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CITY OF HOLES I'm certainly glad to hear someone else (Dan Carol's Kumbaya Dammit column, 3/2) thinks something should be done about the holes downtown. Eugene: City of Holes isn't the best image. Other suggestions for improvements to Eugene: How about an 18 and over club with good DJs and buses that run at night so we can get to it? After all, we're going to have a new (and expensive) "rapid transit" bus system soon. Why not run it until the bars get out? Felicia Kenney, Glenwood
DRAIN ON ECONOMY If Whole Foods, or Dubyamart, or any other chain retail decides to land on the Eugene economy, it is because it believes it can extract profit from that economy. No matter what it contributes, it has to take more, and this will, primarily, be out of local pockets. Whole Foods is not going to be a huge draw for customers from other places because other places big enough to support a store have the chain. The net effect of a store in Eugene will be to shrink the local cash flow. Any chain retailer that must make profits for investors or owners who live elsewhere will do this. Why must we pay to have the raiders strike? They will do it anyway, if the economy will support them. They don't need additional incentives. If the purpose of bribing a business to come to Eugene is to grow the economy, choose one that sells to a larger market but pays people to do the work locally. A business such as the former Aster Publishing, which unfortunately was sold and no longer has a presence here, sells to the entire country and Europe, but pays local people to do the work. It brought money into Eugene for roughly twenty years. In contrast, big-box retail is a drain. Karen Carlson, Eugene
LOOK NORTH In letters (2/23), Lynn Porter wrote: "Americans went on a psychotic rampage and began killing Iraqis in order to steal their oil and use their land for military bases." If that was America's intent, then why go halfway around the world and take on the world's fourth-largest army to do so, when the U.S. could simply roll the tanks north of the Montana border and take over half of the world's oil supply (the Alberta tar sands) in a day? Perhaps instead George Bush, Jean Chretien, Tony Blair, Hans Blix, and Bill Clinton were telling the truth: that they believed that Saddam Hussein was developing or possessed weapons of mass destruction and was a supporter of terrorism. Ed Minchau, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
BRILLIANT! President George W. Bush's plan to fight terrorism: Brilliant! Get Muslims so fired up that they kill each other over there, so that we do not have to kill them here: Brilliant! Like Forrest Gump's mama always said, "Brilliant is as brilliant does." Michael T. Hinojosa, Drain
PERPETUAL WAR After reading Gore Vidal's Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace detailing our 200 invasions, slaughters, bombings and atrocities since World War II, I am convinced that the U.S. is the perpetual initiator of most of the perpetual violence around the globe for imperial global power and monetary gain, at the expense of social programs and our own civil liberties. Our ruling regime's secret police thugs — the CIA and FBI — are perpetual violators of human rights here and abroad. The undemocratic PATRIOT Act, signed and passed by our cowardly, obedient non-readers in Congress, allows torture, home invasion and retaliations for 9/11. How many innocent Iraqis, women, children and babies must continue to die for our war, weapons and oil profiteers? Under the PATRIOT Act, we need an alternative Citizens Terrorist Protective Unit to legally spy on and eavesdrop on the regime gang and to conduct home invasions (including the White House) to root out evidence of the perpetual plotting and planning of more global slaughters and atrocities to come. Instead of our legalized torture, all guilty culprits should be given long sentences working in our American slave factories around the globe. Now that would be perpetual justice! Alice Keiser Greth, Bend
SANIPAC SOLUTIONS The "Trash-y Neighbors" letter to the editor (2/9) from Michael Comstock caught my eye because we at Sanipac always try to be part of the solution, not pat of the problem. In the past we have mailed customers a schedule of which alternate week they have recycling service and we include in our website, www.sanipac.com,a printable schedule as well. It has been some time since we have mailed out updated schedules, however, and Mr. Comstock's letter convinced me that our next quarterly newsletter should include a forward-looking schedule. To this end, our April/May/June newsletter will include a full-size schedule detailing when your commingled recycling roll-can should be at the curb. Also, you can, at any time, go to our website. Click on the Commingled Recycling tab, and then click on the Residential Commingled Recycling Schedule and follow the directions to get your printable schedule. Remember: yard debris is on the opposite week of your recycling. I hope this helps, and I appreciate the feedback. Comments like Mr. Comstock's help us to look at what we do from a different perspective. We are always interested in how we can be a better neighbor. John Hire, General Manager, Sanipac
