numbers concerning out-of-state athletes
who receive full-ride scholarships in
direct comparison to the total number of
local athletes who are offered the same
opportunity.
Christopher Eidemiller
Eugene
GOVERNMENT OVERREACH
A downtown smoking ban would be
an example of government overreach.
It would be a way of controlling and
marginalizing people, a power play
disguised as altruism. The fact of the matter
is tobacco, in its natural state, actually has
medicinal and spiritual value. But under a
blanket ban, even those who use tobacco
entheogenically would be discriminated
against, so they’d be throwing the baby out
with the bathwater. Instead of an across-
the-board ban, why not designate a few
select smoking areas downtown and make
the rest non-smoking? Then nobody’s
space would be invaded and nobody would
have to be treated like a second-class
citizen. In a free society, minority rights
must be protected as well.
Jess Nichols
Eugene
BIKE PATH OBSTACLES
Did you know there is a serious danger
lurking on bike paths? They are the
strangest things. I’m still not quite sure
what to make of them, and I still don’t
have the pronunciation down quite right,
but I think they’re called pud-dest-rianns.
I think that’s how you say it; let me try it
again: pud-dest-rians. Wait, I think I almost
have it: pedestrians! Yes! There! That’s it!
I think it’s Latin or Gaelic or something.
Pedestrians are people who actually
walk on the bike path. I know what
you’re thinking, crazy right? I mean these
“people” actually walk with their families
on the bike path like they’re trying to do
the same thing I’m doing and get to where
they’re going or take in the fresh air and
beautiful weather we’ve been having. Just
what the hell are they thinking?! Don’t
they know the bike path is for bikes only?
Oh, wait, a quick Google search has
told me that as of 2000, bike paths in the
Eugene and Springfi eld area are open to
runners and these pedestrians as well.
Don’t these people know it’s dangerous for
me for them to be out there? I only travel
as fast as a slow-moving car sometimes,
blindly cruising around corners and
forgetting to announce my approach (“On
your left!”). What? Brakes? What the hell
are those? I don’t need those, or common
sense; I just need these pedestrians out of
my way! I mean they are a real danger!
So, fellow bicyclists, be sure to watch
out for these strange people on the paths.
They’re all over the place and incredibly
inconsiderate!
Jeff Warren
Eugene
CAUGHT IN THE E-WEB
What a tangled E-WEB they weave
when they practice to deceive. EWEB has
chosen to proceed with plans to install its
surveillance devices on our homes and
businesses in spite of “Families For Safe
Meters” serving them with a legal notice
and demand to stop.
In the near 1984 future, these digital
surveillance devices called “smart meters,”
with their ability to send and receive wi-
fi signals, along with the “smart electrical
grid” and “smart appliances,” are the
fi nal link in the chain to institute a total
surveillance society infrastructure.
EWEB wants us to believe that its opt-
in program gives us a true choice. If your
neighbor gets a “smart meter,” you have no
choice; the signal will reach your home. As
time goes by, people will forget that there
ever was an opt-in choice, or EWEB will
just change its mind.
We must not sit back and permit EWEB
to trespass on our right to privacy in our
own homes or businesses.
Most of us love our digital devices. We
can buy them or use them however and
whenever we want. “Smart meters” are
permanent digital devices attached to your
home or business that can operate 24/7
and be programmed, reprogrammed and
controlled by someone else.
There are other serious issues with
“smart meters.” Get informed; spread the
word. The word is NO. Don’t get caught
in the EWEB.
Check out Jerry Day smart meters
on YouTube, takebackyourpower.com,
familiesforsafemeters.org (and see the
“notice and demand” we served on
EWEB).
Abraham Likwornik
Eugene
BABYLON IN TURMOIL
Streaming to my handheld, world
news shows that Babylon is yet again in
turmoil. Between the lines about ISIS,
the fall of Mosul, Iraqi security and Al-
Qaida-linked terrorists, I hear a plea from
the press for Obama to do something to
stop the chaos. It is inevitable that losing
political and economic control of Iraq
means skyrocketing oil costs for Western
civilization.
President Jimmy Carter wrote doctrine
stating that we would use our military to
secure access to cheap petroleum. Our
presidents have delivered on their promise
to buy oil with Arab and American blood.
As the situation in Iraq and the Middle
East deteriorates again, the press and the
congress call for the president to act.
Our presidents have acted. Every
president since Carter has meddled in
Middle Eastern affairs. Bush invaded Iraq.
Obama has overseen its dominion with
drones, and we have been afforded another
decade of relative economic stability. But
the presidents can only buy us time.
As this round of fi ghting begins, and
pressure mounts on the presidency, I
remind myself that it’s not the president
who needs to act. We do. We’ve had time
to prepare our mentalities and economies
to be local and sustainable. At some point,
through revolution in the Middle East, or
when the last drop is drilled, we will be on
our own. We must be ready to live locally,
sustainably and bravely as the world once
again becomes big and the era of cheap oil
ends.
Micah Olson
Eugene
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