Nothing Lasts Forever

It seems to me the issue of endangered species comes with two schools of thought.  One, which is prevalent now, insists that mankind has a responsibility to insure the continuation of every creature on the face of the planet.  We have this responsibility because, according to proponents, mankind has caused or contributed to various animals and birds, and whatnot losing the will to either procreate fast enough, or can't do so
efficiently because we have disturbed some natural need or pattern of activity.

 I will tell you this sort of thing does not seem to discourage human beings because in spite of doing things that may make life difficult for various creatures we show little sign of shrinking our numbers significantly.

The second school of thought comes from those who say that  it must be part of a natural process that some animals, birds and /or insects go missing. Mankind isn't in charge of this problem.  It's somebody else. We should not have to change a thing we do just because some under appreciated species of slug can't make it in the contest that we call "survival of the fittest" by adapting to changing conditions.

This brings us to the point. Some might say "at last!"

We have spend or lost literally billions of dollars over the years on the proposition we have the responsibility to not only protect all of God's creatures but in fact we must help those creatures repopulate the Earth.  We spend public funds to raise, track, research, tabulate and photograph nearly extinct wolves only to end up shooting them all for doing what comes naturally to them and the very reason they were nearly wiped out to begin with.  We spend public funds to raise Condors so we can reintroduce that prehistoric relic across the country, including our own backyard eventually if the completely disconnected scientists at the Oregon Zoo have their way.  They can't wait to have another reason to stop cutting trees. I've talked with them about it. They get a gleam in their eyes when they talk about saving the trees for the Condors.  Sea Lions?  I shouldn't have to say a word about that debacle which creates a tourist nuisance but little else.

Personally I think that when we mess with the natural world in an attempt to erase our footprints, ignoring the fact that we are a part of that natural process we always end up failing to accomplish much of anything. We make things worse.

Within about two hours after this picture became available this morning over 50,000 users had posted it in their personal profiles to protest a change in the universal template for the news feed portion of Facebook. Here's what Facebook says about the change:

When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn’t worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it’s tough to zero in on what matters most.



Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won’t have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top. If you haven’t visited Facebook for a while, the first things you’ll see are top photos and statuses posted while you’ve been away. They’re marked with an easy-to-spot blue corner.

It isn't unusual for FB users to hate every single change that comes down from the world's #1 social networking site.  At one time the feature now called  "News feeds" didn't exist and when it first hit the site users thought they were being spammed, or worse.

Isn't it interesting that with everything else going on this change has commanded the attention of millions of people around the world?

Now if we could just fix the economy and end the wars...

Letters, We Get Letters...

Occasionally we pass along letters we receive for your consideration. Here's one about the ongoing debate between the City Of Astoria and the D.A. On the DUII issue which now is extending to the city's designated municipal prosecutor.  Enjoy and do comment.   tf


The quality of reporting has reached lows never seen here in Astoria, with the Editor and Publisher Steve Forrester adding to his own newspapers demise. In a recent editorial, which he continues to use in attempt to destroy peoples livelihood, he makes false claims and outright lies to his readers, this time about Attorney Mary Ann Murk.
In this edition, he has crossed the line-of-no -return and justice needs to be turned in his direction. As much as Attorney Murk must follow a certain Canon of Ethics, so to as to the accountability of an Editor in Journalism.
In Mr. Forrester's continued attempts to strengthen the District Attorney’s argument against the City of Astoria and its position with the public, he now has destroyed his paper's credibility by making false acquisitions against a local attorney.

It is no secret that Mary Ann Murk as an efficient attorney as she can be in Astoria is highly critical of Josh Marquis as DA, but there is no reason that the Daily Astorian should lie in an attempt to strengthen the District Attorney’s argument. In my world, we call this psychological warfare, and unfortunately to the credibility of once a fine newspaper, Mr. Forrester owes it to the people of Astoria to apologize for his gross negligence and poor quality control as editor and publisher of the Daily Astorian, and resign as editor.

It is no secret that the recent turn over in reporters, the internal complaints and decreasing add sales are challenging to any newspaper business, but to stoop to lies and personal attacks is not acceptable, anywhere. Our community and businesses should expect better from our local paper.

