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Sen. Hannon, dean of the R caucus, mistakenly thinks this is an important bill -- stands up before the gavel hits and changes his vote to "nay" and serves notice of possible reconsideration. Sen. Brown, our leader, moves for immediate consideration. Hannon asks if this requires a suspension of the rules? Judy Hall, our chief parliamentarian, advises the chair it does not. A five-minute time-out ensues -- D's and R's are trying to figure out what the hell to do next. Play resumes, Hannon moves that the motion for immediate consideration be laid on the table. Brown moves that the motion to lay on the table be set at a time certain (in six minutes). Another parliamentary inquiry from Hannon: Can Brown's motion take precedence over his motion? Hall tells the chair: No, only the motions "recess" and "adjourn" take precedence over tabling. The tabling motion passes 15-13, Hannon calls for adjournment. My head hurt. The strategy and tacticallity of all this was both electric and stimulating -- OUCH, my mind keeps going back to those poor rhesus monkeys at OHSU. This blow-by-blow description underscores the part played by staff in the legislative process, and we have some real stars in the capitol. Hall, the secretary of the Senate, and Ramona Kenady, the chief clerk of the House, are the presidents of their respective national organizations. In fact, when the Palestinians were forming a new government, they asked Kenady to set up their parliamentary governmental structure. We are honored to have these two savvy women leading us through the blue bayou where Robert's Rules meet Mason's Manual. Without these folks we wouldn't have a prayer. Praise God and pass the ammunition. Did someone mention prayer? It looks like we're going to vote on putting the Ten Commandments up in schools. This debate has scared up a rash of jokes: -- Portland liberals have negotiated down from 10 to eight commandments and two strong suggestions, according to Rep. Gary Hanson. -- Moses comes down from the mountain to visit the Israelites. "I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is I negotiated God down from 15 to 10 commandments -- the bad news is adultery's still in." I heard this from a good Mormon. -- One of my right-wing, tax-revolt visitors left me a framed Ten Commandments. The frame apparently was a little smaller than the printed page, so the last one read: "Thou shalt not covet--" Covet what? That's a little broad isn't it? I asked for a legal opinion from Cindy Hunt, our legislative counsel who works mostly with school-related legislation. Her reply: Although it is impossible to predict how a court would rule on a constitutional challenge to this bill, it is our opinion that, if the court finds that the display has a secular purpose, the display would be permissible under the U.S. Constitution. Under the Oregon Constitution, however, we believe that the bill is unconstitutional. Every day we begin Senate session with a prayer from someone, a guest or a fellow legislator. (One recent legislator gave a tedious invocation that prompted one wag to comment, "The bigger the sinner, the longer the prayer.") I'm uncomfortable with the mix of religion and politics, probably because of being raised Irish Catholic -- so I'm a militant agnostic. Like the bumper sticker says, "I don't know, AND YOU DON'T EITHER!" But a recent prayer got to me, from the Rev. Voss-Rothmeier: "May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships so that you will live deep in your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people and the earth so that you will work for justice, equality and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer so you will reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world so you will do the things which others say cannot be done." Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove is minority whip in the Senate and represents portions of Lane and Douglas counties in Senate District 22. He can be reached in Salem at (503) 986-1722 or e-mail corcoran.sen@state.or.us Back to Top
"The store" includes, but is not limited to, clean air, clean water, public lands, healthful working conditions, endangered species, the world's climate, the meaning of words, the oceans, public agency missions, national rights to protect ecosystems and communities, federal judgeships rooted in the public interest, and the collection of taxes from the rich and the corporately organized. Of course, Dubya is not acting alone to relieve us of these components of our world. Whether it's Bush or other takers who value money over everything else, what can we do during the next four years to help change direction? I only have hunches based on watching and learning what seems to work, but here are a few: 1. Go beyond being an information sponge; work for change. You don't need to know the latest scientific information on dioxin to work on PVC plastic phase-outs. You don't need to know every wildlife species harmed by off-road vehicle driving to promote respect for public lands. Every corporate scientist doesn't need to agree that global warming is happening before we challenge oil addiction and its pushers. Those who endlessly call for "sound science" are really calling for piles of dead bodies, and no pile will be high enough for them. The last thing the "sound science" people respect is warnings from scientific evidence. Once unnecessary harms seem possible, start working to implement better alternatives. 2. Don't whine and don't beg; change the rules. We're not going to get anywhere asking Bush or other corporate kings to deliver on some kind of compassion, but we can work to change the rules (laws and public opinion, for example) so that compassion (or fairness, or ecological sanity) is required and barriers to greed become formidable. 