TO THE EDITOR
SLEDGEHAMMER FANTASY
BEST SERVICE
Once again, I find myself shaking my
head with amused exasperation at
Eugeneans’ eagerness to be offended by non-
PC works. I enjoyed Dan Pagoda’s
“Something Eug” comic (9/27) about the ro-
botic crosswalk buttons at intersections.
I live in south Eugene immediately next to
one of the intersections with the new signals
and have often fantasized about introducing
them to a sledgehammer. However, in this
letter I would also like to extend kudos to the
Eugene Accessibility Committee for in-
stalling these signals. Yes, they are irritating;
yes, I am going to gripe about them and con-
tinue fantasizing about sledgehammers. But
these Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS)s
are useful, making crossing the street easier
and safer for the blind — excuse me, “visu-
ally impaired.” Really what I would most like
to see happen is people to choose to not be so
easily offended.
Kat Schmidt
Eugene
On behalf of all the staff at Ring of Fire
Restaurant and Catering/Lava Lounge, thank
you. To our loyal customers who have sup-
ported us over the last nine and a half years —
we love all of you.
We appreciate the recognition in the 2007
EW’s Best of Eugene (10/25), though we are
dismayed and perplexed by the quip,
“Though you might receive the best best
service if you’re a gay man, service for the
rest of us ain’t too shabby either.” We feel that
this comment is entirely out of context for a
Best of Eugene review and is otherwise quite
tactless.
Ring of Fire was voted Best Service be-
cause our philosophy is to provide happiness
and contentment that comes from eating
good food.
In other words, we strive to offer ALL
guests memorable dining experiences ALL of
the time. Period.
Seth Long and the Staff
Ring of Fire Restaurant
and Catering/Lava Lounge
POISONOUS MESSAGE
The hissing rattlesnake in EW’s ad (10/25)
for the talk on “Free speech vs. Zionist
power” reveals the poisonous message of the
speaker. Mark Weber, America’s most promi-
nent Holocaust denier, claims that even Anne
Frank was not a Holocaust victim. Why?
Because she died from typhus, not the gas
chamber, at the Belsen-Bergen concentration
camp (Register-Guard interview 10/31. See
Weber’s website www.ihr.org).
The bigoted Pacifica Forum speakers dis-
honor Eugene and the university. Holocaust
denial is a political movement which seeks to
cast doubt on the Nazi genocide. Denying
history desecrates the memory of all peoples
killed for their religion or ethnicity: not just
Jews, but Gypsies, Palestinians, Armenians,
the African American and Chinese American
victims of lynch mobs ... and the original in-
habitants of Eugene, the Native American
Kalapuya. Fake “research” dishonors their
descendants. Fake “science” may soothe us if
we shun responsibility for the lethal denials
of our own time: of global warming, of evo-
lution and of tax-funded U.S. invasions, kid-
nappings and tortures.
More free speech is the best response to
hateful speech. Come to a forum on
Holocaust denial for an extended audience
discussion of why hateful ideas gain traction
and how to respond, from 7 to 8 pm
Thursday, Nov. 8, at 207 Chapman Hall, UO
(on East 13th, just inside the Kincaid main
gate).
Mary Erbaugh
Eugene
CRIMINAL TERRITORY
I applaud Congressman DeFazio for his
cover antiwar statement (11/1) but I have de-
cided to give it more teeth:
I am gravely concerned about the shitty
justification for military action in Iran and re-
ports that the plan to attack is in advanced
rages. This is familiar criminal territory for
the Bush administration.
They used the same devious strategies to
drive us into war crimes in Iraq ... I do not in-
tend to let Congress fail the American people
by authorizing criminal mass murder a sec-
ond time.
Bob Saxton
Eugene
4 NOVEMBER 8, 2007
EDITOR’S NOTE: Oops. We agree. We raise a Chili
Margarita to Ring of Fire.
DISTURBING AD
Many people in the Jewish community
found quite disturbing the advertisement run
by EW last week (10/25) promoting the ap-
pearance of the so-called “prominent revi-
sionist historian” Mark Weber.
The imagery in the ad of the Star of
David, a symbol of Judaism, in the shape of a
hissing cobra is chilling. It reminds us of sim-
ilar images used throughout history to de-
grade Jews and denigrate the homeland of the
Jewish people — the State of Israel.
Before running the ad, did the Weekly re-
alize that it was promoting a “lecture” by a
holocaust denier whose embrace of the myth
of a world Jewish conspiracy informs his
opinions about Jews and Israel?
Weber is also a white supremacist who
has been quoted as saying that blacks cannot
be assimilated into white society. (For more
about Weber’s neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic
views, go to the Southern Poverty Law
Center’s list of ideologues and activists of the
radical right — “40 To Watch” — at
www.splcenter.org.) If Weber was invited to
lecture about race relations or affirmative ac-
tion, would EW publish an ad with the im-
agery of a hangman’s noose?
