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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2012)
LET TERS GUNS IN THE USA The media and the press really suck. It’s all brainwashing. Professional journalism is dead. Why should the media and the press be allowed to “hide” behind the Constitution? Shouldn’t they be held to some kind of standard — or lose the protection of the Constitution? Perhaps only reporting part of a story should be considered a lie. And not reporting a story should be considered negligence — perhaps criminal negligence? Perhaps the all local papers should be become public utilities? Everyone would get a copy of the paper and the cost would show up on utility bills. With lots of public participation. Frank Skipton Springfi eld As a Springsteen fan, I’m offended by your Nov. 29 cover. This image must somehow fi t with the wacky worldview of EW staff, but it in no way fi ts with Springsteen’s music or stated political views. Couldn’t you have found someway to use Ted Nugent on your cover instead? Born in the U.S.A., Aaron Toneys Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: Baby, we were born to pun! OCCUPY’S FAILURE I’m writing in response to “Another Deadly Winter,” Gwendolyn Iris’s letter in the Nov. 21 EW. She bemoans the fact that the Occupiers were “tricked” into complying with a shutdown order a year ago, that the promises the city government made to help the homeless have not been made good. I have to ask: Did she honestly expect anything to go differently? Occupy Eugene caved. We surrendered. We made a strong start, but then we shuffl ed our feet, mumbled embarrassed apologies, moved around a few times to avoid inconveniencing anyone, and fi nally scattered when the city authorities starting tapping their feet impatiently. It was a complete failure as a movement of civil resistance. I stopped taking Occupy seriously last November, and I helped organize the initial Occupation at Park Blocks. Why on Earth would the invested offi cers of capital in this city take us seriously when we had proven that we would, under no circumstances, actually stand up for anything? That the mere threat of police action was enough to get us to back down? I’m sure the City Council made whatever promises they felt were necessary to minimize blow-back to their political careers, then when it was over, heaved a sigh of relief and never gave it a second thought. If you want to force change through civil disobedience, you kind of have to, you know, disobey. Undermine the legitimacy of civil authority and force them to expose themselves as the violent agents of capital that they are. The city of Eugene fi gured out quickly that Occupy Eugene did not have the spine for confrontation, and killed us with false kindness and empty promises. And we made it easy for them. If BAN RECYCLING 200 Occupiers had joined Gwendolyn and chained themselves to City Hall, it would have garnered a lot more attention than a “Happening People” spot in EW. If we had done it again and again and again, fi lled the jail with our bodies and the newspapers with our stories, maybe it’s the city that would have lost will and backed down. I hope this serves as a lesson that you cannot achieve revolutionary change by complying with cease and desist orders. Gwendolyn obviously knows this; I just wish Occupy had backed her up when we had the chance. Steve McAllister Communist Party, USA Eugene malls, on buses and sports stadiums, is a recipe for disaster. Curtis Taylor Eugene PEAK POPULATION David Piccioni [Letters, 11/22] asserts that climate change will “destroy civilization” and that corporations “are making our planet unlivable.” What will destroy civilization is overpopulation and those responsible for making our planet unlivable are the people making babies beyond replacement numbers. Jerry Ritter Springfi eld THE CRIMINAL MEDIA BULLETS WILL FLY Allowing untrained, or under-trained persons to carry loaded hidden handguns in public puts Oregonians at risk of being killed or injured, intentionally and unintentionally [see cover story, 11/29]. It also makes it harder for law enforcement to identify the real perpetrators during a shooting. Allowing more people to carry concealed handguns in densely populated areas like downtown Eugene, in crowded This article [on Project Censored 11/21] really rang a bell with me. To this day I have an absolute hatred of the “press” and the media for the under-reporting or no reporting about blacks, Asians, Hispanics and all other groups who contributed to this great nation while I was growing up. By the time I graduated from high school (1954) I was completely brainwashed. I volunteered to be drafted into the Army in October 1954 and found out we are all pretty much the same. If we want to be patriotic and support the American economy, create jobs and all that, shouldn’t we be banning second-hand stores and recycling centers? Isn’t “Buy it new, use it once and throw it away” much better for the economy? Further, shouldn’t we prohibit publicly available instructions for using or repairing any kind of equipment, other than what comes in the box? Oh wait, I forgot, that’s pretty much already done. Go looking for instructions for most anything electronic or otherwise high-tech and you’re much more likely to fi nd an ad for buying it, as well as for buying a competing product. Could it be that “economy” isn’t quite the right word here? Dan Robinson Eugene OUR GUN CULTURE Regarding “Born to Gun” [cover story 11/29]: America’s gun culture harbors the enemy within. It began when manufacturing interests swayed the outcome of governmental appointments, ensuring that judicial interpretations were biased in their favor. Hence, the subject of the Second Amendment has been ignored. The Second Amendment is one paragraph with one sentence, with one subject: “a well regulated militia.” Two subordinate clauses briefl y describe the subject’s necessity and its nature: “security of a free state,” and “people’s right to keep and bear arms.” The sentence ends with a verb phrase. It describes an action not to be imposed upon the subject: “shall not be infringed.” VOTED BEST KOREAN FOOD BY EW READERS 2012-2013 AUTHENTIC KOREAN & ASIAN CUISINE BUBBLE TEA TERIYAKI HOT POTS HEALTHY & BUBBLE JUICE CHICKEN, BEEF THE BEST IN TOWN! BI BIM BAP TOFU, PORK HOT SOUP VEGETARIAN OPTIONS 11:30AM - 9PM MONDAY - SATURDAY 860 PEARL • 686 -1114 4 December 6, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com
