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IT'S ALL POLITICS In your article "Hear Our Voices" (8/5) is the example of Sarah Mitzel, a young non-voting mother. She was pleased that a friend taught her son the word "peace," doesn't listen to the news or read newspapers, and says "How we live is so much more complicated than politics. It is about how we relate to the world around us." She "expressed confidence that her son will continue to learn peace as he grows." How does one counter the idea that "if I don't pay attention to it, it won't affect me?" How we live, and whether there is peace in our personal world, is directly affected by politics. When you are laid off, when your child has no health care, when the ceiling in his school leaks, when he's drafted at 18 and dies at 19 in a "pre-emptive strike against terrorists" — all those things affect you, even if you refuse to pay attention to the politics behind them. The vote is every American's basic peaceful means of telling those in power what we want, and of putting in power those who are more likely to give it to us. The fact Sarah likes the idea of peace will not change the political forces that daily affect her life, her son's life, and the lives of others. Her vote for politicians she thinks most likely to work for peace — now that could have a worldwide impact. Harriett Smith, Eugene
WHAT'S WITH RALPH? I am continually amazed at Nader's strange methods of attempting to "change" America for the better. I keep hearing more and more reports of Republicans working like the dickens to get Ralph on the ballot in states across the country. What strange bedfellows! I remember Nader, not too many years ago, as a dedicated and respected consumer advocate who seemed truly concerned with the average person's well being. Boy, have things changed. Now I listen to his supporters carry on about how righteous Ralph is (never you mind the funding and support he's getting from those pesky Republicans). I have to wonder if the Naderites still believe, after four hellish years of Bush imperialism, that Kerry or Gore or, for that matter Bush, Inc. are still one in the same? If so, then they are living on a different planet! Nader has become a destructive ego-maniac. If he truly cared about this country and this planet, he would recognize the perilous situation we are in, realize that he will never win the presidency and make himself heard loud and clear by aligning himself with other like-minded Democrats, a party that can win. Then he can work for change from the inside out. Julie Claybaugh, Eugene
FAIZULLA'S DISDAIN I found Kera Abraham's conversations with Peshwaz Faizulla (cover story, 9/9) instructive more for what was alluded to and what was omitted than anything that was actually said. Of course, I wasn't surprised by Faizulla's thinly veiled anti-Semitism, stating that "The foreign policy of America was to get a footstep in the Middle East. Especially next to their beloved son, who is Israel." The only surprise was that he didn't use a term such "Zionists." Along the same vein, Faizulla states that "I don't think there is a good state in the Middle East that could be considered as a model of democracy and values and human rights." Like most Muslims, I am certain that he does not consider Israel to be a legitimate state. Regardless, it is the shining light of democracy in the Middle East, a place where not only is the standard of living astronomically higher than anywhere else in the area, but Muslims are treated better there than anywhere else in that region. Something else I found telling was that Faizulla apparently has been in the U.S. for less than a year and has been in college the entire time. Does his disdain for how shallow Americans are speak more to the caliber of college students and professors, who tend to be very shallow, vain and partisan, as well as the city of Eugene itself and less for Americans as a whole? I welcome Mr. Faizulla to America. Perhaps one day he will escape the world of academia and see what makes America great instead of being indoctrinated as to why it is so bad. Stephen Crawford, Seattle
CHANGE THE SYSTEM There's only one way to prevent the "spoiling" of presidential elections: Change the electoral system so it can fairly accommodate more than two candidates. How can participation — the very heart of participatory democracy — be considered spoiling? The problem isn't too many candidates, the problem is an antiquated and anti-democratic electoral system which forces many people to vote for a lesser-evil candidate instead of one who shares their values. Instant Runoff Voting solves this problem. Learn more about it at www.fairvote.org Green Party presidential nominee David Cobb is on the ballot in Oregon offering voters a chance to support a candidate and a growing party who call for an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq, single-payer health care, a living wage, repeal of the PATRIOT Act, renewable energy, a solar economy and an end to the war on drugs. Only the Green Party offers a genuine, progressive voting alternative and the opportunity to be part of a movement which will continue regardless of who wins on Nov. 2. Check out www.pacificgreens.organd www.votecobb.orgto get involved or to learn more about your voting options. A vote for the Green Party is a vote for peace and hope. If EW readers won't support our presidential ticket this time around, we urge you to register Pacific Green to show your support for ending the war and bringing our troops home now. Blair Bobier , Cobb-LaMarche campaign, Corvallis
HIGHEST BIDDER One spin on the greenish forest-friendly comment of Secretary of Agriculture Ann Venneman: "Our actions today advance President Bush's commitment to cooperatively conserving roadless areas on national forests," translates: "National forest roadless areas are having a going out of business, er government, sale — big trees soon to be available to the highest bidder at or below our cost!" (Psst … there could be more up for sale. CEOs get your stock options ready to roll.) New roads make bigger silt loads, clearcuts, lost headwater salmon spawning sites, and a faster flush of high country water. Hatcheries, hydro dams and bottled water are all good new ways to turn a second profit after the give-away of roadless area trees. Why not sell Judge Hogan's "unendangered" hatchery salmon! Bottled water and subsidized (dammed near clean) power contracts going out to special campaign contributors like Haliburton, PG&E, Weyerhaeuser, or out-of-the-bankruptcy-grave mutant End-run. Cooperative conservation capitalist CEOs get ready to sink financial claws into this new backcountry scratching post! Purrrfect! Vennemen keeps smiling. Somebody's buying timber, a used ex-roadless area, and some wasted watersheds for hydropower and hatchery sites from her. Jus' hep' them good ol' boys' accountants guarantee rock bottom prices. The post election victory party likely features factory-farmed "recovery" salmon, hors d'oeuvres on fancy paper plates, a private subsidy hydro power watershed light show and high-brow designer water — all free (fer now anyway). Ethen Perkins, Eugene
