Seattle Press on Line - Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Jan 03, 2002 -- Falkenbury Weighs In on Monorail Bridge

To the Editor:

Your article on the crossing of the Lake Washington Ship Canal ("The ETC has a bridge (or two) to sell," December 20 issue) was very interesting. The issue of where and how to cross the canal is one of the most intriguing of the issues facing the Seattle Monorail Project as it puts together a plan to submit to the voters next November.

In my opinion, the bridge must be 125 feet above the water. The final design has not been decided. Here are several reasons for a high bridge crossing:

--Most importantly, the bridge should be constructed so that it is virtually impossible for a ship to hit it. A high bridge nearly eliminates this disastrous possibility.

--A lower bridge, which would necessitate an opening mechanism, would throw off our train schedule horribly. There would inevitably be more openings than we plan on; and because the canal is a federal waterway, there are relatively few times that you can forbid passage by ships.

--The amount of money saved by building a lower bridge is relatively small. And, if the lower bridge is ever struck by a ship, those savings disappear in a second.

Forget about tunneling. For various reasons besides the huge costs, this is simply not an option.

Make no mistake: a high bridge crossing is big. If you want an idea of how high it would be, take a look the next time the Ballard Bridge opens. The 'top' of the roadway, when it is fully opened, is about 125 feet above the water. That is where the new crossing would be.

But the view from way up there would be breathtaking--Cascades, Olympics, the Locks and the Aurora Bridge would be available to the eye of the traveler.

Remember, the decision hasn't been made and the above are my thoughts on the subject (and they could change with new information). Please visit our Web site at www.elevated.org for more information and an opportunity to comment on the plan and planning.

Dick Falkenbury

Other Port Facilities can Generate Income

To the Editor:

I read with interest that the Port of Seattle commission saw fit to permit personal yachts to berth at the Fishermen's Terminal moorage. I personally think it made a poor decision. The Port says it will realize additional income that would otherwise be lost. A few thousand dollars total. Amazing!

Someone should investigate the fact that the same Port of Seattle, run by the same commissioners, has a 35-acre car storage area at Pier 91 that is completely EMPTY. There has not been an import car at that facility for a month. In the public interest, the Port should explain fully why that facility came to be so devoid of import cars and trucks and what it proposes to do to realize income from that very expensive piece of property. I am sure that income from this facility should run into the millions.

R. W. Dickensheets

Locke's Transportation Proposal Robs Already Poor Taxpayers

To the Editor:

As we head toward the new legislative session, I'm still trying to figure out whether Governor Locke's recently released transportation proposal is a public works project, a congestion relief package, or neither. It will cost taxpayers at least $8.5 billion, whatever it is.

The governor said immediate passage of his transportation package was imperative because it would create 20,000 jobs. He said voters would support the tax increases because of our severe economic downturn. Maybe he forgot that these are the same people personally experiencing the downturn.

Money paid to employees who are hired to fulfill state contracts comes from taxpayers. These are the very people struggling to make ends meet. So, under Locke's plan, government will take money from the pockets of one person or business to redistribute it to another. This flies in the face of our free-market system which, left mostly unfettered, can turn our current recession into prosperity again.

We can solve this problem. For starters, of the 41 cents total we pay per gallon in taxes, 18.4 percent goes to the federal government. The feds say they only need three or so of those cents to accomplish their obligations toward us. Let's ask for the rest back, then the governor wouldn't even need to contemplate raising taxes.

A normally sensible CEO recently told me I need to be open-minded about the governor's proposal. That might make sense in some circumstances, but in this case, it requires my mind be open at both ends.

Lynn Harsh
executive director, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

Hancock Swallows Right-wing Psuedotheology

To the Editor:

I read with horrified fascination the recent letter you published by Roger Hancock (letters, December 20 issue). He fails to understand both the complexity of returning totalitarian nations to true democracy and the sources of ascendant subversive totalism in our own midst. The "area control" philosophy so popular in Seattle now is a policy outgrowth of the war on drugs which failed so spectacularly at achieving its stated goals while succeeding so infamously at achieving so many barbaric hidden goals. The constitutionally subversive initiatives of the right-wing war on terrorism are an outgrowth of the bureaucratic and legalistic foundations set by the war on drugs. The continuity in policy is traceable from murdering criminal father to murdering criminal son. George Herbert Walker Bush on the cover of the New York Times two years ago, right arm extended at the proper Hitlerian angle: "Mah son is gonna finish what I started."

Before September 11, Bush had a very low voter approval rating. How did he raise it? By provoking his good buddy Osama to retaliate against us for Bush's illegal conduct of a secret oil war in Afghanistan. [America was working] to secure oil pipeline corridors to get oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to consumer markets in China and India. We are doing this in the usual stupid way that the right wing has always done it: Hit people over the head and steal their stuff. I have heard very little talk in the media about death tolls in the Afghan refugee and civilian population in the mainstream U.S. and British media. Funny thing; both countries have neo-colonial interests in that nation. Godless forbid that the tide of public opinion should turn against their irresponsible, self-centered, absolutist desires. There is also very little discussion of that 2:30 a.m. bombing in Kabul the morning the planes hit us. My sources say that it was done by the so-called Northern Alliance with the usual covert CIA/military support, of course.

We are at a crucial point in a transition that this country should have made 30 years ago, incorporating cheap appropriate solutions to complex, almost insoluble problems. One gets from one place to another by thinking objectively, not letting reactionary, degenerate, murdering emotions rule one's consciousness. One does not get to solutions when one allows oneself to be ruled by a false, right-wing, psuedotheology based on Old Testament vengeance. Both Bush and Osama grew out of the same unholy ground; from Hell they were spawned and to Hell they will go. Only telling one side of the story will no get us to an accurate perception of the whole picture. One day I was confronted by a man from the criminal intelligence division of the Seattle Police department who quoted from a file some idiot had prepared on me: all kinds of wrong labels and disinformation. I told him, "I am an American and a Christian."

Lyle Courtsal

Writers' Corner Showcases Great Authors

To the Editor:

I've read the short stories by Patricia J. Geister that you've published this year (Seattle Press online edition, March 22 and April 5, 2001). She's good! I was so appreciative of her style that I called her to ask if she had anything else in print. Yes, she does.

Say Good Night to the Moon, by Patricia J. Geister can be bought at any of the big chain bookstores for $17.10. Also, it can be bought for a better price at www.1stbooks.com/bookview/5311.

Today I ordered two more copies from Amazon.com to send to friends. Listen to what one satisfied reader had to say about this great book:

"A wonderful and recommended read! August 19, 2001 by Julie from Everett, WA:
Say Good Night to the Moon is a wonderful story (and true one) of Pat and her relationship with her mother Nellie, and so many other people in both of their lives. Both women have such gumption, especially Pat when dealing with her mother's health care. While parts of the book are set in Seattle, the author has a southern sense of writing. It mixes humor and seriousness in a real life way. Reading it was like sitting down to lunch with Pat and listening to her story personally. And what a fantastic lunch it was!"

I couldn't have said it better. Pat, you're great! You go, girl! I want to read more of your books!

Mae Wakumski

Editor's note: Patricia Geister's stories "Larry and the Red-Eyed Devil" and "Revenge in a Jar" can still be found in our online archives. Click on the Writers' Corner section in the table of contents, or do a search for the name Geister in our handy search engine.

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