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Torrens’ ‘diatribe’ was ‘disappointing’

Val Torrens’ diatribe against the Building Industry Association of Washington demonstrates a disappointing lack of journalistic skills and integrity. Even those writing “opinion” columns for newspapers typically try to ensure their facts are correct.

Perhaps before opining on issues which she clearly has no understanding, Torrens could have made the effort to call BIAW. It would have saved her some of the embarrassment of putting into print inaccurate statements.

Torrens claims BIAW has raised more than $3.5 million to pay for ads supporting Dino Rossi.

Wrong. BIAW has raised less than $2 million. Torrens could have easily verified this fact had she bothered to check the reports BIAW has filed with the Public Disclosure Commission.

Torrens claims BIAW is “hiding” behind political action committees and “the individual contributors are not listed so the public has no way of knowing who gave money” to those PACs.

Wrong. BIAW’s PACs are all registered with the PDC, and had Torrens taken the time to perform even a cursory check of the PDC’s Web site, she would have seen all the reports that have been filed by BIAW’s PACs listing all contributors.

Anyone wanting to know anything about any of BIAW’s political activities can hop online and find an answer to every question. Of course, the key is the verb “want.” Torrens clearly had no desire to know the truth because it was too inconvenient. She would have had to think of a different angle to try to vilify Rossi supporters like BIAW.

As for the lawsuit that has been filed against BIAW, just because Gregoire supporters allege BIAW is hiding contributors, does not make it so. But for a writer as blatantly biased and unconcerned with the whole “fair and balanced” concept as Torrens, the lines between wildly unsubstantiated allegations and truth are meaningless. BIAW was accused of the same supposed campaign financed law violations eleven years ago, and the PDC ruled in BIAW’s favor. The allegations against BIAW were baseless then and they are baseless now; they are nothing more than political harassment for daring to support Dino Rossi.

Shame on Val Torrens. Sleazy journalism is nothing new, but Torrens’ column takes things to a whole new level. Torrens and this newspaper owe readers more.

Erin Shannon

BIAW public relations director

Olympia

Adele was right on global warming

Most of the global warming panic is based on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. These reports are based on computer climate models, and that’s the problem. They models don’t work. In a presentation and paper to the American Physical Society, 50,000 members, Lord Monckton showed proof that the models overstated ocean rise from projected Greenland ice melt by 1,000 percent, overstated global temperature rise from CO2 by more than nine times, guessed at the effects of cloud cover, CO2 and water vapor and overstated the projected rise between 1984 and 1998 by about 1 degree Celsius. When back-tested, the models fail to predict 22 major climate events from the past, including the Little Ice Age, 1650-1715. The IPCC models also did not predict the solar events that are causing the last 10 years of global cooling. The result of the presentation? The IPCC chairman, Dr. Pachauri, says they have to revisit the models. This would be the third time. The American Physical Society removed their support of CO2 causing global warming.

If you Google “global cooling,” the Daily Tech Web site has many reports on the actual, measured results concerning global warming. Facts presented include: global temperatures peaked in 1998 and have been falling for 10 years. Ocean levels and temperatures have been falling for three to four years. Global temperature changes match solar sun spot cycles 79 percent and changes in CO2 less than 19 percent.

A 17-year study found no increase in Greenland ice melt. The ice caps on both poles are expanding. After years of testing, no CO2 causing atmosphere warming has been detected.

These are measured facts, not theories. Feel free to prove NASA and many others wrong. My thanks to Adele Ferguson for pointing this out.

Mac Dotson

Silverdale

Decision ’08

If you’re unhappy and you know it vote for change

Just how happy are you?

Happy with ever-increasing Property Taxes?

Happy paying gas and road taxes but living with traffic congestion?

Happy having to put up with ferry service that is unreliable and expensive?

Happy with government agencies that make new rules every day to take away your property and your individual rights?

Happy with schools that spend more time on political correctness than on basic education?

Happy seeing businesses leave because they can not operate profitably because of regulation and taxes?

Happy that our kids have to leave Kitsap to get a job?

Happy that average people cannot afford to buy a home in the county?

Happy that the only employment sector that gets automatic pay raises is government employees?

Happy with a government that talked so much about having to cut services to balance the budget and then gave themselves a nice pay raise?

If you are happy, then go ahead and elect the same people back to office.

If you are not happy with the way things are going, why not elect someone new?

The choice is yours because the people you elect work for you.

Jack Hamilton

Silverdale