Posted inHealth Home life

Regence BlueCross of Oregon: incompetent beyond belief

Yesterday my wife had another frustrating encounter with the Regence BlueCross of Oregon bureaucracy. (Previous ones have been blogged about here, here, here, here, here, and here.) This further convinced us that people who claim government-run health care would be more inefficient and mistake-prone than the current mostly private system never have had much to do with an insurance company. There is no way, absolutely no way, that any public organization could be more difficult, irritating, and time-consuming to deal with than Regence Blue Cross of Oregon is. And here's the scary thing: Regence likely is better than truly malevolent…
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Posted inHumor Salem

“#Salemia” sets off capital city Twitter frenzy

Wow, something exciting finally is happening in Salem! Twitter aficionados are tweeting about how un-exciting Oregon's capital is, using the "#Salemia" tag. I first caught sight of #Salemia on my Twitter feed without knowing what it meant. When I read the tweets, I wasn't sure whether they were for real, or a joke -- which, of course, speaks volumes about Salem's well deserved reputation for being a blandburger sandwiched between spicy Portland and Eugene. Later in the day I came across Salem blogger Emily Grosvenor's post, "The rise of the #Salemia meme." Thanks to her, I learned what this is…
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Posted inTai Chi

David Leung shows the subtle side of Tai Chi

Along with Eric and Connie, two Tai Chi classmates (we study with Warren Allen at Pacific Martial Arts here in Salem), I thoroughly enjoyed Master David Leung's workshop today at Cafe Noir -- which was sponsored by Oregon CHI. I'm a firm believer that chi/qi is stimulated productively, and easily if you have about $2, with a good cup of coffee. Cafe Noir didn't disappoint. Their locally roasted Tico's Coffee was terrific. But this wasn't the only way my mood was elevated during Leung's presentation. He was energetic, entertaining, and exuberant in a charming Chinese manner. Leung's English also is…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Oregon taxes are low compared to other states

Ah, vindication. Confirmation. An Oregonian story: "Oregon tax burden remains in bottom third of states, new report says." No matter how you slice or dice the numbers, Oregonians bear a smaller tax burden than people in most other states, according to a new state report. When all charges are considered, including federal taxes and fees, Oregon's share was $7,663 per person in 2008, the latest numbers available. That ranks 33 out of 50 states. ...Warner's staff has looked at the impact of the tax increases imposed by last year's measures 66 and 67. "It didn't change the relative rankings," Warner…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

DeFazio offers Tea Party’ish solution to health insurance mandate

Brilliant! Genius! Marvelous! Those were my thoughts as I read an editorial in today's Salem (Oregon) Statesman Journal, "DeFazio offers a common-sense solution" -- to the possibly unconstitutional mandate in the Affordable Care Act that everyone have health insurance. Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio has a sensible proposal to fix the most controversial part of the federal health reform, the requirement that everyone buy insurance. His idea: Make people put their money where there mouth is. People who object to the health-care insurance mandate could sign a waiver, guaranteeing that no one else would be stuck paying their medical bills. Not…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Federal judge shows why health insurance mandate has to stay

Conservatives are crowing over a federal judge's recent ruling that the requirement to purchase health insurance in the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) is unconstitutional. But Judge Roger Vinson's ruling actually showed that what Republicans have been claiming is false: it isn't possible to repeal the health insurance mandate and leave other more popular parts of the law intact. Vinson came to the legally questionable conclusion that the mandate is unconstitutional. He then went further, saying that the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down even though only this one part of it fails to pass constitutional muster. (In…
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Posted inSalem

Feds are looking into Salem’s Courthouse Square scandal

A front page headline in today's Salem Statesman Journal blared in big letters: Courthouse SquareMillion$ in Federal Money:Pay It Back? Appropriately, federal officials are wondering what happened to the $9.8 million in grants that Salem-Keizer Transit used to pay for its portion of the now completely unusable Courthouse Square project. The feds are asking the local transit district this question: What will become of federal investments in the Salem bus mall? The 10-year-old Courthouse Square bus mall and office building are so poorly designed that engineers say they're dangerous. And a sizable chunk of the $34 million used to build…
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Posted inEntertainment

Bellydance Superstars shimmy up Salem

Wow. Wow. Wow. That's my three word review of the Bellydance Superstars "Bombay Bellywood" show that my wife and I saw last night at Salem's historic and marvelously restored Elsinore Theatre (a beautiful place that matched the gorgeous'osity of the dancers). I love belly dancing. Whenever I can, I watch a live performance. These superstars lived up to their name for me. The two hour show was the most riveting display of belly dancing I've ever seen, or may ever see. Yes, I readily admit that my male eyes were nearly popping out of my head during some of the…
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Posted inSustainability

Boycott Cabela’s — a store that sponsors coyote cruelty

I've never been to a Cabela's store. Reportedly this is a great place to shop for outdoors gear. A Cabela's is opening about an hour south of us in Springfield, Oregon soon. My wife and I will be tempted to check it out, except... Predator Defense, an organization based in Eugene that we heartily support, is urging a boycott of Cabela's so long as the store sponsors cruel coyote-killing contests where these canines are shot just for fun. Coyotes are an important part of natural ecosystems. Usually there's no reason to kill them. Killing tends to increase their numbers, anyway,…
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Posted inSalem

Beautiful sight: “Trader Joe’s coming soon to Salem, Oregon”

It warms my Trader Joe's longing-for heart to see a building on south Commercial Street here in Salem being remodeled for a store opening this year. This visual evidence reassures me that last September wasn't a dream -- when a liquor license application on the old Albertson's door alerted Salemites that their healthy-shopping starved city (no Whole Foods either) was about to be fed with a Trader Joe's. But I wanted additional solid evidence. A beautiful sight of which I found on the TJ website under "see where TJ's is opening soon." Ah, almost as intoxicating as Two-Buck Chuck.
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Let’s let Texas opt out of Medicare

