4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ NOVEMBER 28, 2015
Siuslaw News
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
VIEW FROM UPRIVER
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
Words worth living up to
W ESLEY V OTH
For the Siuslaw News
A
nother Thanksgiving passes, and that
which divides us, even within fami-
lies, is being stirred up. It turns out I
had ancestors at that first 1621 Plymouth
Thanksgiving — John Alden and Priscilla
Mullins, who soon married and had 10 chil-
dren. Since they were prominent in the lead-
ership of the colony and church, both benefit-
ted from the largess of, and then were culpa-
ble in the poor relations with, that region’s
original inhabitants.
Both were still alive and prominent when
the colony put four Quakers, including a
woman named Mary Dyer, to death for the
audacity of being a different kind of Puritan.
Even the efforts of Charles II, newly restored
in the British monarchy after a bloody reli-
gious war in England, failed to stop to further
actions of this sort, until eventually the
colony’s charter was revoked and an English
governor installed to enforce English law,
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
including the Toleration Act, in 1689.
It is quintessential American irony that
within another generation it was this
family branch who became Quakers
themselves, and remained so on down
to me.
Needless to say, these ancestors
fleeing from persecution they found
intolerable, didn’t get it right when they first
tried creating something new on this conti-
nent. Or, for us, on this side of this continent
a while later. It took some time, and finding
common cause among a motley and diverse
grouping of peoples, but before there was a
constitution, before there was a first (or sec-
ond) amendment, when we were figuring out
the sort of nation we might become, we made
this stunning declaration: “We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are cre-
ated equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness.”
While these words have become some of
the best known and loved anywhere, we have
never managed to behave as though we really
believe them to be true. Or to behave even by
the best principals of our respective various
religions. Or to treat people well and fairly
regardless of birthplace, race, gender, age,
economic status, education, citizenship or
political or religious affiliation. But, the idea
persists. We are still working at it because the
idea continues to stir and inform our nobler
principles.
However, there are among us people and
companies who profit from disinformation.
Who profit from war. Who profit from dis-
sension. Who profit from fear mongering.
Who profit from various forms of economic
slavery. Who profit from running prisons
whose purpose is not reform, and for-profit
universities whose purpose is not education.
Who profit from do-nothing government.
These same people and companies do not
think they should bear the costs of govern-
ment, community infrastructure, free and
appropriate public education, veterans, health
care or even their own foolish investment
risks. And thanks to the Supreme Court deci-
sion known as Citizens United, those who
profit most from the above can freely wield
the most power and speech to make sure this
very profitable — for them — system pre-
vails, and without real cost — to them.
I think it clear that the noble declaration
that brought us as far as we’ve come cannot
survive indefinitely against this imbalance.
But I’m thankful that in the current war of
words, it has not yet been completely
drowned out.
We can’t let it be.
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
• On Dec. 2, 1859, in Charles Town,
Virginia, abolitionist John Brown is executed
on charges of treason, murder and insurrection.
Brown became militant during the mid-1850s,
when he fought pro-slavery settlers in the
sharply divided Kansas Free State territory.
• On Dec. 6, 1917, a Belgian steamer and
French freighter, both loaded with ammunition,
explode in Canada’s Halifax Harbor, leveling
part of the town and killing nearly 1,600 people
and injuring some 8,000. The ships carried 8
million tons of TNT intended for use in World
War I.
• On Dec. 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy torpedo-
bombers take off from Florida on a routine
training mission over the Atlantic Ocean. The
squadron leader later reported that his compass
had failed and his position was unknown, and a
rescue aircraft was dispatched with a 13-man
crew. No trace of the 27 crewmen or six aircraft
was ever found.
• On Dec. 4, 1956, the “Million Dollar
Quartet” convenes at Sun Studios in Memphis,
Tennessee, in an historic impromptu jam ses-
sion. Present were Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash,
Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. A tape
recorded that day was not discovered until
1981.
• On Nov. 30, 1965, lawyer Ralph Nader
publishes the muckraking book “Unsafe at Any
Speed.” It became a bestseller and prompted
the passage of seat-belt laws in 49 states (all but
New Hampshire).
