Eugene Weekly : Letters : 02.13.03

HIGH ALERT
The terrorism threat index was raised to orange indicating high risk on Friday (2/7). It would seem to me it would make more sense to kick it up to maximum super code red and leave it there as long as the Bush administration is in power. Their daily threatening rhetoric of pre-emptive strikes, endless war and unilateral aggression will only lead to the creation of more terrorists and a greater chance for more attacks. U.S. citizens should be on the highest alert as Bush bangs the war drums for an attack on Iraq, with or without support from the world community.

FRIENDLY ACTIVISM
A group of us from the Friendly Street neighborhood have been thinking a lot about what we can do for peace. New friendships are forming around this issue and old ones are being strengthened as we sit, talk and strategize for peace. We recently held a community potluck and staffed a table at our local food store, where we gave out buttons and information. Recently, 35 of us created yard signs at our local park/community center. Young and old drew designs together on recycled plastic boards. One sign read, "I want the love from everyone to stop the war in Iraq." I think that most of us left feeling hopeful, an extraordinary achievement in times where events feel so out of control.

As I walk through my neighborhood, I find myself stopping to talk with strangers more. Conversations vary, but I always leave feeling more connected and grateful that my home is in Eugene. One yard sign reads, "Homeland Security for All Earth." An image of our planet accompanies these words. I think about the people of Iraq. I recently read in the newspaper an Iraqi mother's plea that U.S. bombs not fall on her homeland. She appealed to the mothers in the U.S. to stop this war from happening. As a U.S. mother I want to respond to her request. To do this, I must overcome my own feelings of alienation.

My neighborhood is helping me find a voice and providing the support that enables me to take action. We gather 1:30 to 4:30 pm Sundays at the Washington Park Community Center. I remind myself that working for a humanitarian foreign policy is a fine act of patriotism. Especially in these times.

TEACHERS AGAINST WAR
When listing peace groups in Eugene (cover story, 2/6), one group was missed: Teachers Against War. Contact: Pete Mandrapa, Diana Huntington or Roscoe Caron at Jefferson Middle School.

NOT FOR ME
Hi, I am 12 years old and when I opened your newspaper to read about important topics, I found enticing ads suggesting sex that are directed mostly to males. This surprises me, for I think sex for money is illegal. As I know from studying these ads with my mom, that it never actually says, but only suggests, the illegal use of other human beings. Please, if you have to do this to keep your paper going, make a special subscription or something, so young kids like me won't have to look at this and think bad things.

As I know, you have the right to do this for it is not literally illegal, but in my mind and many others, this mature content should be kept away from people (kids, young readers, and people who just don't care for that sort of thing). As I said before, if it keeps you running, make a special subscription. That use of the other gender, to me, is totally abusive and wrong.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Our editorial content, advertising and distribution are all geared to an adult audience. If curious youngsters want to read our newspaper it's best done with a parent as a learning experience. But we don't recommend it any more than we would recommend kids watching gritty late-night TV programming.

GOOD PARTNERSHIP
Thank you for your article "Childbirth Alternatives" (1/16). I am glad to live in a state where a variety of childbirth practitioners are available. Perhaps your readers would be interested in a third alternative to hospital and/or home birth.

The Nurse-Midwifery Birth Center is a free standing, out-of-hospital birth center for women and families who want an alternative to a hospital and home birth. The Birth Center, a part of PeaceHealth, is staffed by nurse-midwives, who also have privileges at Sacred Heart Medical Center, and work in partnership with PeaceHealth obstetricians. We also have RNs and lactation consultants on staff. It is located in a historic home in the university neighborhood, is nationally accredited, and is certified "baby friendly" by the World Health Organization. The Birth Center has been a part of Eugene for many years.

Eighteen years ago I had my son there, and it was a wonderful experience. The care I received was excellent, and the family-centered, home-like atmosphere was a most welcomed alternative. I am now a certified nurse midwife, working at the Birth Center. I have attended many beautiful births there, and am most grateful to the families of Eugene for supporting this third alternative to hospital and home birth.

PATHOLOGICAL PREZ
It seems that we here in the U.S. are now saddled with a pathological and illegitimate president whose IQ matches his neck size and whose favorite word seems to be "uh." According to Kate Gessert's column (1/16), he's now onto the deranged notion of dominionism, which is just a fancy way of saying, "Let's conquer the world and make it a presentable place for the Second Coming."

