I was somewhat surprised to see a “Slant” blurb (down at the bottom) to University of Oregon Professor of Economics and friend of the Commentator Bill Harbaugh in the Eugene Weekly, advertising the good professor’s “new blog”, complete with writings ranging from “neuroeconomics (what’s that?) to improving access to Oregon public records” and “quirky” comments from his students.

After having a look at the site they linked to, I’ve come to the conclusion that either I’m totally missing something or whoever writes the Weekly’s “Slant” section simply has no idea what a “blog” actually is (hint: it’s not hip new slang for “home page”). As far as I can tell, the “quirky” student comments appear to be drawn from end-of-term class evaluations.

Nevertheless, kudos to the Weekly for giving a shout-out to Harbaugh.

One of the perks of being a “media outlet” is that we’re privy to press releases from the Eugene Police Department, complete with mugshots. For example:

Adam Wayne Klunder, age 21, a campus area resident and who identified himself as a University of Oregon senior on a full academic scholarship, has been charged with one count of Burglary in the first degree and investigators are looking into additional charges as they begin to link the recovered property to additional burglaries.

Among the items found at his residence were “high ticket” articles such as several flat screen televisions, numerous laptops, iPods, and Xbox game systems.  Based on the property detectives believe Klunder may have been responsible for as many as 20 burglaries throughout the campus area, which occurred while students were on winter break.

Rick Levin, the literary drip who was last seen subjecting Eugene Weekly readers to a pointless and largely uninformed anti-gun diatribe (covered by the Commentator here and here), has decided to grace his critics with a reply in the latest edition of the Weekly.

Needless to say, it’s more or less content-free and tries hard to work in some gun-related suicide statistics, a basically non sequitur paragraph about the oppression and tyranny of George Bush, and a lot of ad hominem attacks on 2nd Amendment supporters. At the same time, Levin deploys one of his literary trademarks, namely “authoritative” statements about the gun control debate (“…the bigger, deeper picture… pretty much renders unregulated private gun ownership a ridiculous and dangerous proposition…”) that are more or less devoid of any real legal knowledge.

Maybe instead of constructing absurd straw men and putting words in the mouths of his critics, Mr. Levin would like to debate the 2nd Amendment with some of the Commentator staff?

Today’s cover story in the Eugene Weekly purports to be a debunking of the gun rights lobby’s concerns about the incoming Obama Administration. The author, Rick Levin takes as his starting point a random, poorly written blog comment on Politico.com in which the the poster claims to be scared of Barack Obama and insists that the NRA is deterring an “open attack” on America’s heartland. Having managed to dig up this unquestionably authoritative representation of gun rights advocates nationwide, Levin feels comfortable announcing that “likely it is just this breed of hysteria that has caused local and national gun sales to spike.”

Well, color me convinced.

(more…)

Today’s Eugene Weekly cover story is on the recent surge of gun sales in light of Barack Obama’s victory. The writer, Rick Levin, chalks it up to the usual suspects: NRA hysteria and rednecks.

But is stocking up on guns and ammo really such a bad idea? Consider that Obama has tapped Eric Holder to be attorney general. Holder is a notorious supporter of gun control and even signed an amicus brief in support of D.C. in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case that struck down D.C’s unconstitutional handgun ban.

It doesn’t help that Levin also happens to be a self-aggrandizing dumbass. To wit:

Apparently, I’m a very good shot with the high-powered stuff. A dead eye. The first time I squeezed the trigger of a 9-mm Glock, I drilled a kill-center shot into a paper target strung about 20 feet away. Almost took off the thumb on my left hand, too, when the slide kicked back and hit my second and third knuckle, opening up a bloody wound that — once I realized I hadn’t accidentally killed myself or anyone else — only added to my feeling of bad-assedness.

Loading a gun, holding a gun, shooting a gun like that is no joke. It’s like wielding the power of God.

Perhaps when addressing such topics in the future, the EW could choose a writer who doesn’t have his head stuck up his ass.

Put that Sociology degree to use with the ODE‘s handy guide to panhandling, released just in time for our global financial market meltdown.

Praying: Reading the Bible and praying can distract from the fact that a person is begging. It attracts attention, but not necessarily in a negative way.

