In the past, we have declined to print comments from those who did not identify themselves.
But we've seen that most blogs do allow aliases and "anonymous" entries.
So, from now on, we welcome all comments. Use any name, including your own.
Bring 'em on.
Al & Ruth
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Understanding the Tea Party Movement
Intrigued by the strength of the Tea Party in Whatcom County, which drew 800 members to Mount Baker Theater on Saturday evening, Feb. 20 – I passed the word that I wanted to talk to someone in the leadership.
Never mind that I am a self-described progressive – who walked our precinct for Obama and put up signs for Laurie, Carl and Dan in the last election.
When I was a freshman at a conservative church college – this was 1948 when Harry Truman was running for reelection – the head of the history and political science department fired two young professors for attending a CIO political action
meeting. Their defense was that the union activity was a significant development in politics that behooved them, as political scientists and teachers, to understand the movement. (Truman, you may not remember, defeated Dewey in a giant upset largely because of union support.)
So, it is in this vein that I bring you this report, without distortion, of conversations with Randy Cross, who introduced himself on the phone as the president of the Whatcom Tea Party.
He said first that he and his cohorts are against the progressive aspects of the Republican and Democrat parties, “We need fiscal responsibility and states rights – bad things happen when good people don't stand up.”
He quoted the Tea Party's mission statement:
To reverse deficit spending and the concentration of power in central government in order to preserve states rights and individual liberty for future generations.
Cross emphasized that the focus of Tea Party is on “progressive” trends, defined by Dick Armey as, “Making people do what they would not do voluntarily."
Armey heads Freedom Works, the umbrella support organization for Tea Parties nationally, which boasts 800 thousand members.
“George Bush pushed some progressive ideas...John McCain is concerned about global warming and is for cap and trade,” Cross said.
I have read and heard comments that Tea Party members, most of whom are white, are aroused because Obama is black. After hearing Cross, I think their objection is to “change,” the big word in the presidential campaign.
“Progressives want to tell people how to live, they want to redistribute the fruits of my labor,” Cross said.
He quoted Thomas Jefferson, “When the government fears the people you have liberty, when the people fear the government, you have tyranny.” (If that seems absurd to you in the 21st century, talk the man who has a yellow, “Land Grab” sign on his property.)
Cross has been self-employed most of his life. First, he operated a business that distributed Amish art through 300 sales representatives who covered 27 trade shows a year. When imports destroyed that business, he conceived and developed Laser Point of Origin. That business, inscribing metal – think plaques – has been operating for 15 years. While the native art distribution was national, his present business gets most of its sales in Whatcom County.
For a dinner last Saturday night, honoring people who support military families, Cross and his wife donated 13 inscribed “Oscars.” For a refinery that wanted to recognize six thousand special workers during a turn-around, he put together a gift bag that included a t-shirt and laser inscribed water bottle.
A visitor to his studio is struck by a giant poster of Einstein and a row of books about cosmology. Cross said Stephen Hawking's “A Brief History of Time” changed his life. He pulled out a worn and highlighted copy that he said he's read 14 times. He has read more than 150 books on physics that he considers equal to a college degree.
Pointing to a small poster on the chronology of “The Big Bang,” Cross said, “Then God stepped back and let us run the universe.”
He attributes his political awareness and insight to his eight-year subscription to the Weekly Standard magazine.
Cross traces the formation of the Whatcom County Tea Party movement to February 2008, when friends decided to meet at the Five Columns restaurant. They expected five people. Forty showed up.
Last April 15, four thousand gathered across from Bellis Fair. Another demonstration is planned for this year's tax day.
National Republicans he approves of are Tom Coburn, Eric Canter, Mike Pense, Lamar Alexander, Lynn Cheney and Sara Palin.
In Whatcom County he approves of Pete Kremen and Sam Crawford. “Barbara Brenner--70 percent,” he said.
Locally, he is concerned about infringement on property rights, “our absolute right,” and the proposed WTA levy that he considers unnecessary – “WTA doesn't need that many empty buses running around.”
Cross does not see the Tea Party movement becoming a third party. “The intent is to reform Republicans from inside. Our role is to inform and educate, not endorse – let the voters decide.”
While he thinks there are members of the Whatcom Tea Party who are qualified for public office, he says that he has no interest in running.
ak
Never mind that I am a self-described progressive – who walked our precinct for Obama and put up signs for Laurie, Carl and Dan in the last election.
When I was a freshman at a conservative church college – this was 1948 when Harry Truman was running for reelection – the head of the history and political science department fired two young professors for attending a CIO political action
meeting. Their defense was that the union activity was a significant development in politics that behooved them, as political scientists and teachers, to understand the movement. (Truman, you may not remember, defeated Dewey in a giant upset largely because of union support.)So, it is in this vein that I bring you this report, without distortion, of conversations with Randy Cross, who introduced himself on the phone as the president of the Whatcom Tea Party.
