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May 20, 2010 Opinions |
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Editorial
This We Think...
BP Oil Spill
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is taking shape to be one the world’s worst disasters in terms of what it is doing to our environment, wildlife and economy — right up there with Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. Obviously BP should be held liable for the clean up costs of the oil spill as well as cover the economic losses to the Gulf Coast and fishing industry, and compensate the families of the 11 who were killed in the explosions on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. But if accusations made by a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon explosions, Mike Williams, chief electronics technician, are true, BP should also face criminal charges.
Williams said the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon had been building for weeks in a series of mishaps. He said that there were a number of procedures for how to deal with the problems that were happening, but those procedures were not followed. There have been accusations of BP cutting corners to reduce costs because they were overbudget, and overlooking safety problems to speed up production time.
We’re not talking about a minor malfunction or an oops, we dropped the ball here — we’re talking about the destruction of an entire ecosystem and several endangered species, the demise of the Florida seafood industry, and the loss of 11 lives.
Our justice system prosecutes people for negligent crimes daily. If BP is found to be negligent, why should this situation be any different?
—Letters To The Editor—
Triathlon Was A Huge Success
To The Record-Courier:
The YMCA mini triathlon May 8 was a wonderful community competition involving all ages and athletic abilities. My hat's off to YMCA Fitness/ Aquatics Director Laurie Wittich, YMCA staff, and volunteers who successfully pulled off a very complicated event. It was the first triathlon in Baker City in over 10 years.
Here are some of the highlights. Surprisingly young finishers earning triathlete status were Emma Hardesty, age 7, brother Dallas Hardesty, age 8, and Jack Cahill, age 8; and at the other end of the age range was finisher 77-year-old Chick Fillebrown.
Overall winner with a total time of 30:39 was David Henry, 25. It was again a bit of a surprise to see 2nd and 3rd places overall going to a couple of very young men, Dominic Clay, 14, and Travis Smith, 15.
Travis Smith also distinguished himself with the fastest swim time finishing 400 yards in 4:30, narrowly beating Andrew Bryan, 45, by one second.
The fastest biker was David Henry, who finished 6 miles in 15:30. Fastest runner was 53-year-old Dan Lee, who covered the one-mile course in 6:37.
The overall fastest-woman title went to Elishah Thomas, 33, who crossed the finish line in 37:57. She was also fastest woman in the bike leg, 20:35. Fastest woman swimmer was Annie Martin, 18, 4:59. And fastest woman runner was Stacy Bingham, 33, 6:53.
The YMCA's mini triathlon was a huge success with many participants eager for the next one. What do you say, Laurie? A second, perhaps longer triathlon this summer?
Gary Dielman
Baker City
Sweet Notions vs. Bittersweet Memories
To The Record-Courier:
Ah yes, a combination of sorts as one would say, but I would like to challenge any one if not all of you to try something new and different other than the same oh same. But don’t think for a moment of time that rhubarb and strawberry pie, and cobblers are old-time favorites that have been passed down through the years of various generations. Kind of like the penny issue vs. our candy.
When we went on our vacation we bought a recipe of the Early American Cookbook to see some of the old time favorites of our early settlers and some we will probably try. They say it is for the modern kitchen, compared to what they cooked with back then. Makes me wonder when all that will be abolished for the sake of history of our forefathers.
A wonderful friend of ours, many of you out there know this individual, recently gave me a generous portion of rhubarb and I was asking myself what to do with it. I didn’t know what to make, not to mention strawberry rhubarb is one of my favorites, so I did some brainstorming and came up with a combination of a rhubarb/huckleberry pie. I have hopes my huckleberry pickers are plentiful this year and I will make contact later in the summer for my summer pickings.
Recipe:
Use about two cups of rhubarb cut and about three cups of huckleberries, maybe a little less, and three cups of sugar. Put this in pan. I used about a half cup of cornstarch mixed with some water to thicken the mixture. Tapioca can be used as well and cook on the stove to tenderize the rhubarb then I added a pinch of rum (optional), pinch of nutmeg, pinch of cloves, dab of vanilla, lemon juice, plus half of a cup of applesauce with cinnamon.
I used regular ready Betty Crocker rolled up pie crust and then I used a pizza pan with the holes and covered with foil, poking holes in the foil to let hot air cook the pie and make the pie nicely done and not over done on the crust. Cookie sheets can be used but this works best for me. Most recipes call for 350 degrees, just watch while baking. Cooking on the stove first helps to cut down the oven time for baking and making a messy clean up afterward. Enjoy the delightful flavor of something different for a new kind of flare in pie baking.
Who likes to clean up their own messes anyway? Kind of like the recent issues of the oil spill that is taking place in our wonderful world of politics these days and not to mention our weather and the economy. Now the gas prices are going up again and could sky rocket. Another thing worth mentioning is remember the days when candy used to be a penny and no taxing on top of that little number? The old saying goes “A penny earned is a penny saved or now well spent.” Now I wonder with the new penny tax on gummy bears if what we get at the Dollar Tree stores will be a dollar plus one cent. Can’t win for loosing I guess. Candy in most cases went from five cents to whatever these days. They are making up for the penny issues of the good old days and using that to tax our gummy bears. No lost cause there with that in the back of our mind and having to identify the difference of what will be for taxing our candy and spoiling our sweet tooth.
Coffee Anyone?
Brenda Dickison
Baker City, Ore.
If You Love This Country, Let’s Hear From You
To The Record-Courier:
Well here I go again, spouting off, sure wish more of you would do the same! If you really love this country say so, because it’s in deep trouble! This includes you too Pastors. It’s time to wake up the body of Christ to the fight on hand and much bigger fight coming. God is expecting warfare from us both in spirit and voice. Maybe you don’t realize God could turn his face from us.
We as believers must stand for the truth and speak against all untruths no matter who is offended. I personally am mad as hell when the truth is attacked but lies after lies are embraced by the ignorant and even our own government. Want some examples? Ignore the laws of the Constitution, the foundation this country was born on. Silence the Christian values and prayer wherever you can. Distort the Founding Fathers lives and their values!
I have to say frankly, without hesitation, if you still cannot see this; your head must be buried in the sand, leaving the biggest part a target! Pastors, I’ve talked to the editor of the Baker City Herald some time back about putting the “Devotion” page back into the paper if he was shown you had an interest. To date no one has, why not? Do you know, all faiths pray, even the ungodly ones? Could it be the one that is under attack is the only one with the truth and it must be stopped in order for the lie to survive?
Obama stated, “You could tell a person’s character by the people he surrounds himself with. Does this apply to him also, because he sure has surrounded himself with socialist and anti-American agendas? He promises changes, but I don’t think most Americans thought changes meant destroying the values and dignity that this country has stood for since its birth! That brave lady in Arizona should be given a medal for standing up to the federal government and Obama for her State’s rights for illegal immigration stoppage. Laws have been on the books for years without any action. Obama I think had plans to legalize them all for their vote! She may have messed up some of Obama’s plans.
I believe Obama has what is called, “Vision of Grandeur,” he sees himself as a person who always knows best, what is best, cannot make mistakes, so there’s nothing to apologize for, Hitler was the same way. American has been blessed by God because of its obedience to His Word, now we have the ignorant who want to take this from us. Don’t let them! Most unbelievers, “sinners” the Bible calls them, refuse to come to God out of fear of giving something up, not knowing without Him they can’t! We know we have home grown terrorists, we didn’t know we also have home grown idiots like the the mayor of New York who said the SUV bomber wasn’t a Tea Party member.
Question? Why is gas 26 cents higher in Baker then in La Grande?
Richard Fox
Baker City, Ore.
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