Posted inEntertainment

“House of Lies” resonates with our cynical souls

Damn you, Showtime! Last year I cancelled your half of our HBO/Showtime subscription, because you didn't have on anything we liked to watch.  But last night we took advantage of DirecTV's offer to see Showtime premieres for free. And already we're hooked on "House of Lies."  What's not to like about cynicism, sex, money-grubbing management consultants, dysfunctional relationships, and other reflections of reality? About halfway through the first episode, my wife said "This is our kind of show." A quick review of some early reviews, here, here, and here, indicates that our enthusiasm isn't universally shared. Well, we're used to…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s Pringle Square development: ugly, unwanted, uninteresting

Oh, man... just what I didn't need so early in the new year -- another reason to be depressed about the prospects of Salem, Oregon being able to ditch it's well-deserved nickname, So-Lame. Today the Statesman Journal newspaper revealed what the Tokarski clan at Mountain West Development are planning for the 13 acre downtown riverfront site which used to house a Boise Cascade paper converting plant and now is to become Pringle Square. Download Pringle Square story PDF  Rental apartments. Unbeautifully stacked in what reminds me and my wife of (1) North Korean housing, (2) Chicago "projects," or (3) a…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Science supports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

There are many reasons why Obama and the Democrats were absolutely right to press for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), billions upon billions of them -- all the dollars that people have lost in the Wall Street-led financial crisis that we've been suffering through since the end of the Bush presidency. Today I came across a persuasive scientific reason for the CFPB in Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking Fast and Slow." (Kahneman, a psychologist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on decision making.) We Homo sapiens aren't Econs; we are Humans. The distinction between Econs and Humans was…
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Posted inHumor

My favorite dark, twisted (and funny!) Christmas letter

Laurel, my wife, has a friend with a deliciously cynical sense of humor. Every year Nancy, which may or may not be her real name, sends out "The Dreaded Christmas Newsletter."  And every year I rejoice when I read it. It's always my favorite Christmas letter. Somehow I feel much better after reading her twisted outlook on life, than I do after perusing someone else's description of how much they enjoyed their overseas travels, visits with the grandkids, and the joy of growing older. I guess it takes the pressure off when Nancy shows me the lighter side, which, strangely,…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Salem Sustainability

Marion County commissioners owe us an apology

By "us," I mean hundreds of people in our rural south Salem neighborhood who vigorously opposed a 217 acre Measure 37 subdivision proposed to be built on high value farmland that threatened our ground and surface water (wells and community lake). My wife and I led this fight. By "commissioners," I mean Patti Milne and Sam Brentano, Republican county commissioners here in Marion County who did everything they could to approve the Ridge View Estates development. Janet Carlson, the third commissioner, was on the losing end of several 2-1 votes. Carlson, by and large, believed in applying the law to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Progressive activists — an unsleepy side of Salem

This afternoon my open house fears turned out to be unfounded. Since I figured that I wouldn't know anyone at the gathering but the hostess, new Salem resident Laurie, my ever-anxious mind envisoned awkward moments standing around with a glass of wine in my hand, wondering what I was going to talk about with strangers other than the weather and if the Ducks were going to triumph in the Rose Bowl tomorrow. I should have known better, because after moving to Oregon from the Boston area, Laurie has found a home among Salem's activist progressive community. She's been a part…
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