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“Truth is stranger than Fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” — Mark Twain This issue of EW comes out 10 days before Labor Day and 10 weeks before Election Day. Continue reading
DIG THAT HOLE John Zerzan is pointing out that voting for Clinton is a vote for “no change.” Yup, we’ve got a world of problems that won’t be addressed. “When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging.” Trump will bring change, no doubt, like setting off dynamite in that hole you dug while fixing your leach field. Gregg Ferry, Corvallis WILEY GRIFFON Continue reading
• Thumbs up for President Obama’s Justice Department’s decision to end the management of federal prisons by private groups. How did we ever start that in the first place? The drive for profit was certain to fuel the drive for more prisoners serving more time. We understand that Oregon has no privately run prisons. Thumbs up for that, too. Continue reading
I’m not a fan of HRC. But I’m no Bernie-for-the-revolution person either. No election will bring us the revolution we need. Even electing Jill Stein or Sanders would do the same as electing the “Hope” and “Change” of Obama. The ball is still in our court. And Hillary Clinton is not the same as Trump. I much rather fight the Clinton administration than the Trump administration. Continue reading
There is the letter of the law, then there’s the spirit. Rep. Lew Frederick, the Oregon House’s only African American legislator, was the guiding force behind two new Oregon laws: HB 2655 (the testing opt-out bill of rights) and HB 2713 (the testing cost audit bill). The spirit behind the two new laws is clear: To honestly examine the costs, both financial and otherwise, of the standardized testing that dominates Oregon education and to allow parents and students to make their own informed decisions about what kind of education is best for them. Continue reading
INITIATIVE ATTACK Our right to decide which initiatives we can vote on is under attack by four out of five Lane County commissioners. Pete Sorenson, the only attorney on the commission, understands that the county cannot legally weigh in on initiatives until after the new laws are passed. That this is a constitutionally protected provision of the initiative process is the argument Sorenson made to his fellow commissioners. Continue reading
• While we welcome the recent re-embracing of long-form journalism, we weren’t impressed by The Oregonian’s recent and massive “Firestorm” piece. Fire is a huge concern in Oregon, but The O put thousands of words into laying blame on how the Malheur National Forest attacked last year’s Canyon Complex fires on Oregon’s east side, accusing firefighters of being timid, rather than examining how climate change and a lack of fire let those fires get so big in the first place. Continue reading
Your Queen and Mine of the Society for the Legitimization of Ubiquitous Gastropods, Markalo Parkalo, wishes to convey warmest wishes, solstice celebration and official offerings herewith: First, thank you for your support of my favorite nonprofit: LILA (Lane Independent Living Alliance). Your contributions from my Third Ball amounted to more than $2,000, and we increased awareness of Independent Living (IL) in Lane County. IL is the applied value of choice for people with any disability. Continue reading
Because of Orlando. Because just yesterday I reverted and referred to my wife as “my partner.” Because my gay friend’s 70-year-old lesbian sister has yet to come out of the closet. Because lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are the most likely targets of hate crimes. Because Skye Mockabee, 26, found dead in a parking lot in Cleveland, Ohio, July 30 is the 17th transgender woman of color murdered in the U.S. this year. Continue reading
THE PEOPLE CAN’T BE STOPPED If the Lane County Board of Commissioners votes in late September to give themselves the power to yank duly approved initiatives from the vote of the people because they decide the initiatives are not “of county concern,” there is at least one bright spot: the subsequent people’s initiative to reverse that unconstitutional ordinance will most assuredly be “of county concern.” To Commissioners Bozievich, Stewart, Farr and Leiken: The initiative process belongs to the people! Continue reading