ACTIVISTS PREPARE
FOR THE GOP BASH
Conservative bigwigs across America are
gearing up for the Republican National
Convention (RNC), to be held in Madison
Square Garden from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.
But if America’s powerful right is packing
suits for the trip to NYC, the radical left is pack-
ing protest gear. Yes, as in Cancun and Seattle
for the WTO ministerials, as in Miami for the
FTAA meeting and Quebec for the Summit of
the Americas, activists are mobilizing to make
their presence known in New York during this
year’s RNC.
Several hundred organizations, from local
anarchist collectives to national nonprofits, are
planning workshops, marches and actions to
take place during the convention. United for
Peace and Justice is organizing a march on Aug.
31, and the NYC Radical Cheerleaders — out-
fitted with pom-poms, short skirts and hairy
armpits — will cheer on the activists.
Rally organizers haven’t had an easy time
securing the neces-
sary
permits.
United for Peace
and Justice ap-
plied more than
a year ago for a
permit to rally in
Central Park, but
the NYC po-
lice re-
fused to grant it. NYC Mayor Michael
Bloomberg said that the permit process helps
police control the crowds, but UPJ is suing the
city.
Several Eugene locals will be in New York
for the RNC. Bob Avery, chairman of the Lane
County Republican Party, will attend as a dele-
gate. “I’m excited about the president. I’m ex-
cited about his campaign,” says Avery. But he’s
not excited by the prospect of protesters. “I’m a
little disturbed by the absolute hate that’s com-
ing out of the Democratic Party and its activists.
That’s no way to be civilized,” he says.
For Eugene activist Peter Chabarek, it’s not
hate, but patriotism that propels him and Carol
Melia to New York to oppose the convention.
Chabarek and Melia — whose group is called
Enemy Combatants — plan to perform protest
songs outside the RNC to send a message to the
nation. “We have to take back the country from
the ideologues that have taken it over,” says
Chabarek. “We have to fight for peace and for
justice, and we have to apply force without vio-
lence. We’re trying to convey that message with
music and with humor.”
Chabarek and Melia play original and re-
worked political songs. A ditty called “Neo-con
Job,” which Chabarek wrote, includes this
stanza:
The president’s half-baked
Supreme Court’s on the take.
Cheney works for Halliburton
he is not like Thomas Murton.
If you think Iraq is free
it’s mafia democracy.
Greenhouse gas is getting bigger
\9-11 pulled the trigger.
For more information on the mobiliza-
tion against the RNC, visit www.rncnotwel-
come.org or www.counterconvention.org
— Kera Abraham
• Need a good laugh? The list of supporters of the full-
page “Run Jim Run” ad in the R-G Sunday, Aug. 22
includes the name Phukyoo Gymn. Gotta love this town.
• Excellent turnout for the grand opening of the
Kerry/Edwards Democratic campaign office at 16th and
Oak in Eugene Aug. 20. Even Wyden and DeFazio
showed up to cheer on candidates for local, state and
national races, and to remind us that Nov. 2 is only nine
weeks away. After the speechifying, lots of conversation
in the crowd about political strategy on both the left
and the right. Hot topics? The Republican scheme to
front state anti-gay marriage measures in swing states
in order to get evangelicals to the polls. And the local
mayoral write-in campaign — lots of talk about Torrey
sabotaging his political future by not stopping the divi-
sive “Run Jim Run” campaign. Will we see Kerry back in
Eugene this fall, along with Edwards? Scuttlebutt has at
least one of them in town sometime in late September
or early October for a big rally on campus.
• What’s happening downtown following the withdrawal
of the offer by St. Vinny’s to buy the Centre Court
Building? It’s looks like Terry McDonald will be back
shopping for real estate, or more likely, looking at his
second and third choices. What have we learned from
all this? Downtown has a lot of empty buildings and yet
rents are too high for many start-up businesses.
Downtown property owners appear to be in no rush to
pump money into their buildings to make them more
attractive to higher-end shops and offices, despite the
huge public investment in downtown, such as the new
library, redevelopment of Broadway, bus rapid transit
and the coming new federal building. We know that
some developers have been crafting a plan for several
8 AUGUST 26, 2004
ENVIRO LAWYER SPEAKS
ON NIGERIA OIL EXPLOITS
Simon Amaduobogha, a Nigerian environ-
mental attorney taking on the oil industry in
the oil-rich Niger Delta, recently arrived in
Eugene as a working exchange fellow with the
U.S. office of the Environmental Law Alliance
Worldwide (E-LAW U.S.). At the end of his
two-week fellowship, Amaduobogha will give
a brown bag lunch presentation titled “Fueling
the Devastation: Oil Drilling in Nigeria.”
The presentation, sponsored by E-LAW
U.S. and the Wayne Morse Center, will ex-
plore the disastrous effects of the oil industry
— from spills to natural gas flaring — on
Nigeria’s poor.
Amaduobogha works pro bono for
Environmental Rights Action, a Nigerian ad-
vocacy nonprofit that supports communities
suffering from environmental contamination
and human rights abuses at the hands of multi-
national oil corporations. He is also founding a
public interest law organization, the
Community Defense Law Foundation, to pro-
tect Nigerian communities from exploitation
by multinational oil companies. The founda-
tion will become Nigeria’s only NGO filing
lawsuits on behalf of communities against oil
companies.
city center buildings, but it’s not easy to find “patient
capital” — investment that doesn’t give quick returns.
And finally, is class still an issue? Economic develop-
ment czar Jack Roberts tells us it’s ironic that one part
of the community doesn’t want Wal-Mart, and another
part doesn’t want St. Vincent de Paul. “Maybe we aren’t
as polarized as we thought,” he says. “Maybe everyone
just wants to be able to pick their neighbors.”
• We’re weary of writing about the West Eugene
Parkway and it would be great news to hear that this
boondoggle has been buried for good. But just because
the BLM is finally intervening with serious (and overdue)
concerns about the project doesn’t mean it won’t be
built. Support for the WEP remains strong among devel-
opers who stand to make millions from its construction
and subsequent sprawl. And more significantly, a few
folks in government still think it’s a good idea. Once
highway projects get on track, they are hard to stop,
even if they contradict policy and logic. It’s funny to
read in the R-G (8/21) that one federal highway official
thinks people will appreciate the wetlands more if they
can drive through them. Well, we can’t wait to tour the
wetlands at 65 mph, flattening turtles, smearing butter-
flies and scaring the crap out of herons. Meanwhile, it
looks like ODOT wants city taxpayers to take financial
responsibility for maintaining the WEP east of Beltline.
Try taking that to the voters. Let’s pull the plug on the
WEP, remove sprawl incentives from our local land use
rules, and rework our existing roads such as West 11th to
ease congestion.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing
notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately?
Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
Ki ds f or Ke r r y
Every Sunday
• Lane County Kids for Kerry are
meeting from 4 to 5 pm every Sunday
at Cozmic Pizza, 8th and Charnelton
downtown. Kids from toddlers to teens
can’t vote, but they can raise money,
canvass, register new voters, bake
cookies for house parties, and most
importantly, speak up about why this
election is so important. For more
information, show up Sundays, visit
the LCKK booth at Saturday Market,
or call 345-3576.