We've got issues.
It seems like only yesterday, and not 20 years ago. And I don’t know why or how, but Lewis Puller’s suicide “got” to me. But, what I wrote 20-plus years ago still stands: Another Vietnam vet has committed suicide. I do not know the particular demons which finally drove Lewis Puller to kill himself. I do know I have a few of my own that propelled me to the edge in 1975. Continue reading
The City Council deftly headed off a major confrontation with residents of the South Willamette area by voting Oct. 21 to not rezone single-family homes in the area. It was the council’s first opportunity to provide guidance to city planners on the highly controversial South Willamette Special Area Zone. Continue reading
Each month when you pay your electricity bill a generous portion of your payment is spent to restore salmon in the Northwest. In fact, when you write that check, you’re contributing to the largest fish and wildlife conservation effort in our nation’s history. Continue reading
We at Occupy Medical see suffering, lots of suffering. We see people, fellow citizens, who have been hungry for so long that they aren’t used to consuming more than a cup full of food at a time. The food that they do get is often from garbage cans. They soften food with milk or water to make it easier to chew as they are losing their teeth from poor nutrition. Continue reading
It’s Oct. 29. Have you voted yet? There’s only one item on the ballot, and it’s really important. Measure 20-235 will restore critical funding to Eugene’s public libraries, and we urge you to vote “yes.” Over 150 years ago, Henri Amiel said, “Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.” Think about it. Public libraries are, and have always been, a stepping-stone to a better life for anyone who walks in their doors. Continue reading
My family moved from Long Island, New York, to Falls Church, Virginia, in 1956 when I was about 14. I didn’t realize it then, but Virginia had adopted a policy called “massive resistance” in response to the 1954 Supreme Court decision calling for desegregation of all public schools systems in the Southern and border states. Virginia refused to desegregate and schools remained either black or white, with some white schools closing down entirely and their students enrolling in private “segregation academies.” Continue reading
Since accepting some of China's first formal NGOs in 1990, the Pearl River Delta has experienced a burgeoning civil society movement. Rice Harmony is a social enterprise that operates throughout the region using a rice-exclusive organic CSA (community-supported agriculture) model. Customers subscribe on a yearly basis for periodic deliveries of rice sustainably grown in a nearby county. Continue reading
Dick Vitale owes me a working eyeball. Vitale, if you are not familiar, is the loudest basketball announcer in the world, according to a poll of ESPN viewers, audio specialists and the recently deceased. When he gets going, according to SB Nation, the guy can hit 180 decibels, louder than a gunshot, and equal to the explosion of Krakatoa. This is not the type of person you should be listening to when you’re putting on your drag makeup. Continue reading
What might Bernie Sanders have to say about Eugene’s $2.7 million a year property tax increase for the public library? Well, it’s definitely “socialism,” which is defined as a redistribution of wealth. But, it’s the opposite of Bernie’s brand of socialism because it enables the redistribution of wealth up to the top of the economic ladder, instead of in the direction of average working people. Continue reading
As I wind down the first section of an around-the-world bicycle tour for climate action, life on the road is shifting. Seasons, climate, gears and landscapes change, and into the mountains we go. Continue reading