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BEER
BUZZ Unfortunately, alcohol is a widely accepted and heavily used drug. It's legal, it's advertised, and it's fairly cheap. Everyone has a "good time" when they drink, and that buzz also seems to loosen up the ol' hinges on their wallets. Sad but true. Yes, there are a million other things that KLCC could use the funds for, and I personally would rather they did something a little more tasteful as well. But let's be realistic. If given the choice between Beethoven or Budweiser after a hard day at work/school, 80 percent would choose the beer. We don't have to like it. Crys N. Stephens
PROBLEM
SOLVED? The Umatilla Chemical Depot is home to 12 percent of the U.S. military's stockpiled chemical weapons of mass destruction. It is 3 miles south of the Columbia River, and it contains millions of pounds of the deadliest chemicals known to humans. There are land mines containing VX-Nerve agent. There are 750-pound bombs with GB-Nerve agent. There are rocket warheads and spray tanks containing VX-Nerve agent. There are 8-inch projectiles and M55 rockets containing GB-Nerve agent. Heck, there are even 4 million pounds of good old mustard gas. There are probably more chemical weapons at Umatilla than Saddam Hussein ever dreamed of possessing! So, here's what we do: Get the U.S. government to threaten a pre-emptive war on Hermiston for possessing weapons of mass destruction. Then get the U.S. government to pay $15 billion in bribe money to Governor Kulongoski (kind of like the U.S. is doing in Turkey) to get his green light for basing troops in Pendleton and Boardman. Next, before it gets too hot, invade Hermiston. After the U.S. military "takes out" Hermiston, we ask for billions of post-invasion dollars to rebuild Oregon's highways, bridges, schools and parks. Problem solved. Is this a great country or what? Roscoe Caron
HANG
ON TO HOPE Whatever we can make of that, we have to hang on to hope locally. Alan Pittman's recent piece on the follies of urban renewal reminds us once again of monsters we must fight right here at home: the developers, the "Gang of Nine," and the Gang of Four in the City Council. Allowing these folks to continue with their "feed the rich and screw the poor (and who cares about quality of life — just build yourself a million dollar home in a locked-gate subdivision and enjoy the relatively clean air 'til our SUV's destroy that, too)" attitudes make exactly as much sense as Bush's tax-cutting plan. Who are we, people? Why do we vote rich idiots who hate society (i.e., "the people") into powerful offices? Surely we can stop doing it here in Lane County! Bettman, Taylor and Kelly are in there doing what
they can — but they could be burning out. We're going to need
some serious local leadership to fight the good fight. Let's get busy
(And by the way, Weekly: Please get rid of that silly Coffee Man cartoon and put Tom Tomorrow back, full size, on page 4!) Jeff Harrison WONDERING But that mural on the front of your building? What are you thinking? Since you've convinced us all that everyone reads, who were you reaching out to there? Wondering … Frank Schramm
PROUD
OF COPS To be a member of the far left, progressive community would seem to demand that one has a distrust and even an outright hate for the police department. Try this sometime: Next gathering you go to, get a haircut and say something neutral or positive about the police and watch the instantaneous stares and ridicule coming your way. I've dealt with conflict since 1989, and I learned long ago while working in night clubs in Houston and L.A. that the best means of dealing with a potential problem is to defuse it. The police wanted to, and did, defuse the situation. Most in the impromptu march did not. I am proud of my police department and would challenge many of the so-called peaceniks to truly examine the level of peace and tolerance in their own hearts first. Eddie Black
COPORATE
CREEP So what's wrong with private label product? Isn't it a savings to the shopper? Well, go figure. That your food bill at Wild Oats is going up disproportionately to that of shoppers who remain faithful to the surviving natural food stores is telling. Moreover, many of the products being squeezed out are produced locally. But we all have our flash point, and mine came when Wild Oats eliminated all the locally roasted fair trade coffees. In their place is Green Mountain Coffee at $2 to $3 more per pound. This cute little profit-taking move is in gross contradiction to their motto, "At Wild Oats we sell food that remembers its roots." I wrote the corporate office in Boulder. I got a sweet corporate letter back that inferred the same thing President Bush told me, only Ms. Lovett said it so much better. Not satisfied, I went online in search of a web page that could yield names of board members and the CEO. I wanted to end run PR and address the decision makers. Then I went one step further and checked on Green Mountain Coffee. On their web page was their leader looking soft and grandfatherly in his easy chair. He told the story of how he had a good cup of coffee in his favorite little inn in Vermont and decided that he wanted to become the biggest coffee company in America. Then I remembered seeing his name on the Board Member list at Wild Oats. Then things popped up like Frontier Organics (herbs) being bought out and moved to Wild Oats headquarters in Boulder, which coincided with depressed locally produced herbal sales at Wild Oats. It goes on and on, but I went back to Sundance and Kiva. Go figure. Michael Frazier
