Posted inBicycling Salem

Photos of Salem Bike Boulevard Advocates “slow roll” ride

Yesterday I tossed my folding Bike Friday Silk into the back of my two-door Mini Cooper (try that with a regular bike) and headed off to Englewood Park in north Salem for a Salem Bike Boulevards Advocates Slow Roll ride to Riverfront Park.  Living as I do in a rural area outside the Salem city limits, I don't ride my bike much on city streets. So I was eager to take part in a ride with people who knew a lot about urban cycling. I liked how the ride was described: The group will go at a slow, comfortable pace…
1
Posted inHome life

Ah, the joy of clicking on “unsubscribe” in my emails. Bye, bye, DSCC!

I don't know why I didn't do this a lot sooner -- clicking on "unsubscribe" rather than merely deleting the massive amount of emails that regularly build up in my inbox from Democratic political causes, environmental groups, online businesses I bought something from way back when, and so many other entities I don't care about. OK, that isn't quite what I mean.  I care about many of the groups who email me incessantly. I just don't want their pleadings to appear in Apple Mail anymore. Like I said, it's hard for me to understand why it took me so long…
1
Posted inCurrent affairs

I’m an Oregonian who votes by mail. Everybody should.

It's a no-brainer is an overused phrase. But it sure fits when it comes to vote by mail. In 1998, Oregon, where I live, became the first state in the country to conduct all elections by mailed ballots. Since, Washington and Colorado have followed suit. (Coincidentally, or maybe not, along with Alaska these three states also are the only ones to legalize recreational marijuana. So not only can residents of Oregon, Washington, and Colorado vote in the privacy of their own homes, we can also do so while smoking pot. Sweet!) Having moved to Oregon in 1971, I've experienced both…
1
Posted inPhilosophy Salem

Crushing disappointment leads me to channel my Inner Trump and Buddha

Well, I can chalk up another soul crushing moment: a third consecutive rejection of my TEDx Salem speaker application -- which I described in "Free will isn't. Existence is" My hoped-for TEDx Salem talk. The rejection letter reminded me of those I got from publishers back in the days when I was shopping around book manuscripts, before I discovered the Joy of Self Publishing. A polite way of saying, Get lost, loser. Dear Brian, We appreciate your proposal for presenting a talk at TEDxSalem. We received a record amount of applications this year making our decision incredibly difficult. We regret…
No Comments
Posted inBooks Current affairs

“Listen, Liberal” is a must-read book for progressives

I'm finding my progressive views being challenged by Thomas Frank's new book, "Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?" He's the author of "What's the Matter With Kansas?" which took shots at Republicans. Now he's aimed his considerable rhetorical and intellectual skills at Democrats. To great effect.  I'm about halfway through with the book. Though I'm still a Hillary Clinton supporter in this year's presidential primary contest, I can now better understand why Bernie Sanders' supporters feel like the Democratic Party has screwed over ordinary people.  I couldn't resist peeking at the last pages of…
No Comments
Posted inCurrent affairs Philosophy

What Trump’s triumph tells us about the nature of reality

Lots of people are talking about what Donald Trump's triumph -- he looks certain to be the G.O.P. presidential nominee -- means for the future of the Republican Party, America, and the world. To me that stuff is interesting. But I've got my philosophical sights set much higher: on what Trump's ascendancy tells us about the nature of reality.  More specifically, human reality. So far as I can tell, the rise of Trump doesn't say much about cosmology, dark energy/matter, or how quantum physics and general relativity fit into a theory of everything.  But having closely watched the Trump phenomenon unfold…
3
Posted inSalem

Statesman Journal’s “Best of the Mid-Valley” awards ripe for ridicule

Like I noted a few months ago in "Is Statesman Journal Best of Mid-Valley contest really about 'best'," the only guaranteed winner in this annual event is... the Statesman Journal. The biggest winner in the Best of the Mid-Valley contest has to be the Statesman Journal itself. The newspaper sells ads that appear with the category being voted on. Here's a few 2016 screenshots....A bit of Googling revealed that "Best of..." contests are a lucrative moneymaker for newspapers. Second Street, which the Statesman Journal is using for its Best of the Mid-Valley contest, talks about this in "How Record Journal…
1