3. Figure out what needs to happen, and make it happen with grace, integrity and attractiveness. Just because a needed change is large doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it. On the other hand, tilting unstrategically at windmills is of marginal value, even if it feels good. If an existing organization is ambitious and organized (and there are lots of these), pitch in and make it more ambitious and organized. If you have to be the one initially gathering people together, work in such a manner that capable people will join you. 4. Work with people who have the capability and will to accomplish significant change. Capability doesn't require formal education, money or initial political power. It does require strategic thinking, motivation, clarity, accuracy and willingness to follow through for years on concrete activities (in contrast to talking about following through). 5. Work for what is wise; change always hurts somebody's profits. Don't be paralyzed by someone saying they won't make the money they had planned on making if they can't harm others or the environment. Any time change occurs, someone will not make the money they did, but there are more ways than one to make a good living. A wildlife biologist once described a flashing light system that slowed down drivers during mule deer migrations, reducing the annual highway slaughter. A local auto repair shop owner complained this hurt his business, since fewer collisions were taking place. Displaced workers programs are essential. Heating our planet's climate (or polluting, or building in a wetland, or keeping workers out of unions, or crashing into deer) to protect business as usual, is not essential. 6. Contribute to all wise change. Efforts to ensure good working conditions, for instance, should be supportive of others' environmental protection campaigns, and vice versa. Efforts to bring corporate activities under democratic control should further the work of bringing public lands under public interest control, and vice-versa. Right now, participatory democracy, ecological wisdom and care, and respectful community institutions are all at stake. We need to promote strategies for all of these in all our work. The last thing we need to do is sacrifice one for the other. And ... remember to be grateful and have fun. Mary O'Brien has worked as a public interest scientist for the past 20 years. Her new book, Making Better Environmental Decisions: An Alternative to Risk Assessment, has been published by The MIT Press. She can be reached at mob@efn.org
Back to Top America's top televangelist was livid. "Do you know what a dyke is?" the tape shows him asking the studio congregation and devoted listeners at home. His angry face contorts in the camera's eye. "A dyke," he sputters, "is the male partner in a lesbian relationship." Hello, Pat? Get a clue. There is no male partner in a lesbian relationship.
Butch-femme identity used to drive me nuts. I had dumped heterosexuality to transcend gender role stereotypes, not reenact them. And here were all these lesbians preoccupied with who was what. They considered me femme because I picked butchy girlfriends, had pierced ears and cried at movies. But being butch was my goal. I needed to rebel against years of social admonition to be more lady-like. I figured being a big butch dyke was about the most unlady-like thing I could do. I didn't wear make up, dresses or heels, like the high femmes sometimes did. I bought my clothes in the men's department. Even underwear. I tried everything. I took up martial arts, worked in a warehouse and changed flat tires. I firmed up my handshake and learned to speak in a lower register. I shouldered 50-pound dog food bags at the grocery store, just to show I could do it. I even rehearsed tough, non-girlish, body language and mannerisms until they became second nature. And I developed a distinct swagger. But I never did attain butch status.
At our Jewish wedding, both brides wore pants and we both smashed the glass. Around our house we divvy up the butch chores. I am the bug butch, called into action whenever a bee or spider needs to be escorted outside. My wife is the power tool butch. I'm the driving butch on road trips, mostly because I'm too nervous as a passenger and she can actually sleep while I drive. She's the electronic butch in charge of the computer, stereo and VCR -- I glaze over in the digital world. On the dance floor, I lead slow dancing and she leads a mean cha cha. We've both been called "sir," which we hate only slightly more than being called "ma'am." And we're OK about sharing the femme stuff. I'm the household social secretary and gift wrapper, she's the kitchen organizer and scrapbook keeper. We take turns cooking and we each do our own laundry. We both swoon over k.d. lang. So what's the big deal? Gender ambiguity doesn't hurt anyone. Can't we dump the pink/blue dichotomy and start everyone out with lavender blankets? Or rainbow ones? Then we wouldn't be stuck with the limited choice of either defying or complying with our gender assignment. We could all just grow up being who we are. Sally Sheklow has been a part of the Eugene community since 1972 and is a member of the WYMPROV! comedy troupe. Her column, which began at EW, also runs in several other newspapers around the country. Back to Top It's time for the frog to jump out of the hot water and get involved or get cooked. What should concern every human being, I believe, is this totally calloused approach to our need for more energy. Wind power is cost-effective now. According to thorough studies across the nation by the American Wind Energy Association and the Pacific Northwest Laboratories, the wind potential in the United States is enough to exceed our current electrical consumption by up to 250 percent, and at a net cost of about 2 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour. Large-scale solar would be cost-effective as well. Offshore wind and wave generators could solve our needs until the sun burns out someday. Jacques Cousteau said it best when he said, "We should rely primarily on the renewable energy sources, and use the finite energy sources just to bridge the gaps." Tim O'Shea