PORT-O-PROBLEM I did not know about the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) until recently. CFIUS was established by Executive Order 11858 in 1975. In 1988 the president, by Executive Order 12661, "delegated his responsibilities ... CFIUS to receive notices of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, to determine whether a particular acquisition has national security issues sufficient to warrant an investigation and to undertake an investigation, if necessary, under the Exon-Florio provision." In 1993, by Executive Order 12860, membership was expanded to include the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, and the assistant to the president for Economic Policy. In February 2003 the Department of Homeland Security was added to CFIUS. The committee now has 12 members. The secretary of treasury is one; along with the secretaries of state, defense and commerce; the attorney general; the director of the Office of Management and Budget; the U.S. trade representative; and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. This cabal runs the show when it comes to foreign countries wanting to buy American companies that have to do with national security issues. Where are the Senate and Congress on this? I feel they should be dealing with these issues, not some back-room cabal. This is a very scary situation, and the current UAE deal should be stopped. There are people in both parties that are against this port deal and I hope lawsuits are filed. I hope bills are passed against this deal. Rush Limbaugh thinks this deal going through would be the best thing since OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone. But I feel if the port deal goes through it will endanger national security and take more jobs from Americans. The Congress and the Senate need to do whatever they can to block this sale and do away with this CFIUS. Elected officials need to be making decisions of matters of national security. We the people need to keep the pressure on to end this deal and breakup CFIUS. W. Joe Lyon, Eugene
BIRDS & BOMBS I love Harry Whittington for expressing his sympathy to Vice President Cheney for mistaking him for a little bird. That level of compassion and forgiveness represents the true mark of a Southern gentleman. By contrast, a lowlife like Saddam Hussein doesn't seem to give a damn about the anguish and remorse he has caused our vice president for ignoring the U.N. arms inspectors and launching an avoidable war. John Agnew, Eugene
SLEEPLESS IN VANCOUVER I wonder if Brett Campbell (news story, 2/23) stayed until the end of Gordon Price's lecture. The audience asked questions that exposed problems in Vancouver: • Sustainability — High-rises are built with concrete and steel, and these materials come at an environmental cost. Manufacturing cement contributes about 10 percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally. Mining iron ore and manufacturing steel generates toxic waste, and releases toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases into air and water. • Ease of movement for people with disabilities — Price rated the city as "OK" for access. He could say only that the disabled community has been active, and closeness to services is helpful. • Affordability — Because of a rapidly growing population, Vancouver is expensive. It doesn't have enough rentals. Low-income housing helps people who qualify, but middle-income earners find it hard to live there. In one condominium complex, parking spaces are sold separately for $20,000. • Reverse commuting — Vancouver has gone from "de-industrialization to re-naturalization." Industry moved out of town, forcing workers to commute. Joanne Vinton, Eugene
BAD EATING HABITS Whole Foods is a corporation based in Texas. Instead of taking money out of our state, how about building an indoor facility for a farmer's market? This would help support our farmers. I would be interested in knowing what portion of every dollar would go out of Oregon with a Whole Foods store. We have plenty of health food stores in the Eugene area that are locally owned. What happened to sustainable, local businesses, Kitty? I also would love to see our public schools tear up much of the grass and plant gardens and build greenhouses to teach kids how to grow food, and also feed them healthy, fresh organic food. The closer we are to the source of our food the less expensive and more nutritious. With climate change, a third of all species threatened with extinction and the price of oil steadily rising, we need to seriously rethink where we get our food and how much of our lands we tear up to build suburbs and freeways. Instead of building more parking garages, how about getting our buses to run on bio-diesel 24 hours a day and have a gas tax pay for it? The planet is not getting bigger and the human population is not declining. Let us, everyone, get our heads out of the shopping malls, television and computer screens and get real. Pam Driscoll, Eugene
