The PDC (Public Disclosure Commission) has rejected the anti-anti-fluoride attempt to stifle the voices of the just plain anti-fluoride people in Port Angeles.
This is good news, both for public health and for freedom of speech.
Well...Except for the fact that, of course, the PDN has disabled the commenting function on their online version of the article.
Which is bad news, of a sort, both for public health and freedom of speech. Their kneejerk need to try to protect the Fluoride Four is both pathetic and futile.
So, if there are any further thoughts you have on the whole fluoride issue, or this PDC decision, or the PDN's continuing campaign of wrapping the Fluoride Four in a protective bubble, feel free to share them here.
This is another proof that the ruling elite will do everything they can to keep any power away from the other 99%. They have a dentist from Oregon file a complaint against a grass roots group in Port Angeles. How about we write a few letters to the editor of his home town paper and let his patients know what a dick he is. He is Kurt Ferre, treasurer of the Portland Oregon based pro fluoride American Fluoridation Society. Portland is a progressive city and they have a paper that will support the grass roots efforts of exposing this Ferre Fraud.
ReplyDeletePortland Tribune and Community Newspapers
6605 SE Lake Rd
Portland Observer
4747 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
OregonLive.Com
620 SW 5th Ave #300
Opens at 9:00 AM
Thank you! Great idea!
DeleteAs I've said before, no one owes you a billboard or a soapbox, and no one has to listen to you. Not the PDN, not city council, not anyone. There has been no attempt to stifle you; you simply do not understand your rights and their limitations.
ReplyDeleteYou may have said it before, but you are still very wrong.
DeleteWe live in a democracy, which we tout to the rest of the world at every opportunity. You know, freedom. Free Speech. Protected Free Speech, and a lot more. There are laws protecting our rights to express ourselves in this country. Maybe you're writing from some hole in the wall run by the Taliban?
But, there's more to it, than that. The city, county, state a federal governments create all kinds of programs, and spend millions every year, trying to get the public to be more engaged in the processes of governance.
Except here, where the very few have lost sight of anything and anybody but themselves, and their self interest.
They are to be pitied. Like you.
Actually, we live in a representative democracy, not a proper democracy. Learn something about the country you live in before you go spouting off, 'k?
DeleteYep, you can tell Gaul Potleaf is back in town. He was out for a week which is why they actually had some decent government reporting while Rob Ollikainen was covering. Now we're back to the usual garbage with comments disabled.
ReplyDeleteEfforts to shut down public discussion of issues of importance are always wrong. I know that Eloise is a bit of a zealot and a hypocrite, but she's certainly entitled to advocate for her beliefs. Shame on all those (including members of our own city council) who try to stifle opposing voices. Oh, and shame on the PDN for doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI won't look at PDN...and I'm not embarassed to ask, what exactly happened?
ReplyDeleteAnd, as we see, the Fluoride Four are dragging their feet, running out the clock, so the election the petitioners asked for won't effect them. Representing the will of the people?
ReplyDeleteThey don't seem to remember that the leadership of any group of people is supposed to represent ALL the members of that group. Even those they might disagree with.
A leader of a country represents the country, not the political party they may be a member of. And so it is in a city, or a town.
We have been, and continue to be told certain people don't want this or that discussed. And, we seem to just say "Okay, I'll just do as you say, and sit down, and shut up".
Look what we get.
Leaders "lead" they don't follow. I think you're saying they are supposed to represent their constituents and failed to do so in you humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteYour vocabulary needs some polish (not the country but the shine).
Wrong, leaders usually find a crowd and get out in front of it. They go where the people are, soon or late. Of course this cannot be true for the city council of Port Angeles. The Fluoride Four answer only to the elite including the dentist and medical mafia. That is why the form of government must be changed to be more representative of the voters.
Delete"Your vocabulary needs some polish (not the country but the shine)." Anon 6:00 PM, What are you talking about???
DeleteI can't figure out what you're trying to say, but I'm responding to the post CK made. You?
Maybe you are too young to know any better, are mentally impaired, suffering from too many years of drug and/or alcohol abuse, or just one of the self proclaimed "conservatives" (that don't actually know what conservative doctrine is). But, if you know anything about politics, you would know better than to make a silly comment such as "Leaders "lead" they don't follow."
If you are capable of the big words involved, think about what the word "representative" means. As in a person is a "public representative". Or, maybe you have heard a politician called a "public servant".
