|
NEWS
BRIEFS : Back To Earth
| Healing Naturally | Sustainable
Biz | Eugene Loves Bali | Groups
sue BLM | Labor Notes |
News:
Pecker Checkers Christian right, mayor, R-G fight transsexual
right to pee.
News:
Peace & Justice Week-long UO conference includes
rally, national speakers.
News:
Spread the Word To be a warrior for peace you need information
and tactics.
Happening
People: Laurance Headley
BACK
TO EARTH
Traveler's down from his tree, but
the Eugene Homeless Initiative's fight for a legal place to sleep
is just beginning.
Traveler, whose legal name is Gerald Edwin Czulewicz
Jr., descended from the downtown tree he's been sitting in for 19
days after cell phone negotiations with city housing and homeless
official Richie Weinman. By voluntarily giving up his perch Traveler
will be allowed to do community service for breaking park rules and
will avoid fines or jail time, according to Weinman.
A crowd of almost 40 of Traveler's supporters cheered
when a fire department ladder truck delivered him back to earth on
Thursday, Oct. 31. Among them was long-time homeless activist John
Hubbird, who said the tree-sit was in part responsible for the City
Council's decision to revive its Committee on Homelessness and Youth.
City Councilor Bonny Bettman will join the committee, which also includes
Councilors Pat Farr, Scott Meisner and Mayor Jim Torrey.
Weinman said that the committee will meet with homeless
youth who've been involved in protests against the city's ban on homeless
camping and will consider their demands when the council comes back
in session in January. Several councilors, including Bettman, say
they will visit Dignity Village, a homeless campground in Portland,
to see if a similar site is appropriate for Eugene.
Traveler's tree-sit "has directed attention to the
homeless in this community," said Weinman. "And there is going to
be a discussion." — James Johnston
| SLANT
So where do we go from
here? Progressives are asking the heavy questions following
this week's disappointing election results nationwide and locally.
This is no time for whining, wound-licking, leaving the country
or going underground. It is time for organizing, strategizing
and speaking out in public every chance we get. Peace, justice,
civil rights, education and social responsibility are not particularly
popular causes at the moment — but progress in these areas
remains within reach. As a nation and as a community we are
polarized by fear — we fear committing to higher taxes
in times of economic uncertainty, we hunker down in fear of
attack from enemies abroad and at home, we fear change of any
kind — and savvy politicians know how to tap into that
fear to sway opinion, and sway votes. Progress comes through
confronting fear with truth. As Alan Siporin says in his commentary
in this issue, let's get ourselves educated on the issues and
pass the truth around.
At least one big question broke through
the pre-Clinton buzz last week when Democratic loyalists waited
around for the past-prez to come to the campus. Where's Wyden?
Oregon's Democratic senator didn't appear at the Bradbury-Kulongoski
fund-raiser, nor did he do much for the ill-fated Bradbury candidacy
during the entire campaign. Local Democrats wondered how hard
he lobbied the national Democratic committees to break loose
the two or three million dollars Bradbury needed to compete
with Smith's many millions. Maybe the answer is on the cover
of the November issue of the Oregon State Bar Bulletin
magazine. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden are pictured together
under the caption "The Oregon Experiment. Two Senators, One
Vision."
SLANT includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing
notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately?
Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
|
HEALING
NATURALLY
Cold and flu season is upon us and many
may wonder how to treat those seasonal troubles naturally. This Saturday
from 1 to 4:30 pm at Unity Church, three natural care providers —
Rodney Schaffer, MD and homeopath, Virginia Oram, naturopath, and
Dina Harmon, acupuncturist — will discuss alternative cold and
flu treatments as a benefit for the Oregon Midwifery Council.
The OMC is raising funds to pay its lobbyist. Currently,
midwifery is under siege by the Oregon Medical Association lobby.
The intention of the OMA lobby, says homebirth midwife Colleen Forbes,
"is according to some, to outlaw midwifery altogether or according
to others, to make licensure mandatory."