Women versus men: Women inspire more pity because people assume they are mothers or more delicate than men. However, more men panhandle, so statistically, they make more.

Be professional: Treat panhandling as a job. For most people who are begging, it’s the only option they have. If you are in this situation, be professional and work hard because it’s likely the only job you have and it’s probably your only income.

Of course it wouldn’t be an Emerald story unless the reporter interviewed one or two people. In this case, the money interviewee is “Huggy” Miller, who offers the following advice to future UO graduate panhandlers:

Miller begins the song, “May I beg your pardon my Lord,” and it continues in a lilting British accent than contrasts oddly with his round, scruffy face and flame-covered bandana. He considers his ditty an icebreaker, and said asking for change or holding a sign will only bring in coins, while a song or a rhyme brings in the bills.

Miller said he sleeps down by the river, on church steps or in people’s homes when they offer. Besides paying for food and cigarettes, his panhandling money is currently going toward a big splurge – a night in a hotel.

Yes, learn to fake a British accent and spend your money on cigarettes and hotel rooms. Now there’s some advice you can bank on in a recession.

Here’s an interesting little email we got from the EPD regarding the robbery of an adult store:

Eugene police responded to the report of an armed robbery at 720 Garfield Street in Eugene. The two suspects entered the adult store at approximately 11:50 pm and ordered the two employees to the ground at gun point. The suspects stole an undisclosed amount of cash and merchandise before exiting the store. The employees were not injured during the incident. The suspects left the location in an unknown direction after the robbery.

[…]

Both subject’s coats were described as “puffy”.

And merchandise? I can almost imagine the robbers’ thought process. “Well … as long as we’re here.” And so the puffy-coated highwaymen fled into the night, arms full of rubber vaginas and bukkake porn.

It’s Halloween – the most riot-tastic time o’ the year in Eugene! Unfortunately, some people are trying to poop on everyone’s party:

Here at Oregon, numerous events are posted on Facebook and many more are flying under the radar. Drunken revelry is a definite for this Halloween weekend. In order to stay out of trouble, the ODE advises you to consider the choices you’re making this weekend.

We, too, advise you to consider the choices you’re making. Here’s a couple of tips to make sure you have a safe and happy holiday:

• Remember, don’t pick up the tear gas canisters with your hands. They are hot. Instead, kick them back at the police officers.
• Dumpsters, when lit on fire, are a great source of warmth and merriment for you and your friends.
• Cops only have as much authority as you let them have. You gotta fight the power, man!
• If a house party won’t let anymore people in, it just means they’re trying to hog all the young ladies and booze for themselves. Enter that party by any means necessary.
• Ladies: thanks to the wonders of the free market, you now have a wide array of costumes to choose from, such as Slutty Nurse, Slutty Witch, Slutty Devil, Slutty French Maid, Slutty Angel, Slutty Pirate, Slutty Slut and Sarah Palin. Choose carefully; you wouldn’t want people to get the wrong impression.
• Try and find large mobs of people to travel with. Safety in numbers!
• That dude did just talk shit to you. I heard him, bro. You better shove a broken beer bottle in his throat.

From the inbox:

I am on a quest to find the fabled “beer docks.” I have heard about this legendary place to buy cheap expired alcohol from a number of people of the past two years, but nobody seems to actually know where it is.

I know the OC loves alcohol, and also a google search led me to a 2002 edition where the beer docks are mentioned. Could you direct a loyal reader to this beer paradise?

Scott

I don’t have a car, so the beer docks have eluded me as well. Can anyone else answer this young man’s question?

The Ol’ Dirty is reporting that Lane Transit District is asking for more money (to the tune of over $170,000) to fund the 79x bus route, which serves Ducks Village and the Autzen Stadium area. The 79 route is on the chopping block, along with the Breeze program, as part of LTD’s announced service reduction, which means the 79x will see more riders.

If the increase goes through, students will be shovelling over nearly $1,000,000 per year to the Lane Transit District, a number which is sure to increase once LTD realizes it can continue to extort money from the ASUO by threatening to cut service on routes that serve students. The incidental fee is high enough without increasing it to help fund a transit district that evidently can’t support itself with “[a] combination of passenger fares, payroll taxes, and state and federal monies…” as well as the $800,000+ dollars students already pay to LTD.

