Posted inCurrent affairs

Making daylight saving time permanent would save lives — of people and deer

I've found that whether changing our clocks twice a year is a good thing or bad thing, and whether it would be best to make daylight saving time or standard time permanent, are subjects that arouse more extreme opinionating in a group than religion or politics. Almost everyone has a firmly held view on this. Mine is that daylight saving time should be made permanent, as I've argued in these previous blog posts: Making daylight saving time permanent is a must, Congress Daylight saving time should be permanent -- no more "fall back" time change Let's make daylight saving time…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sports

In Super Bowl, Bad Bunny was terrific. So were the Seahawks.

I felt a bit embarrassed yesterday when I left a voice mail message for someone that ended with "Have a good weekend; not sure if you're a football fan, but I'm rooting for Seattle since they're closer to Oregon than the Rams." Oops. After I hung up I realized that I'd just demonstrated how little I follow the NFL (not at all, basically), since the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC championship a few weeks ago, and Seattle played the New England Patriots in today's Super Bowl. Which I did watch, this being the first NFL…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Travel

Detroit (Oregon) has suffered more than its share of natural disasters

When I moved to Salem in 1977, the only Detroit I was familiar with was the one in Michigan. Since, I've driven through the Santiam Canyon many times to and from central Oregon. I've gotten to know the charming stop along the way, Detroit, nestled on the shores of nine-mile long Detroit Lake. Then wildfires devastated the town in September 2020. A CNN story said it looks "like a bomb went off." Wildfires scorching the West Coast have devastated the small city of Detroit, Oregon – located about 120 miles southeast of Portland – where a majority of the structures…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment Television

I hugely enjoyed The American Revolution on PBS. And I’m not a big fan of documentaries.

When I started watching The American Revolution on the Apple TV PBS app, I looked upon this as sort of a civic duty to see the newest documentary from the talented Ken Burns -- especially since documentaries aren't my first choice for evening entertainment. Well, six episodes and about 12 viewing hours later, my first impression was completely wrong. I was enthralled by every minute of the series, even though obviously there were zero photographs or videos of our Revolutionary War. Burns and his co-creators skillfully wove together voiceovers, documents, commentary from historians, maps, battle plans, reenactments, and such into…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Over-hyped A.I. data centers are just one reason to beware of an A.I. investment bubble

I enjoy using A.I., artificial intelligence. The A.I. overview that pops up at the top of most of my Google searches seems pleasingly accurate. So is the A.I. summary of the reviews of an Amazon product that I'm considering purchasing. And I've played around with asking ChatGPT questions, and making amusing images with Grok Imagine. But a fascinating article in The New Yorker by Stephen Witt, "Inside the Data Centers that Train A.I. and Drain the Electrical Grid," clued me in to some scary facts that illustrate the danger of believing that A.I. is going to be an economic gold…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem Weblogs

Les Zaitz of Salem Reporter advises “Don’t trust the media!” at City Club talk

Last Friday Les Zaitz, the editor and CEO of Salem Reporter (our town's digital-only news source), gave a talk to the Salem City Club with the surprising title, "DON'T trust the media!" But what Zaitz meant by "media" is an expanded conception that reflects the fractured media landscape now. The day is long gone when Walter Cronkite would say at the end of his evening network news program, "And that's the way it is," followed by the date of the broadcast. These days, the way it is depends on what media source you're getting news from. Fox News may have…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment

Conclusion of Handmaid’s Tale inspires resistance against Trump’s autocracy

I just finished watching the last episode of the final season of The Handmaid's Tale. It capped a wonderful story spanning six seasons of resistance by June Osborne (masterfully played by Elisabeth Moss) and many others against the dictatorial regime of Gilead -- a religious autocracy that forces women into becoming breeding machines impregnated by rapists who are Commanders of the regime. It was a difficult series for me to watch. I came to it late, after the first five seasons had concluded. Sometimes I wanted to give up on the Handmaid's Tale. Often, or usually, it was bleak, dark,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Avelo Airlines, which flies out of Salem, is being paid for deportation ICE flights

It was controversial when in 2023 the Salem City Council paid $2.4 million from the city's general fund to make airport improvements that were needed to attract commercial air service to Salem -- even though at the time the City of Salem was facing a large budget shortfall and was hoping to raise $25 million a year from a payroll tax on workers. Avelo Airlines, a low-cost carrier, ended up coming to town. Now Avelo is enmeshed in a controversy of its own making due to the airline contracting with the Trump administration's ICE agency (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Should progressives pursue policies of abundance? Probably.

I identify as a progressive, though for me, the term basically is synonymous with liberal. At any rate, I'd call myself a moderate progressive/liberal. Meaning, I'm not as far to the left as Bernie Sanders, though I agree with much of what he says and stands for, and I'm not as far to the right as John Fetterman, though I also like much of what he says and stands for.  So it isn't surprising that I resonate with the general thrust of a recently published book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance. In fact, I just ordered the book.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Health

Laurel Hines, my wife, supports changes to Oregon’s Death With Dignity law

The Oregon legislature is considering a bill, SB 1003, that would make changes to our state's Death With Dignity law -- which allows people who have six months or less left to live to exercise control over the time and manner of their death by taking physician-prescribed medication. Passed by Oregon voters in 1994, and affirmed in 1997 when it took effect after a legal challenge, the law is a good start, but it needs improving. That's why my wife, Laurel Hines, testified in favor of SB 1003 at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 3. Laurel told the…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Health