Oregon is the only state that does not require homebirth
midwives to be licensed, though many choose to become licensed so
they can bill insurance companies and carry medication. Forbes, who
is licensed as a certified professional midwife, says those who choose
not to become licensed do so because they want to be free to practice
outside the protocols that are written by doctors, not other midwives.
"Many individual and traditional midwives feel the
sets of protocols are too binding, and they don't have the freedom
to look at the big picture" when caring for their clients, she says.
"Some of the best midwives are not licensed, and some
of the worst ones are," and even though some midwives do not wish
to be licensed, they still submit themselves to a peer review, going
over their cases with other midwives, adds Forbes.
Ultimately, the OMC seeks to continue to provide freedom
of birthing choice to women. The cost of the lecture/benefit is $10
per family. — Aria Seligmann
SUSTAINABLE
BIZ
The Northwest's largest Sustainable Business
Conference runs Nov. 7-10 at the UO. This year's symposium features
panels, workshops and speakers addressing "how to incorporate sustainable
practices into our daily business lives and simultaneously increase
profits, decrease ecological impacts and increase investment in the
social capital of our communities," according to organizers.
Keynote speakers and interactive panels in this sixth
annual conference will share perspectives on the connection between
economy, the ecological world and the human community. This year's
speakers include Hazel Henderson, Donna Kraisinger, Marjorie Kelly,
Judy Wicks and Greg Merten.
Admission to the conference is free, except for a
Thursday workshop. For more information and to register visit http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sbs
EUGENE
LOVES BALI
"The peace-loving, compassionate Balinese
people need our help." In the aftermath of Bali's Oct. 12 bombings,
this is the message sent by a group identified simply as "People in
Eugene who love Bali." They invite the public to participate in local
relief efforts from 4 to 6 pm Sunday, Nov. 10, at St. Mary's Episcopal
Parish Hall, corner of 13th and Pearl.
This benefit coincides with the Festival of Peace
and Unity in Bali, a special celebration of healing ceremonies and
a renewed commitment to peace. The Eugene benefit will include a peace
vigil, live Indonesian music and dancing, slides and videos, cultural
displays and handicrafts, and solicitation of donations. A benefit
dinner at the Ring of Fire (11th and Chambers) will follow. Please
call 344-6475 to make reservations.
If you are unable to attend these events, but would
still like to help, tax-deductible contributions can be made to: Bali
Hati c/o Max Lloyd, 401 El Caminitos, Carmel Valley, CA 93924.
For more information on the local program, contact
LiLi Weldon at 342-8231, or by e-mail at rayjw1955@yahoo.com
GROUPS
SUE BLM
Forest Guardians, Western Watersheds Project
and the Committee for the High Desert filed a lawsuit in late October
against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, alleging the agency has
violated the Clean Water Act by allowing livestock to pollute streams
and wetlands.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada
just days after the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, claims
the BLM has permitted cattle to foul the waters of several tributaries
of the Humboldt River, despite monitoring that shows gross violation
of state water quality standards.
The lawsuit alleges that the BLM has violated Section
313 of the Clean Water Act, which prohibits federal agencies from
actions that contribute to or cause violations of water quality standards.
"With this lawsuit, we aim to hold all public land
ranchers accountable for violations of the Clean Water Act and to
assert that any grazing that causes or contributes to water pollution
is illegal," said Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds
Project (www.westernwatersheds.org),underscoring
the scope of the lawsuit.
LABOR
NOTES
Members of the Oregon Public Employees Union
Local 503 voted unanimously Nov. 4 to ratify their first contract
with the Senior and Disabled Services Division of the Lane Council
of Governments (LCOG).
The three-year contract calls for a 3 percent cost
of living increase this year, wage increases for the next two years
tied to an inflation index, maintenance of current health benefits,
strong seniority and layoff language and improved grievance procedure.
