Posted inCurrent affairs Measure 37 Sustainability

Oregon Supreme Court ruling supports land use system

Here's good news for supporters of Oregon's land use system, which has done a great job protecting irreplaceable farm and forest lands from being paved over unnecessarily. Today the Oregon Supreme Court released a long-awaited ruling on a Yamhill County land use case, Friends of Yamhill County v. Board of Commissioners and Gordon Cook.   Download Supreme Court Decision -- Cook  Basically it's a big win for Friends of Yamhill County and the Crag Law Center. And a corresponding big slapdown of both the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners and the county vesting officer. The Oregon Court of Appeals also got…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

“Despite Everything — Obama 2012” sums up how I feel

Clever idea, a web site and Facebook page dedicated to re-electing President Obama despite everything he's done to disappoint those who enthusiastically voted for him in 2008. This is the place to offer your begrudging support to the President of the United States of America in his bid for re-election! Muster your minor enthusiasm! Express your not entirely disaffected preference! Donate $20.08 to his campaign (you liked him back then) and send a message!* *Fundraising rules apply. If you're among the richest 1% of U.S. citizens, feel free to give $2,008
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Occupy Salem rally/march — video & photos

Today in Salem, Oregon my wife and I joined hundreds of other 99%ers in a march from the Capitol that ended at a rally in Peace Plaza (in this context, "99%" refers to those people less well-off than the top 1% -- who now own 40% of our nation's wealth). We were part of a vast October 15 worldwide protest against growing wealth inequality. The United States has the fifth-most unequal wealth distribution in the world, and it's getting worse. Our middle class is sinking into lower class status, while the rich keep getting richer. Here's a five minute video…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

2011 OLCV Scorecard ranks greenness of Oregon legislators

Which Oregon state legislators have been naughty or nice to the environment? The just-released 2011 Environmental Scorecard produced by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) makes it easy to tell. Download OLCV 2011 Scorecard I checked out the Republican legislators who, unfortunately, my wife and I are saddled with here in our right-leaning area of Marion County. Ugh! State Senator Brian Boquist got the absolutely lowest OLCV Senate score when it came to voting in support of our Earth's one and only environment: 44%. Amazingly, in the 2011 session he scored even lower than Larry George. On the state representative…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Science

Krauthammer is wrong about relativity being proven wrong

Whenever I watch Charles Krauthammer expressing his conservatism on Fox News, or read his right-wing newspaper columns, almost always I strongly disagree with him. Seeing that his most recent column was about a possible discovery of faster-than-light neutrinos, which I blogged about here, I thought that maybe Charles and I would find some agreement on the common ground of science. But no, I got as irritated with his "Gone in 60 nanoseconds" as with his overtly political pieces. Because what Krauthammer wants to say goodbye to is trust in modern science.  Scientists at CERN, the European high-energy physics consortium, have announced the…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association seeks wolf extinction

Do you eat beef? If so, make sure it doesn't come from a rancher who belongs to the Oregon Cattlemen's Association (OCA). This group appears to be committed to killing every single wolf in our state -- causing wolves to once again become an extinct member of Oregon's top predator ecosystem. If you don't believe me, take a look at the OCA Facebook page. Friday's entry says "Good news for ranchers in Eastern OR," referring to a La Grande news story: Two Imnaha pack wolves to be killed after another confirmed livestock loss Yesterday’s investigation scene showed clear evidence of…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem Statesman Journal shouldn’t reveal retiree info

The Salem Statesman Journal, for reasons known only to its generally right-leaning editorial board, went to court so the newspaper could release hitherto private information about the retirement benefits of Oregon state government workers. My wife is one of them. A few days ago she got a letter from the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) informing her that because of lawsuits filed by the Statesman Journal and Portland Oregonian, on November 21, 2011 her name and benefit amount will be made public. Download PERS Letter Then, on March 9, 2012 anyone in the world will be able to learn my…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Jon Huntsman — only sane Republican presidential candidate

Driving home this evening, I tuned my car's satellite radio to MSNBC. I wanted to hear at least a little bit of the Republican presidential debate in Simi Valley, California. If I'd heard more, my head might have exploded -- the rhetoric was that ridiculous. I couldn't understand why the audience didn't laugh out loud at some of the answers candidates gave to questions. For example, Ron Paul ranted on about the uselessness of building a fence along the Mexican border to deter illegal immigration. He said that this fence could just as easily keep people in the country, not…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Science

Richard Dawkins calls Rick Perry an “uneducated ignoramus”

I wonder if Rick Perry, Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor, knows what "ignoramus" means. Probably not. I'll help Perry out in case he stumbles across this blog. Here's the definition, Rick: Utterly ignorant person. Such is how noted evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins describes not only Rick Perry but also the entire leadership of today's Republican party. He's right on. Anyone who doesn't believe in evolution or other unarguable scientific facts indeed is an ignoramus. How is it that they even could be considered for high public office, especially the presidency of the United States? Here's how Dawkins starts off…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Science

Republican presidential candidates disrespect reality

Whenever the current crop of Republican presidential candidates make a public utterance, I think, Reality is a terrible thing to waste. WIth a single exception, Jon Huntsman, they don't care whether what they're saying is fact-based, scientifically-defensible, or otherwise firmly rooted in demonstrable consensual reality. They just spout off about whatever is politically expedient. If Republican primary voters demand crazy talk from a candidate, that's what they're given. This is dangerous. What if one of these reality-deniers somehow becomes President of the United States? Who wants the leader of our country to be out of touch with what is really…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Marion County clips wings of anti-govt “Gathering of the Eagles”

