This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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The anti-meat folks are at it again with their bogus letters to the editor.
I noted back in June that we’d received yet another fake letter from the fictitious “Travis Marshall,” who supposedly lives in Tacoma. It implored readers not to eat hot dogs for the Fourth of July, but to seek non-meat alternatives.
The latest food-related holiday – Thanksgiving – provides fodder for another fake letter from “Travis,” this one noting that the 300 million turkeys that will be eaten on Thursday “have nothing to give thanks for.” I was unaware that turkeys understand the concept of giving thanks.
How do I know the letter’s fake? A Google search shows the identical letter has already appeared in the Eugene (Ore.) Weekly – written by “Edward Newland, Eugene.” And if I call the contact phone number that “Travis” provides (877-632-8688), asking for verification, this is what happens: A woman answers. When I say I’m calling from The News Tribune to verify a letter to the editor from Travis Marshall, she says he’s not home but will call me back. Sure enough, a little while later, someone identifying himself as Travis Marshall calls to verify.
Oh, and the Tacoma address on the letter? It’s an apartment building. The manager says no one by the name of Travis Marshall lives there.
Here’s the phony letter:
This Thanksgiving, President Bush will pardon a turkey as a promotional gimmick for the turkey industry. This Thanksgiving, each of us has the same power to pardon a turkey, but as an act of kindness, compassion, and giving thanks for life, health, and happiness.
The 300 million turkeys abused and slaughtered in the U.S. each year have nothing to give thanks for. They breathe toxic fumes in crowded sheds. Their beaks and toes are severed. At the slaughter-house, workers cut their throats, and dump them into boiling water, sometimes still conscious.
The turkeys do get their revenge. Their flesh is laced with cholesterol and saturated fats that elevate the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Careful adherence to government warning labels is re-quired to avoid food poisoning. Any day now, they will be bringing us bird flu.
This Thanksgiving, I won’t be reading the warning labels or calling the Poultry Hot Line. I won’t be staying awake at night wondering how that turkey lived and died. I will be joining millions of other Americans in observing this joyful family holiday with nonviolent delicious products of the harvest: vegetables, fruits, and grains.
My holiday meal may include a mock 'turkey' made from soy, lentil or nut roast, stuffed squash, corn chowder or chestnut soup, candied yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin or pecan pie, and carrot cake. An internet search on Vegetarian Thanksgiving will provide more mail-order items and recipes than I’ll ever need.
Sincerely,
Travis Marshall
Tacoma, WA 98407
877-632-8688
