Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Don’t trust City of Salem to manage downtown parking

Tomorrow the Salem City Council meeting includes a public hearing agenda item dealing with downtown parking policies: b)  Parking Management Vision and the Parking Task Force Recommendations – Ward 1 – Councilor Bennett - CANDO (UD) Watch out, Salem citizens! Beware! Blindly trust no city official! This is the same Mayor, City Manager, City Council, and City staff who have brought you a string of poorly thought-out and poorly-implemented decisions. Including, but not limited to... -- Cutting down five healthy beautiful trees in front of the downtown U.S. Bank building for no good reason.-- Giving the go-ahead for an unneeded, unwanted,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Elizabeth Warren makes great case for Glass-Steagall II on CNBC

I'd love to see a Hillary Clinton/Elizabeth Warren presidential ticket. Whoever the GOP chose as a vice-presidental candidate, Warren would demolish in debates. Have a look at how she makes CNBC anchors appear as economically amateurish as they are.   Warren is talking about the importance of restoring the firewall between savings and investment activities of banks through a bill being referred to as Glass-Steagall II. Makes a lot of sense. Why should banks be able to play risky investment games with money people have in FDIC-insured savings and checking accounts? That seems horribly wrong. If banks want to take…
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Posted inSalem

Seven impressions of 2013 Salem Art Fair

Today my wife and I headed to Bush Park for one of our favorite summer activities, the Salem Art Fair. Here's some impressions we had of this year's event. (1) Compared to the typical pre-$5 admission charge Friday crowd (we always go on that day of the Friday-Sunday fair) attendance seems lower. But we're fine with the fence, gates, and money takers. If someone isn't willing to pay five bucks to attend the fair, they don't understand the value of what the Salem Art Association is offering. Plus, children under 12 are free, and there is no charge to get…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

This is my favorite kind of blog comment…

Today I got a comment on one of my posts that started off with the best lead sentence ever:  This is the first intelligible writing I have found on the internet today. Dude, love you, man. Or woman. Whoever.  That is exactly what I think about my own writing whenever I publish a blog post. But sadly, I rarely have someone echo my own thoughts so precisely.  Here's the entire comment, which concerned my Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law applied to Trayvon Martin also post. This is the first intelligible writing I have found on the internet today. If we put race…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Florida’s “stand your ground” law applied to Trayvon Martin also

Driving around in my car today, listening to political talk on satellite radio, I kept hearing people say, "Trayvon Martin had a right to 'stand his ground' also." Makes a lot of sense. There Martin is, walking along, minding his own business, when a guy starts following him in an aggressive, intrusive manner. Eventually they get into some sort of altercation. At some point Martin realizes George Zimmerman has a gun.  Florida's Stand Your Ground law says you don't have to flee if you fear for your life, or if you are threatened with bodily harm. You can defend yourself…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Zimmerman jury instructions raise question of free will

I'm bothered by George Zimmerman's jury giving him a "not guilty" free pass after he killed Trayvon Martin. However, this morning I also was philosophically perplexed -- along with bothered -- after reading an AP story in our local newspaper about the jury instructions.  Despite a clamoring by some for a conviction against George Zimmerman, jurors acquitted the former neighborhood watch leader of all charges, leaving many to wonder how the justice system allowed him to walk away from the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. Part of the answer is found in the 27-page jury instructions on two matters: justifiable…
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Posted inEntertainment

Photos of wonderfully weird 2013 Oregon Country Fair

Friday Laurel and I made our annual pilgrimage south from staid sleepy Salem to the wonderfully bizarre, creative, and energetic Oregon Country Fair in Veneta-- one of the wonders of the world.  (Including extra-terrestrial worlds; can't believe there is anything like the Oregon Country Fair anywhere in the universe.) Here's some photographic glimpses of what we encountered.  Soon after entering the Fair, we came across these two girls performing a charming "butterfly dance" to a group's music. Video recording isn't allowed at the Oregon Country Fair. Wish it was. The girls were enchanting. These guys appeared to be shopping for…
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Posted inHome life

When the wife’s away… this old guy goes wild!

Oh, yeah. I may be almost Medicare-eligible, but when my wife goes away on a four-day family reunion trip, I still know how to let loose and get it on!  (That sounds like a '60's term, "get it on," the decade, not the age; can't be sure; at my age I'm forgetful about everything except how damn old I am.) And you know what? I don't even mind if my wife reads what I'm about to say. Hey, we've got that kind of marriage. She knows that as soon as she heads off to the airport, I'm going to... party!…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Sarah Slamen slams Texas legislators for trashing women’s health

Ah, I so love to see ignorant self-righteous Republican legislators get what they deserve from a woman who is mad as hell at her gender being treated like dirt, and she won't take it anymore. The You Tube video of Sarah Slamen's cut-short testimony before a committee of the Texas legislature poised to ramrod through a horrendous bill that will prevent many thousands of women from getting necessary health care resonated with my activist soul. The committee chair interrupted her testimony, apparently because the truths Slamen was speaking were too painful for those sensitive right-wing ears to hear. (Her Twitter…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

No Third Bridge finally gets some Statesman Journal attention

Finally. Better late than never. This was my "glass half full" attitude toward a front page story and lead editorial (regarding different subjects) in the Salem Statesman Journal today. The story, "Building Support to Stop Third Bridge," focused on the three leaders of No Third Bridge, a grass roots movement aimed at stopping city leaders from wasting $700 million of taxpayer money on another bridge across the Willamette River. This was the SJ online comment I left about the story: Good story. But there are more facts to tell about this unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid for looming $700 million waste…
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Posted inDogs Home life

