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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR tiny entities somehow becomes a feel-good scenario of “infinite possibilities” in our vis- ible world. I left the theater with a new understand- ing of positivity, that the millions of Holocaust victims, starving Third World children, and brutalized Iraqis are clearly the result of their own self-imposed negative thinking. The stage is set by the alluring remark that science has disproved medieval “truths” (flat earth and the like), so how do we know today’s accepted “truths” are any more realistic? Alas, the film totally ignores the most significant turning point of modern times: empiricism and the scientific method. A the- ory is not accepted simply because it “makes sense” mathematically or intuitively or because, well shucks, I just want it to be true! It is tested, modified, tested again, chal- lenged and reevaluated endlessly. The dispassionate process virtually rules out the acceptance of nice, self-consistent conceptual systems based entirely on specula- tion. All right, if I fall short of guru credibili- ty, I will highly recommend the writings and teachings of the most brilliant physicist since Einstein, the late Richard P. Feynman, who set the record straight on scientific voodoo. James Wood Eugene SWALLOWING THE WAD Poor Colin Powell, this once proud man has become the equivalent of Monica Lewinsky. There he was last week in front of microphones and cameras doing what Monica did in privacy, having to swallow and defend the latest wad of lies coming out of the Bush Administration. This time it was not about yellow cake or centrifuge tubes of WMD, but claims that the war against ter- rorism was working. A Bush report in April had falsely claimed that the number of ter- rorist attacks and victims had declined to the lowest level in 34 years. It turns out just the opposite was true. The number had increased sharply. “Errors crept in that frankly we did not catch here,” said Powell. Unfortunately no dry cleaner can remove these stains from the red, white and blue fabric of our country. What a pity, before he sank to his knees at the pleasure of President Bush, I think that Colin Powell might have made a great future president. Michael T. Hinojosa Drain LIBERATED IRAQ I am having a premonition about the future of Iraq. I see locked borders, curfews, cronyism, suppressed media, forced con- scription, public coffers plundered, hand- picked political successors, etc. The newly “liberated” Iraq is starting to look a lot like North Korea. After a few more stolen elections, maybe Bush & Co. will similarly “liberate” Americans — or is our liberation already in progress through the PATRIOT Act and its progeny? Please, please get involved in “regime change.” Your future depends on it. Don’t for- get: One superpower equals absolute power, and “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Doug Heiken Eugene REGIME ROTATION The 2004 presidential “election” features a plutocrat from the occult Skull and Bones secret society who supports police state leg- islation, a new gas pipeline from north Alaska, more troops to Iraq, the war in Columbia, nuclear power, Enron energy deregulation, delaying fuel efficiency improvements in cars until 2015 and oppos- es the Kyoto Treaty. And then we have the incumbent, who is a war criminal, complicit in the murder of 3,000 people in New York (9/11 was Bush’s crime, not an “intelligence failure”) and countless Iraqis, Afghans and others unfortunate enough to live near natu- ral resources sought by the U.S. empire. The 2004 presidential “election” makes the 2000 contest look honest in comparison — at best, it will merely be “regime rota- tion” (replace Bush but keep the most impor- tant policies: Homeland Security and the War of Terror). The biggest way the election has been rigged is not phony computerized ballot machines (although they are a severe violation of democracy), but the manipula- tion of the process to ensure that Bush’s cousin was picked as the opposition candi- date. Bush, Kerry and Cheney are cousins, part of the American aristocracy. Kerry’s foreign policy chair, Mr. Rand Beers, is a Bush regime member who is a self-admitted per- jurer. See www.oilempire.us/kerry.html I was disappointed that EW urged people to vote for pro-war candidate John Kerry in the primary. Voting for Dennis Kucinich was an excellent way of pressuring the leaders of the Democratic Party who support Bush’s oil wars (although under new leadership). If lib- erals pressure the Democrats to oppose war and fascism, the D’s might regain some backbone and win more elections. Mark Robinowitz Eugene 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 (please put “letters” in the subject line), fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. 6 JUNE 24, 2004
