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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2012)
Opinion Gov. Brewer: Arrest This Woman! “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2011 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. Knowing What’s Important Can Change Your Life! Subscribe to The Skanner – don’t miss an issue! Please sign me up for: q 1 year $74 q 2 year $140 q New Subscription q Renewal ________________________ Name _________________ Address _________________ City _________________ State ______ ZIP ________ Phone Mail with check or money order to: The Skanner P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 PIC of Brewer and Obama with cutline: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer gets in President Obama’s face. Whatever happened to civility? F ROM THE P UBLISHER Bernie Foster P olitics can be ugly. But what happened on the tarmac in Mesa last Wednesday was simply a dis- grace. Within minutes of Presi- dent Obama exiting Air Force One, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was pointing a wagging finger at him, inches from his face. Excuse me! This is the Presi- dent of the United States of America. Put the finger away, lady. Frankly, if I’d been in the pres- ident’s shoes, I would have been tempted to alert security and have her arrested under the Patriot Act if necessary. President Obama was more gracious. He ignored the insult and moved on. South Carolina Rep. Joe Wil- son also should have known better. In Sept. 2009, he dis- rupted Obama’s health care speech to Congress by yelling out “You lie!” The leaders of his own party made him apologize. Wilson and Brewer are elect- ed officials engaged in official business. Their behavior should set an example of respect for the office of President of the United States. That they failed to do so is deeply disturbing. lead us cannot or will not set a tone of civility and respect for one another, then who will? Political differences don’t excuse a bad attitude. Like other presidents before him, President Obama faces real threats to his life every day. Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy all were assassinated. Presidents Roo- sevelt and Reagan narrowly escaped. And these are just the attempts that came closest to succeeding. The Secret Service reported in 2009 that President Obama Could Brewer have learned nothing from the shooting in her own state that killed six people? An atmosphere of disrespect feeds sickness and hatred. An atmosphere of hatred encour- ages violence. Could Brewer have learned nothing from the shooting in her own state that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords? If those who are supposed to faces 400 times more death threats than President Bush. He is threatened with death 30 times every day. Just in the last few weeks we note that: Andrew Adler, owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, suggested that Israel should “order a hit” on Presi- dent Obama. Now he says he regrets it. But what was he thinking in the first place. Veteran police Sergeant Pat Shearer of Peoria, Arizona, posted a photo to his Facebook page that showed six armed teenagers holding an Obama teeshirt riddled with bullets. He called it a political statement. Jules Manson, a 2011 city council candidate in Carson City Calif., made a death threat toward the president and his entire family – using the most racist language imaginable. He apologized – sort of. Such behavior hurts all Amer- icans. When our leaders disre- spect the president, it sends a message to our friends around the world – and to our enemies. Why should they respect the President of the United States if we don’t? Was Brewer’s behavior acceptable? Or should she have been arrested? What do you think? You can post your comments on www.theskanner.com Letters to the Editor Why are we killing each other? Dear Editor, What message are we giving our youth? Will we have any youth left if we don’t stop it now? How would you feel if it was your son? Your brother? Your cousin? Implement the Air Toxics Rule Dear Editor, In my role and steward of the civil and human rights agenda of the NAACP in Oregon, I learned something that scared me. There is a threat to communities nation- wide, particularly communities of color and low income communi- ties that we scarcely knew a thing about. Arsenic, mercury, lead and acid gases are spewing from the nation’s coal fired power plants, putting people at risk across the country. Sixty-eight percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal fired power plants. Coal power plants produce 74% of all sulfur dioxide pollution, 18% of all Nitrogen dioxide pollution and 42% of mercury pollution from industrial sources in the U.S. A report on power plant pollu- tion found that emissions from all power plants in the U.S. are responsible for 30,000 premature deaths, 7,000 asthma-related emergency room visits, and 18,000 cases of chronic bronchitis each year. We know from friends like the American Lung Associa- tion, the American Cancer Society, and others that African Americans are twice as likely to die from Page 4 The Portland Skanner February 1, 2012 How do you tell 3 little children that their father is not coming how again, ever? How do we as a community keep our mouths shut and allow cold-blooded murderers to contin- ue to walk the streets looking for another victim? The next time it could be your child. We need your help getting jus- tice for L.J. If you know anything about my son’s murder please help us. We know that the community knows, please come forward and stop this vicious cycle of silence. We as a people have always known the “just us” means that we have to stand up for ourselves. The vio- lence has to end and we have to end it. The greatest tool we have is to stop the silence. L.J. did not deserve to die and neither did the countless others killed by gang violence and black against black crime. Help me and help yourself and help our community so all of our kids can be safe again. Our people have come too far to end up as victims of genocide. If you know anything please contact me. 503-515-6778 asthma attacks and are more likely to have lung disease in spite of lower rates of smoking. All of these create a grim intersecting pattern of exposure, impact, and outcomes. NAACP and our partners recent- ly released a report, Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People. The report analyzes 378 coal fired power plants across the country and ranks them based on their level of polluting emissions and their proximity to people. In Ore- gon, there is 1 coal fire power plant that was studied. According real cost on our lives. In July of 2011, the NAACP 102nd Annual Convention dele- gates unanimously passed a reso- lution calling for affirmation of strong regulations to safeguard clean air for immediate action to address pollution from coal fired power plants. One of our constituents expressed concern at a recent NAACP town hall meeting stat- ing, “Mercury emissions primarily fall locally, so these plants are major contributors to local con- our communities”. Our legislators should strongly consider current and proposed measures that reduce the pollution caused by coal fired power plants, like the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule, the Greenhouse Gas Rule and other related rules. Imple- menting the Mercury and Air Tox- ics Rule can result in major pollution reduction which would save a significant number of lives in Oregon. Other proposed stan- dards for the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule and an upcoming util- ity carbon rule would be instru- mental in protecting our health and economy. According to the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, Oregon could also see a possible yield of $11-$28 million in health benefits each year if these rules were implemented. Supporting such safeguards would serve as an advantage for each and every Ore- gonian. We say yes to a healthier envi- ronment and economy by support- ing and implementing the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule and other upcoming safeguards. Let’s take the lead Oregon! Our communities are disproportionately exposed to our ranking, the Boardman Plant in Boardman, OR earned a grade of D- because of its level of emissions and its close proximity to people, particularly people of color and people with low incomes. Consequently, our com- munities are disproportionately exposed to the toxins, like mercu- ry, arsenic, and lead, being pumped into the air by the Board- man Plant. The attack on Oregon’s health by polluting facilities has a tamination problems. Additional- ly, some mercury emissions also stay in the atmosphere and travel longer distances resulting in mer- cury contamination hundreds of miles away. Unfortunately, that is all too familiar. For me, I know several people who suffer from asthma, cardiovascular disease, and other health problems associ- ated with air toxics and poor air quality. It is time to start aggres- sively addressing air pollution in Lucy Mashia Devastated mother of (Leonard James Irving Jr.) L.J. Sincerely, Mr. Oscar Eason, President, NAACP Oregon State Conference