TAX
HIKING By putting the kibosh on bongs, it looks like the Feds want to guaranty U.S. citizens 100 percent real paranoia 24/7 (not the imagined and quickly forgotten kind). So I guess it's back to banana peels. Or Zig Zag papers — "Let's roll"! Despite minimal improvements and maximal volunteer effort at Mt. Pisgah, County honchos see a chance to ape the federal "trial" trail fee program. Like old hiking boots, this proposal really stinks. At least be more original — how about a breath tax? Call it the "trial" air-we-breathe program. See how it goes — if anyone lives, make it permanent. I'm sure some hikers will bend over, lace up, and pay the fee. I plan to hold my nose and vote with my feet. Now, back to the war. Benton Elliott
COZY
COMPLAINERS It confirms the reality that we're sexual beings (to varying degrees), and that many people have strong sexual desires that they're not willing to constantly repress. This even in a society full of finger waggers who have been brainwashed into thinking that any hint of sexuality outside of a conventional love relationship is shameful and necessarily negative. Never mind that there are more realistic European cultures that have proven otherwise with their comprehensive information programs and much lower rates of disease and unwanted pregnancy. Sex within a loving relationship is the ideal, but this is not a world of ideals, and in many aspects of life people take what they can get until they find something more fulfilling. Throughout existence, people from all walks of life have enjoyed informal encounters, or even reached the point of being willing to pay for some level of stimulation beyond what they can get from their own hand (gasp!). Are the ultra-moralists going to change this by complaining about EW's advertising? Alex R. Beam
READING
THE ARTICLES Let's assume, for a second, that they do away with these ads. What's next? Just think of the horrors in the library — National Geographic! Books on human reproduction! Massage books, the horror! They're free! Placed in public places, on shelves low enough for kids to reach — yikes! And why does the Weekly, an adult newspaper, put "kidstuff" in the calendar? Duh, some adults have children. Not all of us buy it for the ads. Some of us actually "read it for the articles." Personally, I'm more offended by tobacco and alcohol ads, but that's another letter. Lara Regan
WHO
WILL WIN? People who care about people know that the exploitation of our sexuality and in particular our young girls' sexuality is unscrupulously immoral and ranks right alongside war in it's devastating effects to humanity. War and the sex trade business both make good people do bad things and bad people do evil. To hypothesize that you need to "sell sex" to financially survive is a huge cop out and shows the lack of conscience and creativity that is behind the Weekly today. I sincerely believe that people would pay for a paper that prided itself on information, education and human morality. There are many studies of humans and animals to help us find the way to a healthy culture, and if we committed ourselves to supporting health we could start to change the world. We all have within us the ability to be good or bad. Good represents feelings like joy, peace, love, hope kindness, empathy, truth and compassion. Bad represents feelings of anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, lies and superiority. Good feelings lead to one thing and bad to another. This conflict goes on within all of us and we have to ask ourselves who will win, the good or the bad? Deborah Telew
TRASH
TOWN I recently moved back to Eugene after being gone for almost 14 years. When I lived here in the '80s I rarely saw litter alongside our roads. Upon returning last July, I was astonished and saddened over the amount of garbage I saw lining our streets and roads, especially outside of the downtown area. Excessive litter seems to have become the norm here rather than the exception. Bertelsen Road, West 11th and the surrounding areas are especially good examples, with disgusting amounts of garbage lining the roadways. There are at least two dozen businesses along those roads that could start an "adopt a street" litter control program, making a good neighbor effort to keep their streets clean. I have started carrying around an empty garbage bag in my car and try to pick up litter whenever possible, but I am just one person. Let's all make an effort to keep Eugene clean and beautiful. J..A. Claybaugh LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows. Please limit length to 250 words, keep submissions to once a month, and include your address and phone number for our files. E-mail to editor@eugeneweekly.com, fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. |
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