MORE OF YOUR RANTS!!!
I realize some hatemail wil be a little dated, that is because my deadline creates nearly two weeks of delay between writing and press time. It is beyond my control. Additionally, I reserve the right to edit hatemail to its minimum size while still preserving the spirit in which it is sent, in order to maximize space. Keep em coming!
B’ham Man, How did the boys who lit Whatcom Creek become heroes????? Mayor Mark Asmundson tried to put a positive spin on the boys’ contribution. He was motivated, I am sure, by consideration for the boys’ families. The media motivated by the thrill of a good spin, jumped on the bandwagon giving these children the ludicrous oxymoron tag of “Accidntal Heroes”. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Heroes are people who make a conscious choice to put themselves at risk for the good of someone else. To apply this term to boys playing with a lighter, demeans the word “hero”. It could have been an even bigger disaster, but that does not make the boys heroes, accidental or otherwise. I don’t agree as the mayor said to justify his position, that it was inevitable that it would be ignited. We will never know what else could have happened. Life is funny that way. A friend of mine was given a card once after getting out of a particularly bad relationship. It read “ If you can’t be a good example, you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.” On behalf of parents everywhere trying to teach their children not to play with matches and lighters, please don’t make heroes of the boys who did. They will serve us all better as a horrible warning. Also I can’t believe people are so upset there is a pipe line in our community. Yes, be upset that it was not maintained, inspected and evaluated properly. You don’t have explosions in Everson, Anacortes, and Whatcom Creek all in the same 2 year period if any of the people working for Olympic or charged in its regulatory oversight did their job well. By all means be pissed at them. We are gas dependent. Like it or not, when we have a place to go we most often put gas in our cars to get there. It would be lovely if we didn’t but we do. Olympic needs to be held responsible and pay for everything that can possibly be done to restore the environment and compensate the families destroyed by their negligence. The farther away we remove the pipeline, the more expensive our gas will be. Would the same people so indignant that there is a pipeline in their community be happier if it doubles the price of gas to bring it in in some safe way? —J.L. Goolsby
J.L.- You’re absolutely right. Why do we allow the media to direct our emotions and feelings? I think Mayor Asmundson was practicing the Bing Crosby Method of Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative, Latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-Between. The boys were not heroes, but how does a community cope with such a unnecessary loss? Personally, I’d prefer to see righteous outrage than sheeplike acquisence and apathy. We are gas dependent. The reason that pipeline is there is because we use gas, jet fuel, and oil products. It would be nice, if people used this as an incentive to decrease dependence on fossil fuels. My personal opinion is that the price of petroleum products should be tripled or quadrupled to reflect the environmental and personal damage which our dependence has caused. Thanks for the rants. –Bham Man
If you have something on your chest you can hatemail me about it at cdamitio@yahoo.com. Let me know what you hate, what you see in our society that has you worried, and what’s on your mind. Until next time remember….WHAT ISN’T WORTH SAYING OR DOING ISN’T WORTH THINKING ABOUT.