SPIN CYCLE Apparently, facts are the one thing you do not print in your letters section, so in this letter I'll confine myself to opinion. By ignoring the story of the $155,000 financial settlement reached by the city of Eugene in the Southtowne Beat Down, your cover story on laundromats (2/23) is to alternative weeklies what the runaway bride story was to cable news channels. Charles Varani, Eugene
NATURE FOR SALE I applaud the intent behind Scott Peterson's letter to EW (2/23). However, he may have become muddled in the twisted logic behind the "shoot, shovel, and shut-up" argument. Their argument states that "unless we pay developers to NOT develop, then they will shoot an endangered species, bury it, and keep quiet." The logic is similar to "let's pay murderers not to murder (or rapists not to rape)." The argument emerged from anecdotal evidence that private land owners in parts of Northern California and southwest Oregon were shooting spotted owls because they didn't want their land to be tied up with the legal restrictions of the Endangered Species Act. The attempt to change the ESA by providing financial incentives to land owners has actually passed the U.S. House, and will be up for a vote in the Senate in just one or two months. Unfortunately, the proposed change will make it much harder for endangered species to survive. If the ESA is revised, it will provide tax dollars for land owners, developers and speculators, but it will offer no real protection for those species threatened with extinction. Guess which one of our beloved senators will likely vote to change the existing law in favor of developers? What is immediately distressing is that there is already an easy way that private landowners can be compensated for providing a habitat for an endangered species. They can simply sell all or parts of their land to a conservation organization. These truly benevolent souls will simply purchase sensitive land, and then let it sit undisturbed forever. If you would like to help these conservation organizations or take advantage of their services please visit online: www.nature.orgor www.lta.org Matthew Froelic ,Eugene
WHOLE IN THE FACTS I'd like to take issue with Harry Norman's letter (2/23) endorsing Whole Foods. It seems long on adoration, short on concrete reasoning and leaves out at least one thing I think contraindicates his conclusion. His first sentence is so laudatory I initially wondered whether he was either an employee in WF's public relations department or an owner of adjacent property (whose value might shoot up as a result of WF building on the proposed site). "One of the finest corporate citizens on the planet"? That's quite a claim. How about some data to back up the claim? His second sentence follows the pattern of making a claim without offering any data behind it: "the largest investor in wind energy credits." What exactly does that mean, anyway? How do you invest in wind energy credits anyway? The next thing he says is that WF "would be a tremendous addition to our community." Why is that, because "they are the finest corporate citizens on the planet"? Whatever might that mean? I'm sorry, but my understanding is that the primary stockholder of the company gave a substantial donation to the Republican party, and to Little George's re-election campaign, in the last election cycle. I can't see anyone who finances such people running a company for the benefit of anyone but himself — and to our detriment. Stephen Ramey,Eugene
HEY, FELONS! Calling all Eugene criminals! Tired of committing crimes and getting caught? Well here's how to get away with murder in Eugene: simply commit your crimes on the last Friday of every month between the times of 5:30 to 7 pm. At that time of day, the Eugene Police Department will be using nearly a dozen squad cars to tail and assault peaceful bicyclists asserting their legal rights to safely use alternative transportation on city streets, during a Critical Mass bike ride. In fact, the Eugene police consider these bike riders to be such a massive threat to the public that they occupy the majority of the officers they have on duty at the time to follow the bicyclists, block off entire city streets with their squad cars, and roughly knock several of these citizens off their bicycles to fall hard to the pavement, where they are held down, handcuffed, thrown in the back of a squad car, threatened with spending a weekend in jail, and finally cited with "disorderly conduct." So, Eugene criminals, while the bulk of the Eugene city police are using taxpayers' money to harass and arrest pedaling pacifists, you can get away with your reckless and drunk driving, your burglary and theft, your methamphetamine production and distribution, your beatings, your rapes and your murders. It's like a get out of jail free card! Doesn't it make you want to stick around town, knowing Eugene is so tolerant of the criminal element — unless, of course, you're a peaceful citizen standing up for what you believe in? Josh Schlossberg, Eugene
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