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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2007)
TO THE EDITOR when they are sick. We tuck them in at night and dream about them when we go to bed. We rejoice when they find a “forever home” even when saying goodbye is bitter- sweet. We share our lives with them. They are our lives. To imply that we would sit by and watch as they were mistreated is unthinkable. We are bound by the trust these animals place in us. I would not vio- late that trust for anything. No one at Greenhill would. I hold on to that knowledge even as I am an active, willing participant in the decision to euthanize some of these animals. As a Certified Euthanasia Technician, I am also called upon to perform euthanasia. I do this with full confidence that it is the right deci- sion. I have never euthanized an animal arbi- trarily, nor has anyone else at Greenhill. We are all in communication constantly about the health and happiness of our dogs — it is not unusual for the entire staff to meet to dis- cuss an animal. We are a team. We are a fam- ily. We work side by side to care for the ani- mals that we have a calling to help. Kelly Orleman Kennel Lead Greenhill Humane Society HALF A TRILLION It’s a hot day, but the facts are cold — the Iraq casualty and cost facts. This fifth sum- mer of our first major pre-emptive war, the talk is of “bipartisan coalescence” around the Baker report’s recommendations. You remember the Baker report, don’t you? It arrived DOA this January, cut down by Bush’s surge. Now it’s being resurrected, with a timeline to begin drawing down the troops in a year or so, next July or September. Well, while we were looking away the com- bat deathrate has surpassed 100 a month. These are the facts — the first thousand U.S. war dead took 18 months, the second 14, the third a little more than 12. The four- thousandth U.S. troop death is set to occur 11 months since the Baker report/Bush surge, just in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas. To get the Iraqi war dead num- bers, simply multiply by 100. According to this “end-the-war” plan (with a good chance of passing Congress) by the time our role shifts and troops begin drawing down, somewhere between 4,700 and 4,800 American lives will have been squandered in a criminal war, the cost of which has sur- passed one half of one trillion dollars. Ain’t democracy grand. Paul Prensky Eugene TAX WASTE HAULERS I am writing in regards to Mr. Pittman’s article “Road Taxes” in the 7/5 issue. As a member of the public that attended most of the city council’s subcommittee on trans- portation, I would like to shed some light on the discussion. First I would like to thank the coun- cilors and staff who worked very hard to find some solutions to the growing backlog of street repairs in the city. The whole trans- portation system was taken into account, i.e. cars, trucks, bikes and pedestrians. With regards to the heavy trucks that Mr. Pittman was talking about, whereas Mr. Lidz said it would be possible [to estimate their impact], there were also many draw- backs to this, and the majority of the com- mittee felt that they were enough to take it Oregon Festival of American Music 2007 off the table. The trucks that we are talking about are taxed through the weight mile tax through the state, and the city gets approximately $2 million a year that is already being used for road repairs. There was one recommenda- tion from the subcommittee that the whole council chose not to forward for more research, a fee for waste haulers in the city. On a 4-4 tie with the mayor voting no, they cut a proposal that would have added a small fee to everyone’s — residential and commercial — garbage bill. The true cost of picking up our garbage has to also include the cost to the trans- portation system and the damage that it causes. In one of the waste haulers’ own publications, they boast that their trucks are on the roads 16 hours a day seven days a week. They are also on the type of roads that are not designed or built to handle the type of weight that they carry. It was estimated that a 50 cent fee on home pick up and a larger one for larger containers that commercial and business use could generate $1 million each year. It is my hope that we will do what we need to do to make Eugene the best city it can be. John Barofsky Eugene Rodgers & Hart’s 1937 BIG WATER BOMBS Regarding the current massive wildfires in at least nine states, I’m outraged at the U.S. Forest Service refusing to use the supertanker water bombing aircraft like the DC-10 supertanker in Victorville, Calif. (the only online 12,000 gallon supertanker firefighting aircraft in our country); [search for] DC-10 supertanker (on Internet). The DC-10 unfortunately is down for mainte- nance but should be back shortly. I saw an interesting media report that is a solution while the DC-10 supertanker is being repaired. The Russians at water- bomber.com or 1-804-240-4065 have a fleet of six supertanker aircraft like the DC- 10 that have been successfully fighting fires around the world for over 12 years and have always offered to come in and stop our fires on a cost-only basis. However they have always been unjustly refused by our U.S. Forest Service mismanaging our forests as shown at www.JBS.org (search: wildfire). As they can respond immediately and stop massive fires that would otherwise burn for weeks or months, it seems prudent to call them in at this time to save homes and lives. Meanwhile we should get the Evergreen Aviation Boeing 747 supertanker, in Oregon (24,000 gallon capacity), ready for service as a back up tanker ([search for] evergreen supertanker on Internet). We need this quick action now as hundreds of homes have been burned and lives destroyed with obviously more to follow! Only public outcry will force these super- tankers to be used. Contact every public official and demand these aircraft stop these fires now and build more supertankers! Larry Swanberg Victorville, Calif. GOD IS DEAD Modern genetic engineering and DNA research confirm what Darwin wrote years ago. From a scientific perspective, based upon DNA studies and fossil remains, sci- entists can put together how different species developed and evolved. Humans August 4, 9 & 11 Hult Center Tickets: 682-5000 Tickets are also available at The Shedd: 434-7000 Oregon Festival of American Music 2007 South Pacifi c August 3, 5, 8 & 10 Hult Center - Tickets: 541-682-5000 JULY 19, 2007 5
