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Week of June 12, 2024: High school grads, algal blooms, bike lanes and an ode to fluoridation

Send letters, maximum 250 words, to letters@cascadiadaily.com

Editor,

“The Sound You Hear is Hissing”

It’s hard to process:
A ship of fools
Sails onto a sea of misery
Stirs up scat
Simply since they can.

Fluoridation, a
Spectacular public health
Success from past century
Is scuttled since some
Refuse to accept what is true
Snatch onto what’s not true.

Sadly, it seems like
The City Council sides with silly,
Destines kids to rotten teeth
And the sorry pain of dentistry
For scarcely any common sense.

Lynn Geri
Bellingham
Editor,

Observing the madness of America, I am reminded of our country’s origins, inspired by British author Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense.” Paine’s books The “Age of Reason” and “Rights of Man” made him an internationally respected philosopher whose ideas reflected ideals of human rights. 

Paine became disenchanted by the hypocrisy of some of his fellow American revolutionary leaders — especially George Washington — who were more interested in making money by dispossessing the Indigenous population and enslaving Africans. John Adams opposed Paine for advocating the right to vote for citizens who did not own property.

In 1797, Paine introduced the idea of a guaranteed minimum income funded by an inheritance tax. His opposition to war profiteers (20 years earlier) in the Continental Congress made these Revolutionary War heroes uncomfortable. Paine’s pamphlet “Public Good” argued successfully that large tracts of land west of the 13 colonies — where Revolutionary War leaders Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were land speculators — should be government-owned.

Jay Taber
Blaine
Editor,

I disagree with Ian Craigie’s letter regarding the Holly Street traffic issue (CDN, June 5, 2024). He said, “Bicycles are not the problem.” On its face, this is not a valid statement.

I enjoyed reading the letters from George Dyson and Lance Sullivan. George presented a brief summary as to how the traffic pattern came to be what it is today. Lance gave reasonable alternatives from what the city is currently pursuing.

Back to Ian. Bicycles are “part” of the problem. The problem involves many interrelated issues, not just bicycles and cars. Think about the many stakeholders involved. There are the elderly, children, teenagers, bicycles, cars, trucks, retail stores, professional offices and so on. There will never be a time when everyone is satisfied. But we can do better.

Ian, be a part of the solution, not the problem. Don’t be so defensive. You must be passionate about this issue or you would not have taken the time to write a letter to the editor. Next time, offer your opinion and support it with thoughtful argument. Cars are not going to suddenly disappear from our roads within the near future. Help us (the universal us) to improve traffic patterns and find alternatives. Own the future.

Robin Mullins
Bellingham
Editor,

Each year, Congress requires the Pentagon to draw up a wish list of weapons and projects that the administration didn’t ask for, known as the “Unfunded Priorities List.” These lists offer a backdoor to boosting already excessive military spending, a practice that has received criticism from both political parties.
 
The Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act (H.R.4740) is a bipartisan bill that would repeal the annual mandate for these military wishlists. This bill is a crucial step toward accountability, transparency and peace. Recently we met with the office of Rep. Rick Larsen to solicit support for this bill, and we are pleased to report that several weeks ago, Rep. Larsen provided his support for this bill and joined as a cosponsor. We thank Rep. Larsen for taking this important stand on legislation to add transparency and improve the military budgeting process for ordinary citizens to understand.
 
We now call upon our Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, to take similar action and support the introduction of a companion bill in the Senate. Please take a stand to bring more accountability to U.S. military spending.

The San Juan Islands Advocacy Team
Editor,

I just wanted to reach out and express my appreciation for the awesome coverage of the high school graduates around Whatcom County. Hailey Hoffman did a wonderful job of spotlighting graduates from all of the schools. With all the stuff going on in the world today, reading about these hard-working young people was a pure delight. Congratulations to all the grads. 

Gary Malick
Bellingham
Editor,

Despite the connection of Judaism and the Jewish people to the Holy Land, for the Palestinians this is an anti-colonial struggle. Israel was established as a largely European settler colonial project — something none of the early leaders denied — with the assistance of British imperialism. Notwithstanding the myths created to conceal this, they are vital to understanding that the Palestinians would have resisted any group that tried to take their thousands-years lands away from them, regardless of their religion. That this group happened to be Jews with a national project, a deep connection to the same land, and a history of persecution and disposition, culminating in the Holocaust, gives this war a particularly desperate nature.

The pattern that played out over the past centuries is familiar. Whoever the settlers were and wherever they came from, with whatever connections to the land, the resistance to them would have been the same as that of the Irish, Algerians, Native Americans, Zulus or Indonesians to intruders wanting to expel them, take their land, take their natural resources, and/or make them into an image of their colonial selves.

From my perspective (former USAID/DOS Desk Officer for the West Bank and Gaza), Israel is stuck in an unwinnable war, causing death and destruction, until and unless a permanent, viable two-state solution — two independent nations living peacefully side by side — is reached. A solution most Israelis and Palestinians would prefer, if only their political leaders could recognize that reality and work toward this objective.

Curt Wolters
Retired Foreign Service Officer
Bellingham
Editor,

I attend high school in Kirkland as a sophomore. I also have a large portion of family that lives in Whatcom and Skagit counties who are affected by the water that surrounds them. Just recently I was made aware of harmful algal blooms becoming more prevalent in the Pacific Northwest region. After further research into the topic, I found that harmful algal blooms can produce toxins that have a possibility to negatively affect marine life, animals and humans. These blooms not only cause sickness and possibly even death when they are alive, but when the blooms die off, they happen to create dead zones. These dead zones then lead to a decrease in the oxygen levels in those specific areas killing off any fish or plant.

We can help by supporting farming communities in the restoration of wetlands. The reason wetlands are such a key factor is that they catch runoff from agricultural fields that may normally end up in other water sources. The runoff produced is composed of many nutrients and one of the most common is phosphorous. You see, phosphorous helps algae thrive, thus causing both toxic and non-toxic algal blooms.

To better understand this issue, I suggest visiting Washington Sea Grant at wsg.washington.edu.

Thank you for the opportunity to bring up this issue.

Ceara Foster
Kirkland

Letters to the Editor are published online Wednesdays; a selection is published in print Fridays. Send to letters@cascadiadaily.com by 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Rules: Maximum 250 words, be civil, have a point and make it clearly. Preference is given to letters about local subjects. CDN reserves the right to reject letters or edit for length, clarity, grammar and style, or removal of personal attacks or offensive content. Letters must include an address/phone number to verify the writer's identity (not for publication).

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