Letter to the editor: November 3-9

The Editor:

Thank you to Blaine-Birch Bay Parks and Recreation District #2 from Blaine Cub Scouts Pack 4025! Thank you for your generosity in awarding Blaine Cub Scouts free use of the Horizon Gym for scouting activities and for the $3,000 grant which was awarded to support the program! Blaine Cub Scouts is an important prevention program in Blaine and we have been able to successfully grow our Blaine Pack dramatically thanks to this support!

Thank you for helping our families and children have healthy, character building activities to engage in within our Blaine and Birch Bay community!

We truly appreciate your support! Any new families are welcome to join by emailing the Pack at blainecubscouts@gmail.com.

Erika Creydt

On behalf of Pack 4025

The Editor:

As Thanksgiving approaches, I feel especially thankful to live amid the outrageous beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I find myself reflecting on the original native inhabitants whose philosophy honors and protects the land, while I look into the future and contemplate the forces that

threaten us.

Indigenous tribes were the first true Americans. They thrived and lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years. It’s only been 400 years since the New World was “colonized.”

Unfortunately, most failed to appreciate First Nations peoples and the result was vicious destruction of valuable culture and crippling their means of existence.

We may be gaining wisdom, however, since so many passionately defended Lummi Nation treaty rights and worked with the U.S. government to fend off the Gateway Pacific Terminal. But since petro billionaires continue seeking profits and power everywhere, our values and natural resources are constantly threatened. Since July 2013, there have been 13 oil train disasters. In that same time period, there have been 133 fossil fuel pipeline explosions and/or leaks in the U.S.

The U.S. population is now over 300 million and we are the wealthiest nation on earth. However, our values are deteriorating, and the pursuit of wealth and luxury are risking the loss of what cannot be easily replaced.

In addition, the relentless use of fossil fuels is causing unprecedented global warming, leading to melting ice caps, including Greenland, rising and acidic oceans, and ever more catastrophic weather anomalies. We will continue to pay dearly if we live beyond our means, waste excessively, and refuse to acknowledge that only by converting to clean energy can we restore and preserve ecosystems, species, plants and soil, clean water and air, and other natural resources.

I believe everyone can do some one thing to save what we should be thankful for. We can start by letting Whatcom County Council and the Whatcom County Planning Commission know that supporting Carl Weimer’s proposed amendments to the comprehensive plan is the proper thing to do for Cherry Point. Learn more at whatcomwatch.org and look for Carl-Weimers-Proposed-Comprehensive-Plan-Ammendments.pdf

Christine Westland

Birch Bay

The Editor:

Today we watched in disgust as recordings of the Standing Rock protest unfolded a scene that took us back 50 years to a time when our government used military force in Ohio to quell student unrest over the Vietnam war.

The killings of four Kent State students at that time punctuated a turning point in history that unleashed a grass roots movement which eventually forced the politicians of the day to listen to reason and remove our troops from that ridiculous and unnecessary conflict.

At the Standing Rock protest there are people from around the nation gathering to stop corporate interests from bullying their way across lands in the name of eminent domain and the “good of all.”

The proposed pipeline will eventually leak, as virtually all pipelines do, and have the potential for intense harm to the environment. Particularly and specifically the all-important water resources of the area in question.

The pipeline transgression does incense us; however, the use of armed, riot gear clad military forces, against protesters armed only with prayer sticks and courage has us infuriated.

In our hearts, we cannot stand on the sidelines watching while treaty conditions are ignored and personal property rights are pushed aside.

We are donating to the Standing Rock cause monetarily and in spirit while looking for an opportunity to join the brave movement with our physical presence. We encourage all of our friends, business partners and likeminded individuals to join us in support in any way possible. Calling our collective political representatives for responsible intervention, letters to local newspapers, postings on social media … anything but silently witnessing our own government turn force upon our own people.

When we as citizens follow our government blindly and complacently, or let politics determine what is best for us without vocalizing our concerns, then we are as guilty as the aggressors and the controlling corporate

interests.

Speak your mind, change is inevitable, just make it positive.

Len and Marcia Beckett

Blaine

The Editor:

I’d like to invite friends and clients of Beth “the Barber” Lawrenson to join me in giving her a warm send off on her next chapter in life.

You may have heard she has made a decision to move to New Mexico to be near her sisters. She said her one regret will be not getting to see all of the friends she has made in and outside of her shop.

So come on down to the Pastime Bar and Eatery on Saturday, November 19 between 3 and 5 p.m. We’ll have some snacks to share and there will be a no-host bar. All ages are welcome!

Hope to see you all there.

Laurie Hart

Blaine