TO THE EDITOR
vidual complaints. Yet Eugene/Veneta had
10 serious slash or thinning smoke incur-
sions of carcinogenic burned plastic since
2000!
Class action suits by asthma, bronchitis,
emphysema and pneumonia victims and
their families are nothing to sneeze at.
Lawmakers should hold burners culpable
and require a reasonable minimum insur-
ance liability (say $20 million!) covering
documented seasonal burning smoke ill-
nesses from incursions.
Hefty mandatory liability insurance
premiums would give farmers the freedom
to burn or consider smarter options.
Timber interests and other agencies risking
management with fire also must assume
responsibility and adequately insure pre-
scribed burning.
The LRAPA board risked being moth-
balled for courageously advocating a field-
burning ban. Will Oregon’s Environmental
Protection Agency
and
Forestry
Department cave in to timber interests
wanting freedom to burn more slash close
to large towns, immunity from responding
to individual rural complaints and the reg-
ulation of slash burns to become local po-
litical issues in Florence and other smaller
cities? Are LRAPA or Oregon legislators
our best hope for relief?
Ethen Perkins
Eugene
INGRAINED MISOGYNY
Are male threats and violence against
women considered hate crimes by the city
of Eugene and related human rights task
forces? There are anti-woman graffiti, gen-
dered hate language, violence and sexual-
ized violence, and murder that are specifi-
cally male-supremacist. Although it may
be difficult to look at such an ingrained and
widespread prejudice as woman-hating, to
do so can help us understand how intercon-
nected we are in our various struggles for
an egalitarian society and harmony with
nature.
Kari Johnson
Eugene
SLOW LEARNERS
I remember Vietnam, my friends died in
Vietnam, some were wounded there, some
were broken there, some were never to re-
cover. To many of us, Vietnam is not some-
thing in a history book. We lived it! Never
did I think that this nation was so stupid to
repeat Vietnam, never!
Only a virtuoso of stupidity could lead
us into this nightmare, an unquestioned
virtuoso! Did we learn nothing? The an-
swer is obvious. Make no mistake: 70 per-
cent of Americans supported this war.
Those who forget the past? Those who ar-
rogantly ignore the past deserve to repeat
it, and we are and will, to our great pain,
embarrassment and shame. Unfortunately
this will not end soon, as this nation is slow
to learn.
Joe Mogus
Corvallis
HAVE WE COME SO FAR?
How fortunate for Eugeneans. The Rev.
Walter Fauntroy is taking time off from his
crusade to deny the civil and humane right
to marry for millions of Americans to come
preach to us about “How Far We Have
Come?” It appears the Rev. Fauntroy has
come full circle.
Tommy Lane
Eugene
LEGITIMATE RESISTANCE
I’m writing in response to Randy
Kolb’s letter (12/28). As an incarcerated
radical environmentalist, convicted of
arson, I have been labeled a terrorist by
both the state and the media. I am accus-
tomed to such condemnations. However, I
find it extremely offensive to be compared
to a right-wing pro-life arsonist.
I will readily agree that property de-
struction, especially arson, can be per-
ceived as violent. In some cases that is the
most appropriate label. Just as in some
cases it is the most appropriate tactic. Yet,
there are extreme differences in how vio-
lence is directed and when it is deemed jus-
tifiable by the public.
Pro-lifers who use violence do so in
order to subjugate women and force their
moral beliefs on them, taking away not
only a woman’s right to choose, but her
right to be safe. Eco-saboteurs use violence
to attack an economic structure that has
lent to global and mass extinction. This
isn’t a self-righteous struggle: It is a legiti-
mate resistance based on scientific evi-
dence. It is also a struggle supported by
millions and millions of people worldwide.
I’m not interested in saving you, Mr.
Kolb. This struggle is bigger than you or
me. My concern rests with keeping corpo-
rate money-grubbing hands and their gov-
ernment yes men from destroying the eco-
logical and biological diversity of this
planet. If more Americans took an interest
in American foreign policy or took steps to
curb out-of-control corporations, maybe
concerned youths wouldn’t feel like the
only hope lies in their resistance.
Jeffrey Luers
Salem
SIX RESOLUTIONS
A news broadcast reported Dick
Cheney as saying that, “I hear no viable
plan coming from anyone who opposes the
surge,” and the story ended saying that the
administration “will not be swayed by con-
JANUARY 25, 2007 5