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EXCLUDING THE POOR Eugene is becoming arrogant. It seems to delight in excluding the poor from more and more activities and areas. If one cannot afford the fee to attend Art and the Vineyard, held in a public park, one is excluded from the city's July 4 celebration, as well as being outlawed from the public park and road. I guess Independence Day is really for the well-off. If one cannot afford the fee for the Eugene Celebration, one is not welcome at the city's annual party. It is the same for the County Fair, and other public park areas. If I were boss, I would take down all the fences. It would be illegal to exclude a resident from any public park or public party held on public property for any reason. Any fees collected would be voluntary. If someone wants to have a party with fireworks and wants to charge for it, let it be held on private property. The Oregon Country Fair can get as exclusive and expensive as it wants, as it is on private property. The Art and the Vineyard crowd doesn't have the right to hold a public party on public property and not invite all the citizens of Eugene. Nor does the Eugene Celebration, nor the Lane County Fair, which has done what it could to exclude the poor. Hugh Massengill, Eugene
REDIRECT OFFENSE Regarding Amy Gaudia's 7/1 letter "Stupid Articles," I am stunned that someone who has worked so extensively with sexual abuse survivors could read those articles and come away with contempt for the author's language choices instead of the alleged perpetrator of repeated sexual crimes against multiple women. I respect her right to feel offended by the language used to describe these allegations, but a bigger issue is that there might be a police officer in our community who is a repeat sex offender, and that his actions have been overlooked by his superiors for years. Magaña's alleged actions against his victims far exceed any insult over the words "blow job" and "butt" used in the articles. Does it really matter whether he demanded a blow job or fellatio? Please direct your offense in the right direction. Kelly Bogan, Eugene
PERVERSE LUSTS Sally Sheklow is lost to perverse lusts. No, I'm not referring to her lesbianism. I'm referring to her lust to get married. No doubt she wants an "equal helping of health insurance, retirement benefits, tax exemptions, etc." (Living Out, 6/17) But doesn't she really want an unequal helping of those benefits — unequal, that is, to those received by single people? Why should she (or heterosexual spouses) get paid more than single people for doing the same job? I suppose anyone wants the financial perks of marriage (however unfair they may be), but I wonder if that's all Sheklow wants. What's next for her? Does she want the pink house with the picket fence? Membership in Daughters of the American Revolution? The vote in the Republican primaries? There are two ways to destroy a subculture. One is to repress it. The other is to assimilate it. Let's hope (for the sake of Sheklow's column) that she doesn't adopt all of the values of the mainstream. Today it may be marriage; tomorrow an SUV. Next thing you know, Sheklow will be writing columns deploring premarital sex. Bruce Schennum, Eugene
UNFAIR TO GAYS Out-of-state ex-gay political activists tricked the EW into publishing a letter (6/10) promoting unethical and harmful faith-based therapies for "converting" gays to be straight. Would EW publish a similarly offensive letter from neo-Nazis promoting ex-Jew groups? After all, unlike being gay, being Jewish really is a choice as was proved when the anti-gay radio host Dr. Laura converted to Judaism. The writer of the letter "Being gay is a choice" has a right to spout his ethnic hate speech against gay people. But publishing it is not being "fair and balanced" to gay people. Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis
TWO CENTS While there is some truth to both Charley Larson's and Wayne Ford's letters (6/24), I come down more on the Ford side, especially in these days of mass murder/suicide/torture for fun, profit and damaged religions. The more truth we are exposed to, the sooner we can extricate ourselves from our (mostly) manmade dilemmas of overpopulation, over-exploitation, over-pollution and ever more grisly wars. We need as big a dose of truth as we can stand or else the meat grinder of reality will chew us all up and spit out our bones. And to Pam Driscoll: Forget evil, it's just a dumb word from the past without significance in the natural world. Think possibilities for President 2004 (There are only two because we are brainwashed into a system that sucks.). If Bush wins, the system that sucks will morph into a system that pukes. If Kerry wins, we will still have the suck but things will be enough better so that we will have a chance to make the changes necessary for survival in environmental and societal decency. As to the 6/24 Slant: Hell will freeze over before two hospital bureaucracies in one town will work together to do the right thing. Bob Saxton, Eugene
WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? Speaking on NPR recently, Nader gave a convincing rebuttal to arguments accusing him of helping Bush in Florida: He pointed out that many more thousands of Democrats voted for Bush than voted for himself in Florida, and he blamed the Democratic Party for failing to win over those voters. Nader went on to talk about the potential value of his own campaign in forcing the Democratic Party to move further to the left. The only problem Nader didn't and couldn't explain was how the Democratic Party could possibly win over right-wing Bush-voting Democrats while simultaneously giving in to Nader's pressure and moving even further away from them, to the left. For those who were worried that a Nader vote might help Bush, Nader suggested they campaign for him, then if the vote appears close come election day, switch to Kerry. Nader didn't appear to notice the possibility that a person campaigning for Nader might persuade others to vote for Nader, and that these others might not be willing to switch votes on election day, so helping to elect Bush after all. There is an old saying: "With a friend like this, who needs enemies?" Unfortunately, there are very real and organized enemies of the environment and democracy and justice, and with our "friend" Nader helping them out, we may soon be facing at least four more years of destruction. Ron Unger, Eugene
