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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2013)
remaining 15,000 to be out after JFK won re-election. This was immediately reversed after Kennedy was removed from offi ce. Some 58,000 U.S. troops and three million people in Southeast Asia were killed because of this reversal. NSAM 263 has been declassifi ed for a long time, you can read it at jfkmoon.org/vietnam.html. The military command and the “intelligence” agencies were bitterly opposed to this policy, as they were to his refusal to bomb Cuba during the 1962 Missile Crisis (which probably would have led to nuclear war) and his efforts for detente with the Soviet Union, including the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed in late 1963. The term “conspiracy theory” was created by the CIA to ridicule citizens who didn’t believe the Warren Commission cover-up report, which claimed Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. This polarizes public opinion between “nothing is a conspiracy” vs. “everything is a conspiracy.” The truth is in between. We need critical thinking to evaluate evidence, including fake claims of conspiracy created by conspirators to discredit looking at these scandals. Details at jfkmoon.org — Kennedy’s 1963 plan to convert the Moon Race to global cooperation. Mark Robinowitz Eugene PRÉTENTIEUX? OUI Regarding “La Petite Mort” [feature, 10/31]: If you’re gonna use pretentious French, at least check it out. It’s le mort and le petit mort. In French, death is not feminine so “the” and the adjective are masculine as well. Yeah, I know, what the fuck. Sorry, but it rubs me wrong. Georgette Silber Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: We cheese-eaters stand by our preten- tious French. A HEAVY BURDEN I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Mariah Leung for her steadfast courage and willingness to research and report unpopular truths about the state of Israel. SHE WHO WATCHES NOT AFFORDABLE YET After weeks of exchange glitch news, fi nally something more relevant: the substance of the exchange and Affordable Care Act, affordability and choice. What does the public get? An income over $46,000 gets you more expensive options but only one choice: private insurance. An income under $15,000: no choice on the exchange and only one “affordable” option, Medicaid (with the fi nancial drawbacks that entails for family members left behind). With an income between $15,000 and $46,000, you can buy on the exchange determining how much out of pocket you will pay. If you can only afford the bronze or silver plan, will you be able to pay the 30 to 40 percent out of pocket even with the subsidized premiums? And how cheap are those premiums? If you are under 30, you can be enticed with the catastrophic cheap policy. Glitches have been a fi ne distraction, wasting time on blame, giving the public an increased sense of urgency to sign up for whatever they are allowed to get before fi nes are imposed and enrollment closes. It will work out well for the insurance industry and hospitals, but the Affordable Care Act is not yet affordable for the public. Choices in the exchange are Illusion. The public has already been “pre-slotted” for what kind of coverage is available to them. There is almost no choice at all. The government is doing something very big and to get it right will require many more fi xes than fi xing computer glitches. Gwen Heineman Eugene BY K AYL A GODOWATUF TI No Oil Export Terminal RESPECT TREATY RIGHTS ON THE COLUMBIA I Sometimes knowing too much can be a heavy burden to carry, particularly if one’s conscience does not permit one to remain silent. It’s one of current history’s funniest paradoxes that opposition to Israeli policies is more freely expressed within the boundaries of Israel than here in “the land of the free.” Unfortunately, the joke is on us. Fergus Mclean Dexter have lived about a half mile from the Kinder Morgan Eugene Terminal (which used to only be publicly advertised as Jerry Brown Co.) here on Prairie Road in Eugene since I was in second grade. I attended Irving Elementary in the Bethel School District through fi fth grade. My family and I never questioned the terminal or how it operates. But once I became an adult, I realized the huge risk that deregulated railways are and how much fuel rolls by our home every day. I personally became concerned about the safety and health of our community. There are six schools within a fi ve-mile radius. Three elementary schools, Irving, Spring Creek and Malabon; two middle schools, Shasta and Cascade; and one high school, Willamette. The terminal’s specifi cations are 34.3 total acres, 42 refi ned petroleum products tanks. Total storage capacity is 708,125 barrels. Oil comes in from Portland via Kinder Morgan Energy Partners’ 8-inch pipeline. Kinder Morgan operates the only oil sands pipeline serving the West Coast of Canada, according to its website, and also has sought to export coal from the Northwest. However, on the Kinder Morgan website for the Eugene Terminal, the company highlights its efforts at storing and distributing biodiesel. I am certain this is only a “greenwash” tactic to distract the public from the very toxic, extremely fl ammable fuel that is being stored and moved through our neighborhood. There are very few pictures of the inside of the terminal, and none that explain in detail to the public what kind of dangerous operations may be taking place in our community. Is there even a safety evacuation plan for my neighborhood? If so, do any of the tax-paying residents know what that plan looks like? In my 15 years in this neighborhood, I cannot remember our family even having one evacuation drill. I have heard the story of Lac Megantic, Quebec. The train that derailed carrying fracked Bakken Shale crude, incinerated the town and killed 47 people. Many have speculated that this is due to the relinquishment of regulatory authority from the Canadian government to the rail corporations. These rail corporations in Canada and the U.S. essentially regulate themselves and cut many corners at the expense of public safety W hen I heard about the proposed Tesoro Savage oil export terminal in Vancouver, Wash., and was informed that this same oil that burnt a hole in the center of the town in Quebec, has been railed through the Columbia River Gorge — where I as a Native American hold treaty right — and I knew in my heart that this was wrong, that I must say something. Being a treaty rights holder means that I have a responsibility, an obligation, to take care of my home and community, to protect it from appropriators, according to my elders and ancient family lineage. According to an article on the Port of Vancouver, Wash., website, the port announced Oct. 22 that its board of commissioners unanimously voted to approve a 10-year lease with the Tesoro Savage Petroleum Terminal for a crude oil handling facility at the port. This article also states, “The lease approved during this meeting was the same document that was approved by the commission on July 23, 2013. A new vote was placed on the Oct. 22 agenda in light of concerns brought to the port’s attention about procedures used during a July 22 workshop leading up to the prior vote. The concerns raised were focused on the port’s use of executive session during the workshop.” Since 1855, my ancestors have held an agreement with the U.S. government, which relinquished 10 million acres of our homelands to the U.S., in exchange for our 600,000-acre “Warm Springs Reservation.” This government-to-government agreement granted settler immigrants residency and the chance to establish the U.S. government and its smaller state governments within our homelands. This agreement also promised that we would forever be able to utilize the lands we once roamed. The Port of Vancouver and its commissioners have completely disregarded what is referred to as “supreme law of the land,” the Mid-Columbia Treaty, ratifi ed in 1859. The port commission has violated federal and international aboriginal treaty law by not even consulting treaty rights holders to the Columbia River before unanimously granting a 10-year permit for the Tesoro Savage Petroleum Terminal. There are four Columbia River treaty tribes that have all signed a resolution in opposition to this type of destructive industry on our river: The Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Yakama Nation, Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon. We have publicly stated that we will not allow any shortcuts during any of these processes. The public has been told Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state has the fi nal say in whether this terminal will be constructed. But the truth is, this is a federal and international violation issue and the state of Washington has no authority to permit such a facility without at least proper consultation with treaty rights holders, and the public has the fi nal say. And we say no to the Tesoro Savage Petroleum Terminal. From extraction to export, there is no compromise, no question. The anticipated profi ts will never be worth putting the public at risk. Kayla Godowa-Tufti is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon. eugeneweekly.com • November 21, 2013 7
