VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Quick takes
Minimum wage jumps up
It’s a snowball effect: Wages go up,
prices go up.
— Tonya R Rychard
And when people ind they have more
money to spend and his proits increase,
will he lower the prices? Nope.
— Eric Sebastian
Goodwill halts Pendleton plan
Good job “Main Street Maia.”
— Leone Lightburn
That is a central location, deinitely good
spot for a irehouse.
— Nick Ritzer
I would rather support the ire depart-
ment than a $8 million bridge to private
property. They help people and the money
is not coming from the street fund to ix pot
holes.
— Troy Thomas
Grasty recall election fails
Translation: only 30 percent of Harney
County are cooks.
— Kate Chastain
Is the FBI voting as citizens of the
county?
— Michele B Ball
Hermiston bottle recycling
Before I moved to Eastern Oregon, we
had the irst bottle drop in Oregon just two
blocks from our house. It was a blessing
after having to use all those grocery store
return drops. It’s fast, it’s easy and no
waiting.
— Ed Morris
One of the great lessons of the Twitter age is
that much can be summed up in just a few words.
Here are some of this week’s takes. Tweet yours
@Tim_Trainor or email editor@eastoregonian.
com, and keep them to 140 characters.
A new navigation system at
Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport is getting lyers onto
the ground more quickly —
and reducing greenhouse-gas
emissions in the process.
If only Portland
International could say the
same. PDX has not yet
installed the navigational
technology boasted by
Sea-Tac, known as “Required
Navigation Performance.”
Oregonians can blame
Washington — D.C., that
is — for the delay. Congress
has turned the Federal Aviation
Administration into a political
football. Both parties say
that they want to overhaul
the nation’s air trafic control
system but haven’t been able
to agree on how to do so.
The solution? Spin the air
trafic control system out of the
FAA, into a separate non-proit
jointly managed and funded
by those who use it. Such a
move would break the political
gridlock that’s taken hold of
America’s skies — and ensure
that those traversing them
beneit from the most up-to-
date aviation technology.
Judging from Sea-Tac’s
experience, the advantages
of Required Navigation
Performance are substantial.
By harnessing satellite
technology, the system allows
pilots to burn less fuel.
Alaska Airlines says that the
technology has reduced fuel
consumption for each Sea-Tac
landing by 87 gallons — and
cut carbon emissions by 1,900
pounds. In just one year, those
savings amount to 2.1 million
gallons of fuel and 22,000
metric tons of carbon.
Its impressive results would
Page 5A
Cannabis is world’s safest substance
y name is Daniel John.
the room.
Sometimes I go by the
I feel compelled to acknowledge
moniker DJ for short,
it irst: We have all been blatantly
or just DJ Short. I reside in the
deceived, misled and lied to about
Pendleton area and have for the past
this plant.
30 years. I travel a lot for work and
All of us. Each and every
to care for family, but I very much
woman, man and child, every
enjoy calling this neck of the woods
teacher, counselor, administrator and
home.
janitor, every politician, government
DJ
I’m somewhat deeply involved
employee or contractor, every
Short
in the cannabis industry, as it turns
doctor, lawyer and professor, every
Comment
out. A long while back I created a
cop, prosecutor
few cannabis strains (Blueberry, Flo,
and judge, every
Blue Moonshine, Blue Velvet and Cocoa
cowboy and every native
Kush, to name a few) that gained quite a
has been constantly and
popularity and now these varieties are all
consistently lied to about
the rage among those in the know. As a
this plant. It has become
result, I am inding myself in great demand
awkwardly ridiculous for
in many places.
most and a downright,
My focus is, and always has been, the
ongoing disaster for others.
medicinal aspects of the cannabis plant. It
Due to the fact that
is a fascinating subject with unprecedented
everyone has been
promise currently being studied in only a
misinformed about this plant for the past
very few places, such as Israel.
75-80 years, coupled with the fact that
Not here yet, unfortunately, and as a
open research has been systematically
result I have never enjoyed any great reward quelled or stymied, there exists no truly
for my efforts. This may soon change,
trusted authority on the subject. Many like
however, as perceptions regarding cannabis
to pretend that they are authorities on the
shift — especially as successes present
(misguided) negative aspects of cannabis.
themselves regarding use of cannabis for
But very few, such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
cancer, AIDS, seizures, MS, diabetes,
have actually made the “mea culpa,”
depression, Crohn’s and addiction, to name
admitted their past mistake regarding the
a few. There is much need for research in
cannabis plant and now extol its virtues.
this regard.