• On Dec. 3, 1979, eleven people are killed
in a stampede outside a Who concert in
Cincinnati when a crowd of general-admission
ticket-holders surged forward in an attempt to
secure prime unreserved seats inside, known as
festival seating.
• On Dec. 1, 1990, 132 feet below the
English Channel, workers drill an opening
through a wall of rock, connecting the two ends
of an underwater tunnel linking Great Britain
with the European mainland for the first time in
more than 8,000 years.
LETTERS
No more marijuana
I just received a notification of
a Florence City Council meeting
to discuss Ordinance No. 12
series 2015, proposing changes to
allow marijuana dispensaries,
wholesale and distribution cen-
ters within the city limits.
I am 65 years old and wish that
Florence does not become like
Eugene with 14 businesses to
purchase this drug.
Michael Ksen
Florence
A city council and planning
commission public hearing is
scheduled for Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at
the Florence Events Center to
discuss amendments to the city’s
marijuana code. —Editor
ISIS strategy
From its beginnings as a Sunni
terrorist group in Iraq, ISIS’ attacks
in Paris have demonstrated a mur-
derous reach now extending
beyond its proclaimed Islamic State
caliphate into the very heart of
Europe.
Followers of ISIS are religious
extremists who see the unconverted
as sinners beyond redemption and
themselves as defenders of an
absolute moral theology with the
devout duty to mercilessly destroy
all apostates and nonbelievers.
Their pathological zealotry, seem-
ingly irrational, is perfectly consis-
tent with their commitment to eras-
ing the corruptions of modernity by
returning civilization to the purity
of seventh-century Shiria law.
Jihadist fanaticism such as the
Paris attacks is nihilism that has
gotten religion. All values other
than Koranic fundamentalism are
meaningless, all apostates and non-
believers are to be annihilated.
ISIS strategy is to polarize
Western society by attacks, like
Paris, to provoke overreactions by
Western governments against inno-
cent Muslims. Thusly alienated,
Muslims in the West will be left to
either apostatize or to emigrate to
the Islamic State to escape persecu-
tion. The goal is to set conditions
for an apocalyptic war with the
West, the prerequisite to the arrival
of the Mahdi — Muhammad’s suc-
cessor, yet to come — who will lib-
erate Islam from cruelty, introduc-
ing a time of serenity with people
living true to religious values and
re-establishing righteousness.
ISIS’ commitment to an apoca-
lyptic confrontation with moderni-
ty, rooted in seventh-century
Koranic injunctions, is prophetic,
not political. It is not subject to
negotiation or compromise. If the
ISIS strategy is allowed to work,
this one, minor, nihilistic sect of
Islam’s many denominations could
be the nihilism that Nietzsche pre-
dicted would “eventually destroy
all other moral, religious and meta-
physical convictions and precipitate
a crisis in human history.”
The problem is not the world’s
1.6 billion Muslims. The problem is
the estimated 20,000 to 30,000 ISIS
jihadists among them who want to
impose the ISIS interpretation of
Islam on them and the rest of socie-
ty. The challenge is to identify and
eliminate these relatively few nee-
dles without setting the whole
haystack on fire.
Arnold Buchman
Florence
Autumn Harvest
The recent local dinner and
school garden fundraiser at
Homegrown Pub was a great suc-
cess. I want to thank all the folks
that attended the dinner and gener-
ously donated $850 to the Siuslaw
Elementary School garden.
Thank you to the folks that
donated scrumptious desserts to
be auctioned for the garden and
to Kelsey and the Homegrown
staff for creating a beautiful meal
made with local ingredients.
Thank you to the local farms and
producers — Whiskey Creek
Organics, Wintergreen, Greenfields,
Willammette Valley Creamery,
Round Barn Beef, Fiacre Acres,
Hummingbird and more — that con-
tributed to our meal and continue to
contribute to our community.
Thank you Lyza for doing an
amazing job as school garden
coordinator.
The more we support events
such as this, as well as farmers
markets, CSAs and our local food
co-op, the more we are support-
ing our local farms and produc-
ers. And by doing this we are cre-
ating local food sustainability,
increasing economic develop-
ment in Florence, decreasing our
carbon footprint and building
community.
By supporting our school gar-
den we are empowering our kids
to be healthy in so many ways.
Jen Nelson
Florence
(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
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Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
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Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
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FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us