ART OF MANY COLORS Annie Kayner, in her recent letters to the Weekly (6/10 and 8/26), has been working very hard to let us all know what "real art" is, and what a "real artist" is made of. Or, more to the point, what her opinion of "real" is, which I'm no doubt sure is astonishingly similar to the type of art she creates and the type of artist she is. I find it quite disturbing to discover that she apparently is incapable of appreciating that some of us might look at art a different way. Think about it, Ms. Kayner: If we all felt exactly the same way about art, if we all maintained the exact same beliefs about what art was, then all of the art would be the same, and therefore, not very artful. So while, believe me, I know it's hard for any artist ("real" or not) to accept the fact that some folks might not love a piece as much as the artist does, or want to pay for it as much as the artist feels it is worth, I also cherish the fact that art comes in many varieties, and on the days I feel the need to indulge in the last refuge of the frustrated artist — pontificating about how "the unwashed masses will never understand how brilliant I am" — are the days I remind myself that if I enjoy what I'm doing, I don't give a hoot what anybody else has to say about it. If I don't want the government to tell me what a marriage or a family is, why would I want anyone to tell me what art is? Durden Kent, Eugene
CORPORATE WHORES I'd like to give a shout-out to Shawn Mediaclast (8/26) for exposing Face the Music for the corporate whore it is. Just the other day, I was paying for a Pernice Brothers CD when the cute girl behind the counter shoved a chloroform rag underneath my nose. I don't remember what happened next, but I fear that someday my phone will ring, the trigger song will play (John Ashcroft's "Let the Eagles Soar"), and I'll assassinate Noam Chomsky without remembering it. You can see my story in The Manchurian Candidate II, hitting theaters next year. Oh, wait, it'll be released by a corporate studio, and deep down we all know that any art (books, music, art) is dried-up, hypocritical, and downright evil unless it's made by and for snot-nosed hipsters who hang out in clubs drinking PBR and hitting on purple-haired alternative babes. So I suppose us peons will go to work, raise families, and lead lives of quiet desperation, our souls crying out, "Why did we sell out? Why didn't we listen to no-wave and glitch? Why weren't we as cool as Shawn Mediaclast?" You rebel, you. Kris Bluth, Eugene
MORE BLUE LAWS Constitutional Amendment 36 jeopardizes heterosexual rights, such as the right to premarital sex or divorce. Conservative judges have recently cited similar laws against homosexuals as the legal precedent to outlaw popular heterosexual lifestyles. Do not believe those who say this could never happen in Oregon. The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly protect any heterosexual lifestyle. Only several decades ago, heterosexual cohabitation (i.e. living together) and fornication (i.e. premarital sex) were illegal nationwide. Some states also outlawed divorce, ecclesiastical bigamy (i.e. remarriage after death of spouse) and adultery. These blue laws were largely eliminated, without direct voter approval, by so-called liberal "activist judges." The conservative "activist judges" appointed by President Bush could easily reinstate them. To "protect marriage," Christian-Republicans would be hypocritical to outlaw only gay marriage and not fornication and divorce. Constitutional Amendment 36 furthers their theocratic agenda of outlawing all sex outside of marriage. Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis
LET'S VOTE ON IT A project as huge and invasive as the proposed federal courthouse needs to have a vote. The feds are planning on taking a massive peice of our precious downtown riverfront property. They want to put up monolithic structures and are talking about a highway by the river in disregard of the Greenway Act. Do we want this? The construction companies might. The roadbuilders might. But what about the rest of us? Do we really want a massive federal government complex in the heart of our town? The federal government has cut funding for food, art, education, medical care, housing, etc. while handing quite large amounts to their rich friends and to the endless War .Now they want a bigger building and for us to pay the infrastructure costs. I would like to see the current federal courthouse scaled down into a smaller building, to take some cuts like the rest of us, perhaps switch with City Hall. How much will we let the federal government get away with? Let's vote! Kari Johnson, Eugene
SENDING A MESSAGE Hurray for City Councilors Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Scott Meisner and Nancy Nathanson for taking a stand against discrimination by voting to oppose Measure 36! Thanks for supporting each individual's right to make a loving commitment to another. Thanks for supporting equal rights for all. Councilors George Poling, Gary Papé and Jennifer
Solomon opposed the council's condemnation of discrimination. Defending
his position, Poling asked, "What kind of message would we be sending
to citizens who would vote for Measure 36?" (R-G, 9/14). I ask,
what message are they sending to loving couples wanting to make loving
commitments to each other? What message are they sending to all of us
who value civil rights, human dignity, and love? Are they saying that
they think some people have fewer rights than other people? Are they
saying that some people's love should be valued, while other people's
love should be condemned? Are they saying that some Poling, Papé and Solomon can answer these questions by taking stands as individuals and as leaders. When the basic rights — surely love is a basic right — of members of a community are threatened, that community's leaders should have either the courage to defend those rights or the decency to resign. Vote NO on discrimination. Vote NO on 36. Martin Champion, Eugene
SELECTIVE RIGHTS The term "compassionate conservatism" surfaced again at the Republican convention as various speakers tried to restore that aspect of George Bush's self description of the 2000 election, a quality not evident in his administration to date. This term is meant to include the principle, "right to life." My question to President Bush and all who use these terms: Does this include the 1,000 American soldiers killed to date in Iraq, the more than 20,000 Iraqis killed because of the invasion and occupation, the American soldiers and innocent civilians killed in Afghanistan, or for that matter, the prisoners awaiting execution on death row and those executed in the past? Or do we need more precise language? Kathleen Epstein, Eugene
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