Eugene weekly., June 12, 2014, Image 5

Although I respect her views, Memorial
Day should also include mention of the
untold, unaccounted-for and unmentioned
innocent Afghan civilians who paid with
their lives and destroyed families, which
Katie Potter didn’t have to endure. Because
of this, I feel her words to be as shallow
and self-serving in an article that also feels
contrived.
It is easy to only consider your
own in a world that wants to fi nd only
division, not connection. It is also easy
to unquestionably be patriotic to “the
cause” as, ironically, Fredrik Logevall
alludes to in the very same EW issue,
which states that misguided ideology,
apathy, an unquestioning press (hello,
EW?), permissiveness in government and
exaggerated promises (well, duh!) all
contribute to what continues to be one of
our unending “bloody catastrophes.”
Is it any wonder that Potter should
love Army Wives, not only because she
is one but more so because she, along
with the millions who also support such
propaganda, help in the government’s
continuing PR efforts to romanticize war
with the help of Hollywood and the media.
From John Muir to Marine Gen. Smedley
Butler to the Dalai Lama, there are many
from whom to quote for a different way
of “seeing” the world and our place in it.
Mario Vargas Llosa, is his book Wellsprings,
paraphrases Isaiah Berlin based upon
Einstein: “If we are going to pay homage to
certain individuals, it should be to those who
have achieved something important in the
fi eld of knowledge and culture rather than in
the areas of conquest and power.”
Sean S. Doyle
Corvallis
SLEAZY WEEKLY
I fi nally got it: The clinging wet T-shirt
on the buxom young woman on last week’s
[5/29] cover was supposed to tie in with
the T-shirt offer in the upper right-hand
corner. What was most evident, however,
was EW’s cluelessness at best, and
misogyny at worst.
How ironic, in the wake of the recent
UO sex scandal — attributed in part to
turning someone into a sex object — that
our supposedly more enlightened news
source persists in the same practice. Yes,
you get points for fewer sleazy American
Apparel ads, but you’ve got a ways to
go. Now is the time for EW to stop making
sex objects out of women.
Marie Keith
Eugene
To me, as a car driver, a semi driver
and a bike rider, I can tell you that turning
Willamette into a two-lane street with a turn
lane in the center and adding a bike lane on
each side will make traffi c fl ow more easily
and make riding a bike much safer.
Mr. Aldave, try riding through south
Eugene on a bike. It can be quite a
ride! And shame on you, EW, for printing
such drivel.
Peter Tildesley
Eugene
MAKES NO SENSE
Under “Activist Alert” in last week’s
paper [6/5], Raphael Aldave, whilst
attacking the city over improvements on
Willamette Street and not making any
sense, suggests that adding bike lanes
will raise insurance premiums and cause
motorists to cross bike lanes, causing
havoc! Well, as if cars don’t cross in front
of bikes at present!
USELESS ORDINANCE
Fourteen years ago I became involved
in the issue of siting cell phone towers
in Lane County. Mostly I worked with
neighborhoods in Lane and Lincoln
counties but was even contacted by
concerned citizens on the East Coast and
India. The siting of towers falls under land
use. The 1996 Telecommunications Act
does not allow jurisdictions to consider
environmental impacts. Although the First
Amendment allows us to talk about health
concerns and the mounting evidence
supporting our concerns, we can talk until
we are blue in the face.
Lane County eventually passed a
telecommunications ordinance, supposedly
keeping these facilities 1,200 feet away from
homes and schools. Both Eugene and Lane
County ordinances are fl awed. Jurisdictions
still have some say in the placement of
these emitters of radio frequency radiation.
However, neither ordinance requires the
necessary technical information needed to
determine if all claims made by applicants
are true or accurate.
Some people question the economics
of providers building unnecessary
infrastructure. This is a speculative industry
and when a corporation walks away from
these structures it can leave jurisdictions
to clean up the mess. Also, anyone with a
phone (landline or cell) pays excise taxes to
fund this build-out. It is a no-lose situation,
except for neighborhoods.
If you don’t want a cell tower in an
inappropriate place, you must change the
land use laws. It won’t happen one site at
a time. Lane County is looking to change
its ordinance, and it won’t be for the better.
Mona Linstromberg
Tidewater
CLOSE TO HOME
Jeffery Bode [Letters, 6/5] asks about
Mayor Kitty Piercy: “How close is the
nearest homeless camp to her estate?” The
fact is that Mayor Piercy and her family
have lived in the Whiteaker neighborhood
for decades, so the answer to your question
is: “Pretty damn close.”
Jud Landis
Eugene
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 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.
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eugeneweekly.com • June 12, 2014
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