Although advertising revenue is essential
to the financial well-being of the press, one
expects higher standards from a publication
known for promoting a “progressive” politi-
cal and social agenda.
Craig Weinerman
Chairman, Jewish Community Relations
Council of Lane County
CAUGHT DEAD?
Annette Leonard writes (10/25
Viewpoint) that we should speak up if we
think an APS (Accessible Pedestrian Signal)
is “turned up so loudly that it’s more disrup-
tive than helpful.” But the opposite is the case
in several locations, especially at the noisy,
busy new crossing just west of TJ Maxx on
Coburg Road. Unless one stands within two
feet of the speaker, its words like “wait” are
inaudible due to incessant traffic noise.
Leonard refers to “the lifesaving potential
for visually impaired pedestrians.” But how
can the “unsighted” navigate this crossing on
Coburg Road, let alone locate the button to
press, if they can’t see? What’s more, we bet
that a blind person wouldn’t be caught dead
(literally not, we hope) at that intersection,
choosing instead a different route or a differ-
ent place to shop.
Charles Whitman
Eugene
system exists. Capitalism, socialism, com-
munism, theocracy, whatever name you tag it
doesn’t matter. “Communist” China is proba-
bly the best example. Long live Mao! Ha!
He’s waiting to give you a medal, Tracy.
Lou Andrews
Eugene
CRUDE PROPAGANDA
COOL RUNNING
Many people I know have been nega-
tively affected by meth, so I am no fan of it.
However, what I want to comment on is the
disgusting anti-meth ad that EW has been car-
rying. Many people read EW in restaurants,
including kids. Why does EW want to subject
people to this gross ad?
In addition, crude anti-drug propaganda
does not work. Marijuana, a drug that has
never directly killed anyone, used to be de-
monized as much as meth is now. People still
smoked it. The way to get people to not do
drugs like meth is to tell them the truth.
Propaganda is the true gateway drug.
Peter Howland
Eugene
Could have been your mechanic who told
you that warming up your car’s engine in the
morning (by idling) is a good idea, or just
your own preference for a warm steering
wheel … it’s very bad practice either way.
Idling the car to warm up its engine has tech-
nically only drawbacks: the engine warms up
very slowly, running for a long time in “en-
riched mode” (very incomplete combustion),
which generates much more hazardous air
pollution, which in turn is not neutralized be-
cause the catalytic converter (being cold)
isn’t doing its job yet. So, better ignore the
bumper stickers that say “Breathe Deeply.”
By the way, cold and therefore thicker oil,
at low engine RPMs, can’t lubricate the en-
gine as well, resulting in increased abrasion.
Worse yet: Micro corrosion of your cylinder
walls due to briefly condensing water vapor
makes your engine feel very unloved, believe
me.
The upshot: Warm-up idling harms your
engine and poisons the air that you, passing
school kids and I breathe.
So please just start the engine and get
going. Just don’t rev it up like a race car. By
the way, regarding the comfort of a warm car:
If it’s cold out, you’re likely to be wearing a
coat and gloves anyway (perhaps almost
enough to keep you warm on a bike?). See
you on the bike path?
Peter Reppe
Eugene
GREED IS GREED
I’d like to defend Chris Williamson’s po-
sition (9/20), if I may, from Tracy
Lambrecht’s lame critical letter (10/18). She
seems to be critical of capitalism in general.
She won’t support unethical businesses. How
about the others? Seems her exorcism from
capitalism was not a complete one after all.
Basic economics: Capitalism encourages
competition, polite competition or dog eat
dog. It’s GREED. Whether it’s for “green” or
family friendly businesses, greed is greed.
She throws in that we need to be “thinking
with our hearts” as well. That’s an oxymoron.
Either you love or compete; you can’t do both
at the same time! What’s so bad to lovingly
say to a person or a group, “Sorry, I can’t bail
you out anymore; you need to start dealing
with your problems at home” with regards to
illegal immigration?
It’s easier to run away from problems than
to stay and solve them! Where in the capital-
ism manual says having a market economy
will rid one’s country of corruption? Who’s
fantasizing now? Let’s stop being in denial
and get real with regards to the human condi-
tion: Greed is greed no matter what economic
COOPERATIVE REVOLUTION
I have a theory: The people who rise to the
top of our governments and businesses are
most often type A’s — they have a lot of en-
ergy and motivation and a competitive desire
to win. I think that these people represent a
very small percentage of the total human
population and probably have a genetic chip
sending them in that direction.
There’s likely a genetic predisposition for