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