Our dogs and their “mini-me” felt pet portraits (by Amelia Makes Art)

Today the Salem Statesman Journal's "Pet Click" feature ran an adorable photo of our dogs, Zu Zu and Serena.  Here is how they looked in the paper. And here is the SJ web site version. Laurel, my wife, posed them with their "mini-me's" -- felt art portraits/sculptures marvelousluy fashioned by Amelia, of Amelia Makes Art. Interestingly, Amelia does her animal art thing (also cats, pigs, horses, maybe others) close-by, in northwest Portland. We can highly recommend her to anyone who wants a unique "portrait" of a pet.  This was Laurel's birthday present. She instantly fell in love with Amelia's work…
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Posted inDogs Home life

If you set off loud fireworks, you’re terrifying dogs

Here's a simple fact, lovers of loud fireworks: your enjoyment is being bought at the price of animal pain. Many dogs are terrified of fireworks. So also, I'm sure, are wild animals -- deer, birds, raccoons, etc. On behalf of our dog, Zu Zu, I just want you to be aware of what you're doing when you set off loud fireworks. I can't inject a sense of compassion into your fireworks-loving brain, though I sure wish I could. I just want to speak for the stressed-out dogs who can't write a blog post. And even if Zu Zu could, (she's a…
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Posted inSalem

Oregonians are heat-weenies

OMG! Oh, the heat here in Western Oregon. Why, oh my my my, it got to 93 degrees here in Salem a few days ago. Well, maybe it was 95.  I can't remember exactly. This senior citizen has been too busy land paddling his longboard skateboard five miles around the up-and-down trails at Minto Brown Park in 90-degree weather. Takes me 40 to 45 minutes. Halfway through my workout I stop for a minute and take a few sips of water. Then I get back on my longboard. No problem.  I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Delay in Obamacare mandate for large businesses not a big deal

It's always entertaining to watch right-wingers try to make an OMG! mountain out of some routine Obama action (or inaction, such as his being proven to have nothing to do with Benghazi talking points or IRS review of tax-exemption applications). Now the outrage of the day is the Obama administration's decision to delay by one year implementation of the Affordable Care Act mandate that large employers provide health insurance. Wow. One whole year. And the decision only affects 1 to 1.5 million workers who are employed by a company with 50 or more workers that doesn't already provide health insurance.…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Tips: if Reeder isn’t working for you after July 1

I've been using Reeder on both my iPhone and MacBook Pro to peruse blog updates, along with Google Reader when I'm at my computer. After Google Reader died on July 1, I've had to turn completely to Reeder and The Old Reader, a web-based Google Reader look-alike. I like The Old Reader, but prior to July I found that Reeder updated feeds automatically more often than The Old Reader. So I'd decided to make Reeder my main replacement for Google Reader.  Only problem was, and it took me a few days to notice this, I wasn't getting any blog post/RSS updates.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Stu Rasmussen’s closet is a transgender thing of beauty

(Embedded video I had originally via USA Today was auto-play, irritatingly; I got so irritated by it playing I've linked to the Statesman Journal web page where the video can be watched.) Like I said in "Salem to Silverton: a trip from boring to charming," Silverton mayor Stu Rasmussen is one of the many attractions of Salem's pleasingly eccentric neighbor-city.  Rasmussen became the nation's first openly transgender mayor when he was elected in 2008. HIs popularity hasn't diminished; in 2012 he was elected to another term.  A video tour of Rasmussen's closet shows why Stu Rasmussen is such an appealing…
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Posted inHome life Humor

Even with my Ninja Fan, I don’t look much like a Geisha

As noted in a post about my visit to the 2013 World Beat Festival here in Salem, I bought an $8 Ninja Fan at a booth in the Asia Pacific area.  (this is the metal version of the plastic fan I got) For a long time I've wanted a fan. My Tai Chi instructor knows a fan form, which looks really cool when he does it. The fan snaps open and shut in harmony with his movements. After all, fans can be weapons. However, when I had a photo of me and my new fan taken by a Statesman Journal…
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Posted inEntertainment Salem

2013 World Beat Festival — great multi-cultural fun

Every year I look forward to Salem's World Beat Festival. I'm never disappointed. For the suggested $5 donation you really get your money's worth.  Today I was fortunate to arrive just in time to see a Japanese Martial Arts demonstration featuring students from Tokyo International University of America here in Salem. Highly enjoyable. Loved the drumming! Also loved the veggie Himalayan noodle plate from the Kathmandu Cafe -- my usual World Beat lunch. It's great to see lots of people out and about, enjoying themselves. Sadly, this is rarer than it should be in Salem. For a city of over…
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Posted inHome life Skateboarding

Strange creature roaming Minto Brown Park is… me!

My secret is out. Entirely willfully. Because I wrote the Salem Weekly Strange Up Salem column that begins with: Have you heard the rumor? Of a strange creature roaming the trails of Minto Brown Island Park. It’s like nothing seen before. Fortunately, it elicits smiles rather than screams. The rumor is true, because I am that creature. A senior citizen skateboarder. More than that: a longboard skateboarder who propels himself on flats and mild uphills by pushing with a stick, not his foot. I’ve gotten pretty damn good at this, a super-fun activity called land paddling. I mention my longboard…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem City Council votes for Third Bridge in absurdist drama

Since I like out-of-the-ordinary plays, under different circumstances I would have loved the Theatre of the Absurd that was on display last night in the Salem City Council meeting room. While on vacation in central Oregon, via CCTV I used my laptop to watch the Council approve the so-called Salem Alternative option for a $700 million third bridge across the Willamette River.  Wikipedia tells us something about absurdist dramatists: Their work expressed the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and…
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