Posted inCurrent affairs

Bush believes embryonic stem cell research is murder

Take a look at this eight-cell human embryo. Does it look like a person? Would using it for stem cell research, rather than destroying it, be murder? President Bush believes so. That’s why he’s going to veto the stem cell legislation passed by Congress. Today White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked by a reporter, “Can you remind us why the President believes that it is more appropriate for stem cells to be thrown away than to be used in this case for medical research?” Snow’s answer: What the President has said is that he doesn’t want human life…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Humor

Request to be added to U.S. Terror Targets

Dear Secretary Chertoff: Today I noted with considerable satisfaction that the Department of Homeland Security includes a petting zoo and popcorn factory in your list of potential U.S. terror targets. Great work. I’m pleased that you’re thinking outside of the box when it comes to outsmarting the evildoers who wish to do us harm. What greater threat to the American way of life could there be than blowing a floppy-eared goat to smithereens, or striking a blow at our God-given right to chew noisily on overpriced snacks while watching a movie? My only concern is whether you have overlooked any…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Philosophy

Bush administration disrespects Wiccans

What’s the deal, President Bush? Your administration touts the importance of religion, yet the Department of Veteran Affairs refuses to put a religious symbol on the memorial for a decorated soldier killed in Afghanistan. A Wiccan symbol. Sgt. Patrick Stewart of the Nevada National Guard is the first Wiccan killed in combat. But 1,800 Wiccans are on active duty in the armed forces. And applications for the use of the pentacle on grave markers have been pending for nine years. I hope the several hundred thousand Wiccans in this country bring down upon Bush whatever karmic consequences he deserves for…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

It’s harder to support the troops

The sort of yellow ribbon magnet that I’d be willing to affix to my car would need really small lettering: “Support the troops, but not if they’re committing atrocities, or acting as if the Iraq conflict were a war rather than the occupation that it really is.” Yes, it’s getting harder to support the troops. What bothers me the most is the attitude, promulgated from the President on down, that we’re engaged in an “Iraq war.” That was only briefly true. Now its an Iraq occupation. Most of the insurgents that we’re fighting are home-grown, a nationalist reaction to a…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Burn the American flag. Why not?

Thank god. Yesterday the Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag. This has to be one of the stupidest ideas Congress has come up with recently. And that’s saying something. What tempers my enthusiasm for this rare display of congressional common sense is that the amendment failed by only one vote. Sixty-six Senators voted for it, thirty-four voted against it. That’s a disturbing indication of how symbolism is trumping substance in the political arena. If you’re married, take a look at the ring on your left hand. Do you love your wedding ring? Would…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Democrats underwhelm me again

Like I’ve said before, “Politics, my dear, the thrill is gone.” The Democratic and Republican parties are equally skilled at squashing my enthusiasm. I’m much more left-leaning than right. But when the Dems don’t take a stand, how can I line up with them? Today’s vote in the Senate on Democratic proposals for withdrawal from Iraq was a farce. Per usual. Even with Bush’s approval ratings so low, it’s becoming more and more evident that once again the Dems will find a way to snatch defeat from victory in November. The conventional wisdom is that the Democratic Party is indecisive…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Humor

Panexa. Ask your doctor for a reason to take it.

I’ve got to get me a prescription for Panexa. It should only be taken by patients experiencing one of the following disorders: metabolism, binocular vision, digestion (solid and liquid), circulation, menstruation, cognition, osculation, extremes of emotion. I qualify! And I’m not going to worry about the small percentage of squirrels who take Panexa and suffer from Excessively Floppy Tail Syndrome (EFTS). On the human front, the Panexa web site reassures me about the drug’s side effects: Most patients (2%) tolerate treatment with PANEXA well, especially when compared with prisoners of war of comparable size and weight. However, like all drugs,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Presidents of Iran and U.S. both believe in apocalypse

Oh, great. We’re screwed. The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is aiming for apocalypse. And there’s good reason to believe that George Bush has an Armageddon obsession. This confluence of insane Islamic and Christian fundamentalism is going to make for some interesting foreign policy, and, if the crazies are to be believed, even more interesting theological battles. For a recent U.S. News & World Report article says that Ahmadinejad’s “Twelver Shiism” anticipates a Last Days that is quite different from the Christian version: This tradition holds that there were 12 legitimate successors (imams) to the prophet Muhammad, the last of…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

Oregon Cougar Plan starts needless killing

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is hard at work spending taxpayer money on a nonexistent problem. Contract employees using hounds will be used to kill 66 cougars in three areas. These 66 cougars aren’t problem cougars. They’re just plain cougars. They haven’t been caught killing livestock or otherwise causing a nuisance to humans. In its idiocy, the Fish and Wildlife Commission came up with a cougar management plan that doesn’t seek to control problem cougars, but rather kills the animals en masse in areas where cougar complaints and purported cougar predation exceed 1994 levels. Gosh, what a great concept.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

As Oregon strawberries go, so the state

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 the health of our previously vaunted livability. I’ve been doing my best to keep Oregon strawberry growers in business. Almost every day I buy a carton or two from Roth’s Sunnyslope Market in south Salem, which admirably sells quite a bit of local produce. It isn’t hard to decide between the delicious Oregon variety and the tasteless (by comparison) California berries. The latter travel better, so…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Bush’s upside down Memorial Day

