years. And it should be coupled with
an annual increase for the cost of living
adjustment (COLA) as the Social Security
recipients now receive. We really need this
for our city employees. They should not
have to be getting by on food stamps.
Bob Cassidy
Eugene
SPENDY MICROBREW
Can anyone explain to me how the cost
of beer in the supermarket is inversely
priced in relation to the distance it has
traveled? How can local brews sell for
$10-$12 a six-pack when you only pay
$6-$7 for a six-pack from the East Coast,
Europe or Mexico?
Maybe I need to drink more in order to
understand this kind of math.
Now I know that new microbreweries
can always use a financial boost, but it
seems the worst offenders, mathematically
speaking, are actually those established
and with good distribution networks.
Well, sorry peeps, but I’m buying from
Outer Mongolia until the price drops.
Peter Tildesley
Eugene
GREEK TRAGEDY
As I see it, we are all sitting in a
darkened Greek amphitheater. It’s about
300 B.C. and we are watching a Greek
tragedy. It’s somewhere in the second act.
The hero is the Republican Party,
an upstanding guy, well respected in
his community and of a long and noble
lineage. However, for, well, more than a
few years, he has provided a safe political
home for bigots of many different stripes,
anti-government terrorists (Ted Cruz, et
al.) and various other extremists. Other
characters in the play are the Bush family,
Mitt Romney, John McCain and Paul
Ryan. They are all friends of RP, have
obliged him in his misdeeds and have
profited enormously from their connection
with him.
But now the day has come. The
antagonist is DT, an egomaniac and a
demagogue who, like all demagogues, has
an aura of inevitability about him. He is
completely out of control and as such is a
perfect instrument of Fate.
The denouement, luckily for us, takes
place off-stage. My guess is it will be Mitt
Romney who delivers the speech giving
us the gory details. Towards the end of his
speech he will be moved to tears. After all,
this was the party that brought an end to
slavery, that fought Big Business, that
stood up for the environment. It was the
party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Gen.
Dwight Eisenhower and Romney’s own
father, George Romney, one of the last
great liberal Republicans.
And we, the audience, will all be
moved, some to tears. The Greeks called
this catharsis and, though it is hard to
believe, we will be the better for having
watched this tragic tale.
John Kiely
Eugene
TRUMP MAFIA
America has been promised a “no
holds barred” presidential election —
apparently nothing is “off the table.”
Aside from what Senator Ted Cruz
mentioned, there hasn’t been a single
peep in the media about Trump’s alleged
mafia connection. Isn’t this newsworthy?
Serious documentation of “Teflon”
Donald’s mob ties already exists, so why
have the Democrats not revealed that
history?
Don’t all “serious” candidates
(Republican and Democrat) need to be
fully vetted by the FBI by now?
Glenn Jones
Eugene
WELFARE FOR THE RICH
We learn that a small group of local
insider investors made huge profits in last
year’s sale of Trillium Community Health
Plan. Their profit was huge because they
inflated Trillium’s value for potential
buyers by hanging on to government
Medicare money instead of spending it
on health care for low-income people
in Lane and Douglas counties. With the
glaring ethical issues involved, it is no
wonder these investors fought to keep
their names out of the newspaper. Should
we be surprised to learn that one of them
is small government conservative Jim
Torrey? He waddled up to this government
trough for $2.5 million while many low
income residents were struggling to find
basic health care.
Wayne Ferrell
Eugene
The Shedd Institute
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Leonard Bernstein,
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On The
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July 29
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Oregon Festival of American Music 2016
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eugeneweekly.com • June 30, 2016
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