He said first that he and his cohorts are against the progressive aspects of the Republican and Democrat parties, “We need fiscal responsibility and states rights – bad things happen when good people don't stand up.”
He quoted the Tea Party's mission statement:
To reverse deficit spending and the concentration of power in central government in order to preserve states rights and individual liberty for future generations.
Cross emphasized that the focus of Tea Party is on “progressive” trends, defined by Dick Armey as, “Making people do what they would not do voluntarily."
Armey heads Freedom Works, the umbrella support organization for Tea Parties nationally, which boasts 800 thousand members.
“George Bush pushed some progressive ideas...John McCain is concerned about global warming and is for cap and trade,” Cross said.
I have read and heard comments that Tea Party members, most of whom are white, are aroused because Obama is black. After hearing Cross, I think their objection is to “change,” the big word in the presidential campaign.
“Progressives want to tell people how to live, they want to redistribute the fruits of my labor,” Cross said.
He quoted Thomas Jefferson, “When the government fears the people you have liberty, when the people fear the government, you have tyranny.” (If that seems absurd to you in the 21st century, talk the man who has a yellow, “Land Grab” sign on his property.)
Cross has been self-employed most of his life. First, he operated a business that distributed Amish art through 300 sales representatives who covered 27 trade shows a year. When imports destroyed that business, he conceived and developed Laser Point of Origin. That business, inscribing metal – think plaques – has been operating for 15 years. While the native art distribution was national, his present business gets most of its sales in Whatcom County.
For a dinner last Saturday night, honoring people who support military families, Cross and his wife donated 13 inscribed “Oscars.” For a refinery that wanted to recognize six thousand special workers during a turn-around, he put together a gift bag that included a t-shirt and laser inscribed water bottle.
A visitor to his studio is struck by a giant poster of Einstein and a row of books about cosmology. Cross said Stephen Hawking's “A Brief History of Time” changed his life. He pulled out a worn and highlighted copy that he said he's read 14 times. He has read more than 150 books on physics that he considers equal to a college degree.
Pointing to a small poster on the chronology of “The Big Bang,” Cross said, “Then God stepped back and let us run the universe.”
He attributes his political awareness and insight to his eight-year subscription to the Weekly Standard magazine.
Cross traces the formation of the Whatcom County Tea Party movement to February 2008, when friends decided to meet at the Five Columns restaurant. They expected five people. Forty showed up.
Last April 15, four thousand gathered across from Bellis Fair. Another demonstration is planned for this year's tax day.
National Republicans he approves of are Tom Coburn, Eric Canter, Mike Pense, Lamar Alexander, Lynn Cheney and Sara Palin.
In Whatcom County he approves of Pete Kremen and Sam Crawford. “Barbara Brenner--70 percent,” he said.
Locally, he is concerned about infringement on property rights, “our absolute right,” and the proposed WTA levy that he considers unnecessary – “WTA doesn't need that many empty buses running around.”
Cross does not see the Tea Party movement becoming a third party. “The intent is to reform Republicans from inside. Our role is to inform and educate, not endorse – let the voters decide.”
While he thinks there are members of the Whatcom Tea Party who are qualified for public office, he says that he has no interest in running.
ak
Monday, February 15, 2010
2010 Olympic Shuttle Service - update
You can get there from here.
Birch Bay Square management, Bob's Burger and Brew and the 2010 World Games Souvenirs and Museum have joined to offer shuttle service from the Square to the SkyTrain King George station, said Mike Harward, general manager of the Party Shuttle at the Square.
Vans take U.S. passengers to the border at the truck crossing, where they disembark for customs and immigration processing. They walk across the border to vans waiting on the B.C. side that drop passengers off at the King George station for SkyTrain with service to Vancouver. The trip from the Square to Vancouver takes a little over an hour, Harward said.
Currently, vans depart hourly from Birch Bay Square from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., then every 2-3 hours or on request. Return runs depart from the SkyTrain station at 10 p.m., 12 a.m., 2 a.m., and 3:30 a.m.This schedule may expand if demand increases. Make reservations online at www.BirchBaySquare.com.
"Over the last three days, 45-50 passengers rode the shuttle," said Harward on February 15.
The fare is $50 per person for the round trip, including secured parking in a lot west of the Jack in a Box restaurant. This space is outside the paved parking area of the Square.
Parking in the Square is intended for shoppers and will be closely monitored, said Greg Murphy, owner of 2010 World Games Souvenirs and Museum store in the Square.
