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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2011)
NEWS BRIEFS ACTIVIST ALERT • A panel discussion on “Our Energy Future” with Mayor Kitty Piercy, Ken Dragoon of the NW Power Planning Council, Roger Gray of EWEB, and Joshua Skov of Good Company will be from 5:30 to 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 27, at EWEB, 500 E. 4th Ave. • Oregon Wild’s outdoor photo contest winners and a presentation by photographer Tim Giraudier will be from 6 to 8 pm Thursday, Oct. 27, at Cozmic Pizza downtown. • The documentary film Lt. Watada: A Matter of Conscience, will be shown free from 7 to 9 pm Thursday, Oct. 27, at Harris Hall, 125 East 8th, Eugene. Lt. Ehren Watada’s father, Bob Watada, will answer questions and help lead a discussion. Ehren Watada was the first commissioned military officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq, saying he could not participate in war crimes. • A Howard Zinn remembrance featuring UO professor Cheyney Ryan, a short video, LIGHTEN UP BY R A FA E L A L DAV E and Zinn’s one-man play Marx in Soho performed by Bob Weicks will be from 6 to 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 27, at PLC 180 on campus. Zinn wrote the widely acclaimed A People’s History of the United States, which sold more than two million copies. • Bryan Moore and Eli Meyer of UO will talk about their recent travels to Nicaragua at 4 pm Friday, Oct. 28, at 206 Condon, 13th and Kincaid on campus. • A Gaza update with Nuha Masri is planned for 7 pm Saturday, Oct. 29, at Willamette Hall, room 100, between University and Agate streets on the UO campus. Masri was an intern with UNESCO recently studying the effects of Israel’s blockade on the health of women and children in Gaza. • Olympic athlete and activist John Carlos and Dave Zirin will talk about their new book The John Carlos Story at 6 pm Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Lillis 182 on campus. The CIA spends millions of taxpayers’ dollars to bring about the failure of a foreign government it doesn’t like. The Republicans in Congress work for the same result in this country for free. areas have been “under attack from all sorts of folks, including the Bush administration.” In 2005, the Bush administration repealed the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and replaced it with a state petition process, and the rule has been in the courts almost since it was put into place. Had the 9th and 10th circuits ruled differently, the case might have wound up in the Supreme Court. Potential good news for a possible wilderness designation came through on Oct. 25 when Congressman Peter DeFazio introduced the The Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act of 2011, which will attempt to protect the wild coastal forest. DeFazio has sponsored similar legislation two other times. Josh Laughlin of Cascadia Wildlands, one of the groups working to protect the coast range forest, called the subcommittee hearing “smooth sailing.” He says, “Amid the paralysis gripping D.C., it is refreshing to see Devil’s Staircase Wilderness inching toward the finish line. This wild, remnant slice of the battered Oregon Coast Range needs the utmost protection that Congress can afford it.” Laughlin adds, “Also, DeFazio spoke eloquently at the hearing for Devil’s protection, reminding Congress he made the arduous trek in himself.” — Camilla Mortensen CELEBRATE MUSHROOMS ON SUNDAY The 30th annual Mushroom Festival is happening at Mount Pisgah Arboretum Sunday, Oct. 30. More than 5,000 people are expected this year for a full day of mushroom exhibits and identification, mushroom-inspired food, music, hayrides, scarecrow contest, music, wine and much more. Suggested donation is $5, kids under 12 are free. Parking at Pisgah is free but a free shuttle from Civic Stadium is encouraged. No dogs allowed. The event is part of Mushroom Madness Week that begins Oct. 30 and runs through Nov. 6. Local restaurants will be preparing wild mushroom dishes during the week, including King Estate Winery, Holy Cow, Bruno’s Chef’s Kitchen, Excelsior Inn, Café Zenon, Café Soriah, Friendly Street Cafe and Rogue Ales’ Eugene City Brewery. Mushroom workshops with Marcia Peeters will be Nov. 4, 6, 12 and 13. See the Cascade Mycological Society website (cascademyco.org) for details on workshops, lectures and other events, or call 747-3817. This event is the largest mushroom display on the West Coast, according to Peg Douthit-Jackson, one of the organizers, and the festival will feature about 350 species of local fungi, collected throughout western Oregon. Experts will be on hand during the show to help with identification. Last year two festivalgoers brought in two undiscovered species of mushrooms. The scarecrow contest drew 40 entries last year, says Douthit-Jackson, and she expects even more this year. Groups, such as the Oregon Country Fair, have in the past created elaborate scenes for Scarecrow Alley, and a scarecrow-building workshop