Blaine Confidential

The RAVEN AND SALMON WOMAN totem in front of the Alaska Packers Association cannery lodge at Semiahmoo County Park--carved by Lummi artist Morris Alexander--reminds us that a native burial ground is nearby, that was disturbed when Blaine attempted to expand its wastewater treatment plant on the spit that was subsequently relocated to Marine Park as the result of a federal lawsuit. A little over a hundred years ago, APA employees confiscated Lummi reefnet sites at Legoe Bay on Lummi Island and at Point Roberts by threatening Lummi fishermen and destroying their villages. Today, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians--that includes Lummi Nation--have announced their intention to usher in a new era of cooperation based on restoring the Salish Sea, after two centuries of environmental destruction by European immigrants has left the chinook and orcas on the brink of extinction. It is time to make amends. (I sent this to The Northern Light as a letter to the editor , but it was rejected ...

Reciprocity in the Age of Extinction by WA Poet Laureate Rena Priest (Lummi) Since ancient times the practice of reciprocation has been a powerful cultural force throughout the world. It is only very recently that, as a global species, we have stopped practicing equal give-and-take relationships with the planet’s nonhuman communities and adopted a one-way relationship of extraction to serve the short-sighted interests of a select few. I believe the shift was caused by our turning away from localized nature-based beliefs to adopt homogenous, patriarchal religions, which established a hierarchy that places men at the top with all other life on the planet subjected to their whims and existing for their exclusive use and benefit.

Poverty is not an accident; it is systemized debt created by the aristocracy. The privatization of public assets begun under the Reagan administration (1980s) is systemized theft. Independent and sustainable lifeways are anathema to this system. Read more .

The delay in FEMA funds promised to Whatcom County puts flooded homes in Everson on the buyout list or elevate list on hold. Until the US Forest Service stops clearcutting the national forest, these floods will continue. The Nooksack river once went straight through lower Ferndale to the Strait of Georgia; when that route was blocked by the Ferndale dike, flood waters backed up at Everson. Maybe we need to open it up again.

It is perhaps the pinnacle of irony that as we contemplate adjudicating water rights to the Nooksack river amidst plummeting salmon populations that a large withdrawal via Whatcom Public Utility District 1 pumps Nooksack water to the Cherry Point oil refineries to dilute their toxic discharge into the Salish Sea. Is it any wonder that Dan Purdy noted in his county executive candidate interview that he previously worked for BP Cherry Point and is opposed to adjudication despite its support from the state legislature, county government, Whatcom PUD, the City of Bellingham, Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe?

It has been challenging to follow all the twists and turns of the new jail debate, and I have changed my mind twice as new information comes to light. While the current facilities could be fixed for considerably less money than building a new one, the current facilities lack adequate space for behavioral health.  One interesting factor is that federal closure of mental health institutions over the last 40 years put these people on the street and now we have to care for them locally. Combined with the state backlog on competency hearings, this means that we are required to hold them indefinitely.  Building a facility to house those with severe mental health problems will help to reduce crime and get these people treatment. When we've completed that, we will know how large a jail is needed. A new criminal justice complex will be expensive to operate, likely requiring additional tax increases.  At this point, the jail proponents are asking us to trust public officials by app...

Dan Purdy notes his work with youth, apparently* at First Reformed Church in Lynden. One of the FRC missions  is Light of the World Prayer Center , noted in my article about fellow spiritual warrior Tony Larson , who ran for county executive in 2019.  One of the core values of the apostolic center is “the salvation of the lost” to convert indigenous peoples, especially Native Americans, in order to transform our society. Modeled after Tim Taylor’s  Operation Rolling Thunder , the Whatcom prayer center engages in ‘ spiritual warfare ’–a concept made famous by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. *I googled Dan and FRC came up.

Dan Purdy cites his experience working with BP and Freeport-McMoran as qualifications for Whatcom County executive.  In 2011, federal prosecutors sought to revoke BP's criminal probation that had been on and off since 2001, stating BP is a "recidivist offender and repeated violator of environmental laws and regulations."  In 2012, BP Cherry Point was  fined  $81,500 by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries for willfully violating workplace safety and health rules.  One thing we learned watching the movie  Deepwater Horizon  is that British Petroleum (BP) puts greed ahead of concerns for human life and the environment. That greed led to BP paying $4.5 billion in fines and penalties in the largest criminal resolution in US history. Freeport-McMoran copper and gold mining is known for its decimation of Indigenous peoples in West Papua, killed and tortured by the Indonesian military for opposing the vast environmental destruction.

The Whatcom County Food System Plan , while of noble intent, lacks traction. Like many bureaucratic speak plans, it has pages of aspirations such as fresh and healthy food for all but no way to get there. Food banks, which have received millions from local governments, are a vital part of access to food but they are not a cure all. Much of the food at food banks is high sodium or contains high fructose corn syrup. Frozen fish and meat donated by grocery stores is often rotten.  The cure for widespread hunger is to reinstate the EBT "food stamp" funds cut by Congress earlier this year. This is not only the most direct method of achieving fresh and healthy food for all; it is also a way of ensuring people who have special dietary needs can get the foods they need. Food banks should be viewed as one part of a system to distribute food, which works well for fruits and vegetables, cereals, nuts and dairy products. 

The passing of Tokitae in captivity is emblematic of American Indian children also taken from their families by white people. Both evoke memories of earlier times when all humans worshiped nature.  I believe it is the intergenerational trauma of the black plague experienced by European immigrants that made them the nature-destroying maniacs and anti-democratic religious fanatics they are today. 

Whatcom Democrats chair Andrew Reding explains why the new jail proposal should be rejected .