TO THE EDITOR
BRIGHT SPOT
I found a bright spot in EW with Lisa-
Marie DiVincent’s letter “Really Listening”
(6/3). She calls for a little more compassion,
caring about diversity and different points of
view.
It does seem like EW editorials and articles
have recently sold out to creating more con-
flict, divisive and polarized opinions rather
than promoting dialogue and discussions
aimed toward meeting each other’s needs. Are
we really listening to everyone’s needs? How
about for our children and grandchildren and
for many different people yet to come?
Could it be that EW, like the rest of us, has
needs for some new rays and ways of looking
at what we have here? The natural beauty
around us is so much grander than our strug-
gles. Can we appreciate and play in that?
Meet me beyond our limited history. Let
us imagine a kind, strong, healthy, caring and
joyful Eugene-Springfield-Lane County
community. We want to start somewhere.
Will you and I be there too?
Charlie Larson
Eugene
THREE-BUCK RON
Perhaps it would be appropriate to put
Reagan’s likeness on the $3 bill. I remember
him as the first U.S. president to reach office
by means of treason (offering, while a pri-
vate citizen, to sell arms to Iranian terrorists,
if they would keep Americans as hostages
until Reagan was inaugurated).
Treason is the main thing that George II
and Reagan have in common. I hope Kerry,
after he’s elected, uses the so-called PATRI-
OT Act to put the entire Bush cabinet in
Guantanamo, forever. Maybe a few foreign
objects forced into a few orifices would make
them understand what torture is really about.
Wayne Ford
Eugene
YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE
A message to those of you who steal pot-
ted plants, so lovingly cultivated, off front
porches: 1) Thou shall not steal. 2) The eyes
of God see all. 3) Instant Karma is gonna get
you. 4) What goes around comes around.
Think about it!
Quinn Harrington
Eugene
VOTING FOR EVIL
I am feeling very frustrated with the lack
of choices in the presidential election. I do
not want Shrub in office again, yet I feel if I
vote for Kerry I am voting for a corrupt sys-
tem. Kerry is bought and paid for by corpo-
rations that also buy Shrub.
BY SCOTT THIEMANN
It’s the Berries
Gabbing about our lives.
M
y name is Scott Thiemann, and I live
outside a small community on the
Oregon Coast. We intentionally moved
here about eight years ago in order to escape the
urban madness. We have established our home
with the intent to be here for the rest of our lives.
For work, I do landscape gardening, helping people
clean up and organize their yards.
Several years ago, Bob called me to help him with
some weeding, rototilling, and general clean-up work at his place. He was a friend-
ly, gregarious guy who coached me as I weeded my way through rows of blueber-
ries, strawberries and other plants. Because of having his knees operated on, he
couldn’t get in the crouched position anymore required to pull weeds from the
constricted areas of his garden.
While working with clients, I’ll commonly share niceties and gab about general-
ities; gradually we’ll end up talking more personally about our lives. Besides learn-
ing the details of Bob’s knee surgery, I was also educated about being a Shriner.
Invariably, Bob wanted to know more about me.
He began his inquiry by offering my wife and me a container of last year’s
bounty from his sizeable blueberry bushes. When I indicated that I wasn’t married,
with a coy smile he pressed on, “Well, I bet your girlfriend will appreciate these.”
I was faced with a typical dilemma. Not being skilled at breaking such news, I
think the last thing Bob expected to hear were my next words: “She’s a he.” If you
haven’t figured out by now, “we” in the first paragraph was referring to my part-
ner, a man.
Anyhow, Bob disappeared. I continued weeding.
There was no sign of the man who had blithely informed me that his name was
spelled the same forward and backward. Forty-five minutes later, after I knocked
on the door, I collected my check and was sheepishly presented with an old Cool-
Whip container of blueberries.
Somewhat surprised to still be getting the blueberries, I assured Bob they
would be much appreciated. Had Bob known that my partner didn’t care for blue-
berries, I wonder if he’d been as generous with his fruity tip.