"It's a good first contract," says Jack Hart, chair
of the union bargaining team, "because it gives us three years of
stability and continuity, something we haven't had here at LCOG."
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
EW reported in a news story Oct.
24 that Nick Urhausen opposes domestic partner benefits for gays and
lesbians. Urhausen says he opposes the insurance benefits for unmarried
heterosexuals, not gays and lesbians.
Back to Top
Pecker
Checkers
Christian
right, mayor, R-G fight transsexual right to pee.
BY
ALAN PITTMAN
A proposed ordinance that would allow transgender
people access to the restroom of their choice has the Christian right
up in arms.
"God does not make mistakes and it clearly states
in the Bible this type of behavior is from Satan," Debra Nelson wrote
the City Council, in one of scores of comments opposing the proposed
human rights ordinance.
Kimberley Hammons e-mailed that she was "disgusted"
that such a "really sick" ordinance was under consideration. "The
bottom line should be this ... men have a penis ... women have a vagina.
They all belong in their own bathrooms!!!!"
Mayor Jim Torrey threatened last month to veto the
proposed ordinance if it allows transgendered people to choose bathrooms
that "conflict with their congenital reproductive anatomy." Torrey
said he would allow only postoperative transvestites to use the bathrooms
of their choice. Documentation of the alteration/removal of sexual
organs would be "required prior to using such gender-specific facilities."
A Register-Guard editorial joined Torrey in
opposing transgendered restroom access. Passing the proposed transgendered
bathroom rights "would court a public backlash," the paper said.
Abe Silos warned that if the council passes the ordinance,
the city will face "the Judgement of God as described in Genesis."
"We do not need this abomination to God anywhere.
It gets pretty hot in hell, I understand," wrote Marie McCall.
"Please make Eugene a safe, clean and inviting place.
Not a dirty, sick and nasty one," wrote Betsy Schultz.
Many of the opponents comments focused on a fear the
ordinance would somehow allow transgendered men to enter restrooms
to sexually assault children.
"This opens the door for any pedophile or rapist to
enter seemingly under the guise of being 'a woman inside a man's body,'"
wrote Angela Miller. "I will not feel as if I can use a public restroom
again."
"If passed, all public bathrooms and dressing rooms
will become unsafe places for me and my children," Michal McBride
wrote.
"You are opening the door to exposing our children
to all sorts of sexual perversion," wrote Kathy Niemeyer.
But city staff said they could find no evidence that
sexual assaults increased in the 50 other cities and counties with
similar transgender rights ordinances. "We were unable to find any
reports of increased problems," city human rights staffer Greg Rikhoff
told councilors.
Any sexual assault and harassment would continue to
be illegal under the proposed ordinance, Rikhoff said. Federal statistics
show that 93 percent of juvenile sexual predators are family members
or friends and only 7 percent are strangers, he said.
"This has absolutely no basis in fact," Roey Thorpe,
director of Basic Rights Oregon, wrote of the pedophile fear. "Transgendered
people are far more likely to be harassed or physically assaulted
in restrooms than they are to be a threat themselves."
Transgender advocacy groups have documented two dozen
anti-transgender murders in the last year.
The idea of transgendered people using the ordinance
to assault others is a "completely unfounded irrational fear," wrote
Laura Phillips. That fear is "precisely on par with the fear of sharing
a swimming pool with people of other races," she said. "In a constitutional
democracy, it is not acceptable for government to indulge some people's
irrational prejudices (or personal preferences) at the expense of
others' legitimate, basic civil rights."
"I could very well get hurt, killed, etc., just using
the men's room because of my appearance," wrote Karla, who was born
a hermaphrodite with "intersexed" genitalia. She said she shouldn't
also fear being arrested because people mix politics with what "their
god" believes.
Jesse, a 32 year old who has scheduled a double mastectomy
to transition to a man, says doctors often require that transgendered
people live as the opposite sex for a time before they will operate.
