewell), Mau- reen Casterline (Seaside) and Nancy Teague (Cannon Beach). Area coordinators Wil- liam and Pat Kankkonen, Tim Flynn, Beverly Neubecker, Karen Peden, Tanya Wam- mack, Petty Officer 3rd ClassTricia L. Lichtenfels and Staff Sgt. Brad Moore and I want to say thanks to all of you. LOU NEUBECKER County coordinator, Toys for Tots Seaside T Dear tree huggers o all the tree huggers out there: I can’t wait for my Chinese toilet paper. EDWARD A. NIEMI Astoria T Bogart fantasy would like to inject some levity into the current I conundrum of cacophony over last year’s election, although this has absolutely nothing to do with politics. I have a fan- tasy about the movie “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948), wherein Humphrey Bogart confronts Alfonso Bedoya about government regulations regarding river towing issues. Let’s just assume for a moment that there is a pow- erful group of tug boat own- ers who have taken control of all shipping on the Columbia River. Federal requirements stipulate that all logs must be transported above the water line. Bogart is attempting to float logs down river without the use of barges. The head of the tug boat people (Bedoya) orders Bog- art to put his logs on floating devices: “Hola senor. We are the federales, you know, the police.” Bogart responds: “If you’re the police, then where are your barges?” Bedoya retorts: “We ain’t got no barges, we don’t need no barges … I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ barges!” ROBERT POTTER Astoria Move on, ladies ver the front page photo of the Astoria Wom- en’s March was the headline, “Hundreds gather together in Astoria to counter Trump” (The Daily Astorian, Jan. 23). In the still-serviceable street corner expression, ladies, you were “a day late and a dollar short.” The time to “counter” Mr. Trump was in early Novem- ber — not with hugs, futile gestures and meaningless slogans, but with a candi- date who should have been a near-certain winner against the least popular nomi- nee the even less popular Republican Party has ever nominated. Instead, you ran against him the only person in America, with the possible exception of Charles Man- son, he could have beaten. The shame, if there is any, with this election, is not with Mr. Trump, but with the Democratic Party, and with all of you who assumed that yet another duplicitous Clin- ton could connive her way back into the White House. In America, you have your say in the voting booth. You had your say, you got beat, now move on. LOUIS SARGENT Gearhart O Serve stakeholders o country ever “stole” a job from the U.S. Not one. The decision to send our jobs overseas was made, over and over, in the boardrooms of American companies, for the sole purpose of maximiz- ing their profits. Nike, Exxon, General Electric, the list goes on and on. The decision was to betray the workers who had made the products on which those com- panies were built, and instead serve the anonymous stock- holders, who could indeed be foreigners, but most often were computerized invest- ment funds that knew nothing about the companies or their products. N Another word for lying have loved the English language for its wonderful number of descriptive words. Prevar- icate, fallacious, mendacity and obliquity are some really interesting words that sadly are becoming useful for daily conversations. George Bush introduced us to a new word, “mis- spoke.” We now have the present inhabitant of the White House introducing his new words, “alternate facts.” Back in 1955, in my grade school English class, I was taught that all of the above meant just one thing: Lying. CHUCK MEYER Astoria I That’s how we got here, my friends, and that’s why the hooey Trump wants to do about it will never work. It doesn’t begin to address the real problem. JOSEPH WEBB Astoria Water concerns hat are we to make of the recent reports that the amount of haloacetic acid in Astoria’s drinking water exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s allowable standard? The EPA consid- ers haloacetic acid a “possi- ble carcinogen.” It has caused cancer in animals, but there have been no studies demon- strating that it causes cancer in humans. Can we be sure about the amount the EPA consid- ers safe in drinking water? Recently, Deborah Cory- Slechta, a professor at the University of Rochester who is an EPA Science Board adviser, said “The way that the EPA tests chemicals can vastly underestimate risk.” The Astoria Public Works Department downplays the frequency of haloacetic acid in our water by announcing yearly averages below the EPA standard. While admit- ting that tests in some months show levels in violation of the EPA standard, the water reports don’t tell us how often this occurs, and in which months. A review of the reports indicates the problem has been ongoing for at least a few years. I believe the public has the right to more comprehensive reporting of data so individ- uals can make up their own minds regarding the health risk. The warning sent out by the Public Works Department states, “There is nothing you need to do (to treat the con- taminated water).” At least this is true, the report says, unless you are “an infant, pregnant, have a severely compromised immune system or are elderly.” This combined category represents hundreds of people in Astoria. As reported in The Daily Astorian, “in November the city exceeded the maximum contaminant level for the quarter,” pushing the haloace- tic level for the year