Perhaps he found out, because I’ve never seen Bob again. It’s a shame — he
seemed like a really nice guy.
Scott Thiemann’s column has been running for several months in the Port Orford News, but was recently canceled,
reportedly due to advertiser pressure. His columns and commentaries have also run in the Brownsville Times and
the Brookings Pilot.
4 JUNE 24, 2004
I worked on the last two Nader cam-
paigns and agreed with Ralph when he said
“the lesser of two evils is still evil.” I wrote
Ralph when he was doing a survey on run-
ning this time and said; “the lesser of two
evils is still the lesser of two evils, so don’t
run this time around.” But now I am think-
ing, I can’t vote for evil. I know that is a
strong word. But it is not an exaggeration.
Our country is run by multi-national corpo-
rations that control the politicians and these
corporations are destroying the web of life
all over the planet. So what to do?
Peaceful revolution comes to mind.
Violence will only get us thrown in prison.
We need to unite, buy local, boycott corpora-
tions that are heartless, grow our own food as
much as possible and demand change! This
revolution has to come from a spirit of love,
not fear.
Can Kerry go back to his roots? Don’t
count on it. He’s a puppet for the corporate
master. A vote for him is a vote for our coun-
try to continue down the dark destructive
path it’s been on for many years. Vote for
Nader? Maybe. We need to think this
through carefully, I’m convinced our sur-
vival depends on it.
Pam Driscoll
Springfield
WHICH CARBON?
From the EW “Meltdown” article (6/10):
“carbon levels are expected to double from
pre-industrial level by 2050.” First let’s be
clear that we’re talking about carbon dioxide
(CO2), in the atmosphere. “Carbon” is of
course included in CO2, but it’s also in soot,
charcoal, graphite, diamonds, all living
things, and especially in fossil fuels. We
won’t double the carbon in the general envi-
ronment, but rather the CO2 in the atmos-
phere, mainly by burning fossil fuels.
Do such predictions take into account the
increased CO2 from more and hotter forest
fires, and from less CO2 staying dissolved in
the oceans, both of which will also result
from higher temperatures? Do temperature
predictions also include that less ice around
the poles causes greater absorption of sun-
light, and that increased water vapor is also a
greenhouse gas? How about methane
hydrate deposits on the ocean floor, which
may break down to methane (a much worse
“greenhouse gas”) as ocean temperatures
rise, and eventually to CO2? All these fac-
tors, and probably many unknowns, multiply
with each other to produce unpredictable
temperature rise.
I wonder if we aren’t hearing the simpler
analyses, leading to near-best-case scenarios.
Dan Robinson
Eugene
ONLY PART BIODIESEL
Your recent article on climate change
(“Meltdown,” 6/10) states that the city of
Eugene has “switched to biodiesel,” which is
not altogether accurate. Diesel engine vehi-
cles in the city fleet are fueled with a blend
of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petro-
leum diesel, known as “B20.” While this
blend produces a significant reduction in
unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide,
and particulates, it reduces carbon dioxide
and sulfur emissions by only 20 percent.
While the city fleet managers are to be
commended for their forward-thinking deci-
sion to run their vehicles on a more environ-
mentally friendly fuel, Lane County has yet to
invest in even small percentages of cleaner-
burning fuels. Lane Transit District annually
consumes in excess of 800,000 gallons of
diesel fuel, all of it petroleum-based. LTD
recently purchased five cleaner-burning buses
which are rather too large to be practical on
the majority of urban bus routes. Running the
existing fleet of buses on a biodiesel blend
would go a long way towards improving the
quality of the air in our valley without neces-
sitating any investment in new vehicles.
If you are concerned about air quality,
greenhouse gasses, and sustainable, renew-
able fuels, contact the fleet managers for the
city and thank them for their participation in
renewable fuels and ask them to consider
using a higher percentage blend of biodiesel
in their vehicles. If city vehicles are deliver-
ing satisfactory performance with biodiesel
blends, there’s no defendable reason the LTD
and county fleet vehicles shouldn’t be using
it as well.
R. Sparks Scott
Eugene