Davis described using the restroom with bound breasts as "unbelievably
stressful."
Jesse said he found public testimony against transgendered
rights frightening. "Some of the speakers the other night seemed to
stop just short of suggesting a strip-search of anyone who doesn't
quite fit the gender norm and wants to use the bathroom. This is a
pre-op transperson's nightmare."
"I'm deathly afraid," said Billy/Barbara of using
the bathroom. He said transgendered people don't want to bother anyone
when they go to the bathroom. "What we're trying to do is go in and
not be noticed."
Billy/Barbara said about half of transgendered people
never have all the painful and expensive surgery that would be needed
to meet Torrey's test of who's allowed to go to the bathroom.
The transgendered rights ordinance does have support
from many in the local religious community. Rev. Dan Bryant of the
First Christian Church, Rabbi Yitzhak Husbands-Hankin of Temple Beth
Israel and eight other local religious leaders wrote in support. "We
wish to stress that they (opponents) only speak for some, and we speak
for many others."
"It is times like this that the dark side of Oregon
shows," wrote John Bonney. "Please don't bow to the bigots —
stand tall!
Back to Top
Peace
& Justice
Week-long
UO conference includes rally, national speakers.
A Veteran's Day peace rally
will kick off the week-long Peace, Justice
and Civil Liberties Conference next week. The rally will begin at
3:30 pm Monday, Nov. 11 at the Federal Building Plaza downtown. A
vigil will follow beginning at 4:30.
Speakers at the peace rally will include Bahati Ansari,
UO student Levi Strom, teacher Misa Joo and students from South Eugene
High School.
More than 30 organizations are sponsoring the second
annual conference at the UO this year. The Justice Not War Coalition
is expanding the conference to include more than a dozen national
speakers such as Medea Benjamin and Amy Goodman, as well as workshops,
art, music and a film festival. Major themes to be explored at the
educational event include the assault on civil liberties since 9/11,
militarism as foreign policy, grassroots movement building and media
bias in wartime.
From Monday through Saturday, Nov. 16, national speakers
will speak each evening at 7 pm in Columbia 150, located at 13th and
University on campus. Here are highlights:
* The opening talk Monday will be given by Leah Wells,
a teacher and peace education coordinator of the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation, followed by Burt Sachs, a Seattle engineer and member
of Voices in the Wilderness, a national organization opposed to economic
sanctions on Iraq. Both have recently visited Iraq and favor dialogue.
* Tuesday evening, Ryan Amundson, one of the relatives
of the 9/11 victims, will explain why his group Peaceful Tomorrows
is working for justice not vengeance. He will be followed by Global
Exchange organizer Kevin Danaher who will provide a keynote address
on unifying the anti-war movement.
* Wednesday, Barbara Lubin, director of the Middle
East Children's Alliance will talk about her recent visit to Iraq,
followed by Rania Masri, a human rights advocate and environmental
scientist who is the Arab Women's Solidarity Associations representative
to the United Nations.
* Thursday, Kevin Gray, civil libertarian and a former
military officer who is editor of Black News and author Rahul
Mahajan will discuss America's war on terrorism and the assault on
human rights since 9-11.
* Friday, Amy Goodman, the internationally known journalist
and producer of Democracy Now will provide a keynote address
on war, propaganda and media bias along with activist and draft counselor
Mario Africa.
* The Saturday program beginning at 10 am includes
more than a dozen free workshops in the EMU and the Banned Film Festival
in PLC 180 (14th and Kincaid). The evening panel at 7 pm in 150 Columbia
includes all of the conference themes. Addressing the civil liberties
theme will be investigative journalist Dave Lindorff who exposes Attorney
General John Ashcroft's Operation TIPS, a plan designed to produce
tens of thousands of domestic spies. Simona Sharoni, author and Evergreen
College professor, will talk about how to strengthen the movement
in America for peace in the Middle East. Ira Shorr, national organizer
with Physicians for Social Responsibility, will speak about the movement
opposing the nuclear arms race and do some comic improv. Dave Lippman,
aka George Shrub, the world's only singing CIA agent, will close the
evening program.