It doesn't take a New York psychiatrist to figure out this guy's pathology. After all, it tends to run in families; remember that grandpa Prescott Bush sold steel and pig iron to the Nazis during WWII until he was found out. And now we've got George W. playing planetary playground bully. Obviously, none of this bodes well for our planet. (It's alarming to note that our president's fiercest theme is the axis-of-evil theme.) Not only is our little emperor without clothes, he's innately incapable of gazing at himself in the mirror. What has been said of Slobodan Milosevich — that in his own tiny universe, he's always right — rings eerily true for this guy as well. (Note to Jesus: Stay where you are dude. Things are getting sicker by the minute down here.)

BEHAVED PARADERS
Of the principle U.S. wars, only WWII had popular backing, but lack of popular support has not deterred war-making. We are seeing an anti-war sentiment develop, but it must become more serious to be decisive and effective. As we go forward, it is clear that leaders of the "peace movement" tolerate only one mode of opposing the impending war. Any deviation from stay-on-the-sidewalks,
follow-all-the-rules piety is vigorously forbidden.

Is moral self-righteousness warranted in light of its obvious limitations? For effective resistance, disruption of business as usual, including property damage, should be championed rather than condemned. So much needs to be challenged, including the dogma of authorized parades of the well-behaved.

DEA SHOULD REFOCUS
According to a recent report issued by the White House the "DEA is unable to demonstrate its progress in reducing the availability of illegal drugs in the U.S." It is hard to imagine how this could be when the DEA had a budget of $1.4 billion last year alone. The problem of course is not in the funding, but how it is used.

Since Bush took office an extraordinary amount of time and money has been spent
harassing medical marijuana patients in California in an attempt to subvert the will of Californian voters. Bush finally got his first federal jury conviction of a medical marijuana grower last month. The only way they could do this was by forbidding the defense to mention anything that might clue the jurors into the medical purpose behind the grower's actions.

This focus by the Bush administration is not only mean-spirited, but also misplaced. While DEA agents are busting into city recognized grow operations and throwing paraplegics on the floor there is a booming meth problem nationwide. Why is the Bush administration trying to keep patients doped up on opiates when marijuana helps relieve pain and helps patients function in ordinary life? And why is he letting predatory criminals off the hook to make harassing the sick a priority? It's time to send the Bush administration and Congress a clear message that this federal harassment must stop.

CHEAPER TO INSPECT
As the war drums beat ever louder, consider carefully whether this war is justified. The battle plan includes dropping 800 cruise missiles and 2,000 bombs, very effective weapons of mass destruction, on Baghdad and environs in the first two days alone. Its citizens would experience the equivalent of the 9/11 attacks multiplied many times. Osama bin Laden would receive a recruitment bonanza.

Why attack Iraq, which played no role in the 9/11 attacks? Because Mr. Bush says, based on piecemeal evidence from suspect unnamed "sources," that Hussein might have some chemical or biological weapons which he might in the future decide to give to terrorists or use against our "interests" in the region. This means Israel or friendly oil-producing nations. It's telling that Iraq's neighbors, except Israel, feel a greater threat from this war than from the status quo.

The U.N. resolution which Mr. Bush says Iraq is violating also requires member states to give the inspectors all relevant intelligence data. Dismissing the value of inspections while withholding useful information is hypocritical. The last unfinished round of inspections was very successful in containing Hussein and destroying the vast majority of his weapons programs. It takes time to do this work; the last round took seven years. We could fund the inspectors for 1,000 years for less than the cost of this war and thousands of innocent people wouldn't die.

The real agenda is geopolitical control over oil. This is an immoral war. People all over the world are speaking out against it. If enough of us stand for peace, we may someday live in a country that's better at waging peace than war.

CONTRADICTIONS ABOUND
I feel like I've gone through the looking glass. We must go to war to have peace. We must log the forests to save the forests. We must suspend the Constitution to save the Constitution. I'm distressed by almost every act and word uttered by the Bush administration. But I don't want to lose my objectivity like the right-wing crowd did with Clinton where every single thing he did was seen through a lens of extreme negativity.

So I've tried to suspend my skepticism and give Bush credit for two good proposals in his State of the Union speech: hydrogen fuel research and his AIDS relief proposal. The money for AIDS relief in Africa seemed out of character for Bush, who has been so uncaring about the poor in our own country. I kept thinking, "What's the catch? Why is he doing this?" With some effort, I convinced myself it was a caring act. Good for George.

Well, here's the full story on Bush's AIDS relief proposal as reported on National Public Radio. The Bush proposal calls for giving $2 billion dollars to AIDS relief this year. The Senate had already passed a bill giving $2.5 billion to AIDS relief in Africa for this year. Now the Senate is being pressured to drop $500 million from their bill to get in line with the president's proposal. So what Bush will really accomplished is to cut $500 million dollars out of the already existing bill, while collecting huge kudos throughout the country and world for what seemed to be a generous humanitarian proposal.