was held last Sunday. The live music lineup begins with Tara Stonecipher and Gregg Vollstedt at 10 am, followed by Next Big Thing co-winner Tyler Fortier at 11. At noon will be Jazz du Jour, followed by Voodoun Moi at 1, Cynthia Valentine & Concrete Loveseat at 2, and Satori Bob at 3 pm. The last session will be Samba Ja at 4, along with closing ceremonies and awards. More than 30 nonprofit organizations and some 250 volunteers are involved in this event. To help out, contact Rainee at mtpisgah@efn.org or call 747-3817. — Ted Taylor slant • The Occupy Eugene phenomenon is showing us a different side of the Eugene Police Department, and so far we like it. We remember the anti-corporate greed demonstrations not so long ago and the smell of tear gas in the air as police in SWAT gear tried to intimidate angry protesters with military-style tactics. The results were ugly. Now we’re seeing a remarkable level of cooperation and collaboration between the occupiers and police and city officials, despite multiple challenges from the odd mixture of activists with homeless kids, alcoholics and addicts. And when the camp was moved to Alton Baker Park, the Park Blocks downtown were left cleaner than they were before the occupation. Peaceful political actions might not generate the blaring headlines and graphic photos that some activists think are necessary to force change, but more subtle and longer-lasting change can come from people getting together to educate and support each other, find common ground and a build a movement that can, over time, galvanize public opinion and even get better people elected to public office. The Occupy Wall Street movement and its local actions are mobilizing the next generation of social justice and peace workers. Occupy Eugene even inspires those of us who have been around the block a few times and have lost some of our fervor. • Regarding our recent cover story (10/13) on Peter DeFazio, we heard from Veneta that “an Art Robinson supporter” raided EW boxes and racks in Veneta and 10 OCTOBER 27, 2011 EUGENE WEEKLY Elmira and ran off with all the papers. The business owner who reported the incident tells us it has happened before. Was it really an angry Robinson supporter or was it just somebody who caught a lot of fish in Fern Ridge Reservoir? Either way it’s theft and prosecutable. Here we go again. Robinson’s candidacy is sure to bring out all the wingnuts in rural Lane County. Speaking of Robinson, we hear both candidates in the congressional race agree on interesting uses of energy waste. Robinson’s Access to Energy newsletter has weighed in on using nuclear waste in the concrete used in building construction. DeFazio just voted in favor of a bill that would stop the EPA from regulating coal ash as hazardous waste. DeFazio wants to continue to allow for the recycling of coal ash into concrete and other building materials. DeFazio might not know, however, that coal ash can be just a little bit radioactive. That suits Robinson just dandy since he thinks a little radioactivity is good for us. • Columnist, author and activist Dan Savage is coming back to Eugene Sunday, Oct. 30, through Tuesday, Nov. 2, to hang out with UO students and respond to their questions about sex, dating and relationships. Savage has become a national voice for gay rights and is a real thorn in the ass of conservative bigots on the political scene. He’s having a big impact on the national debate on gay marriage and other timely issues, and now he’s landed an MTV show. If you are a UO student and want to be involved in the Nov. 1 evening MTV taping, send an email to mtvtix.uoregon@gmail.com • Ten years of war in Iraq and the troops are finally coming home, which is way overdue, but is the war really over for us? We heard no talk about pulling out U.S. contractors, and in fact they are certain to increase. Civilians in Iraq on the U.S. payroll have contributed greatly to the $467 billion cost of the war so far. According to the Department of Defense (http:// wkly.ws/14m), about 95,500 civilians are on the U.S. payroll in Iraq. Some 25,000 are U.S. citizens. About 9 percent of the Americans are armed private security contractors (aka mercenaries) and the other 91 percent serve in other capacities. All are highly paid, with armed guards pocketing up to $200,000 a year plus hazard pay. The troops in uniform will be coming home in time for the Christmas holidays, but the war and the expense of war are far from over. Meanwhile, conservatives in Congress are complaining about the pull-out, but we don’t see them objecting to the $1.5 billion contract recently awarded to Triple Canopy to guard diplomats as they travel around Iraq. Nearly another billion will go to protecting our mega-embassy in Baghdad with its staff of 1,000. The threat is not from al Qaeda or Iran; the threat is from Iraqis angry with our occupation. Among the Republican presidential candidates, only Ron Paul finds this war and its costs outrageous. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
