Posted inCurrent affairs

Virginia Tech shootings highlight nation’s self-absorption

Yes, it's a tragedy. Thirty-three people dead, including the gunman. But in Iraq, this number of killings would be a good day. And in Darfur, a miracle to have only that many lives lost on a Monday in April. Listening to the radio in my car this afternoon, I heard a reporter say that decades from now, the Virginia Tech tragedy would still be on the minds of Americans. I doubt it. And also, I hope not. There are many more important things to be focusing on than a massacre by one crazed man. Like the thousands of people being…
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Posted inFamily

I become a grandfather. And dig up a septic tank.

Grandpa Brian. A new aspect of my persona, thanks to Evelyn Elizabeth Vos. She was born Thursday to my daughter Celeste and her hubby, Patrick. And their first "child," who looks like a feline plot is in the making. I'd keep the cat away from the baby for a while, Celeste and Patrick, until you know what's going on in that furry head (as if you ever will). Speaking of furry heads, Evelyn looks a lot like Celeste did when she was born: hirsute. People said Celeste looked like an Eskimo, though I'm pretty sure nobody who said that had…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Oregonians in Action wants to hijack “Fix Measure 37” rally

Geez, Oregonians in Action, can't you organize your own pro Measure 37 "Pave over Oregon!" rally? Not only do you want to trample on the rights of citizens to enjoy a sprawl-free, water-plentiful, farm-friendly state, you also want to disrupt the Rally for Oregon that's been organized by Jim Gilbert and his Fix Measure 37 crew. It'll be held on the steps of the capitol in Salem next Saturday, April 14, from 10-2. Here's a rally flyer: Download measure_37_rally_poster.pdf Oregonians in Action, which brought us the disaster of Measure 37, is calling on their supporters to hijack the rally. We…
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Posted inSalem

Salem developer trashes large trees. Again.

George Suniga, a Salem (Oregon) developer, has this thing about beautiful large trees. He loves to cut them down. With or without a permit. Here's his latest piece of work. Until a few days ago these marvelous oaks were some of the few trees left on Suniga's Waln Creek Estates subdivision. My wife and I drive past the property just about every day. And for many years we had the Oregonian delivered to a paper box on the corner of Holder Lane and Liberty Road (we live too far out in the country for home delivery). So I got to…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Why have a public hearing if you don’t want to hear the public?

Memo to Oregon legislators: if you invite the public to testify at a hearing, be willing to hear them. Especially if they've driven several hours to attend an 8:00 am session on SB 30, a bill that would protect the fragile Metolius River basin from two large destination resorts. That's what happened last Thursday. The public got stiffed, while government officials and real estate developers got to talk…and talk…and talk some more. I was there, one of the non-testifiers. Like several dozen other people who wanted a couple of minutes in front of the Education and General Government Committee, chaired…
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Posted inHome life

Easter infringes on my religious freedom

Class-action attorneys, I'm waiting for your emails. I'm a representative of a significant Easter-oppressed group: non-Christians who worship Sunday gadget shopping and latte sipping. My "religion," though which I derive deep meaning and satisfaction, may be non-traditional. But I should be free to practice it without interference. And today, I can't. Thumbing through the Sunday paper ads, I just realized that Best Buy is closed today. Outrageous! I woke up this morning filled with a gloriously uplifting thought: "In a few hours I'll rejoice in the buying of a new high-tech wall phone that we need for our soon-to-be-remodeled kitchen."…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Air America needs to dump Randi Rhodes

I've already argued persuasively that Randi Rhodes is an embarrassment to progressives. Now I'm running out of adjectives. What's worse than "embarrassment"? Words fail me. Yesterday I opted to test my teeth-gritting ability and tuned to Portland's Air America station, KPOJ, while she was on. I heard some amazing news: Dick Cheney said they have lawyers looking into whether the 22nd Amendment is inoperative, and George Bush could run for a third term. Wow! What a scoop. That was the first I'd heard about this astounding revelation. Rhodes went on to express her outrage about how the administration was set…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 reform proposal is looking shaky

It appears the "Framework for a Better Measure 37" prepared by a sub-group of the Oregon legislature's Land Use Fairness Committee is starting to fall apart. Over at Land Use Watch, Peter Bray says he's gotten confidential information that the framework is dead. Peter hates the reform proposal, so his reaction is "Thank God!" The Oregonian, though, is reporting that the committee members are clashing over details. A meeting was disbanded yesterday over what Sen. Floyd Prozankski called an "impasse." Well, death also is an impasse, so Bray might have it right after all. (As an aside, Laura Oppenheimer's Oregonian…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Holding ground with our Measure 37 land use activism

We didn't know what to expect when we walked into today's hearing before the Marion County Commissioners. On behalf of our neighborhood's Keep Our Water Safe Committee, we'd appealed a Planning Commission decision that granted Leroy Laack 27 lots for his proposed 137 acre Measure 37 subdivision near us. Laack also had appealed, since he wants 43 lots. So there we were at 9:30 in the morning, standing around in the hearing room lobby, waiting for a seemingly endless series of Measure 37 claims to be decided by the County Commissioners, not knowing whether we'd end the day as losers…
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Posted inFamily

Pregnancy can be cute

My daughter, Celeste, finally has shared some pregnancy photos. She's due April 10, so she's really pregnant. We talked by phone this evening. Celeste said, "There's nothing cute about being pregnant." Hey, this grandfather-to-be begs to differ. Patrick, her hubby, and she are Hollywoodish cute here (which fits, since that's where they live). And this shows more than the belly of the demure mother-to be. Who, I'm told, is eminently ready for Baby Girl ______ to make her appearance. They're down to three potential names, but won't choose the winner until they see their child and know that the name…
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Posted inHumor

Google offers free broadband access! Sign up now!

