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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2017)
LET TERS A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT I enjoyed David Turner’s Along the Long Tom River: Observations from the Past and Present, and Blake Andrews’ in- terview with David Turner (“Stories from the Long Tom," Oct. 5). As a child, each summer in the late 1940s and into the 1950s, I spent several weeks staying with my grandparents in Monroe and played and fished along the Long Tom River, which is only two blocks from my grandparents’ home. My grand- dad, Fay Porter’s great-grandfather Wil- liam Grayson Porter, crossed the Oregon Trail in 1848 and settled a land claim not far from the Long Tom. If it weren’t for my dad’s work in a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) revet- ment project on the Long Tom River in the 1930s, he would never have met my mom, Jean (Porter) Walsh, who sold him stamps at the Monroe post office. My father, Jack, and mother were mar- ried on April 16, 1939, and ironically I came along in 1943, all because of the Long Tom River. Mike E. Walsh Eugene BEAR LOVE Brown (grizzly) bears in Wyoming don’t “kill 14 people a year” (“The Great Outdoors,” Corinne Boyer, Oct. 5). Since Yellowstone became a park in 1872, eight people have died from brown bears, one to two a year on average are injured. Since 1950, 63 have died in North America, a third in the contiguous states. Having camped extensively in Alaska, I have encountered many brown bears. I am not cavalier about the risks. Keeping a scru- pulously clean camp, making your presence known, not looking for trouble (getting too close to take that all-important picture) and knowing what to do if attacked, make the risks of death far less than my dying at the hands of one of my countrymen. Michael S. Smith Eugene THE NEW “MATRIONISM” I’m a dude, so football is the center of my cognitive universe. Not. Let’s examine the notion of patriotism. The word and concept “patriotism” re- fer to the male side of a country’s origin and story … just like the word “his”tory. The term “fatherland” (one of Hitler’s favorites) has recently gained lots of trac- tion here. Gladiator sports take precedence over our president’s threat to incinerate 25 million people in Asia. Hugh Hefner is cur- rently being lionized. Male priorities are a bit whacko. Many years ago I tried to start a linguistic campaign to adopt usage of “ma- triotism” and being “matriotic.” Be a ma- triot: honor the Motherland. Big Oil and all the other extraction industries would rather retain popular per- mission to continue raping her. In this era of seeing the obvious damage CAMPUS AREA COTTAGE OPEN SAT. 1-3 2723 Harris St. Price reduced to $284,000. Exterior has new paint, other upgrades. Tim Verkler Celebrating 20 years in Real Estate Cell - 541-554-0910 • timverkler@gmail.com • www.eugeneproperties.net 4 October 12, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com done by our clueless species (climate change, plastics pileups, etc.), why are we bickering about a word and concept which has helped lead to imminent destruction for all? Food for thought. Not forgetting that the first food comes from the generosity of maternal bosoms, and all the food afterward from the deep generosity of Mother Earth. Vip B. Short Eugene THE SINCLAIR TAKEOVER Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting conglomerate now dictates at least some content on all local Eugene newscasts ex- cept KEZI, destroying the credibility of much of our local TV news. Most noteworthy are comments by Sinclair’s “chief political analyst” Boris Epshteyn. This Russian-born international investment banker was a “senior political advisor” to the Trump campaign and then worked in the Trump White House com- munication office during the “biggest in- auguration crowd ever” era. His feverishly pro-Trump propaganda can be called fascist fantasies for the feeble-minded because he often misrepresents or makes up “facts” while advocating absurd, far-right policies. He is not an Oregonian, as illustrated by his opinion pieces advocating taking money away from Oregon for health care, increasing the relative federal tax burden of Oregonians to help states that vote Re- publican (i.e., have poor economic devel- opment) or defending the white suprema- cist, neo-Nazi mob in Charlottesville. His opinions frequently echo Russian cyber attacks designed to disrupt and di- vide America. Although all 17 U.S. intelli- gence agencies concur that Russia meddled in the U.S. 2016 election, Epshteyn would not answer Bill Maher’s direct questions on that issue. Epshteyn was called to tes- tify before the House Intelligence Commit- tee investigating Russian meddling in the US 2016 election. Ironically, his opinion pieces usually air on KVAL just prior to the Late Show, which sometimes starts with a cold open that mocks Epshteyn-type propagandists. Let’s hope local viewers and advertisers will boycott Sinclair’s efforts to ruin local news. KEZI at least usually tries to present accurate information. Lynn Kahle Eugene ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING Robert Bolman’s scurrilous letter about why Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump (Oct. 5) is based on weak premises. One is that Bernie Sanders would have won against Trump. Sanders needed many Clinton voters plus a substantial number of Republican voters, or his presidential win in the Electoral College was not likely. A second premise is that Clinton was extremely unpopular, distrusted, etc. Hill- ary Clinton was a very popular, trusted