PAINFUL FAIR In another week, I won't flinch at the radio's joyful noise or feel aberrant because I don't feel the magic. From acquaintance rape at my first fair to my restraining order against a former board member, the Oregon Country Fair has been marred by abuse for me. While I am healing from the past and beginning to see and change my own part in being drawn to those who misuse power, I feel alone. Are there others for whom the OCF has been painful? I don't wish to blame the fair or discourage the good things that happen there. I am not now writing to be told that it's my choice to be a victim, as someone wrote about Kate Storm in response to her article about Burning Man (5/27). Alternative venues purport to present us with a new and better world. Is it easier to examine the abuse of power by the police than abuse by others whom we know? I add my voice to the voices of the women who bravely stood up against Roger Magaña. Male police are not alone in misusing power. I would like to know the number of rapes and other abuses reported at the fair each year, and to hear from women who have chosen not to make reports. With all the facts, women can make an informed choice about what to expect at the fair. And to Kate Storm, I say, "Right on, sister!" Ratina Wollner (AKA Ruby the Resourceress), Eugene
NOT A CHOICE It is possible that there are people who can choose whether to be gay or straight. There are, after all, people who can choose whether to be black or white, and people who can (with rather more difficulty) choose whether to be male or female. But most of us find ourselves unambiguously in one group or the other. Kathe Burt, Corvallis
A TREE GROWS IN EUGENE William Blake wrote, "The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way." I was thinking of Blake's words today as I looked for the old trees lining 29th Avenue in front of the Cascade Manor retirement home and found instead a new clear-cut. The beautiful trees apparently stood in the way of more concrete apartment buildings. The view I enjoyed the other day from Mt. Pisgah was quite different. Looking out over the City of Eugene, I remarked to my hiking partner that it is the trees, not the architecture, that make our city such an aesthetically special place. Green Eugene. More progressive places, such as some New England towns, require sign-off by the communities before trees can be cut down. They find value in their trees beyond the purely monetary. Enlightened thinking. I wonder if our city leaders will ever see the light? I wonder how the retirees at Cascade Manor enjoy their new view? I wonder if the owners of Cascade Manor treat their old folks any better than they treat their old trees? Just wondering. Benton Elliott, Eugene
CORPORATE KERRY EW editorialized on July 8: "Edwards is an eloquent populist with humble roots, and he's a trial lawyer not afraid to take on big corporations. The choice also shows that Kerry, unlike Bush, doesn't need an old war-horse like Cheney to pull his strings and cover his butt." In reality, Edwards is a conservative Democrat who has a track record of changing his support for contentious issues when corporations apply pressure. In particular, Senator Edwards changed his position on the Yucca Mountain national nuclear waste depository (or is that a suppository?) after Carolina Power and Light (which operates nukes) urged him to be more pro-nuclear. Kerry is also pro-nuclear power (and pro-depleted uranium weapons), so it is likely that the upcoming Kerry/Edwards administration will push for more nuclear energy, a technology incompatible with human health and a democratic society. In early June, Senator Edwards was a guest at the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Society, perhaps the most powerful grouping on Earth (it met in Italy this year). When the news leaked out that he was a participant, it was obvious that Kerry (who is a Bilderberg member) was going to pick Edwards. There are many indications that Kerry is going to replace Bush. There are probably no Gore or Nader voters anywhere who plan to vote for Baby Bush. Many of the elite who supported Bush's oily adventures now realize that the Iraq war wasn't able to deliver the desired cheap oil. Kerry will be better for selling a continued oil war, the resumption of the draft, and the seizure of Saudi Arabia's oil fields, and will be more likely to get European money and troops to help with this. If you doubt this, ask why Bush is suddenly getting lousy media coverage, and if this is a giant clue that the financial interests who run the empire will be able to continue most of their scams under Kerry. The only way Bush will be re-selected is if Cheney perpetrates another 9/11 to disrupt the election. October Surprise? Mark Robinowitz, Eugene
IS PETE FOR PEACE? I participated in the Washington, D.C., lobbying day in early June for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. I visited both the offices of Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio. In both places, the legislative aides emphatically asserted that the representatives supported a peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. These comments notwithstanding, Oregon Democratic congressmen voted as a block on June 23 when they endorsed House Concurrent Resolution 460 in support of the Sharon-Bush agreement of this spring. This resolution gives de facto approval of Israel's annexation of large areas of West Bank land and takes off the table the right of return, even though both measures run counter to international law, U.N. resolutions, and against decades of U.S. policy. I am not sure which districts our delegation think they are representing. With our large peace and justice activist communities and well-informed electorate, they cannot imagine that their grassroots supporters agree with these votes. It makes one wonder if they are more concerned about the Likkud Party than about Oregonians. DeFazio has been the most progressive member of the Oregon delegation on this issue, so it is especially unfortunate that he did not vote his conscience, but voted election campaign fear. As EW readers know, all this is happening in the context of the human rights tragedy of the massive house demolition project in Gaza and the Wall construction in the West Bank. Pete, how could you? Nancy Hedrick, Portland
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