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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2007)
TO THE EDITOR HUMANITIES 101 Can’t we agree that at least a companion solution to the problem of global warming is to stop vitriol emissions because we get hotter when we weep? Lori Kasprzak Eugene ported him, including me, who visited him whenever I returned to southern California. Today the teenager is a married success- ful businessman with his kids in college. Jerry Copeland Florence GLOATING OVER DEATH RUMORS Any truth to the rumor that Halliburton’s cornered the ski mask market in the Gaza Strip? Tom Tracey Eugene CONSCIENCE FOR COWARDS What is that stuff? MOTOR OIL, CARBON, WATER, ACID, METALS It doesn’t belong in the air! First, an admission — United States his- tory was only my minor in college. However, I have been unable to recall one U.S. president who allowed foreign nation- als to attack the U.S. land mass without retaliating directly against the government of that foreign nation. Nor can I recall an American administration which sacrificed more of our life, fortune and sacred honor, all for personal enrichment, family ven- gence, crony protection and foreign and domestic advancement. Perhaps some UO professor can enlighten me. To the mind of this English major, only Shakespeare’s Richard III approximates. M. Clark Wilde Blachly MEETING NOTES Perhaps your readers would be interest- ed in what the citizens of this area have to say to the various city councils and the county commissioners? All of the city councils and the county commissioners meetings should be public information. Perhaps the notes of the secre- tary/recorder could be downloaded to EW? And EW could summarize the comments. Even if your presentation was a couple of months late, it still might be interesting. It might even encourage citizens to partici- pate in their government. Your coverage would certainly be a lot more than the citi- zens are currently receiving from the vari- ous local news media. Frank Skipton Springfield RECOVERY POSSIBLE REDUCE EMISSIONS! CONSERVE FUEL! MORE POWER! MONEY BACK GUARANTEE • WILL NOT VOID WARRANTY Expert Auto Care - Bruce & La Donna Greenway Serving Eugene’s automobile needs for 25 years 776 Powers Unit B • Eugene, OR 97402 (541) 484-6472 • www.elmiraautomotive.com 8 JULY 19, 2007 BERTELSEN WEST 11TH POWERS ELMIRA AUTOMOTIVE 484-6411 WEST 7TH EAST 11TH That a teenager like Kip Kinkel is a vic- tim of mob mentality is understandable. Mob mentality has been with us since humans lived together. So Kip’s prison sen- tence of 120 years for killing his mother, father and two high school students and wounding several others is understandable if psychophrenic personality goes untreated. Example: When the friend of our son sud- denly exhibited periodic bizzare behavior, we and our neighbors informed the teenager’s parents, who, like Kinkel’s parents, failed to face their son’s personality problem. After a day of surfing with my sons, the teenager heard voices that told him his mother was the epitome of evil and a men- ace to society. While his parents were watching televison, the teen called his mother into the kitchen where he stabbed her; she staggered into the living room and died in her husband’s lap. The teenager, judged insane though he seemed sane to the community, was con- fined to a state mental hospital for eight years of treatment. Friends and family sup- Front page news says: “Bush wins the battle over timelines.” The deadly game leaves Bush gloating while the American people helplessly await a new president. The commander says August could prove to be a bloody month in Iraq (more names for next Memorial Day). To ward off the death toll, the opportunity for a show- down of congressional power over the pres- ident was squandered by the Demorcratic leadership handing Bush a bill of his liking while he held the troops in a hostage situa- tion. Now it’s full speed ahead. You can put your own meaning on “sup- port the troops,” be it “Johnny come march- ing home” or “Go get ’em, tiger!” But the funding issue is not about the troops; it is about Bush’s inner circle’s war policy. Sadly, the pro-war crowd and the Republican stronghold are supporting the wasteful death of many good men. Only peace from withdrawal can relieve the frustration of beating war drums and scrambling for exit strategies at the same time. Saddam might have been a tyrant, but the Iraqis lived in a functioning society, not the mess we handed them. Floyd Hulegaard Eugene INTERNATIONAL EW I think EW did an outstanding job cov- ering the Vice President’s trip to Saudi Arabia awhile ago. Who could have possi- bly imagined that Middle East arms broker- ing and Lynn Cheney have anything to do with Eugene? The wonders never cease around here! Thomas R. Estes Corvallis REALITY CHECK Who do these illegal immigrants think they are? Why do they think they should have the right to live and breathe on American soil, as if they were as good as a legal American citizen? Real Americans are born in this country, and if they aren’t, they have some fancy paperwork to make up the difference. These illegals might be nice people, hard working, honest, willing to do the work the rest of us are too lazy to do and of some real value to the survival of our economy, but come on, let’s face the facts — they don’t have the right credentials for us to treat them like real human beings, do they? Now let’s get real. When are we going to stop looking at imaginary boundary lines, bureaucratic nonsence, useless paperwork and our own selfish ignorance as a basis for judging others? It is time to recognize our responsibilities to fellow human beings, if for no other reason than they are fellow human beings. By the way, if you are worried about people receiving services who don’t pay taxes, maybe you should think about the fact that these people probably could have paid taxes if we didn’t call them illegals. Stuart Banister Eugene