Last night I was inspired by President Obama's State of the Union speech. He seemed like the adult in the room, rising above childish political pettiness with his call for Americans to come together and work to improve our country's position in an increasingly competitive world economy. But it doesn't take a crystal ball for me to predict that almost all Republicans in Congress will ignore Obama's urging to put patriotism above politics, and idealism above ideology. So they'll keep on spouting platitudes about creeping socialism, reckless spending, liberty being threatened, blah, blah, blah. Which drives me nuts. As does…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Most Americans don’t want to repeal health care law

Republicans keep saying that the 2010 midterm election was a mandate from the American people to repeal the health care reform bill, a.k.a. "Obamacare." That's not true, like so much else that leaves the lips of Republican leaders these days. A  New York Times/CBS poll found that only 20% of people said they want to do away with the entire bill. And of those, it turns out that when asked about specific parts of the bill, very few wanted to repeal anything. The poll first asked people a straight-up question -- should we do away with the law completely, or…
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Posted inEntertainment Salem

“Portlandia” makes this Salemite envious

Last night my wife and I watched the first episode of IFC's Portlandia with more than a little city-envy. Portland is just way hipper, greener, progressive, and energetic than our sleepy Salem. I can't begin to imagine what a comparable Salemandia TV series would be like. All I know is that it'd be boring. Comparatively, I have to admit. Meaning, Salem has the geographical misfortune of being located between two of the most interesting cities in the United States, Portland and Eugene. So the yawn with which we Salemites describe our town is a relative evaluation, not absolute. Case in…
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Posted inFamily

2010 Hines Holiday Letter belatedly shared

It's so passe to send out a Christmas ("Holiday," for us non-Christians) letter in December. That's so conventional, so traditional, so commonplace. This is an age of individuality, quirkiness, personal expression. Also, in my case, procrastination and laziness. So for both culturally artistic and personally flawed reasons, I'm only now getting around to sharing our 2010 creation online. The theme is...shuuuush...secrets. Download 2010 Christmas Letter Those who want more Christmas in January can read my entire Holiday Letter oeuvre, 1995-2010, here.
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Posted inHome life

I’m closer to getting a Mini Cooper S (no thanks to God)

Though I'm not at all a religious sort of guy, back in 2003 I considered it a message from God when, right after reading an early review of the recently released Mini Cooper, I saw one of the rare (at that time) cars in downtown Salem. Anyway, until today I have seen only one Mini-Cooper on the streets of Salem, Then, waiting for a light to change at the corner of Court Street and Commercial this morning, walking to my martial arts class, I espy a yellow Mini-Cooper with a white top tooling down Commercial. I ogle it (though that…
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Posted inHome life

Our mailbox is politically correct now

Jeez. I didn't realize how long it would take me to get the front door of our mailbox properly non-sexist and non-authoritarian. Here's the final result: Yesterday I headed up our driveway with some stick-on letters in hand, prepared to handle a long-procrastinated chore on a pleasingly dry and sunny day. Last year we got a Fort Knox mailbox, which are made a few I-5 hours south of us in Grants Pass, Oregon. We chose the slam lock door option, because we get quite a few packages -- largely because of my Amazon addiction. The door is left ajar so…
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Posted inSustainability

My bumper says, “Friends don’t let friends deny global warming”

I've never been big on putting bumper stickers on my car. Obama didn't even rate one in 2008, though I made an exception for John Kitzhaber's gubernatorial campaign in 2010. Since he is now Oregon's governor, obviously the sticker made a difference. I'm hoping the same will be true of my new bumper sticker message: "Friends don't let friends deny Global Warming." I bought two of architect David Stockbridge Smith's creations after learning about them via a Climate Progress post. It's more than a little strange that this bumper sticker is necessary. After all, there's no need for "Friends don't…
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Posted inMiscellany

Never forget the big BCS question: was Dyer actually down?

Remember the Maine. Pearl Harbor. The first moon landing. Last -- and most certainly least, though still worthy of remembrance -- the controversial key play in the 2010 BCS national championship game between should-have-won Oregon and Auburn. Tomorrow is the one week anniversary of Auburn running back Michael Dyer's miraculous 37 yard jaunt down the field in the closing minutes of the game. "Miraculous," because it sure looked like he was down after being tackled, yet upon urging from the Auburn sideline he came back to life and kept on running for an annoyingly long time. So let us Duck…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Great commentary on Tucson shootings and violent rhetoric

Oregon has some terrific writers and thinkers. John Daniel is one I hadn't known about until I read an essay of his in today's Portland Oregonian. "When blood is not a metaphor" is a terrific commentary about the shooting a week ago of Congresswoman Giffords and the murder of six others by crazed gunman Jared Loughner. Regarding Sarah Palin's crosshairs metaphor, Daniel says: Neither Palin nor anyone on her political action committee intended that a warped 22-year-old or anyone else should use a firearm to shoot Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. But language set loose in public is instantly nationalized and…
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Posted inSalem

Pineapple Express brings Hawaii to Oregon, sort of

My wife and I enjoy our Hawaii vacations. But they're kind of expensive. So it's nice when Hawaii makes an effort to come to us. Some of its weather, at least. This is today's satellite image from a free Mac app, Swackett, that I installed when Apple unveiled the new App Store feature. It shows the Northwest being hit by a stream of warm watery weather that is bubbling out of the vicinity of the Hawaiian islands. That explains why the temperature is a relatively balmy 55 degrees at this afternoon moment. I can almost pretend I'm in Hawaii. On…
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