Let’s work to move on from past
As we grow older we sometimes think only of ourselves and not the good of the entire group.
An elected board of 15 people contribute hours with one goal in mind: the welfare of the Missoula Senior Center. Have you said thank you? An army of volunteers spend hours preparing wholesome meals, serving them and cleaning up afterward. Have you thanked them? Another group of volunteers spend hours in the thrift shop sorting, cleaning and selling merchandise. Have you thanked them?
All of these activities bring money to the center to keep it operating. Members speak with pride that they are self-supporting and do not ask for tax support. Yet on page three of the Blazing Trails, the balance sheet of April shows a negative balance of $1,270.12.
In an effort to remain solvent, the board and the director have made an effort to make the building help pay for itself by renting it out to other organizations.
Expenses of operating the center have risen just as your personal expenses have. Unfortunately, this rental opportunity happens to fall on the same night members have traditionally used the building and the members are asked to give up their time. Hopefully, on garnering some outside funds, raises in membership dues can be avoided.
Members - let’s stop the in-fighting and look to the good of the center. Let bygones be gone and all work for the good of our organization.
Gwen Thibodeau, Missoula
Lack of respect is biggest problem
In regards to the Missoulian article of June 11 titled “Generation gap”:
First, there is no generation gap problem at the center. If you are a senior and want to participate in any of the functions, most of us do our best to make you feel welcome. We have always been open to new ideas for encouraging seniors to get involved with the center, however we are not a community center. There is not enough parking, nor is the center large enough to accommodate different functions at the same time. Seniors should not be expected to give up their established functions for those designed for nonseniors.
Second, there is no financial problem at the center. We have never had a goal of making a profit at the center, when we have run short of money most of us chip in with fundraisers to make the operating capital we need.
Third, I know of no one who feels threatened of losing ground. The majority of us have worked together to make this organization what it is today and we will be here tomorrow.
The problem is respect, or lack of respect, on behalf of the new director and a handful of his supporters. Under the leadership of this director, a senior who is critical is given a notice that they are no longer welcome at the center, and is never given the opportunity to defend themselves before the board or general membership. There are no members that I have talked to who can ever remember this happening in the past. Yet within a month it has happened to three of our best supporters of the center, two of whom were sitting board members. Others have received threatening letters.
Now does this really sound like the three points Susan Kohler tried to make?
Jean Sheppard, Missoula
Real experts didn’t sign report
This letter is in response to Ron Pifer (letters, June 13). He references a 2007 report on global warming from the U.S. Senate Committee and the Global Warming Petition as evidence that global warming is not caused by man.
I just wanted to share some information about the so-called “scientists” that signed those petitions. In the 2007 report, there’s an impressive list of people and their credentials - economists, astronomers, public health workers, biologists, geochemists, paleontologists, oceanologists ... and local TV weatherpeople. You can argue that global warming affects their fields, but how many of them spend their lives gathering and studying information about climate change?
The 2007 report boasts 413 signatures. Of those, roughly half have been funded by or are employed by fossil fuel industries or have no apparent connection or expertise in climate change. Sen. James M. Inhofe, who spearheaded the 2007 report, has also received funding from fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobile. The thousands who signed the Global Warming Petition Project were only required to hold a science degree. For clarification - that’s anyone with a bachelor of science degree in any scientific field.
It’s easy to point fingers from both sides and claim that the evidence presented is a load of bunk. But as long as we’re debating this, let’s at least think about where exactly we’re getting our information from and scrutinize the credentials and motives of the people who claim it is or isn’t happening.
One last thing - even if you don’t believe global warming is happening - wouldn’t it be nice to play along so that you, your children and grandchildren enjoy the benefits of cleaner air and a healthier environment? I don’t believe anyone has presented a petition claiming smog is a load of bunk recently.
Dakota Cannavaro, Missoula
Herbicides killing sensitive creatures
A couple of years ago, the national media swarmed over the unexpected disappearance of honeybee colonies in the U.S. A disease labeled Colony Collapse Disorder was responsible for the death of anywhere between 30 percent and 70 percent of beekeepers’ hives.
There are still honeybees, even though they have had a host of new parasites and diseases in recent years. Beekeepers have had to resort to new treatments and medications to keep their colonies alive and healthy; they are still having a hard time keeping up with new theories about diseases and how to treat them.
I have worked for beekeepers for 12 years and have watched them struggle to keep their colonies alive. Every spring I scan the roadsides and the hillsides to inventory the health status of the flowers that our bees go to for nectar and pollen. I have seen people spraying herbicides to try to control weeds. And in every bee yard, I see thousands of dead bees piled up in front of the hives, killed by these herbicides. Honeybees are a sensitive species and are a good indicator of a healthy environment. If these herbicides kill bees, we can infer that they kill other insects and small forms of life, which are necessary for maintaining the health of soils and the environment.
Burning grassy areas and thinned forest understories seems to have the desired effect for weed control in most areas I have seen. From an ecological standpoint, it seems to make more sense than herbicide application. It would also kill a lot less of our honeybees and the other insects that are valuable to life on earth. So please, mow your weeds in the summer and burn your grassy areas in the spring. By not spraying weeds you can save thousands of honeybees in your area.
Jacob Wustner, Missoula
Petitions to address problems we face
Dear editor,
Amendment 1 (ratified Dec. 15, 1791) - freedom of religion, press, expression: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
On June 30, people all across America will be exercising their First Amendment right to petition for redress of grievances, by delivering petitions at the state offices of the senators and representatives.
The petitions will address issues that include: The Iraq invasion in violation of the War Powers Act; The Patriot Act’s violation of the privacy clauses; the federal gun control laws in violation of the Second Amendment; the direct, unapportioned taxes on labor in violation of the tax clauses; and other important issues.
We are serving legal notice and demand for redress to our elected officials.
“If money is wanted by Rulers who have in any manner oppressed the People, they may retain it until their grievances are redressed, and thus peaceably procure relief, without trusting to despised petitions or disturbing the public tranquility.” - Journals of the Continental Congress, 1:105-113.
We the people cannot elect our way out of tyranny. Any assertion that by electing either McCain or Obama we can cure the ills that now plague America is simply naive or based on a lack of information regarding the corrupting forces that truly influence and control our government and political process.
I would like to encourage you to research this issue and help me to educate your readers. I believe you have an obligation both moral and Constitutional to bring this information to your readers.
To learn more, please visit: www.givemeliberty.org/revolution.
Shawn Parker, Ronan
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