The Board of Directors of the East Oregonian should call for his resignation as Editor and CEO Immediately and replace him as fast as it could.
Floyd E. Holcom

Who is Running Things Here Anyway?

There seems to be some confusion in the State Justice Department about who runs the City Of Astoria. Is it Josh Marquis? or is it the duly elected Mayor and City Council?  My money is on the people elected locally to run it and not the State guy making a fuss about it.

For the past year or so the District Attorney has been attempting to interfere with city government and the right of a municipality to hold it's own court and bring matters to trial.  Marquis wants all DUII cases sent to Circuit Court and prosecuted by his office.  I would say this is because he has proof to substantiate his position that justice will be better served by doing so.  His implication is that Astoria Municipal Court is unable to perform this function.  The city challenged that assumption and asked for proof.  The report supplied by the DA's office, which was apparently prepared by an intern, was full of errors but to their credit the City Council directed changes be made to the municipal court procedures that seemed reasonable.  That should have satisfied the DA but it wasn't enough.

So far Mr. Marquis has vilified the City in appearances he has made in the State Capitol, attempted to have legislation passed to force the issue that went absolutely nowhere and has sought and gained the support of the State Attorney General who says that the DA has the right to prosecute any case in his jurisdiction.  A statement that falls short of saying Astoria can't handle it's own drunk driving addiction.  Of late his pal on the radio Lars Larson has made attempts to discredit our local radio conversations by sticking his nose in it and declaring that I am a liar. All to no avail.

That we have a problem is undeniable, as does every city and town in the United States when it comes to the

person who drinks and drives.  That we are unable to properly prosecute in a court of law, or that perhaps the court is incapable of dispensing justice appropriately has not been shown to be true.

It was quite appropriate for the DA to point out issues and critique the system to it's benefit.  Taking over

the process is far too extreme.

You've Got To Be Kidding!

Crazy but true.

The New York City Police and Fire Departments are NOT invited to the Ground Zero observance in NYC on 9/11.

Not invited.  The excuse is lack of space at the venue. All the politicans who want face time with the public have crowded out the people who should be in the front row. Nobody had to invite these guys to the World Trade Center when the planes hit they just showed up and did their jobs.  It's shameful.

The police officers, firefighters, and emergency workers who searched the rubble for lost colleagues when the towers collapsed were not invited to the Sept. 11 ceremony. Their absence has become an issue and a media headache for New York’s mayor.


Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni declined to give his thoughts on the exclusion, referring questions to city officials. He pointed out that New York City operates the memorial and is responsible for the invites, and said he chooses to empathize with those who will be there.

The New Order

As we are headling toward the Special Election to replace David Wu in Congress I've been working on our on line election guide.  It's amazing how many of the candidates have nothing about themselves on the web.  Can anyone win an election these days without having a web campaign?  Interesting question and there is at least one candidate who needs some help when it comes to site design.  Pavel Goberman rants on his site for pages and pages and pages.  Orgininally from a country in the old Soviet Union, Pavel obviously glories in the freedom publishing on the internet provides. More power to him.  His name comes up frequently as a candidate for office and he makes it quite clear that the media are against him and that's why he loses everytime.  I suspect the results for him will be the same in this 1st District race.

Back to using the web...Perhaps we can glean some unique intelligence about the various candidates based on how they use the web.  Brad Avakian's website looks like something the webmaster for the state of Oregon would crank out. Pretty flat.  He is on Facebook.  Saba Ahmed's website is quite interesting with various recordings of prayers being sung.  She is obviously a devoted person.  She has a Facebook site as well. Nice person. Probably too nice to be effective in this Congress.  Suzanne Bonamici is a clever girl. You can see it in her web design. Very grassroots as opposed to the very corporate look Avakian puts out there.
I couldn't find a thing for former contractor Dominick Hammon.  Local pro Dan Strite has had a web site forever. DiscountDansGolf.com.  But nothing significant about the campaign and no Facebook page.

Strong candidates use the web effectively.  In a world where most people under 30 get their news from The Daily Show and spend more time on FB or Myspace than watching TV and never pick up a newspaper it's critical to spend time on the web side of the campaign.  The winner of this Congressional race will have done that and very well.