The fact that this food could feed all of the hungry people in the country (USDA, 1997), doesn't make the unsanitary practice of "dumpster diving" any more defensible. Not only is looking through another person's garbage an ugly habit, but it is also illegal! That's right, these so-called "harmless dumpster divers" are engaging in criminal activities by trespassing and stealing! Luckily some businesses that help waste our country's 100 billion pounds of food have the common sense to lock their dumpsters, insuring that their waste is actually wasted. I'd like to make an obvious suggestion to the lawmakers in this town: Mandate that dumpsters be locked to guarantee that the food people throw away does not feed anyone, and ends up in the landfill where it belongs! Maybe local businesses can pick up on the trend of pouring bleach on the food they waste. That way the good citizens of this town can rest assured that any criminal tempted by free, edible food will pay with their lives. Lucas Spiegel
Since the U.S. is the world's No. 1 polluter, No. 1 arms dealer, No. 1 military occupier, No. 1 warmonger, No. 1 owner of weapons of mass destruction, No. 1 drug user, No. 1 economic dominator, No. 1 stimulator of human rights abuses, No. 1 jailer of human beings and No. 1 spymaster, it only makes sense that we have a sick/evil president, a sick/evil Supreme Court and a sick/evil Congress. When an honest history of Y2K is written, Y2K will be forever after be known as the year the U.S. presidential election was stolen by a medieval criminal and his buddies/relatives. Bob Saxton
Bush's first act, withdrawing funds for international family planning organizations, belied his claims of "compassionate conservatism" and should increase population growth and poverty worldwide. His rejection of standards for arsenic in drinking water will keep cancer rates high. His defiance of the Kyoto agreement angered our allies and enemies alike, and put any possible slowing of climate change on hold. Reneging on his campaign pledge to reduce CO2 emissions will have a similar effect. Foregoing federal action to alleviate the energy crisis in the West has helped line the pockets of his oil pals at the expense of working families. Bush's foreign policy efforts have re-united Arab nations against us, contributed to the escalation of violence in the Middle East and brought us back to Cold War levels of tension with China. While the economy continues in recession, Bush's tax cuts will further enrich millionaires and make it impossible to reduce our national debt. Meanwhile, his prattling about democracy at the Quebec summit with 30,000 protesters being tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets outside was made even more embarrassing by the fact that he himself was not elected, but rather elevated to power by five Supreme Court conservatives. Democracy? These first 100 days have offered a clear portrait of the Bush agenda. The only real question is can we survive another 100 like them? Ken Zimmerman
HSCO has seen many important programs suffer from budget cuts for the past 10 years. Lack of adequate funding, inflation, lagging wages, and a growing and aging population have challenged our efforts to protect human services for those most in need. Ballot Measure 88, which raised federal deductibility on state taxes from $3,000 to $5,000, strips $159 million from the 2001-2003 state general fund budget. Ironically, 60 percent of citizens who are at the lowest income levels will receive only about 9 percent of Measure 88's tax cut, while the wealthiest 31 percent will enjoy over 80 percent of the Measure's tax break. These lower-income citizens use food stamps to help them augment their low-income jobs and rely on the Oregon Health Plan to meet critical health care needs. These are people with disabilities who want to live at home, parents who want to take care of their medically fragile children, and others who need some assistance in order to stabilize their lives. That's why HSCO has joined with many other organizations to support the Campaign for Fairness. This campaign asks Oregonians to contact their legislators with the following message: Fund Human Services. Use the kicker if you have to. Don't let our communities, our families and our children take the brunt of a tax cut that essentially takes from the most needy Oregonians and gives to those who are the least in need. Please, take time to let your legislators know that Oregonians care about each other. Patrick Green & Jacqueline Zimmer
I thought about cursing you in return with Christopher Cross's "Cruel to be Kind" but that idea just seems to add to the junk upstairs -- and turnabout is no answer to these things it appears. Kyle Christopher-Courier
Erik Muller
Cell phones and transmission towers are a fact of life. We are asking our elected officials to ensure that, when needed, a transmission tower is built away from homes and schools, and that cities and counties coordinate their efforts so that coverage is not redundant. Please let your commissioners know that counties can do something, and that rural Lane County needs their help. bobby.green@co.lane.or.us, anna.morrison@co.lane.or.us, cindy.weeldreyer@co.lane.or.us, peter.sorenson@co.lane.or.us, and bill.dwyer@co.lane.or.us. Craig Harbison
They are all tragic stories for those involved. All of them were young men sent to war by old men with grand designs. They all went believing they were fighting for their country and Democracy. All of them suffered from war psychosis and temporary insanity. Their victims are gone forever while they came back scarred for life emotionally, physically and spiritually. Why then are some considered heroes while others wind up in front of war crimes tribunals? How can we justify our demands for Serbian people to come to terms with their past while we want to put Vietnam behind us? How can we expect the new Yugoslav government to hand over their young men as well as their leaders like Milosevic to the Hague when we are unwilling to slap the handcuffs on the Kissingers and the Kerrys? War is hell wherever it happens. As Americans we are not immune to its madness. The only antidote is to work against militarism, denounce greed that creates war and teach our children peace. Pete Mandrapa
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