In a 5-3 vote, the Eugene City Council passed the contentious exclusion ordinance that I wrote about last week. A judge can now ban individuals from the downtown area for 90 days without trial or right to a lawyer if they have allegedly committed a long list of crimes, including public urination, furnishing alcohol to a minor and possession of marijuana. If actually convicted, a judge can then ban the individual for up to a full year. (In other news, the Oregon Commentator staff are never going downtown again.)

That ol’ carpetbagger Alan Pittman has an article in the most recent Eugene Weekly about the exclusion ordinance. Despite the usual Pittman-isms, he manages to point out the more glaring problems with the new plan:

The city could jail, for up to 90 days, a person who violates the exclusion order. Before the ordinance, getting caught with a joint could result in a ticket; now, it could result in a three-month jail term. Holding a prisoner costs taxpayers an estimated $350 a night.

And the money quote from City Councilor Betty Taylor:

Taylor said the “unjust” exclusion ordinance will just move the problem from one part of downtown to another. “The people who are excluded will not disappear.” She said those jailed for violating the ordinance will be released quickly from the overcrowded facility, and she said that all the violations in the ordinance are already illegal. “We need to enforce the laws we already have.”

I agree. While I consider most denizens of downtown obnoxious and disgusting, the ordinance is a poor attempt at a solution – costly, hard to enforce and perhaps unconstitutional. As Councilor Bonny Bettman also was quoted as saying in Pittman’s article, “To punish people who have not been convicted of a crime is inconsistent with everything we stand for in this country.”

The City of Eugene is currently considering an ordinance that would allow the city to ban alleged lawbreakers from the downtown area for up to 90 days. And by “alleged lawbreakers” they mean “goddamn street kids.”

The proposal was spurred in large part by Betty Snowden, owner of the Glamour Girls and Guys shop in downtown (and host of the totally awesome “Hats Off” public access show). A couple of weeks ago, Snowden testified before the City Council about the constant harassment she faces. From the R-G article:

Snowden, who is black, said the conflicts have escalated in the past year. She refuses to let the mostly young people congregate in front of her store, and she said they are retaliating against her with threats, racist epithets and vandalism. She said she was struck by a young man last year. The gangs, as she calls them, vomit, urinate and defecate in front of her store when it’s closed.

[…]

“When we get there, ‘nigger’ is already (written) on our door,” she said, her voice rising, mixed with anger and heartbreak. “Then they’ll pass by. This isn’t three or four of them at a time. This is 20 or 30 of them, passing by over and over and over (saying) ‘You nigger. You bitch. You are going to be killed.’ This goes on on a daily basis.”

And from today’s R-G article:

The morning after the article was published, Snowden said she found human feces in front of her door.

Last week, surveillance cameras that Snowden uses to monitor the front of her store videotaped a young man ramming a bicycle into the front door, and other young men trying to pry plywood off the storefront. The plywood was covering a window broken in an earlier vandalism.

Mayor Kitty Piercy said she was reluctant to give her support to the proposal because it allowed for people who were only “alleged criminals” to be evicted and denied them a trial. I agree that the proposal is a little odd and sounds hard to enforce, which is why I plan on introducing another proposal, the “Spray Street Kids With Pressure Washers and Soap Until They Leave Act of 2008.”

In all seriousness, though, the real solution is greater police presence, which thanks to the testimony of Snowden is now happening.

Over at the always-excellent Harry’s Place, I ran across this thought provoking piece about modern anti-Semitism which I thought was particularly illuminating, given this University’s continuing controversies surrounding the Pacifica Forum and certain of their guest lecturers.

The author, Anthony Julius, makes explicit a crucial distinction that I think has long been missing from the debate over anti-Zionism/anti-Semitism, that of the “fellow traveler”. The out-and-out anti-Semite is usually not difficult to spot. These are the David Irvings and Hassan Nasrallahs of the world. Their distaste for Jews is barely concealed, if at all.