The next thing we'll know, Bush will cut money for education and try to claim credit for improving education. Or did that already happen?

LABOR INTERRUPTED
Bobbie Willis' article "Childbirth Alternatives" (1/16) offered a note of hope in an otherwise dismal picture of pregnancy and childbirth in the U.S. I did question the statement that more and more of the 24 percent of caesarean sections done in this country are done for convenience.

From my own experience and the anecdotal information from family, friends, and acquaintances, c-sections in this country seem to be a result of a series of medical interventions, many of which are completely unnecessary to the birth process, rather than any "scheduling" or "convenience" issues as stated in the article.

Many, if not most of us go into labor excited, happy and fairly confident about our ability to give birth. But from the moment we enter a hospital to deliver, even a "baby-friendly" hospital, we are subject to a series of procedures that interrupt the flow of labor, often leading to more invasive procedures that lead directly to c-section deliveries. Many of us feel grateful after a c-section, imagining that the surgery saved our baby's or our own life. What is less obvious is that uninterrupted labor with adequate support results in fewer interventions and healthier outcomes for mothers and babies.

Check out www.mothering.com for way more information and statistics on the benefits of natural childbirth and homebirth.

EARTH RUMBLING
It seems to me that Tracy McGeehan (2/6) is so far "in the box" that "out of the box" is an abstract concept. Sally Sheklow has graced the readers of EW with comedy relief and poignant insight for members of all sexual orientations. Ms. Sheklow does speak on a large repertoire of lesbian issues, which due to the fact that — gasp — she is a lesbian, come from her heart. Mainly I hear her comment on issues that make you stop and think about the idiocy that runs rampant in our society or laugh or cry at the issues all people face in day to day life, from the perspective of a gay woman. She speaks of her wife often, which many columnists do whether gay or straight. Ms. Sheklow's spouse just happens to be a woman. Why should that matter so much to you?

Tracy, I feel it is you who needs to step "out of the box" and look at the point of her stories as a whole and not just the simple fact that Sally is a lesbian. Obviously, even to you, sexuality does define a person, as well as their "beliefs, morals, values and respectfulness of others." And if you could look at Ms. Sheklow beyond the definition lesbian, you would see what she tells us is often earth rumbling, if not shattering.

FREE EXPRESSION
Let me see if I have this straight ("Speak Back," 2/6): A group of anti-war protesters is marching down 13th Avenue. A bystander chooses to "express his dissent" (albeit rudely) by yelling at the protesters, who proceed to drown the guy out with a bullhorn. Said protesters then complain about how viewpoints like theirs are "ostracized and ignored."

I may be as horrified by Bush's march to war as anyone, but I still know irony when I see it.

HEY, NADER NUTS
I hope all you Nader idiots are paying attention and asking yourself whether Gore really would have been as eager to start this little war. But hey, why take half a loaf when you can have none, or a war?

ALCOHOL AND KLCC
Here are the facts: Each year the liquor industry spends almost $2 billion on advertising and encouraging the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Americans spend over 90 billion dollars a year on alcoholic beverages. Drunk driving is involved in 50 percent of all traffic fatalities. In the U.S., every 30 minutes someone is killed on an alcohol-related traffic accident. Over 15 million Americans are dependent on alcohol. Between 5 and 10 percent of employees have alcoholism. The cost to the nation is estimated at $49.4 billion a year. The human loss in incalculable.

Fetal alcohol syndrome is now considered the third most common cause of metal retardation due to birth defects in the U.S. More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. Alcohol is related to domestic abuse and all crime in over 50 percent of reported cases. Some 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more that 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report being too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex. 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the year 2002.

LCC's radio station KlCC is sponsoring a Microbrew festival March 28-29. Given the statistics above, is it a wise decision for KLCC to sponsor such an event? Isn't there a more productive way to advertise our beloved radio station here at LCC? I believe that KLCC has made a poor decision here, and hope that they will reconsider this decision in the future.

Letter to Leaders
As a student at LCC, I was concerned by the failure of Measure 28. We had been told that it would have benefited students, senior citizens, and the disabled. These groups represent some of the most vulnerable citizens in our community. As an elected official, it's your duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves. To accomplish this, I suggest you try this.

Second, assist our senior citizens in the right (which they have certainly earned) to enjoy their life free from worry of over inflated medical costs.

