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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2012)
LET TERS OUR EUGENE MISSION I was a poor college student in 1993 during which time my roommate and I did not have money to turn on the electricity or have more than one meal a day. One time I purposely bounced a check to order pizza for dinner. Finally I came up with the idea that my roommate and I could eat at the Mission. I fi nished my education and lived the expensive life but I never thanked the Mission till my 40th birthday. Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” For me and many others the “change” is giving gifts to other during our birthday instead of receiving it. Senior Director of Operation Dana Eck gave me a tour of the whole Eugene Mission. This organization serves over 400 meals three times a day. The Mission sleeps over 385 adult males, 60 women and 34 mothers with kids. Cleanliness and maintaining proper hygiene is a must in the Mission. Our Mission provides a safe night sleep with clean bed sheets, which many of us take for granted. Eugene Mission is our mission and together we can make a positive change in our Eugene. Mahi Chowdhury Eugene TURD TWISTER Look in the planter: How much poop would a police plant plant if a police plant would plant poop? Scott Fife Eugene REPEAL IT The Second Amendment states: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Not only did the Framers want the people to form a militia to protect the country from invasion, but they also did not trust government, in general, from corruption and tyranny. They wanted those running the government to know that the people could stand up to them should they try to usurp the guarantees of the Constitution. At that time, government forces had muskets and cannons and so did the people. With our standing army second to none, we don’t rely on a militia. Now the people have small arms and our police and military have, well, you name it. Armed insurrection is not feasible. Consider the Branch Davidians; talk about asymmetric warfare! So I say to those “If you want my gun you’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands” types, you’ve already lost that battle by the gun laws currently on the books. I suggest we repeal the amendment and replace it with one that requires all new gun sales are registered to a licensed owner after a background check and certifi cation; all existing guns registered with two years of enactment; any gun not so registered becomes an “illegal” gun; gun owners must have a license for ownership like a car; transfer of guns is done similar to the transfer of a car; guns must be locked up when not being used; and any person whose gun was used to commit a crime is an accessory if they were negligent in securing said gun. 6 These are not new ideas. President Johnson proposed something similar after the murders of King and Kennedy in 1968. To those survivalist types, go ahead and bury your stockpile of guns and ammo but you have forfeited the right for those guns to become “legal.” Nothing short of no guns can stop gun violence, but we can reduce it. Drying up the source of illegal guns will take years to accomplish, so we must start now. Jim Nelson Eugene CALL OFF THE ASSASSINS So yet another lunatic opens fi re with his assault weapon, murdering innocent people. The nation is appropriately grief- stricken and angry at the sheer horror of such an incalculable loss. And yet — one of our drones or land missiles misfi res and takes out a wedding party, or a family eating their evening meal, causing incalculable loss and suffering to those equally innocent humans on the other side of the globe. The reaction? A collective shrug at the “collateral damage” and the caveat that certain prices must be paid in the pursuit of freedom. Our so-called “Christian” nation invokes its god when it sends its soldiers out to kill and be killed and arrogantly assumes that our military actions are blessed by this god. Please correct me if I am wrong, but when Jesus said; “Love your enemies,” I’m pretty sure he meant, “Don’t kill them.” So addressing this latest tragedy, the president goes before the nation, brushing away tears and promising action. What specifi c action do you propose, Mr. President? Well, I have a suggestion for you. Dry your tear-dimmed eyes, grow a backbone, call off your assassins and stand up to and against the war machine. I know that I am asking a lot and that you certainly have no plans to do any such thing. After all, the last president to have the courage to defy the CIA, the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the rest of the war profi teers paid for it with his life. David Bersch December 27, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com Eugene HEALTH CARE PRIORITIES The problem with today’s heath care in America is that it is profi t driven. The intention to heal the sick is secondary to that. To change this we have to look deeply at our capitalist system, starting with the Constitution. This document was written only by wealthy white men, most of whom were elitists and believed they were the “well born” meant to rule over the others, the majority. This sets up a system of exploitation where the strong and cunning skim off the workers. The art of self-healing is in many cases prohibited. Wholistic well-being should be our collective goal as should be recognizing that everybody is unique. Integrating the mind and body are foreign to our system of medicine. In many cases such work isn’t covered by insurance or even recognized as legitimate. We mustn’t lose sight of our health when we are locked into social corporate media. American doctors are required very minor training in nutrition and are always pushing dairy, meat, fi sh and eggs. This lack of training is astounding as well as infl uenced by the animal product lobbies; 68 percent of all diseases are diet related. Humans as well as all living things are in a constant state of fl ux. We take air, liquids and food from the environment and we excrete our waste into it. To have the best possible general health, me must get our priorities straight. Needless to say, the state of our habitat is essential to our well being. Dave Ivan Piccioni & Cindy Biles Eugene of the people who lost their homes through foreclosure when the bubble burst, but they need to act in the next few weeks. Millions lost their homes in the aftermath of an orgy of rip-offs by the big banks and hedge funds hell-bent on building personal fortunes by repackaging millions of bad loans and selling them at ridiculous prices to gullible victims all over the world. Housing prices doubled, the bankers and traders got rich and crashed the world economy. Then these traders and bankers walked away laughing at the suckers who bought into their massive scam. In contrast to the trillions of dollars the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury handed the huge banks since the 2008 collapse, the attorneys general of 49 states have managed to wrest a small clawback for homebuyers’ benefi t under the NMS. Five of the largest mortgage lenders agreed to pay $5 billion to the homeowners they’d ripped off under the NMS. Oregon got $18 million and they’re up for grabs for the 21,000 Oregonians foreclosed on by the big fi ve lenders from 2008-2011. This works out to at least $840 per household. Not a lot. For anyone who was foreclosed on by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, CitiBank, JPMorganChase or Ally Financial between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011, there is money available if you get your application in by Jan. 18. If you got a NMS letter from the Oregon Department of Justice, look for a unique code on your envelope, which is needed. Many eligible ex-homeowners may not have been notifi ed. Call (866) 430-8358 or go to nationalmortgagesettlement.com for an application. Occupy Eugene’s Occupy Housing- Foreclosure Action Committee meets at 5 pm Wednesdays at Grower’s Market, 454 Willamette St. Come by or call 937-3034 if you have questions or stories to share. Fergus McLean Dexter MAKE THE CHANGE ORGY OF RIP-OFFS This is in response to “A Needed Policy” letter Dec. 13. I would like to see this get the attention it deserves from the news media and our community at large. I would like everyone who cares about this issue to make their opinions known to Lane Transit District at 687-5555 or ltd@ltd.org Thank you very much for helping a member of our community who deserves help on this matter. The needed policy I am supporting is the implementation of a card, similar to the honored rider’s card, available to alter- abled individuals. When a rider displays this card, the driver will not move the bus until the passenger is seated. And this is in response to an elderly, alter-abled man’s fall on an LTD bus in October. Inana Berry Eugene Exactly why the subprime mortgage crisis collapsed housing prices in 2008, wrecked the economy and destroyed 40 percent of Americans’ wealth is not completely clear, but there is one thing 99 percent of us can agree on: It was bad. And it was crooked. The National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) provides funds to some LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows, with priority given to timely local issues. Please limit length to 200 words, keep submissions to once a month, and include your address and phone number for our files. Email to letters@ eugeneweekly.com fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401.