The “fellow travelers”, on the other hand, are like their counterparts who rooted for the Soviet Union (and the author makes clear that the comparison is deliberate) in that they dissemble and downplay actual instances of anti-Semitism, often unconsciously. Sometimes, as in the case of Palestinian terrorism, anti-Semitic acts are explicitly justified as being appropriate (or even automatic) responses to “oppression” at the hands of Zionists (read: Jews). In many cases, however, the very same people would find, say, the vandalizing of a synagogue here in Eugene appalling. As with the Soviet Union’s fellow travelers, a distinction is draw between what is considered normal and acceptable elsewhere and what is intolerable at home.

The article is especially timely, as the Register Guard has, within the last week, published letters like this one today (July 8) by George Beres (you might have to scroll down… the RG’s letter’s page doesn’t allow linking to specific letters) and this one on July 5 by Valdas Anelauskas, who should already be familiar with readers of the Commentator for his comments regarding a piece written by former Oregon Daily Emerald columnist Deborah Bloom:

Even if the author’s name wasn’t Deborah Bloom, after reading your opinion piece in the Emerald (Feb. 7) there is no doubt that it was written by someone who is Jewish. Because only from people of that peculiar tribe can we expect such Talmudic hatred for humanity. There is even a famous saying that wars are the Jews’ harvest.

In any case, the piece is rather long (11 pages + 9 pages of footnotes), so I won’t attempt to summarize it any further; it really does merit reading all the way through. Julius’ recognition of the “fellow traveler” is, I think, an important and useful addition to the lexicon of the debate.

[UPDATE]

Here’s a fine (if somewhat nauseating) example of the “fellow traveler” phenomenon, though it’s not really so much about anti-Semitic themes as an apologia for Islamic fundamentalism from a hardcore Marxian perspective. (Also via Harry’s Place)

I was just glancing through this story about opposition to gasoline derived from oilsands, when I noticed that Eugene’s own Kitty Piercy is sponsoring a resolution to forbid municipalities from using oilsands-derived gasoline in city vehicles. Quoth Kitty:

We don’t want to spend taxpayer dollars on fuels that make global warming worse … . Our cities are asking for environmentally sustainable energy and not fuels from dirty sources such as tarsands.

Last I heard, people were asking for cheaper gas…

Anyways, is global warming the only thing we should be concerned about? Weaning America off of oil purchased from despotic regimes in Africa, South America, and the Middle East (and giving some of that money to our friends in Canada) seems like a pretty good short-term goal, especially since no one has really come up with a better solution (and no, plugging your car into the wall outlet that gets its power from a coal-burned power plant doesn’t count as a “better idea”).

One also wonders if Kitty Piercy is aware that the biofuels she so loves to talk about so much are evidently sending 30 million or so people into poverty and driving up the price of food.

Maybe Kitty could spend her time more wisely by trying to find a way to repair Eugene’s decaying roads instead of working on silly non-binding resolutions that amount to little more than political grandstanding.

The Olympic Trials are nearly upon Eugene. For many, this means flying in from other parts of the country and renting a hotel room or apartment for a few days and enjoying this spectacle of world-class athleticism.

Indeed, Eugene has gone to great lengths to make the city a fun and welcoming place for people to come and enjoy during the trials. Also practically upon us is the (in)famous Oregon Country Fair, which begins on July 11, a mere 5 days after the Olympic Trials wrap up.

The upshot of all of this is that Eugene’s already-sizeable transient population is set to increase dramatically for the next month or so. In the interest of helping sports-minded hobos find their way around the city during the Olympic Trials and hopefully minimizing the confusion and possible bumfights over stoops and alleyways that might occur when the homeless Country Fair crowd arrives, I thought it might be helpful to post a link to this guide to hobo signs.

Hobo signs can be useful for a transient new to the area who might be wondering where he can get “work for food,” where he can “fake illness” for a place to sleep, which houses are “easy marks” or where “anything goes.” They’re also helpful for warning the wary drifter away from houses where judges live, “men with guns”, or dangerous “brutal” men.

While I do realize the inherent irony in writing on a blog about hobo signs for transients, it is my sincere hope that at least one bum will stop abusing his body while looking at pornography at the Knight Library long enough to find this post. After all, if we can help just one tramp avoid a “bad tempered owner”, then we’ve made the world a better place.