Ah, I so love it when a right-wing, self-righteous, anti-government group gets caught doing something illegal and has to bow down before the rule of law. Earlier this month Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, conservative Portland talk show hosts Lars Larson and Victoria Taft, plus a bunch of other Tea Party types assembled for a "Gathering of the Eagles" at the Ames Ranch in normally sleepy Jefferson, Oregon -- between Salem and Albany, just off I-5. However, the organizers somehow ignored the fact that the crowd of more than a thousand people needed a permit from Marion County in order…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Rick Perry acts like an idiot (no big surprise)

Well, it didn't take long for Texas governor Rick Perry to demonstrate why he is utterly, completely, 100% unsuited to be president of the United States. Even supporters of George Bush like Karl Rove are outraged by Perry using "treasonous" to describe the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and threatening Bernanke with "ugly" treatment in Texas. Does this guy look presidential to you? Twenty-five other states have lower unemployement than Texas, and it is tied with Mississippi for the most minimium wage workers. Not exactly a model for our country.  
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Patti Milne oversaw the failure of Salem’s Courthouse Square

Today's front page story in the Salem Statesman Journal is headlined, "Courthouse Square's Red Flags." Subtitle: Project's failures extend beyond bad engineering Yeah, no kidding. The county commissioners in office when construction problems first started to become apparent looked the other way, even though the project manager recommended taking action. When cracks appeared at the tops of columns during construction of Courthouse Square in 2000, the defects were taken seriously by Melvin Mark Development Co., a Portland firm hired as a project manager. The cracks were in critical locations beneath the bus mall at Courthouse Square. Melvin Mark wanted to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Rick Perry is off to a rocky start with God

Here's a terrific piece about Rick Perry's reliance on religious fundamentalism rather than facts when it comes to governing, "Rick Perry's Unanswered Prayers." Doesn't seem to be working for him. A few months ago, with Texas aflame from more than 8,000 wildfires brought on by extreme drought, a man who hopes to the next president took pen in hand and went to work:“Now, therefore, I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Obama should be willing to crash and burn

I want to see President Obama jet high into the political skies with his afterburner on full blast. Then, he needs to dive bomb the warring factions in Congress with every weapon at his disposal. Like I said before, Obama has got to become more extreme, crazier, committed, dangerous. If he crashes and burns, fine. I'll strongly support him up to and through his 2012 electoral destruction -- so long as he starts to fight hard for what most of the American people want: balance, moderation, centrism. Polls show that a majority of the public favors raising taxes on the…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

What’s most irksome about the S&P downgrade

Today I invested 18 minutes of my life in watching a self-serving video on Standard & Poor's "CreditMatters" multimedia web page. I was curious to see how two high-ranking executives defended their downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. As I watched David Beers, Standard & Poor's Global Head of Sovereign Ratings, and John Chambers, Chairman of the Sovereign Ratings Committee, I got increasingly irritated at them. They struck me as detached, rich, overly self-confident Wall Street types who enjoyed being fed canned questions by another S&P employee. I'd already read the S&P report that described the downgrade, so didn't learn…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Unvarnished truth about the S&P downgrade

There's nothing like going to the source. Politicians are trying to spin the S&P downgrade of the federal government's credit rating in all sorts of self-serving ways. I recommend taking a few minutes to read the short (eight pages) report for yourself. You might be as surprised as I was to see how the unvarnished truth about how this corner of Wall Street views our nation's finances. Here's a link to a PDF file of the Standard & Poors Research Update, "United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'AA+' On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative." (Or…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

My favorite stock market crash headline

"Stocks plunge on fears of global turmoil." So says a banner New York TImes headline on its web site. Um, here's an idea for the world's stock markets. Why don't you hold off on crashing 4-5% in a single day, like you did today, until there really is global turmoil? Because you're producing the global turmoil that you're afraid of when the S&P 500 drops 4.8%, and other markets act similarly. So tomorrow investors will be even more afraid of the global turmoil that their fear today helped create, likely leading to more maket declines. Whatever economist came up with…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Obama and the Dems need to get more extreme

President Obama, Senator Reid, Representative Pelosi -- here's what this proud progressive wants you to do from now on: Get freaking crazy! Become as extreme on the left as Republicans are on the right. Act like you'll never compromise your revenue-raising, social program-preserving principles. Yes, it was just two days ago that I blogged, "Maybe Obama is the centrist president I long for." I still believe that. But after further reflection I've come to agree with what E.J. Dionne said in a column that I quoted. Obama’s advisers are said to be obsessed with the political center, but such a…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Maybe Obama is the centrist president I long for

This weekend should have been relaxing. It's almost August. Oregon is warm, dry, and sunny. Staining decks isn't my favorite activity, but I enjoy the simple manual labor. However, for the past few days I've been running to my laptop every hour or two and checking on the progress of the debt limit negotiations. Now that our investments have crawled back to within spitting distance of their value prior to the Big Crash, I'm not wild about a major market downturn -- which likely would happen if Congress and the President don't get their act together and avoid a totally…
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