Which brings me to what may perhaps
I’m writing today because folks at the
be a true fact regarding cannabis and its
East Oregonian were interested in my story safety as a consumable substance: Cannabis
and wanted some input from someone of
is the safest substance known to human
my caliber and knowledge of all things
beings.
cannabis. Originally, they wanted me to
That is an extremely bold statement to
cover topics such as how did I get here,
make, I realize. How does one back that up?
what does Eastern Oregon stand to offer/
I don’t need to. If anyone disagrees with or
gain/lose from the burgeoning cannabis
wishes to challenge that statement, there
industry, the science of new strains and
exists one very simple means by which to
how legalization has affected my life and
do so: Name something safer.
business — which is all well and good, and
Drinking water? Sorry, several annual
I am more than eager and willing to oblige.
deaths from that substance. Turns out
There is, however, one topic concerning
cannabis is the only substance we know of
society’s perception and misconceptions
that acts as a non-toxic inebriant that does
regarding cannabis that lingers and looms
not allow us to put enough of it into our
like the proverbial and neglected elephant in systems to harm ourselves — in thousands
M
Political winds shouldn’t
delay air travelers
By DREW JOHNSON
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
East Oregonian
seem to indicate that the
technology should be swiftly
installed all across the country.
Yet only a handful of airports
have gained access to Required
Navigation Performance.
That’s largely because
bickering in the nation’s capital
has made comprehensive
reform of the nation’s air
navigation system all but
impossible. The FAA simply
doesn’t know if it will have
the funding from Congress to
tackle the challenge.
The procedures followed
by many air trafic controllers
haven’t changed in decades. In
fact, most airports still rely on
World War II-era ground radar
technologies to guide pilots
during takeoff and landing.
That has to change.
Lawmakers should start
by relieving the federal
government of its role in air
trafic control — and charging
FAA regulators with focusing
solely on air safety.
A new private, nonproit
user co-op would oversee air
trafic control and tend to the
system’s infrastructure and
personnel. Those who rely on
the system, including airlines,
would be responsible for
funding this new organization.
In order to pay for large-scale
upgrades, this new body could
borrow against its revenues.
Under this new model,
America’s air trafic control
system would no longer
depend on funding from
Congress. Decisions would
be based not on the vagaries
of partisan politics — but on
what’s best for pilots, travelers,
and the environment.
Fewer than 130 miles
separate Sea-Tac and
Portland International. But
technologically, they’re light
years apart.
of years of recorded use and not one single
reported fatality.
After realizing this simple but very
relevant fact, if one continues to choose the
prohibitionist rant that cannabis is harmful,
my only recourse if to offer you a sincere
apology: I am sorry you were lied to about
this plant and I am sorry you accepted the
lies as truth.
We have all been lied to about this plant,
but there are those who have igured out
the deception and who
have made great progress
and advances in the ield.
Those who have gone
on to help ourselves and
many others heal despite
all of the oppressions
and suppressions stacked
against us. We are here to
help you learn about this
plant and its beneits, but
only if you let us.
In order to do so, the powers that be
will need to stop persecuting the cannabis
community via the archaic and counter-
productive war on drugs and all of the
destructive deceit that goes with it.
This is not supposed to be some ongoing
psychopathic neighborhood game of cops
and robbers perpetrated by the local bullies
in charge. You need to sincerely recognize
and admit your mistakes before we may
successfully move forward.
I would very much enjoy the opportunity
to help teach my community about the
wonders and merits of this valuable plant
that offers something beneicial for almost
everyone. But I am not certain if those in
my community are ready and willing to
admit to being misled regarding cannabis.
Because if anyone chooses to cling to those
deceptions there is really nothing any of us
are able to do for you. The choice is yours;
there are many of us here waiting and
willing to help.
■
Daniel John Short lives in Pendleton.
He is among the nation’s foremost cannabis
breeders.
We have all
been blatantly
deceived, misled
and lied to
about this plant.