above the acceptable threshold (“Asto- ria violated drinking water standard,” Dec. 12). Doesn’t this mean that levels were quite high in other months as well? It appears that the public could have been noti- fied earlier rather than wait- ing for data pushing the quar- W terly results over the top in November. Where citizens’ health is concerned, the city should caution the public about a potential problem rather than waiting to collect data con- firming what they should have foreseen earlier. ROGER DORBAND Astoria Reps needed fficial notification of my election to the Clat- sop County Soil and Water Conservation District board, Director No. 2 at large, arrived by mail shortly after New Year’s Day. I thank each of the many Clatsop County residents who took the time to write my name in for one of the positions no candi- date filed for. I greatly appre- ciate your support and con- fidence in me, and will be available to all residents inter- ested in soil and water con- servation issues. I can be con- tacted at http://clatsopswcd. org The election was Nov. 8, yet I received no late night call announcing my win, nor did I hear even a month later, after election results were cer- tified. Of course, there were election contests of greater interest than a humble non- O political county office with responsibilities including soil conservation, water qual- ity and eradicating invasive species (compare that with strip mining, Obamacare and ISIS). So why did I run? My lim- ited campaign listed my qual- ifications, but also noted my dismay that so many local offices go unfilled each elec- tion, not just in Clatsop County, but across the state. This leaves many boards hob- bled with vacancies and poor representation, leaving the partial board with greater responsibilities, requiring more time. Vacancies may reflect wan- ing trust in elected govern- ment as an effective institu- tion, but also stems from a lack of recognition by many that important decisions with direct effects on services, economy and quality of life are made at a local level. Democracy requires citizen participation. We will have a representative democracy for only as long as we have rep- resentatives. Please keep track of which positions are being ignored, and run for one of those offices in the next elec- tion cycle to get involved. The Nov. 8 election results could serve as a motivation. CHRIS FARRAR Astoria GMO apples he Jan. 17 The Daily Astorian front page head- line is “First GMO apple slices to go on sale in Mid- west.” The article, by Dan Wheat for EO Media Group, explains that the apple will be introduced in the Midwest, where concerns about GMOs are not so strong. We are shown a photo of a pretty yellow apple, along- side the article. The apple has been modified to not brown when cut. I personally do not know enough about the genetic manipulation that allows the apple to not brown to know if I should be wor- ried, but a genetic alteration T 5A that would allow farmers to spray unlimited herbicides and pesticides on the pretty yellow apple would have my attention. The GMO crops — opposed by environmental groups and by a large portion of our scientific community worldwide, as well as con- cerned citizens everywhere — are engineered by Mon- santo to withstand upwards of seven applications of Roundup each season, and make up 80 to 90 percent of many of the nonorganic crops we eat. Visit the Union of Con- cerned Scientists web- site for a better understand- ing of what falls under the heading of GMO. The arti- cle confuses concerns about Roundup Ready crops and GMO labeling. Look, a harmless GMO golden delicious apple, from Canada, won’t brown when you cut it. What’s not to like? BETH HOLLAND Cannon Beach Plant emissions et’s get rid of natu- ral gas.” Since I drove into Clatsop County 14 years ago, this has been the rally- ing cry heard from every side. My Seaside home and my hot water are heated with natural gas, and my electricity is gen- erated using natural gas. What to do? Oregon environmentalists support an immediate elimi- nation of all fossil fuels. Use only renewable energy they say, ignoring the lack of 24/7 availability, lack of an energy storage solution, the costs of rebuilding infrastructure and increased consumer costs. They do this with good inten- tions, because they are rightly concerned about global warming from emissions. Huge advances have been achieved by the government’s clean power program in cap- turing and profitably using power plant emissions. Today it is feasible to eliminate Ore- gon’s largest source of emis- sions — the natural gas-fired electrical generating plants at Port Westward — and reduce consumer electrical bills doing it. We might actually create several hundred fami- ly-wage jobs. OK, what’s the catch? The state and Clatsop County say they are not interested in pro- cessing permits without a court order. Your elected lead- ers just want to talk about reducing emissions, but when they might actually have to consider anything smacking of change, they hide under their desks. Think I’m a crackpot? Ask the Clatsop County Commis- sion to give me 15 minutes on their agenda. Ask the Oregon Department of Energy and our elected state representa- tives to comment on propos- als. Ask The Daily Astorian to publish a column about the project. Ask the environmen- talists to actually listen, rather than riot. JOHN DUNZER Seaside ‘L Think newspapers are dead? Think again. 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