Still with me? The vocabulary not too difficult for you?
So, maybe you have heard of "public hearings", "town hall meetings", "advisory votes", "surveys" and "polls". "Leaders" representing people in cities, counties, states and federal offices use these as a way to learn what the people they REPRESENT, want them to do.
Does any of this ring any bells for you?
Maybe you have been awake enough to hear a politician say "I will listen to you", or "My door will always be open to you", and similar phases? Maybe you know that state and federal level politicians have paid staff, whose primary job is to help constituents communicate their views to their representatives?
"Leaders" are constantly trying to find out what "the people" are concerned about, so that they can appear to be doing their job, can most effectively speak in public and sound responsive, and most importantly, appear to represent the most people's views, so that they get elected/re-elected.
Now, a possibly more simple way to understand this might be as follows: If a "leader" does what THEY want, and don't do what the PEOPLE want, the PEOPLE will not vote for them, and they won't be a "leader".
Do I need to explain the rest?
Wow, you sound like a doofus. Our representatives aren't our "leaders". They are supposed to represent us, not "lead us".
DeleteClearly you were the D- student in Civics.
Closed-minded officials, being short of mental abilities, do not lead in any sense of the word. They give credence to their own pre-set opinion alone, and therefore only issue orders.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, we have the ferries here that connect us to Canada.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we have the Peninsula Daily News here, which, despite its name, is really just a medium to transmit our local advertising dollars to Canada.
The ferries offer literal escape from this place, and are therefore useful.
The PDN, on the other hand, offers only an attempted escape from reality itself, which does no one any good.
Don't buy the BS.
Actually if you were honest with yourself it took great fortitude to continue fluoridation in spite of the villagers with their pitch forks and torches filling the council chambers.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been easy to vote with the loud.
But you probably won't see it that way.
"Fortitude" to poison us with a chemical waste product, which has no academic support whatsoever for its claimed benefit?
DeleteThe few dentists that favor it are not chemical engineers, and cannot even tell you what the substance actually is, much less what it does to living organisms.
Sounds more like criminal negligence, eh?
Your comment is invalid.
@ Anon 7:56 Yep! You're right. Most Americans and others that believe in democracy will not agree with you.
DeletePerhaps you believe government needs to ignore what it's people say, and just do what a few people with a lot of money tell government to do so that they benefit.
Or, maybe you believe in dictatorships. Authoritarian regimes where the "leaders" do what ever they want, regardless of what the people in the country say.
Sounds like it, to me.
ANON07.16.16 @ 5:10 - So you don't want a leader you want a representative of your wishes.
DeleteFollow the thread whereby people were asking for leaders and I was pointing out you don't want leaders you want representatives. That was the basis of your country "taxation without representation" not "taxation without leaders"
You are all wound way to tight. And that is why normal negotiations and compromise don't work for you...and you struggle through life.
@ Anon 7:08 You say: "You are all wound way to tight. And that is why normal negotiations and compromise don't work for you...and you struggle through life."
DeleteUmm, you know nothing about me, and have no way of knowing whether I "struggle through life". In fact, I don't. I often say I can't believe how lucky I am to have the life I live.
But you feel free to attempt to insult, based upon what, exactly?
Yes, many of us openly insult public figures who do and say stupid things. Sure, we deride proposals that clearly are yet another of the many scams that Port Angeles attracts, year after year. As we should.
Look where supporting anti-American "leaders" and stupid proposals has gotten us? And you think WE are the problem, for objecting to it all?
Anon10:38 I know you are the problem. Your talk is cheap. You are a fortunate son - then run! Stand a post and make a decision. Show us how easy it is to achieve compromise and consensus in the city.
DeleteI don't deride you I laugh at Monday morning quarterbacks that aren't in the game.
@Anon 6:44 Again, you feel it necessary to attempt to insult me with "I know you are the problem." And still, you don't know who I am, what I do, and what role in this community I play. That is embarrassing.
DeleteObviously the simple fact that "leadership" in a community takes different forms, is something beyond your ability to understand. That's okay. People are on different rungs of the intellectual ladder, and we can't hold that against those that just operate on very simple terms.
So, laugh on, if you think that accomplishes anything, and I'll continue to help my community.
Hey Anon 6:44 You do know that football teams review video of their games to see where they made mistakes, or could learn to run better plays? And, it isn't just the quarterbacks talking over what they did in the game, it is the whole team.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if they do that on Mondays, though.