I’ve never flown the American flag on Memorial Day. I’m certainly not going to start now, because George Bush’s misguided policies have turned this day of remembrance upside down. If I were to fly a flag, it’d have to be flown the same way, just as it was back in the Vietnam War protest days. I used to be proud that American men and women died so we could preserve our freedoms. Now I’m not proud that our freedoms are being taken away so, supposedly, we won’t die. That’s not the American way. That’s the cowardly way. The Bush administration…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Bush’s immigration plan is one big photo-op

Here’s why I’m disgusted with George Bush in general, and his immigration reform plan in specific. From the May 1 issue of TIME magazine, in an article about how the White House hopes to hold on to control of Congress by preaching to the right-wing faithful: Deploy guns and badges. This is an unabashed play to members of the conservative base who are worried about illegal immigration. Under the banner of homeland security, the White House plans to seek more funding for an extremely visible enforcement crackdown at the Mexican border, including a beefed up force of agents patrolling on…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Iraq and self-licking ice cream cones

A few days ago Laurel and I spent an interesting evening with someone who had just come back from a tour of duty in Iraq. He told it like it is: awful. He was asked, “Often it’s said that the media just reports the bad stuff that’s going on in Iraq. Do you think that’s true?” His response: “Actually, the situation is a lot worse than the media is reporting.” He had nothing good to say about the Bush administration’s failed war policies. This is from a guy who had his boots on the ground. He quoted an officer who…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Politics, my dear, the thrill is gone

It’s time for me to admit that my long term relationship has gone sour. I’ve been shacked up with politics almost my whole life. I was reading my mother’s National Review back when William F. Buckley was a youthful stud. I mostly look for good loving on the other side of the political tracks now. But so far this year the lefties have left me just about as cold as the righties. No matter whether they have a “D” or an “R” after their name, I’m not getting turned on. The thrill is gone. I’m glad that yesterday Kulongoski won…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oh, no. Iran embraces the euro!

Vacationing as I am on Maui at the moment, I’m not going to spend much beach time worrying about Iran taking a step toward selling oil in euros rather than dollars. But when I read about this in the Honolulu Advertiser today, I couldn’t help remembering how Willamette University economics professor emeritus Russ Beaton has told Laurel and me that the Iraq war was fought, in large part, to prevent OPEC from moving to a euro-based oil sales/trading system. Russ is a progressive friend of ours. He’s forgotten more about economics than I’ll ever know, and I don’t pretend to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Personal & political

It’s said that the personal is political. Absolutely. When I hear about a new Bush administration idiocy, I can’t help thinking of his misstep in my own personal terms. Take the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ridiculous claim that marijuana has no medical benefits. They should have talked to me before they issued that report. I’ve got proof that marijuana is effective against depression: I lived in San Jose, a.k.a. the armpit of California, for four years—1966 to 1970—while I was attending San Jose State University. Never got depressed. Was happy to contribute to medical marijuana research ahead of its…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregon is not a high tax state

Repeat after me, conservative politicians and right wing talk show hosts: “Oregon is not a high tax state.” Again: “Oregon is not a high tax state.” Good. Now say it on your own. Over and over. And don’t let me hear you say the opposite this election year, because it isn’t true. Yesterday I didn’t like writing checks and sending them off to the federal and state governments. But when I licked the envelope that went to the Oregon Department of Revenue it made me feel better to know that Oregon ranks 36th out of the 50 states in state…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregon cougar plan a slap in the face to voters

In 1994 Oregonians passed Measure 18. It forbids sport hunters from using dogs to track and kill cougars. Yesterday the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission passed a plan that will allow federal hunters to use dogs to track and kill cougars. Not problem cougars that are threatening people or killing livestock. No, potential problem cougars. Cougars that are just hanging out, not bothering anybody. To me that sure sounds like killing cougars for sport. Slap! How does it feel, Oregon voters, to have a state agency say to you, “Thanks for telling us how you wanted cougars to be managed.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Home life Tango/Dance

The Tao of Tango explains why politicians stumble

Life is a dance. I’ve just finished reading a little book, “The Tao of Tango,” that has some good insights about why we stumble. Both Taoism and Tango are all about yin and yang, following and leading, female and male energies. When these dualities aren’t balanced, missteps occur. Harmony goes down the drain. Shit happens. On our little personal dance floor of life, these stumblings are of little consequence except to us and those few with whom we come in contact. But when you’re a political leader, falling over your feet can bring a whole nation to its knees. Or…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Blowing off a Democratic fundraiser

Sorry, guy, when you phoned this afternoon and asked for a donation to the Democratic cause you caught me at a testy time. That’s why I ranted, “A pox on both the parties! More and more I’m moving to the center. Independents rule!” I understand why you hung up on me so quickly. You were looking for my Democratic wife and assumed that I was a kindred political spirit. Which, usually I am. But not to the extent of donating to the Demowussycratic Party. I’ll leave that to Laurel. I told the fundraiser that the Democrats are better than the…
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