Posted inCurrent affairs

Obama’s right-on Iraq policy: not lost in translation

I'm really enjoying how McCain and Bush are squirming, now that the Iraqi prime minister has endorsed Obama's timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from his country. They've been chanting the mantra "no timeline, no timeline" for so long, and bashing Dems at any mention of setting a date for withdrawal, it's become almost a sacred policy position. Yet Bush also has said that the U.S. goal is to have Iraq stand on its own. So neither he nor McCain can publicly chastise Nuri al-Maliki for expressing ideas that mesh with Obama's. But al-Maliki surely has gotten an earful privately from…
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Posted inSalem

Salem Art Fair purchases reflect my sophistication

I'm such a patron of the arts. Well, once a year anyway – when Laurel and I visit the marvelous Salem Art Fair, which opened today and continues through Sunday. Here's two artistic creations that I brought home this afternoon. I'm deeply pleased with them. I'd set out for the fair this morning with a primal intention: to find a coffee cup. We only have two that possess the correct vibe (and capacity) to hold my pre-meditation dose of caffeine, which, after thirty or so years of meditative practice, I've found is the main cause of the uplift that I…
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Posted inFamily

In praise of expensive stuff

Kudos to my daughter, Celeste, for defending $350 sunglasses in a comment to my post about her company, Barton Perreira, being mentioned in a New York Times story as being "a brand coveted by aficionados." Another commenter gave me grief for talking about such apparent excess so favorably. Heck, I want some Barton Perreiras. What are my chances of getting a free pair from Celeste if I talk them down? [Note: actually they can cost quite a bit more than $350.] Anyway, I agree with what my brilliant, insightful, well spoken child (a chip off of the genetic block, for…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Nothing wrong with Obama coming to the middle

I'm a Libra. I like balance (though I don't believe in astrology, I'll unashamedly use it to make a point). So I think it's great that Obama is moving more toward the middle of the political spectrum, now that he's secured the Democratic presidential nomination. A few days ago I read a great column in the Portland Oregonian by some woman whose name I can't remember. I'd be quoting it like crazy, but my wife took our newspapers to the recycling center today, screwing up my blog post research. Regardless, I'll unashamedly use the columnist's ideas as if they were…
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Posted inFamily

My daughter is in the New York Times! (sort of)

Since my favorite (and only) child is the sales director for a high-end designer eyewear company, my eyes snapped to attention when I noticed a New York Times story today: "Love Your Sunglasses (Should I Know You?)" I hoped to read that the demand for expensive sunglasses wasn't going the way of expensive homes: down. Reassuringly, the story said that "statement sunglasses are one luxury that consumers are still willing to splurge on." Whew! Good news. Even better was what I came across a few paragraphs further on. "Sunglasses aren't armor anymore — they're not about saying don't touch me,"…
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Posted inSustainability

I’m hot. Global warming is to blame.

It was 90 degrees today in Oregon's generally temperate northern Willamette Valley. Last month we reached 100 degrees, breaking records for this time of year. I had to do some field mowing today. It was hotter than I wanted it to be. Who do I blame? Global warming! And the climate change deniers who love to say, "Sure, we're getting more hurricanes (or tornados, floods, heat waves, melting sea ice, etc.) but there's always been natural variations in the weather." Newsweek's Sharon Begley demolishes that argument in her persuasive piece, "Global Warming is a Cause of This Year's Extreme Weather."…
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Posted inHome life

Since ten acres hasn’t killed me, a condo can wait

Many couples about our age (late 50's, early 60's) are contemplating condo life, the travails of home ownership not meshing with their view of what retirement, or semi-retirement, should be about. Well, notwithstanding my occasional lustings for a potted plant on a deck, rather than ten acres of natural Oregon land in the lower reaches of the south Salem hills, we're following the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" adage. And believe me, maintaining our tree, brush, and grass filled property (with enough remaining poison oak and blackberry vines to keep my wife's sprayer busy) sometimes feels like dying,…
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Posted inHome life

Am I living with a terrorist?!

I just read about the FBI's proposed new policy of finding terrorists by using racial and ethnic profiling. Ever on the alert, I decided to take a closer look around our neighborhood for suspects. Didn't have to go far. There she was, sitting on what I now recognize as a prayer rug, right by our front door, clad in a semblance of her native Islamic garb. Thank you, Attorney General Mukasey. My eyes have been opened. I'm now seeing some disturbing resemblances. That nose…that dark facial hair…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

What’s wrong with flip-flopping?

I'm trying to get my head around the current craze for screaming "Flip flopper!" at political candidates who change their minds. Hey, flip flopping works for me when I make pancakes. They don't cook as well when you cleave to consistency and let the batter lie where it lays until one side is burnt and the other is half done. Obama's remarks on Iraq have stimulated the latest media flip flop feeding frenzy. Oh my God! A presidential candidate is open to adjusting his policies based on new information and further thought! Can we trust him?! Shouldn't his ideas remain…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregonians in Action still up to its old deceptive tricks

Having failed to achieve the asphaltization of Oregon through Measure 37, now that Measure 49 has been approved by an overwhelming majority of voters, Oregonians in Action is up to new deceptions. And, not coincidentally, fund-raising. Someone who knows that my wife and I are interested in water issues sent us a June 13, 2008 mailing from OIA. It's filled with Dave Hunnicutt's usual over-the-top hyperbole. Last year I wrote about the lies Oregonians in Action was telling about Measure 49. So it isn't a big surprise that OIA is spewing half-truths and untruths about a couple of well-related bills…
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Posted inPhilosophy

