Posted inCurrent affairs

My tire gauge says, “Obama’s right”

I've always had a tire gauge in my car, way before Barack Obama made it a symbol of how we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We're so close – the tire gauge and me – I've been able to channel its thoughts about the recent attempt by John McCain and his Republican know-nothings to belittle the importance of keeping tires properly inflated. "Obama's right!" My tire gauge has a high squeaky voice befitting its slim stature. But I can make out these words just fine. It's a fact: proper tire pressure on the nation's cars would have much…
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Posted inHome life

Snakes in a pond (and pump)

Snakes creep me out. Big time. Even little garden snakes. To my mind, this is proof of evolution, because I've got an inbred distaste for creatures that used to kill my distant ancestors. Also, I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains (California), where rattlesnakes abounded. So hearing their unmistakable sound as a kid while crawling over some rocks also serves to explain my current Yikes! whenever I see a slithery form with no legs. Yesterday one of those forms also had almost no body – just a few inches of what obviously once was a much…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Victoria Taft is wrong again

It's hardly news when right-wing talk radio spews forth erroneous information. But since I'm on a mini-roll on this subject, having pointed out the murderous insanity of Michael Savage, et. al. recently, there's a special delight in catching Victoria Taft (a local Portland, Oregon talk show host) in one of her frequent blab first and check facts later moments. Yesterday Taft was going on and on about how a CBS News report said that Al Qaida's #2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had been killed or severely injured by a recent United States missile strike. Taft praised American special forces, talked about what…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

No bike helmet for this free (headed) spirit

Darn. My outrage over a front page story in today's Oregonian about a proposal to require every bicycle rider to wear a helmet has been cut short. There's no better blog subject than my righteous indignation (RI). So it was sort of disappointing to learn that state Sen. Floyd Prozanski has backed off his notion of an Oregon adult bike helmet mandate (those under 17 already are required to wear one). Sounds like other bloggers beat me to the RI. The Eugene Democrat says he's still all in favor of helmets. In fact, he says he survived a bike crash…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Murderous insanity of right-wing talk radio

Right off the bat I suspected that the man who killed two people in the Unitarian church shooting would be a devotee of Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity. And I was right. I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but when the news reports said that Jim Adkisson railed against the Unitarian Universalist congregation for being "liberal," including its advocacy for gay rights, I recalled all the hate speech that spews daily from the right-wing blabbermouths. Savage is the worst of these nuts. He's off his rocker, yet has the gall to write a book called "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder."…
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Posted inDogs

The Amazing Dog Hair Net Seed in Ear Preventer

I want to say, "Order now! Call the toll-free number within the next 30 minutes and we'll send you three, yes three, Amazing Dog Hair Net Seed in Ear Preventers for the price of one." Except…we don't have a toll-free number. And this afternoon I paid $1.95 for a package of three hair nets at the Sisters, Oregon drug store. So since Laurel and I would be re-selling them over late night cable TV for, say, $19.95 (plus shipping), you're better off buying them on your own if you want a more or less workable way of keeping seeds out…
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Posted inMeasure 37

How to survive a Measure 37 vested rights hearing

Yesterday Marion County held a public hearing on the Ridge View Estates (a.k.a. Laack subdivision) application for a vested rights determination. Meaning, LeRoy Laack hopes to show that he's done enough work on the 43-home, 217 acre project to be able to continue on with it, even though Measure 49, which was voted in last November, prohibits more than three homes on high value farmland or groundwater limited land – which this property is. The Salem Statesman Journal had a front page story on the hearing today, "Arguments churn at vested rights land-use hearing." Well, not just arguments. My stomach…
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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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