Third, the disabled students of LCC, many who attend the down town campus, deserve to continue the education that brings them hope, and an opportunity to advance their lives, without fear of their campus being closed. I challenge the state government and the board of education to protect these underrepresented members of our society when making decisions that effect lives. I challenge you to produce a more improved Measure 28, and you could start by publishing your entire state budget letting the people decide how best to disperse the funds. Perhaps this would even restore some confidence in government. After all, the problem is not lack of funds, but the mismanagement of existing funds.

We require only three simple things of you: responsibility, respectability and accountability. The next election will come, and rest assured, we will be watching.

A Needed Voice
It has often been pointed out to me in meetings that I am good at pointing out the obvious, and most of the times I'm thanked for it, because the obvious needs being said. The author (Tracy McGeehan 2/6) complains about Sally mentioning that she is a lesbian in her column. The title of the column is "Living Out," and when the column was started it was introduced as a column about living life as a lesbian. Sally is a needed voice in this town and in other towns where her column goes. There is no regular coverage of LGBT issues in Eugene.

All of y'all straight folks get a little insight into our lives through Sally's words. Some people might not think its necessary, but it is. And as a lesbian I love seeing a column where someone is talking about my lifestyle. The fight for the rights of the LGBT community is far from over and Sally often highlights this. For more information call our local PFLAG chapter (302-4422 or 686-2280), a wonderful organization, and they'll let you know what needs to be done.

Pros on Condoms
Nicholas Kristof’s "The Secret War on Condoms" (NYT 1/17) alerts us to the Bush administration’s current war on condoms. As a UO student, I am appalled at the recent revisions made to fact sheets produced by both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The CDC fact sheet previously advocated condom use as good public health policy. Under the Bush administration, a new fact sheet has emerged. This one emphasizes that condom use does not guarantee prevention of all sexually transmitted infections. While condoms are not a 100 percent guarantee of prevention, all studies indicate that they are highly effective when used consistently and correctly. This new fact sheet fails the public by placing political motives above healthy choices.

The NCI fact sheet consistently reported no positive correlation between abortion and breast cancer as based on the most rigorous scientific studies. In opposition to abortion, the Bush administration’s new fact sheet says it is not completely clear if a correlation exists. The new fact sheet seems more about ideology than science and good health.

The American public deserves access to complete, unbiased and uncensored information about all health issues. As a student concerned about both my own health, and the health of others, I want to know that federal health agencies are rising above political manipulation and providing dependable information when it comes to my body.

Tuna Unity
OK, I admit it, I have been kidding myself, assuring my guilty conscience that the "dolphin-safe" label on canned tuna actually meant something every time I had an urge for oily-fish-in-a-can. But alas, with the Bush administration’s softening of the requirements for using said label, I can no longer justify this environmentally incorrect indulgence.

On New Year’s Day I stoically announced my personal tuna boycott to my boyfriend, who was not impressed because he can’t stand the stuff, and my cat who is no longer speaking to me. I, of course, quickly realized that the end of my one can a month habit was not going to devastate the corporate tuna canneries of the world, so in order that my terrible sacrifice not be in vain, I ask that all of you out there who have been similarly indulging join me in my boycott, and furthermore, write to Starkist, Bumble Bee, Bush, et al., let them know why.

Thank you, and may our saint-like self-denial soon bring about a reversal of this dolphin-unfriendly legislation.

Experience Necessary
You would not feel very comfortable having a phlebotomist perform your brain surgery.

And yet that is exactly what happens every day in nursing facilities across the nation. In an effort to save money, staffing is pressured to perform tasks for which they are neither qualified nor adequately trained. Inexperienced employees, fresh off the street are handed keys to a narcotics drawer filled with deadly drugs and turned loose on patients. Staff members routinely give medications that they do not understand. Dangerous procedures are administered without sufficient instruction.

Rather than hire qualified staff who would be capable of giving quality care, in efforts to cut financial corners caregivers are forced to perform multiple tasks, a multitude of tasks and very specialized tasks. The result is understaffed and underqualified nursing care performed by untrained personnel under pressure and stress to do a very demanding job for the same amount of pay earned by pumping gas.

Unfriendly Fire?
"We the people" deserve the truth from our government employees (politicians). Enough sugarcoating, vague rhetoric and blatant lies. I’ve listed below my definitions of commonly abused terms.

Collateral damage: killing innocent civilians. Regime change: overthrowing a sovereign nation and placing a chosen leader friendly to U.S. economic interests. Economic sanctions: Depriving already poor people of food and medicine, which causes the starvation and suffering of the weakest (children and elderly, a form of terrorism in my opinion). Friendly fire: being killed by your own military, friendly how? War on terrorism: endless war on anyone who disagrees with the U.S. government or seeks to hinder corporate plundering of their countries resources and people (cheap labor).