Lusting our way into older age

It's starting to happen. That moment I've been fearing for the latter part of my 59 years. Which happened today at Salem's LifeSource Natural Foods. Though spoken softly by the clerk, I could hear him clearly. Even with my aging ears."Would you like the discount?" I ignored the guy. Kept on with swiping my VISA card. I thought, Dude! The sign at every register says "Ask for our senior discount: 62 years and older." For one, am I asking??!! For two, do I look anywhere near 62? Come on!" Well, I guess I do. But I've got no intention of…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 49 vesting case gets weighty

Eight pounds, to be exact. That's what I had to carry out of the Marion County Planning Division last Wednesday, after staff had made a copy of Leroy Laack's Measure 49 vested rights application. Yesterday the Salem Statesman Journal ran a front page story about it: Measure 49 is put to the test: property owners hope vested rights allow work to proceed on stalled development. Those who haven't followed the saga of our neighborhood's fight to protect our groundwater from a proposed 42 lot subdivision on high value farmland in a groundwater limited area can peruse the many posts in…
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Posted inRecreation

Metolius River video – Wizard Falls hike

If you've never hiked along the Metolius River in central Oregon, you've missed out on a marvelous scenic experience. My six minute You Tube'd movie of the walk we took upstream from the Wizard Falls fish hatchery will give you a feel for what this 2.5 mile section of the Metolius is like. In short, beautiful. (This description of the hike starts from the campground, not the hatchery, but covers the same stretch of the river.) I mangle the name of the hatchery at the start of the video. For some reason I kept throwing in "creek." After that, my…
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Posted inRecreation

June blossoms on the Metolius

Here's photographic proof – why the Metolius River dazzles the eye (and soul) in what passes for spring in central Oregon. Namely, the middling part of June. Just before Lake Creek the family dog explored a grassy island. Away from the river, on top of a butte, old tree and new tree showed off against (almost) clear sky. A bit farther along, some yin and yang: bright flowers and gray rocks. Moving back to the Metolius, natural flower arrangements dot the river. It's constant spring-fed flow encourages growth that wouldn't be possible on up and down rivers. [Appreciate these shots:…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Barack up. Lars down. A good day.

This was a good way to start the first weekend of summer. First, my political soul, rubbed raw by seven plus years of brushing up against Bushian irritations, was soothed with the balm of fall election anticipation. My visit to the intriguing FiveThirtyEight site (that's the number of electors in the electoral college) was spurred by a Newsweek article about its founder, Nate Silver, a baseball statistics geek. Having honed his skills in successfully predicting baseball outcomes, Silver has turned his attention to politics. Currently he's projecting that Obama will win 334 of those 538 electoral votes. The betting line…
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Posted inHome life

Treating our coliform infested well

Coliform bacteria! This sounds scarier than it really is. But we still were concerned when a water test showed that our well water contained these potential nasties. Potential, because coliform bacteria are ubiquitous. Only certain types, like E. coli, can make you sick. However, coliforms are used as "indicator organisms" for the possible presence of more dangerous bugs, as this helpful Oregon Department of Human Services bulletin discusses. After we had our well pump pulled and replaced, we had our water tested. We do this every year. This was the first time coliform showed up. The lab only reported "present,"…
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Posted inFamily

Sliding downhill on Father’s Day

Perfect. This is just the way I feel much of the time, now that I've reached the semi-geezerish age of 59. Like I'm sliding down the hill of life, faster than before, since the descent seems steeper the closer you get to the bottom. So photos of me and my granddaughter, Evelyn, that my daughter emailed today were just what I wanted, Father's Day wise. I sort of thought that Starbucks would offer up a discount on my latte this morning. But no. Disappointed, I cut my tip in half and just clinked a couple of dimes into the jar.…
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Posted inSalem

Help me save Oregon strawberries

I can't eat the whole 2008 Oregon strawberry crop, but I've been trying. So help me out – buy local, buy often. I was pleased to see Loaded Orygun's recent post on this important subject: "Not just strawberries – OREGON strawberries. Please?" It mentioned my "As Oregon strawberries go, so the state" musing from a few years ago. What I said then still is true now. Oregon strawberries are special. Research has proven that they're sweeter, redder, and simply better. But they're on the decline. Just like our state. Like a canary in a coal mine, the Oregon strawberry reflects…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 49 making more news now

For a while things were pretty quiet on the Oregon land use front. But now my "Measure 37" Google News alert is sending me more stories, as the implementation of Measure 49 produces increased legal activity. In Benton County the Board of Commissioners essentially put a stop to a seven-lot Measure 37 subdivision sought by Charlie Fischer. The Gazette Times story, "Benton grants Fischer right to subdivide, but not to build," says that Fischer hadn't spent enough before the passage of Measure 49 to be fully vested (basically, grandfathered in). He'd been able to get lots approved, but not dwellings…
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Posted inSalem

Why can’t Salem be more like Bend?

Or…Portland, Eugene, Ashland, Corvallis – any number of Oregon towns with that special something that Salem so sorely lacks. Laurel and I cruised around Bend one day last week. Our first stop was the NorthWest Crossing development. We were charmed. We were involved with the effort to convert Salem's Fairview Training Center property into a sustainable mixed use development. So far it hasn't come to much, aside from the admirable progress of Pringle Creek Community on a small portion of the site. NorthWest Crossing reminded us of what Salem lacks, because it incorporates many of the elements of the Sustainable…
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