Recent Articles

Find your way - and please use it

We read that 35 US soldiers were “hit” in Iraq yesterday. When our Bellingham Herald does print war casualties on the front page, the choice of words seeks to minimize the tragedy. Hit. Did someone pu

We read that 35 US soldiers were “hit” in Iraq yesterday. When our Bellingham Herald does print war casualties on the front page, the choice of words seeks to minimize the tragedy. Hit. Did someone pu

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We read that 35 US soldiers were "hit" in Iraq yesterday. When our Bellingham Herald does print war casualties on the front page, the choice of words seeks to minimize the tragedy. Hit. Did someone punch them? Did their bus or truck get 'hit' by another vehicle? Did they receive bumps and bruises? Did medics put bandages on their cuts? Anyone have a headache the next day?

Today we learn one of the 35 has died. Hmmm. Maybe some or many of the others are near death. Are any more near death? The Army is not saying. Nor are American press reporters asking very hard. Nor are the American people asking. Perhaps we would rather not know. Easier to go about our daily work and play without being told every day of the gruesome details of our young men and women being maimed and disfigured for life. In a war carried on under false pretenses. In a country that was never a danger to us.

"Hit". How simply absurd. How obscene. What is worse than the government not releasing information is our local press acting as the propaganda arm of the Defense Department to Bellingham readers. Maybe the word came down from Gannett headquarters to find soft easy words for life-threatening and body-ripping wounds. Hit.

During Vietnam, the Army lied a lot. It took us 30 years - and counting - to slowly learn the truth. The lies were justified as necessary for National Security. Then-Defense Secretary McNamara now openly admits to and apologizes for the lies. He deeply regrets his role in the deceit of us American patriots. Back then I read the Herald and they dutifully printed positive stories about Vietnam and ignored or distorted reports about local efforts to stop the war. Nothing changed. Nothing learned.

Our kids are being maimed for life by the thousands in Iraq. Physically and mentally and emotionally. Over 2,000 have been evacuated for serious wounds - and another 7,000 have been evacuated for other reasons. Like going nuts or self-inflicted wounds. For what?

But - my point today is not to argue against the war. It is to suggest to you, gentle reader, that if you consider yourself a decent American then you should insist on full reporting of the casualties. The ONLY reason for denying you the truth is you might change your mind about supporting the war or might actually oppose it. The other reasons - privacy of soldiers, encouraging the enemy, etc. - are bogus. They do not want us to know. We might - as voting citizens - vote them out of office.

How do you insist? Write the Herald. Write your congressman. Write, phone or email whoever is involved. I post here and this gets read by 300 people a day. I am one citizen. No more. My opinion is not worth any more than yours. But this is my way of speaking out. Find your way - and please use it.

Find your way - and please use it

By John ServaisOn Jan 08, 2004

We read that 35 US soldiers were “hit” in Iraq yesterday. When our Bellingham Herald does print war casualties on the front page, the choice of words seeks to minimize the tragedy. Hit. Did someone pu

Did you feel the earthquake at 4:11 pm

By John ServaisOn Jan 06, 2004

this afternoon? A small 2.7 intensity quake under the southern part of Chuckanut Mountain, about 4 miles south of Fairhaven, jolted us. You can check the earthquake site for details.

Does FoxNews lie and distort the news

By John ServaisOn Jan 03, 2004

to fit their conservative agenda? Yes. On a daily basis. Here is a nice example.

“Dean Attack on Kerry Farm Vote Backfires” reads the headline of a Jan 2 article suggesting Dean has accused Ker

The dismantling of civil liberties

By John ServaisOn Dec 28, 2003

I see the Bham Herald has taken to printing US war dead on the back pages. Maybe some directive came down from Gannett headquarters telling all 80-some Gannettoids to print this awkward bad news in th

Check the War and Peace links

By John ServaisOn Dec 18, 2003

May I urge you, gentle reader and patriotic American, to check the War and Peace website links on the right. Look for articles that may give you more facts and information on what our country is doing

The capture of Saddam Hussein today

By John ServaisOn Dec 14, 2003

is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for Iraq and also for the United States.

If your reaction to reading those words is “dahhh” then pause a moment and consider what you thin

How much did George W know before 9/11

By John ServaisOn Dec 03, 2003

about the impending attack? Enough to have stopped the attack? The widow of a fellow killed in the attack has refused the $1 million from the government and is suing George W and his advisors. And she

Obviously a no-win situation

By John ServaisOn Dec 02, 2003

I urge you to visit the independent websites that report on events in Iraq. Independent being those not owned by US corporate media, such as CNN, Fox, MSNbc, etc. The independent War and Peace sites a

Their Blood is on Bush’s Hands

By John ServaisOn Nov 24, 2003

Here is a link to an excellent Flash-style animation about soldiers dying in Iraq.

Lack of environmental enforcement

By John ServaisOn Nov 23, 2003

of some local developers is plain to see in this photo essay at the Lake Whatcom website. The WA Dept of Ecology has enforcement folks tooling around in their spiffy pickups, but no enforcement for th

Suspicious activity

By John ServaisOn Nov 22, 2003

Today’s Herald has a human interest story about Greg Grant who hired sniper John Muhammad for yard chores a year ago - just a couple weeks before his rampage of killing. This past week, Greg testified

New weekly newspaper - Northwest Independent

By John ServaisOn Nov 20, 2003

  • is out and on racks throughout Bellingham and Whatcom County. Pick it up. Give it a chance. It is actually going to try and report local news - city hall and the court house and the issues that affe

The Port has reversed itself

By John ServaisOn Nov 18, 2003

and has hired a private fueling firm for the airport, according to today’s Bham Herald. Remember a couple years ago, summer of 2001, the port terminated Alpha Aviation, saying the Port would run fueli

An analysis of the election results

By John ServaisOn Nov 17, 2003

by Paul de Armond is posted. Paul examines the returns and gives his perspective on what the numbers mean. His is not your conventional approach.

Paul runs the Public Good website and is active

A fun ‘Dean for President’ event

By John ServaisOn Nov 15, 2003

It was all fun, very brief, and is how big things get started. Of course they enjoyed the cake after, even without Dean.

The Northwest Independent News,

By John ServaisOn Nov 14, 2003

a weekly newspaper based in Bellingham, will start publication next Thursday, Nov 20. It will strive to report local news. Amazing. It will be a tabloid and be distributed throughout Whatcom County. Y

We salute our veterans today.

By John ServaisOn Nov 11, 2003

Their intentions were to serve our country and they did as they were told and went where they were sent. Our presidents do not always use them correctly, sometimes using them for adventures that have

Election News

By John ServaisOn Nov 08, 2003

Brett Bonner sent out his concession statement last night, shortly after the auditor posted the final 7,000+ absentee ballots. It shows class by the fellow who waged a positive and forthright campaign

Levys should be for extra programs

By John ServaisOn Nov 06, 2003

Shame on the Bellingham Weekly. Page 3 of today’s paper has “The Slate” with photographs taken at Mark Asmundson’s victory party on Tuesday night. They asked Mark supporters what Brett would do

It is really hard to replace an incumbent

By John ServaisOn Nov 05, 2003

Those not sure just vote for the person in office, preferring a sure thing to an unknown. I give my respect to those who took the challenge and ran against entrenched incumbents. Especially Brett Bonn