letters
Are you in pain from an auto
or work injury?
TO THE EDITOR
speech” at public meetings and another is
the seven projected rate increases over the
next 10 years.
I decided to run for the Board of
Directors again. At the Sept. 11 meeting I
was told that the yard signs I used 20 years
ago need to be changed or the management,
with approval of the majority of the board,
will take legal action.
The issue is the EPUD logo. It does
not have a copyright, but is protected by
something called common law if they
chose to take legal action. The EPUD web
site says we are customer owners. We need
to take back this utility. In November we
still have the right to elect and change
the management and majority of the
board. Vote “smart” and please don’t let
our freedoms slip away! Smart would be
[voting] for both Laurie Smart and current
board member Katherine Schacht.
Ron “Angelo” Davis
Cottage Grove
JUSTIFIED KILLING?
Absent a coherent rationale for the
necessity of killing animals for protein, your
cover story “Local Chicks” [8/16] panders to
affl uent people who are willing to pay extra
to keep chickens happy until/while their (the
chickens’) necks are being slit.
Humans can thrive without meat as
a protein source. We eat meat because
we like how it tastes. Is this justifi cation
enough for killing animals who, like us,
want to live?
Bill Hampton
Eugene
are not people. Mayor Piercy announced
that the National Conference of Mayors
has endorsed a resolution to urge our
government to reduce our stockpile of
nuclear armaments.
Expressing our concerns and acting
together in a community effort can make
a difference.
Vincenza Scarpaci
Eugene
BUSH’S HIDDEN DEBT
Another of the popular lies of our day:
It has been repeatedly and incorrectly
asserted in the media that President Obama
tripled the budget defi cit. President Obama
has indeed added to the budget defi cit
through stimulus that resuscitated our
economy from the brink of collapse. This
did not, however, come anywhere close to
“tripling” the defi cit.
The fact is that Obama also stepped
up to make sure that our national budget
refl ected multiple enormous expenditures
that the George W. Bush administration
had chosen to hide, keeping them “off the
books.” These hidden costs had included
the massive expenses of the War in
Afghanistan, the War of Choice in Iraq,
and the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug
Program. When he provided transparency
about these actual costs, Obama did not
increase the defi cit; instead, the public
record of the defi cit increased to refl ect
reality.
Petir Weerlig
Eugene
Ajay Mohabeer, M.D.
Occupational Physician and Pain Management Specialist
Call today for an appointment: 541-344-8469
Willamette Medical Center
2401 River Road
(Santa Clara Plaza)
www.oregonpainmanagement.com
Shedd
Theatricals
2012
The Gershwins’
1924 musical comedy
Lady, Be Good!
October 4, 5, 6 & 7 - The Shedd
Concert production - 541-434-7000 - theshedd.org
OUR LUNATIC FRINGE
ACTING TOGETHER
Most of us say “think globally, act
locally,” but we don’t really apply it.
We are troubled when Congress won’t
sunset the tax breaks given by the Bush
administration to the very wealthy and the
kickbacks for huge corporate farms, oil
companies and drug companies. Many of
us are not aware that some of the nation’s
largest manufacturers are sitting on billions
in cash reserves.
None of the outfl ow or reduced fl ow
from the treasury has impacted the
economy in any meaningful way. Where
are the jobs these corporations and
wealthy individuals were going to trickle
down to the millions of underemployed
and unemployed? Where does America’s
innovation and creativity hide while other
nations take the lead in green energy,
effi cient mass transportation and effective
health care?
We were buoyed when Congress voted
to cut the Pentagon’s budget; however,
some members of Congress plan to repeal
this action.
It’s humorous to hear the sunset of tax
breaks for the rich called “tax increases,”
when it is not raising taxes; it is returning
to the rates all Americans were obligated to
pay in the pre-Bush decade.
Oregon is stepping up to the plate. A
panel of Oregon voters decided to support
Measure 85 in the November election,
which will steer any future corporate
tax kicker into the K-12 state education
budget. Eugene’s City Council voted to
place a resolution on the November ballot
endorsing the concept that corporations
VOTE NOW! BESTOFEUGENE.COM
Why wouldn’t we want to believe that
climate change is a hoax? After all, this
morning, like yesterday morning, is pristine
and fresh and clear. The television footage
of droughts and famine are happening
too far away to “hit home.” We’re busy
focusing on smartphone screens and
shopping lists. Reality is what has become
the inconvenient distraction.
Why would we ever be interested
that our democracy has been slipping
away, our government degenerating into
corporatocracy right under our noses? The
shrill Chicken Littles around us are all off-
kilter kooks and should just go back to
their platforms in the treetops. At least get
a haircut and a shower. Homelessness isn’t
my problem. Quit sticking it in my face!
These “threats” and “issues” like
global warming, government corruption
and Wall Street fraud haven’t touched
most Americans personally. We are quite
content in our cluelessness, thank you very
much. Consumerism is our religion. We get
all the news and manufactured controversy
we need on network television. Our near
future is perfectly rosy.
No families in my immediate circle have
become homeless because of medical bills
or layoffs. Street people are all druggies.
Remove them from my sight — them and
their lunatic fringe Occupy advocates!
My grandkids’ futures are already in
serious jeopardy? Give me a break! It’s a
beautiful day out there! I’m going shopping
and then meeting friends for drinks at a
sports bar.
Graham Hoyt Lewis
Eugene
EUGENE WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 20, 2012
5