* Sunday, free programs unifying the conference themes
under the topic of "Where Do We Go From Here" begin in the EMU South
Dining Room at 12:30 pm with speakers Sharoni, Shorr and Lindorff
who will be joined at 1:30 pm by the Rev. Robert Jeffrey, pastor at
New Hope Baptist Church in Seattle. Beginning at 2 pm, they will join
the general public and community leaders in the World Café discussion
program. Like the entire conference, this closing event is open to
everyone regardless of political opinions and is designed to promote
dialogue between those whose opinions on some or all issues may be
sharply divided. At 4:30 pm, Rev. Jeffrey will provide a closing address.
The conference is free, except for the national speakers
each evening when general admission is $4 and $2 for students or low
income. Advance tickets for the entire conference are on sale for
$10 at Foolscap Books, 780 Blair Blvd.; Star Gate Books, 1374 Willamette;
Mother Kali's Books, 720 E. 13th; and Bookmine Books, 702 E. Main
in Cottage Grove. For more info or a detailed schedule, call 484-9167,
visit Eugene PeaceWorks at 454 Willamette or www.efn.org/~eugpeace/iraq.Schedules
will also be available at the UO EMU Cultural Forum, public libraries,
natural food stores and the bookstores above.
Back to Top
Spread
the Word
To
be a warrior for peace you need information and tactics.
BY
ALAN SIPORIN
EDITOR'S NOTE: Last week we ran
the comments of U.S. Senate candidate Bill Bradbury at a Eugene peace
rally on Saturday, Oct. 25. Below are the comments of Alan Siporin
at the same event. Siporin is a novelist, former NPR reporter, and
a civil rights and Vietnam War-era peace activist.
Let's be honest about our cynicism. Half of us walk
away from these rallies thinking we will not really make a
difference. And most of the rest of us have our doubts, too.
We hear the poll numbers. And even if we don't believe
them, we hear the drumbeat of the corporate-owned media. Meanwhile,
if you turn on commercial radio you get right wing hosts carrying
on about the liberal media conspiracy hour after hour after hour.
If those who favor war own the national magazines, the newspaper chains
and the networks — what can we possibly do?
We've all admired peasant struggles against powerful
dictatorships: people with machetes and rifles going against tanks
and helicopters. In the battle against misinformation, it's not a
machete against a tank. It's word of mouth against mass media. That's
our battle.
Word of mouth. Sounds simplistic? That's how real
change takes place. One by one. Person to person. By word of mouth.
You want not to feel cynical when you leave
here? Then make a pledge to yourself that you will talk to at least
three people about Bush's war. One person who agrees with you. One
person who is ambivalent or undecided about the war. And one person
who favors the war.
But don't head out unarmed. To be a warrior for peace
you need some information and some tactics.
When talking to people who favor the war, the first
thing to do is listen, so you know where they are coming from. There
are so many possible reasons; we can't cover them all here today.
But let me give one example of a contradiction in Bush's rationale
for this war.
Non-Existent
Link
He says we need to attack Saddam
Hussein because of 9/11. Bush links Iraq to that terrible tragedy
by claiming that Saddam is an ally of Osama bin Laden.
But Osama and Saddam are mortal enemies. Osama bin
Laden is the most extreme Muslim fundamentalist on Earth. Saddam doesn't
care about Islam. His religion is himself. Saddam Hussein is just
a plain old-fashioned dictator. For eight years he waged a terrible,
bloody war against Iran, the most extreme Islamic nation on Earth
— Osama's dream state. These two guys are not buddies. They
hate each other. The only thing they have in common is that both were
financed by us.
So why does Bush make this non-existent link? Because
Americans feel a common bond over the 9/11 tragedy. Link Iraq to that,
and Americans are ready to go to war. We need to break that fallacious
link. Going after Iraq for something a radical group of independent
extremists did is like executing one person for a crime another person
committed – something the former governor of Texas might know
something about.