For more information, call 360-303-9272 or check the Web site. Be sure to check before you go, as the details are frequently updated.
rah; edited 2/15/10
Birch Bay Square management, Bob's Burger and Brew and the 2010 World Games Souvenirs and Museum have joined to offer shuttle service from the Square to the SkyTrain King George station, said Mike Harward, general manager of the Party Shuttle at the Square.
Vans take U.S. passengers to the border at the truck crossing, where they disembark for customs and immigration processing. They walk across the border to vans waiting on the B.C. side that drop passengers off at the King George station for SkyTrain with service to Vancouver. The trip from the Square to Vancouver takes a little over an hour, Harward said.
Currently, vans depart hourly from Birch Bay Square from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., then every 2-3 hours or on request. Return runs depart from the SkyTrain station at 10 p.m., 12 a.m., 2 a.m., and 3:30 a.m.This schedule may expand if demand increases. Make reservations online at www.BirchBaySquare.com.
"Over the last three days, 45-50 passengers rode the shuttle," said Harward on February 15.
The fare is $50 per person for the round trip, including secured parking in a lot west of the Jack in a Box restaurant. This space is outside the paved parking area of the Square.
Photo by Al Krause
Greg Murphy and partner work the 2010 World Games Souvenirs and Museum booth
at Birch Bay's Polar Bear Plunge, on a windy Jan. 1, 2010
For more information, call 360-303-9272 or check the Web site. Be sure to check before you go, as the details are frequently updated.
rah; edited 2/15/10
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Disaster preparedness
Conventional emergency preparedness wisdom suggests every individual should be prepared to provide for his or her personal needs for at least 72 hours following a disaster situation.
Common sense, based on recent catastrophic events inHaiti
Common sense, based on recent catastrophic events in
The American Red Cross provides the following advice:
Emergencies can strike at any time. Prepare yourself for the worst with our Emergency Preparedness Kit. The kit is packed with useful items to aid an adult for 3 days during the event of an emergency. Kit includes survival type items such as food bars, water, blanket and a first aid kit. All of this is packed in a heavy duty and portable 420 Denier nylon red backpack (11" x 17" x 5").
Contents:
- Battery Powered Flashlight (batteries included)
- Battery Powered Radio (batteries included)
- Emergency Blanket
- Food Bars (4,800 calories total)
- Work Gloves (one pair)
- 12-Hour Light Sticks (3)
- Moist Towelettes (6)
- Breathing Mask (NIOSH-N95)
- Plastic Sheeting (10' x 10')
- Rain Poncho
- Personal First Aid Kit
- Roll of Duct Tape
- Water (2 quarts)
- Water Container (2.5 gallon)
- Whistle
- First Aid and Emergency Preparedness Booklet
An Emergency Preparedness Kit (Adult, 3-day) Part #321279
costs $49.95
to order, or assemble your own.
Please comment on your preparedness philosophy.
Please comment on your preparedness philosophy.
rah
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Willing Hands Create a Strong Birch Bay Chamber
New Years Eve, with the Ring of Fire and Hope, and New Years Day, with the Polar Bear Plunge, are among the best times in Birch Bay
Thursday evening was clear enough for the flares to be seen burning around the bay, from Point Whitehorn in the south to Birch Point in the north, with concentrations at Birch Bay Village, Cottonwood and the Central Reach by the big condos. Each year more flares burn – by 2020 we can expect an honored celebration with many folks coming from around Whatcom County and Lower BC. Reservations for lodging and parties will be required weeks in advance.
The Ring was conceived by Mike Kent, who provides free flares to participants. Fifty years from now, will the ceremonies honor him for initiating a Northwest institution?
While many can agree with the meaning of the Ring of Hope, the Plunge has several meanings – from courageous daring to wild insanity. However, few would deny it is a popular spectacle.
Registration – free of charge – was scheduled for 9:30, in advance of the 12 o'clock plunge. People started showing up at the Chamber's Visitor Information Center
At last year's events, Lisa Guthrie, president of the Chamber, carried most of the load. When asked by the board to serve another year, Lisa, who is busy as Director of Development for Homestead Northwest, said she would need more help from all board members. In essence, she invoked the late John Heywood, English playwright and poet (1497-1580), who said, “Many hands make light work.” And all hands turned out:
Marty Stauffer, Vice President, Oltman Insurance
Molly Ernst, Secretary, The Northern Light newspaper
Janell Kortlever, Treasurer, Neighborhood Mortgage
Bob Moffatt, Visitor Information Center Birch Bay
Patty White, Director, Tide Catcher Resort
Ruth Lauman, Director, NW Cascades.com
Chandra Dunn, Director, Birch Bay Preserve, TT/NACO
Mike Kent, Director, Windemere Real Estate
Applause for all hands!
Please comment, start a dialogue, be a critic, join the applause - or not.
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