Oh, my god, Google, it sounds too good to be true. Free in-home wireless broadband service. But Gmail is free. So is Page Creator. So is lots of Google stuff. Got to read more. Hmmm. The installation instructions make sense. I'm no do-it-yourselfer. But I could handle the set-up. On to the FAQs. Damn! We live in the country. Can I use TiSP if my home uses a septic system? Sorry, but no -- TiSP requires the use of a central sewer system to connect your home to the Internet. Oh, well. I'll hope for a v. 2.0.
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Save the Metolius from destination resorts

Short-sighted greed is poised to wreck the marvelous Metolius basin. It makes me sick. But there's something you and I can do about it: support Senate Bill 30, which would prohibit destination resorts in or within three miles of the basin. Laurel and I are part owners of a forest service cabin on the Metolius. It's the most beautiful river I've ever seen. The fly fishing is incomparable. The banks are wonderfully walkable. And you can even pause on your stroll and enjoy a latte at the oh-so-charming Camp Sherman store. The permanent population of Camp Sherman is about 200.…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Draft of Measure 37 fix emerges

The AP is reporting the outline of a Measure 37 reform proposal, based on a confidential draft produced by the Oregon legislature's Land Use Fairness Committee (which obviously isn't confidential anymore). Measure 37 claimants who want to build up to three homes would qualify for "fast track" status. Others who consider that they lost more than three home sites due to land use regulations could build up to ten homes. Supposedly, though, there would be protections for valuable farmland. Transferability of Measure 37 waivers would be allowed—currently a legal gray area. A remaining sticky point is how to value Measure…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Getting down and dirty with Measure 37 fix

It looks like the Oregon legislature's Land Use Fairness Committee is close to revealing it's fix for Measure 37. So reported a story in the McMinnville News-Register last Thursday, "Measure 37 panel nears 'Camp David' compromise." That's great. I just hope the proposal does a better job at reconciling opposing views than the Camp David accord ended up doing. Like they say, once you get general agreement on how to resolve a problem, the devil is in the details. The folks at Loaded Orygun surmise that the consensus will be to limit Measure 37 subdivisions to a fairly small number…
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Posted inPhilosophy

The Tao of Tajuan Porter

It's confirmed: University of Oregon basketball star Tajuan Porter is a Taoist sage. I'd suspected as much while watching the Ducks beat UNLV yesterday. Freshman Porter, who's only 5' 6", beautifully manifested wu-wei—effortless doing. A master of wu-wei is said to have "soft and invisible power" over things. Indeed. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell said that Porter was "a blur, a wisp and a vapor." I decided to confirm Porter's Taoist eminence through his own words. Here's what I found. My comments on #12's simple, yet profound, statements are in italics. On playing in the expansive Edward Jones Dome:"A…
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Posted inSustainability

Oregon needs a new Tom McCall. Lots of them.

Oregon is on the verge of losing its way. And that's being charitable. We may already have sunk into mediocrity among the 50 states, having lost our once well-deserved reputation for environmental trail-blazing. Yesterday I was bemoaning with some friends the sprouting of subdivisions in south Salem. That's just a taste of the California-izing that is to come if Measure 37 isn't fixed, pronto. You can kiss much of Oregon's charm and rural character goodbye if the asphalt and concrete-lovers are able to convince the legislature that the trashing of our land use laws should continue unabated. We reminisced about…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Michael Moore story backfires on Fox News

At the start you could almost see Martha MacCallum, the blondilicious Fox News anchor, licking her right-wing chops. Ooh, goody! An interview with the makers of "Manufacturing Dissent," an exposé of Michael Moore. It's going to be juicy! Well, it was. But not in the way MacCallum intended. I had a sense that film makers Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk weren't going to toe the Fox line when Melnyk began by referring to themselves as "good lefties from Canada." They set out to make a positive movie about Michael Moore, being admirers of both his work and politics. Eventually, though,…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Oregon groundwater threatened by Measure 37

This Oregonian used to take water for granted. That was when I lived within the city limits of Portland and Salem. I turned on the tap and water came out. Where it came from, who cares? Now my wife and I live in the country. Our water comes from a well. We've learned a lot about groundwater. We realize that wells can go dry when more water is taken out of an aquifer than is going in. That's why we're leading a fight to stop a Measure 37 subdivision near our home. Yesterday the Salem Statesman Journal ran a front-page…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Calling homosexuality “immoral” is truly immoral

Ignorant intolerance, what is your name? This week it's "Gen. Peter Pace," chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who believes that homosexuality is as immoral as adultery. It's also the Portland Oregonian columnist David Reinhard, who strongly supported Pace's religious bigotry in his "Tolerance or Approval?" piece a few days ago. Homophobes do their best to ignore science, just as global warming deniers and intelligent design advocates do. But the truth has a way of sliding through even the most closed-off minds. Consider the case of Rev. Rob Schenck, a prominent evangelical leader, who came to the conclusion that…
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Posted inHealth

Root canal is nothing to fear

I just had a root canal, my second. It was almost pain-free. In an hour I was out of the endodontist's chair, standing at the reception desk, where I experienced my only real discomfort of the morning. An $1,115 charge to my VISA card. Ouch! Dr. O'Neill and I talked some about root canals' undeserved bad reputation. "The Endodontist's Association has talked about a PR campaign to change public opinion," she said, "but it's hard to fight all those stand-up comics and their 'worse than a root canal' jokes." Well, I'm happy to contribute this blog post to the Association's…
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