letters
TO THE EDITOR
attitude that, “You go to war with the army
you have,” they were warned that “if you
break it, you own it.”
Now that Johnny comes marching
home again we must face the reality of
war. Michael Thomas Mason, war veteran
paralyzed from the neck down from a
police offi cer’s bullet, trying to put him
down like a rabid dog as he sat in his car.
Benjamin Colton Barnes, war veteran
found frozen to death, being hunted like a
wild animal after killing a park ranger. Sgt.
Robert Bales, war veteran facing the fi ring
squad for going on a killing spree that left
16 innocent Afghan villagers dead.
These are just three of the 300,000
returning vets who suffer from PTSD. Our
wounded eagles are coming home to roost
and the only thing that we hear are the
chickenhawk war drums, wanting to send
“Johnny” off to another war. God bless
America? No, no, no! These are human
beings being treated like “pink slime,”
ground up and put back in as fi ller so we
can go back to war with the army we have.
Michael T. Hinojosa
Drain
optic technology and the other alternatives.
Clearly, EWEB must quit pushing the idea
that we need microwave emitting meters
on our homes. If the health effects are un-
proven, let us wait until they are.
Michael E. Lee
Eugene
UNEXPECTED POLL DATA
BECKONINGS AND BEGINNINGS
We now have the results of the EWEB
pilot study on “smart” meters. A number of
volunteers and some staff members were
given the meters, and then asked about
their experience.
The poll results are now posted at www.
eweb.org/smpilot for all to see. Some of
the results were probably not expected
by EWEB as they designed the poll. As
expected most of those participating said
they turned some appliances off or down,
and they did check the information from
the meters several times a week. The
image is of people constantly checking and
saving — they don’t.
But of course the majority liked the
meters, generally. They were not asked if
they liked the meters after they got a bill
for them, however. So we need to fi nd that
one out later.
The most surprising fi nding was a
slight majority, 51 percent used the word
“concern” in their answer about health
effects. That is clearly not what EWEB
had in mind. So in the summary results it
is stressed that only 4 percent were very
concerned. After that the results section
tries, sadly, to cover up the fact that so
many people were concerned about health
problems at some level.
It is easy to fi nd out if I am right or
wrong. Go to the EWEB website and
see the results of the poll. Compare the
summary “results” section with the actual
numbers. Maybe it is a bad study?
Or maybe it is a good study and a lot
of people are concerned about health. No
matter what — it clearly shows that EWEB
must stop pushing RF microwave technol-
ogy exposure on customers and take a sec-
ond look at how to spend many millions of
dollars. Perhaps it is a time to look at fi ber
It has begun! Spring eternal! There ...
just there, in the pastel sighs of the crocus,
the surprise of sunlight spilling from each
daffodil’s yawning cup and the growing,
green, puppy dog grin of the garden’s fi rst
few rows of hearty onions and beets. Dead
stick blueberries suddenly drip greening ut-
terances of renewal as the nightly assump-
tion of frogs “chirrumph” sweet blossoms
from cherry trees, too long now skeletal.
Infrequent sun, shy but no longer timid,
shoulders it’s way through the thin spots
in the shaggy cloak worn by most of these
burgeoning March days. Winds no longer
howl but whistle, challenged now by the
tea kettle scree of the fi rst osprey drawn
home to our Willamette.
There comes a quickening within
the human soul as well. The vault of the
Earth beckons. The sweet pungency of rot
awakens an itchy longing in the fl esh of the
hands for the dryness that only wet dirt can
bring. Worm hieroglyphs script mysteries
along the West Bank Bike Path. And even
these oldest of loins roil briefl y and twitch,
diving rods afl utter with unfathomable,
anticipatory quiverings.
Yearnings unknowable, passions unde-
niable, shared with the stalwart salmon and
raucous goose and answered in seed. Plant;
anticipate, germinate, cultivate, propagate,
herald! this newborn season of seasons.
Ah! sweet, fl owing fl ower of spring!
Glory be to Earth in her highest! Spring
eternal! It is begun!
David Perham
Eugene
WORSE THAN LIMBAUGH
As expected, EW has joined the con-
demnation chorus against Rush Limbaugh
(“Slant” 3/15).
Yes, Rush was out of line as he often is
and deserves the backlash. But why have
I never seen any condemnation in EW of
Keith Olberman, Ed Shultz, Bill Maher
and other left-wing commentators who
regularly resort to the same and sometimes
worse vitriolic, crass rhetoric aimed at
conservatives?
EW is not alone in this sin of omission.
We see it throughout the media by those
who preach the loudest about “tolerance.”
Hypocrisy, anyone? Double standard?
Oh yeah — big time.
Jerry Ritter
Springfi eld
Give Me Sight
The
Ungar-
Mason
Family
Band
A benefit concert featuring
Marty Chilla w/ Concrete Loveseat
+ Strange Desserts - Fri, March 30
The Shedd Institute
03.29 The Ungar/Mason
Family Band
03.30 Give Me Sight Benefit: Marty
Chilla with Concrete Loveseat
+ Strange Desserts
04.07 Moombah! Rumbles’ City Hop
04.27 Miguel Dehoyos & Alex Depue
04.28 Keola Beamer & Raiatea Helm
05.04-13 The Jazz Kings: On The Road
05.05 Zoë Keating
05.09 DeJohnette, Corea & Clarke
Tickets/more info: 541-434-7000 - theshedd.org
868 High Street (E Broadway & High), Eugene
Thu, Mar 29
DeJohnette
Corea
Clarke
Wed, May 9
7 p/9:15 p
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EUGENE WEEKLY MARCH 22, 2012
5