Viewpoint: Page 75

Jerry’s Predictions 2013

Weiners, losers and sheep guts ahead

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And it is written that: More and more polytheistic people will worship the plastic goddess Polly. Concealed whistle checks will be required for all government workers. And on the stand, the U.S. government will, instead of taking the Fifth, continue to take the Fourth. The NSA will create a vast meta-database of toilet flushes, mega-clip newspaper predictions, adopt Snoopy as its mascot and tag X-Box rats in recycled data dumps.  Continue reading →

Time to Resist

Global warming is the most serious crisis that humanity has ever faced

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Global warming is the most serious crisis that humanity has ever faced. The world is headed directly towards a cliff in the dark: We know the cliff is ahead of us, but we don’t know how soon we might reach it. Some people think that the countries of the world will not be able to do what is necessary to avoid millions of people suffering the death penalty as a result of global warming. When they express their defeatist attitude to others, they make things harder for those of us actively fighting global warming. Nobody can predict what the future will bring. Continue reading →

Thanksgiving 2013

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My custom each year in this month of November Is taking time out to reflect and remember To treasure my blessings, to offer my thanks For the good things in life, such as not wearing Spanx No need to contain, or squeeze in, or shape up And my breasts do not have to live inside a cup I’m thankful that most of the time I can be Relaxed and at large, or in other words FREE My body is fine as it is, I have learned Though calories eaten exceed those I’ve burned Continue reading →

No Oil Export Terminal

Respect treaty rights on the Columbia

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I have lived about a half mile from the Kinder Morgan Eugene Terminal (which used to only be publicly advertised as Jerry Brown Co) here on Prairie Road in Eugene since I was in second grade. I attended Irving Elementary in the Bethel School District through fifth grade. My family and I never questioned the terminal or how it operates. But once I became an adult, I realized the huge risk that deregulated railways are and how much fuel rolls by our home every day. I personally became concerned about the safety and health of our community. There are six schools within a five-mile radius. Continue reading →

The Loya Jirga

What happens in Kabul this week will reverberate

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Today, Nov. 21, thousands of elected officials, community leaders and respected elders from around Afghanistan will gather at Kabul Polytechnic University, braving IEDs that already targeted the gathering, to discuss and debate the U.S.-Afghan relationship beyond 2014. Five hundred miles away in Herat, U.S. forces wait to find out if our current tours will mark the last of this 13-year mission or if we keep our Roshan phone contact list up-to-date for the replacements coming behind us. Continue reading →

Ban Bikes on Willamette

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Local media is all abuzz about a proposal to reconfigure Willamette from 24th to 32nd. Writing in the Nov. 3 Register-Guard, Jack Billings clearly identified cyclists as the driver of efforts to alter South Willamette — efforts that would remove one car lane and add two bike lanes. Quoting Billings, “The discussion [about Willamette] is only about bicycles. Were it not for the small but organized bike lobby, there would be no debate about reconfiguration.” Billings doesn’t know the half of it. Continue reading →

Low Risk, High Gain

Keeping Civic Stadium in public hands makes sense

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The Eugene City Council has a decision to make about Civic Stadium and it will be made very soon. The question is: Will the city put in an offer, using the city parks bond funds, and allow Friends of Civic Stadium (FOCS) to refurbish and reopen it for use, or will it step back and allow Civic to be demolished? As a longtime citizen of Eugene, I consider demolition to be a mistake. Both the YMCA (which plans to build housing as well as a new facility) and Fred Meyer, the only current bidders, have plans in place that call for tearing down the 75-year-old building. Continue reading →