No child left behind: teaching kids to pass a test instead of learning creative or critical thinking, creating employees for minimum wage jobs at McDonalds and Wal-Mart. Rogue nation: Aggressive, uncooperative country who threatens pre-emptive strike wars, and refuses to comply with international treaties. Disposed of Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, threatens violation of International Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, undermines International Criminal Court, refuses to sign Kyoto Climate Change protocol, gutted Biological Weapons Convention and refuses to help end use of landmines.

Donate Instead
Now that Measure 28 has failed, we have entered into a libertarian era. Libertarians believe government should have responsibility for a few limited functions, such as national defense, will all other functions being provided by the private sector, reflecting what individuals and society value. So, given this new era, I suggest those of us who voted yes on Measure 28, and more importantly, those of us who voted no on Measure 28, put our money where our votes are, and donate an amount of money (or time) equivalent to or greater than the amount in taxes we would have paid had Measure 28 passed. This way we preserve social and other services, at the same time satisfying the "no on 28" voters who do not want to give another penny to government – instead, they can give their funds and time to those organizations performing tasks they value.

For instance, if you value education, donate to scholarship funds, or to your neighborhood school. If you value protecting society from criminals donate to Sponsors, an organization that helps prevent recidivism through rehabilitation; or to a drug treatment center, as addiction fuels crime. If you value our frail elderly, donate to Meals on Wheels, or to our local senior centers. If you value disabled citizens, donate to an organization dealing with physical, developmental, or psychiatric disabilities, such as Uhlhorn Program (traumatic brain injury), Pearl Buck Center (developmental disabilities), or Laurel Hill Center (psychiatric disabilities). If you value people living in houses and not on the street, donate to one of the several agencies addressing homelessness, such as Brethren Housing.

By now you have the idea. If you have trouble finding an organization that addresses the issues closest to your heart, call the United Way and they can make some suggestions as to worthy organizations. Whatever you do, put your money and your time where your vote is!

Wasted Award
I read with great interest your article on Mata Amritanandamai receiving the United Nation's Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence. After reading the article, my personal belief, which will no doubt offend many readers, is that they wasted the award. While Amma is no doubt a wonderful individual, and the world would definitely be a better place if everyone shared her pacifism, she has done very little in the way of making the real world a safer place to live. All her talk of compassion, love, and "universal motherhood" ignore one simple fact: some people are just plain evil. If people were to apply her philosophy during World War II, we'd all be speaking German or dead right now.

Her philosophy seems to come from another planet, it's a very naive view of the world. In her speech she is quoted saying, "In today's world it is the language of the intellect that prevails, not the language of the heart." Well Amma, there's a reason for that. The language of the intellect creates real-world solutions to real problems. The language of the heart sounds good in theory, but in the end it will let people trample all over you. There is plenty of time for love, but sometimes you have to stand up to "the bad guys."

I hope this is not interpreted as a statement of support for our current administration's policy on Iraq. War is not something to be rushed into, but pacifism can be taken too far to the extreme, and this is a perfect example.

Bush's Pattern
I understand the saying that when you judge someone, you actually more clearly define yourself. With that in mind, we American citizens were asked to judge W on what he is, not on what he was. He said he had made mistakes, but felt we shouldn't know any specifics and should focus on who he has become. That's not altogether too unreasonable.

We all should be a little more forgiving and a little more aware. Yet there is something to be said about patterns of behavior. For instance, we can safely assume that a career criminal, perhaps a thief, will always have a penchant to steal. So in that way we should observe W's patterns of behavior so we can better come to terms with how we should judge him: In the '60's he was a draft dodger whose daddy got the dean of records to give his boy a C-. In the '70s he was a cokehead. (snort snort). In the '80s, a pathetic cowboy drunk who put many lives at risk. In the '90s, a "successful" oilman, ponzi-scheme millionaire.

The point is that his pattern of behavior speaks of one who is selfish, self-centered, weak (both emotionally and intellectually), and one who doesn't learn nor care to learn from his own mistakes. George Bush has a four-decade track record of selfish and addictive behavior. Dodging the draft and then later commanding others to go to war on your behalf is more than hypocritical. It is the definition of a man who is not willing to die for a cause – but he is willing to kill for one. This is the definition of a coward.

I expect that any decisions made by this almost pathetic, little, ignorant (I mean ignorant as fact – not as name calling) boy we call president will be made in the same selfish manner as are decisions made by any draft-dodging, coked-out, minimally educated drunk. At this stage, should we citizens really expect anything more?