Attacks on industry never end
Recently, the Rock Creek Mine near Noxon finally broke ground (Missoulian, June 5), anticipating final approval of its reclamation plan on both state and federal levels, and a long-awaited end to the seemingly endless legal challenges mounted by the industry attack machine’s never-ending quest to demonize the responsible use of our natural resources.Indeed, the industry attack machine is well organized, well funded, highly competent and has a unique ability to create conflict where there is none. The Rock Creek Mine is one such example.
The industry attack machine would like you to believe the “controversial” Rock Creek Mine will turn the Clark Fork a rusty colored brown and finish off the bull trout and grizzly bear once and for all. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. The simple truth is the Rock Creek project is committed to preserving the valuable natural legacy so many of us in Montana treasure.
Most importantly, the Rock Creek Mine will add more than $988 million into the state economy, and create about 300 new jobs with an average salary of $45,000 plus benefits. The average starting salary for new attorneys in Montana is about $46,000 a year. This country has one of the most stringent environmental protection schemes in the world.
Kyle Nelson, Missoula
Don’t be fooled by Obama
Sportsmen for Obama are confused about candidate Barack Obama’s record on gun rights and the relationship between the Constitution, gun rights and the traditions of hunting, fishing and public access.The Constitution protects the right to bear arms, i.e., own guns. It says nothing about hunting and fishing, or protecting habitat, public access, and the rights and traditions of sportsmen. It is textbook Obama to conflate and shift the focus of an issue, as he massages it into seeming ideological consistency to win votes.
Threatening to take away the guns of law-abiding Americans is not a winning campaign platform, but Obama’s record shows that in 2004 he told the Chicago Tribune he favored a national ban on concealed carry; he has refused to take a stand on the handgun case before the Supreme Court but supports the D.C. handgun ban; as state senator he voted against a bill allowing self-defense as a legal defense in a firearms case; he advocated federal legislation that would eliminate gun stores from most parts of the country. In 1996, as a state senate candidate, he endorsed (on a questionnaire) banning all handguns.
The right to bear arms and the liberty to hunt are meaningless if you can’t buy a gun. Tangential discussions like sportsmen’s interests are linguistic tricks that don’t provide clarity, but cover all the constituencies while committing to nothing. Obama does not believe that an individual right confers any protection from government constraint of the exercise of that right, and has likened restrictions on gun rights to zoning and property rights.
The veneer of grass-roots democracy will not protect your constitutional right to own a gun. With the exception of one skillfully-timed vote, Obama has a lengthy record that is solidly anti-gun rights. He’s not going to change.
Fredericka Ibsen Thompson, Missoula
Community response encouraging
An unintended benefit of a dysfunctional health care system is a sense of community it brings when there is someone in town in need. And when that someone is an infant boy born with only half of a functioning heart, the need to renew that spirit is palpable.That is why it was gratifying to see the response from our community for the Joshua Garrison Benefit, held May 31 at The Other Side.
The reality of the situation was tangible because Joshua and his parents had to drive to Seattle (because, of course, insurance wouldn’t provide for an easier and less stressful way for them to get there) for his second open-heart surgery since his January birth. But that’s why we were there. We didn’t want Joshua’s family to feel alone or to worry about how to pay for something so vital. And to that end, we were grateful for the more than 100 businesses, artists and individuals who donated items for the silent auction. If only I could name them all I would; they deserve credit for their generosity.
I hope we helped reduce the burden Joshua’s parents feel. But it can’t eliminate it; nothing can. Joshua’s heart condition is permanent and medical care and monitoring will be necessary his whole life. So it’s not too late, nor will it ever be too late, to help. There is still a raffle going on for round-trip airfare tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. and a permanent fund at Montana First Credit Union called the Joshua Garrison Fund. E-mail me at gmartin@apshealthcare if interested.
Joshua is one of us. A Missoulian, a western Montanan. Let’s keep him in our hearts and minds as yet another vital member of our community.
Greg Martin, Missoula
Diabetes fundraiser will go on
This is a letter to inform all participants for the Dog-A-Thon on June 14 at 3 p.m. in McCormick Park that the attorney general of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against Heaven Scent Paws, the organization that was going to provide me with a medical alert service dog for people with Type 1 diabetes.Under these circumstances I will not attend the class in October with Heaven Scent Paws and will be looking for another organization that can provide me with a dog and training.
After working for months to organize this fundraiser with a lot of support from many people, we decided to not quit and keep the fundraising alive on June 14. We will raise the money for a dog n donations should not be addressed to Heaven Scent Paws but to Dog-A-Thon for F. White.
This lawsuit is news to me and caused a lot of frustration but my main concern is to let people know and make sure that the donations will be used to provide me with with a dog capable of alerting.
I just want to honor the wishes of the people who do not feel comfortable anymore donating money to Heaven Scent Paws. Please join us this Saturday and let’s celebrate our first Dog-A-Thon for Type 1 diabetes.
Francoise White, Missoula
We are entering a new dark age
Gen. William S. Wallace expressed alarm (June 2) over the growing incompetency of potential recruits for the military.Regardless of one’s views of the military or current conflicts, his comments should also alarm the rest of us. I believe that we are entering a “high-tech dark age” with lots of “gee whiz” gadgets, but with increasing general levels of ignorance in our populace. More and more people are choosing not to learn, but to be content with a low-stress, low-performance life with ever-decreasing expectations about their ultimate success in our culture.
During the old Dark Ages, the monks of old saved the world’s knowledge on scrolls. Today’s scroll equivalents are memory chips and plastic discs. Less and less knowledge seems to be stored in brains. Today, an individual can remain comfortably ignorant about a subject because he or she can always turn to the Internet for the answer. Unfortunately, while the Net provides quick answers, critical thinking is not included.
Over the years, society has allowed our educational system to drift evermore toward support of self-esteem as opposed to thought and basic knowledge. Calculators and computers replace brainpower, even in the classroom. Sex, drugs and apathy sap the moral fiber of our country. In some states, children of 9 must now be vaccinated against venereal disease. Violent drug-peddling gangs control large sections of cities. God is under attack and big government is replacing the family.
The communists always believed they could defeat us using three principles: 1) “Encirclement” (surrounding us with communist states); 2) “internal demoralization,” which would lead to 3) “progressive surrender.”
We focused our energy principally on fixing No. 1, but we have neglected No. 2. We are now experiencing No. 3. Support candidates who want to fix No. 2, or we are lost!
Ward S. De Witt, Missoula
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