In Providence strike, I’m on the side of nurses and doctors

Last Friday Oregon's largest health care strike in history kicked off as about 5,000 nurses, doctors, and midwives walked off their Providence Hospitals jobs. Dissatisfaction with working conditions was a major reason for the strike, according to the Oregon Nurses Association.  One of Oregon’s largest healthcare providers, Providence, is a system in crisis that threatens the health and well-being of all Oregonians.   We are nurses, doctors, physician associates, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives from Providence facilities across Oregon. Some of us have been bargaining with Providence for more than a year and are working without a contract. Providence…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sports

Oregon’s Rose Bowl loss reminded me of Harris’s presidential loss

There I was, all prepared for what I thought was going to be an enjoyable television watching time. I'd been looking forward to this moment for months. I was highly familiar with the contest that finally was going to be decided. I realized that my favorite wasn't guaranteed to win. But there was every indication that this had a good chance of happening. I figured that the worst that could happen was an evenly matched contest where it would take a while for the winner to become obvious. Sadly, what I just said applied equally to two disturbing events spaced…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Web/Tech

I’m enjoying Bluesky after my disillusionment with Elon Musk’s X

A few days ago I took the social media plunge into the pleasant waters of Bluesky, having become increasingly disillusioned with X (formerly known as Twitter).  After Elon Musk bought Twitter and almost instantly renamed it X, because that's his favorite letter, I found this irritating, but not enough to make me leave X. The positives seemed to outweigh the negatives. I use Twitter, X, and now Bluesky for the enjoyment I get from following quality observers of our local, state, and national political scenery. They're up to date on what's going on. I learn a lot from the links…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Health

Constant worrying about Trump is a threat to your health

Like many millions of Americans, ever since Trump was elected president on November 5, a mere twelve days ago that seems like much longer, I've been consumed with anxiety about what this means for the United States and the world. In short, nothing good. Or at least, very little that is good. Naturally I'm speaking from my perspective as a Democrat who heartily supported Kamala Harris. I realize that Trump supporters feel differently. But I'm speaking to those who, like me, see Trump as a threat to democracy, the environment, equal rights, justice, the economy, Ukraine, and so much else. …
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Another school shooting shows there’s only one reason: too many damn guns!

Today four people were killed and nine wounded at a high school in Georgia by a 14-year old student there.  According to Wikipedia, as of August 31, so far in 2024 in the United States a total of 527 people have been killed and 1,755 people have been wounded in 432 mass shootings. (Defined as at least four people killed or wounded in an incident.) So this school shooting wasn't anything special, sadly. School shootings just get more attention from the media. I watched some of the coverage as I exercised this afternoon, then listened to MSNBC and CNN discussions…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Joe Biden’s speech at the DNC was met with love, and also relief

President Biden deserved the warm welcome he received at the Democratic National Convention tonight. The cries and signs of "I love Joe" were heartfelt.  However, as I watched his speech here in Oregon, where it was over well after midnight East Coast time and 9:30 or so our time, which seemed like a crazily late time to showcase what amounted to Biden's farewell to the nation as Kamala Harris is poised to enter the stretch run of her presidential campaign, I keep thinking that a big part of why Democrats love Joe is that Biden had the good sense to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

LGBTQ people may not be born that way, but they’re formed that way

The Sunday New York Times had a great idea in the opinion section of the August 4, 2024 issue: have some of their columnists debunk a bit of conventional wisdom in their circles. Here's how it was described. Our world is more connected than ever. But it's never been easier to find yourself shepherded into a comfortable herd made up of close friends or political allies, your social set or professional peers. And those herds are the perfect environment for groupthink to thrive, to allow dubious beliefs or weak arguments to masquerade as unquestionable truisms. We asked nine of our…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment

I watched The Handmaid’s Tale to learn what reelecting Trump would be like

It was a tough job, but I had to do it -- watching every second of every episode of the five seasons of The Handmaid's Tale, a show that I wasn't interested in when it aired from April 2017 to November 2022, but which grabbed my attention this year for a couple of reasons. One was that I'd seen Elisabeth Moss in The Veil and was captivated by her acting. She's the lead character in The Handmaid's Tale. Another was that I wanted to see what lessons The Handmaid's Tale had for our current political situation, where Donald Trump is…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Relax, today’s big stock market decline is no big deal

If you're like me, someone with money invested in the United States stock market, today wasn't fun. All the major market indices dropped considerably, following a couple of declining days last week.  The S&P 500 was down 3.0%, the Dow 2.6%, the NASDAQ 3.4%. I don't believe one-sentence descriptions why the stock market rises or falls are worth much, including today's "the market is worried about a possible recession." This doesn't begin to capture the complexities of why markets around the world had a tough time today. For example, lots of investors had borrowed money in Japan, because that country…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment Sports

I loved the Olympics opening ceremony, including drag queen part

When I first heard that the Paris Olympics opening ceremony was going to be held on the Seine River, with boats carrying the parade of nations, I thought that this could be a big mistake by the organizers. Why not respect tradition and have the ceremony in a stadium, like it always has been? Well, my thought was the mistake, not the decision to have the opening ceremony on the Seine. I recorded the lengthy ceremony. My wife and I are only partway through it, but we've loved what we've seen so far, and I know that we'll love the…
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