Nuclear
Threat?
But what about that vast majority
of ambivalent Americans who would just as well ignore this issue?
What gets them to take a position for the war? Fear. Bush plays to
their fear by telling them Iraq will have nuclear weapons soon.
You might tell them that our European allies, who
are within striking range of any crude delivery system that Saddam
might develop, don't share our fear. They oppose U.S. military involvement,
preferring to let the United Nations deal with this peacefully.
But if fear motivates this otherwise ambivalent majority,
then they should be told that the new doctrine Bush wants to establish
of American pre-emptive invasion is the most destabilizing precedent
ever touted by a U.S. president. To serve his own agenda, Bush
would provide the rationale for every other nation on Earth to invade
a troublesome neighbor.
What do we say to our friends who already oppose the
war, but aren't here with us today? They look at the numbers of people
opposed to the war and shrug their shoulders.
I have a story.
Swaying
Opinion
Following Kent State, in May of 1970,
at the University of Nebraska, perhaps the most conservative campus
in the country, ten thousand students met at the basketball coliseum
to debate the Vietnam War. A person spoke on one side; then the other
side was given a turn. Back and forth they went. I was there and observed
a fascinating development. Each time someone presented their position,
nearly 80 percent of the crowd cheered. Then the other side spoke
and 80 percent cheered. The 20 percent of hardcore conservatives were
silent when the anti-war person spoke. And the 20 percent of hardcore
anti-war activists were silent when the pro-war person spoke. But
the 60 percent in the middle swayed back and forth.
If you were to take a poll immediately after the pro-war
person spoke, you would have found that 80 percent favored the war.
When President Bush addresses the nation about his
plans for Iraq, the polls are taken immediately following his speech.
What results should we expect?
Finally, there are people who say Vietnam was different.
Or young people — who see the footage of hundred-thousand-people
marches — wonder why it's different today. But do you think
Vietnam started with hundreds of thousands of people in the streets
protesting the war? The first rally I went to we didn't dare call
a rally. We called it a vigil. There were 12 of us and 50 Korean War
vets who wanted to tear us limb from limb. How did we reach critical
mass? The masses you see in the footage of the protest years? Unfortunately,
one key was that the war eventually grew to where it effected everyone.
Everyone knew someone who was over there, or had come
back in a body bag, or had come back changed.
All the attention and all the actions helped. And
the Vietnam vets coming home, becoming disillusioned helped. But it
always comes back to word of mouth.
The challenge before us isn't whether we can mount
a peace movement that will bring another war to an end. We know we
can do that. But history tells us that a lot of lives might have to
be lost, first. No, the challenge before us is whether we can mount
a movement that will prevent another war from getting started.
It's up to you to spread the word. It's up to you.
Back to Top
Laurance
Headley
Nine years ago, when his daughter
Frances was in kindergarten, Laurance Headley got his start in the
American Youth Soccer Organization as a volunteer referee for her
team. "Two years later, I joined the board," he recalls. "My first
official title was volunteer coordinator."
Headley was elected commissioner of the AYSO Eugene
Region in 1999. This year he stepped up to area commissioner, overseeing
15 local regions in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. This fall, the
Eugene Region registered 650 kids, ages 5-19, who played soccer on
54 co-ed teams.
AYSO is an all-volunteer program, except for a few
paid staff at the national level. "I put in three or four hours a
day," says Headley. "We need close to half of our parents to get involved."
Parents can be trained to work in administration, as coaches, or as
referees.
The AYSO philosophy has five tenets: everyone plays,
balanced teams, open registration, positive coaching, and good sportsmanship.
"We don't keep track of scores," says Headley. "Our kids learn how
to play soccer on a recreational level, and our parents learn to be
better parents, better volunteers, and better role models." –
Paul Neevel
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