Anti-government militias threaten us at home
By RAÚL M. GRIJALVA
AND BENNIE THOMPSON
High Country News
A
s we saw during the Bundy
Ranch standoff in 2014 and
earlier this year at a wildlife
refuge in Oregon, violent extremism
is not limited to war-torn countries
thousands of miles away from the
United States. Armed militias have
expanded in size and sophistication
and now present a threat to public
safety and national security.
These homegrown militias
threaten our public lands, the
American people who want to enjoy
them, and the public servants who
manage them. Although much of the
news coverage of those incidents
painted a sanitized picture of people
who just “want their land back,” a
June 15 congressional forum on these
groups made it clear that the reality is
much darker.
The consequences of their
anti-government activism — much
of which stems from their hatred
of President Barack Obama — go
much deeper than a few newspaper
headlines. Some of the men and
women involved in the Nevada
and Oregon standoffs have openly
called for the death of federal land
management oficials, and they
continue to harass them — largely
without punishment — simply for
doing their jobs.
These extremists encourage each
other by publicizing pictures of the
faces of federal oficials, along with
their vehicles’ license plates. At our
congressional forum, Tim Blount,
the executive director of Friends of
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge,
described how he needed a police
escort just to move safely around his
home community in Oregon.
As David Jenkins, president
of Conservatives for Responsible
Stewardship, pointed out in his
testimony, creating this climate of
fear and ignoring democratically
established laws can never be
considered patriotic.
“This is why it is so important that
extremism and violence on our public
lands be unequivocally rejected by
Republicans and Democrats alike,
and that addressing this growing
problem be a bipartisan endeavor,”
he told us. He is absolutely correct.
The threat these groups pose
deserves a full
congressional
hearing with
Republican
lawmakers in
attendance. As the
top Democrats on the
Natural Resources
and Homeland
Security committees,
we have asked for
such a hearing.
The Republican
majority has ignored
our request and
consistently refuses
to take this issue
seriously.
Instead, as
we heard at our forum, some
Republican lawmakers employ the
same anti-government rhetoric that
fuels these radicals. Chairman Rob
Bishop, R-Utah, has co-sponsored
a bill by Rep. Jason Chaffetz,
R-Utah, to remove federal law
enforcement authority from the
U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of
Land Management, turning those
functions over to local police and
county sheriffs who lack the relevant
training.
Anti-government extremists
didn’t always direct their ire at
public-lands agencies. That changed,
in part, because a group of Western
congressmen, state legislators and
county sheriffs built their careers by
advocating the transfer of millions
of acres of federal land to states or
counties, even though no state or
county had ever owned the land in
question or could afford to manage
it now.
In the guise of giving land
“back,” these lawmakers — and
the extremists who now use this
campaign as a rallying cry — have
undermined the very idea of public
lands as a shared and cherished
resource. Anyone who has visited
a national monument lately need
only imagine it replaced by a mine
or strip mall or blocked off by “no
trespassing” signs to understand what
this campaign truly represents.
Our public lands
and the people who
protect them enjoy
enormous public
support. Garett
Reppenhagen of the
Vet Voice Foundation
spoke movingly at
our forum about
how access to our
national forests
helped him recover
psychologically after
his multiple tours of
duty overseas, and
described what it
would mean to him
and other veterans
to lose that access.
And for perhaps the irst time ever,
32 former federal employees —
including former heads of the Forest
Service, Fish and Wildlife Service
and Bureau of Land Management
— recently signed a letter urging
Congress to act against the threat
of the self-described “patriot
movement.”
Congress and the American public
cannot afford to turn a blind eye to
ISIS or other foreign terrorists that
mean us harm. But it’s high time we
acknowledged that our nation’s own
homegrown terrorists also threaten
public safety. Tolerating them, or,
even worse, encouraging them as
part of a campaign to hand our public
lands over to the private sector, is a
dangerous and short-sighted strategy.
■
The writers are contributors to
Writers on the Range, an opinion
service of High Country News.
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., is
the ranking member of the House
Committee on Natural Resources.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is
the ranking member of the House
Committee on Homeland Security.
It’s high
time we
acknowledged
that our
nation’s own
homegrown
terrorists
also threaten
public safety.