Measures 66 and 67: Family farms aren't in the crosshairs
By Guest Columnist Jim Just, local farmer Lebanon, Oregon
From the Oregonian
Like most Oregon farmers, I don't make anywhere near $250,000 a year, so Measure 66 wouldn't affect my family. And like most farmers, I'm not a corporation, so I wouldn't pay corporate taxes under Measure 67. But like most Oregonians, I care about public schools, health care for the vulnerable and public safety. And like other farmers, I recognize the value of state-funded agricultural programs like the extension services, the Agricultural Experiment Station, and marketing and pest control programs. These services help Oregon farms be more efficient and successful. That's why I support Measures 66 and 67.
And that's also why I was appalled by Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue's commentary in The Oregonian ("Don't add to the risk Oregon farmers face," Dec. 11), in which he made the astonishing claim that Measures 66 and 67 are a danger to family farms. The corporate-funded lobbyists running the opposition to these measures are using the image of family farms to make wildly false claims, and it's frankly despicable.
The fact is that 85 percent of Oregon farms are sole proprietorships, which means they pay nothing under the corporate tax measure, Measure 67. At least another 10 percent are organized as either S-corporations or partnerships or C-corporations with revenues of less than $500,000, which means they would pay only $150. Only three-tenths of 1 percent of farms -- a grand total of 110 out of the roughly 38,000 farms statewide -- have more than $5 million in revenues. Only those 110 large operations could possibly pay more than $2,000 under the revised corporate minimum tax.
As to Measure 66, which raises taxes on households making more than $250,000, a true farm family could be affected only if it made more than $250,000 in farm profits. Since more than 95 percent of farms have less than $500,000 in total revenues, and there aren't many farms making a 50 percent profit, the number of real farmers affected by Measure 66 is vanishingly small.
There are some rich people who make their money in other ways but have "hobby farms." But on average, the "farm income" those people report is negative. In other words, these are rich people who have a hobby farm that operates at a loss, and they claim that loss so they can get a tax deduction.
As a farmer, I find it distressing that the corporate lobbyists opposing Measures 66 and 67 are using family farms as pawns. Farmers and other rural families have every reason to be on the "Yes" side of these ballot measures. Rural Oregon has its share of people who will benefit if Measures 66 and 67 pass, and will suffer if they fail.
In Linn County, where I live, we have 21,325 children in public schools, 14,744 people on the Oregon Health Plan, 1,084 seniors and people with disabilities on long-term care, and at least 8,277 unemployed people who will get a tax break under Measure 66. But we don't have our share of rich people. Only 428 Linn County tax filers -- less than 1 percent of the total -- are rich enough to be affected by Measure 66.
I wish the Oregon Farm Bureau were paying attention to those facts, instead of swallowing the swill offered them by corporate lobbyists.
Jim Just operates a farm near Lebanon.
Daniel M. McGrath, Ph.D.
Professor and Staff Chair
Linn County OSU Extension
PO Box 765 (mailing)
104 Fourth St. SW Room 102 (street)
Albany, OR 97321-0261
daniel.mcgrath@oregonstate.edu
Mobile (503) 931-8307
Office (541) 967-3871
Fax (541) 967-9169
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Editorial: Bouquets of roses (Dec. 24)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!
Editor's note: Because Christmas falls on Friday this year, and we traditionally assembled a traditional and special editorial page for that day, we're running the Roses and Raspberries column today. But in appreciation of the season, we're holding off on the raspberries.
• • •
• ROSES to help when you need it. This time, it was help from the Oregon State Police troopers assigned to the Oregon State University campus. No call is routine for them.
So when a 64-year-old woman who was serving as an usher at the First Church of Christ, Science, reported that her purse went missing the Sunday morning of Dec. 6, the troopers went to the church at 310 N.W. 16th St. to check it out. Within half an hour, they'd searched for and found the woman's driver's license and debit and credit cards. Roses to them for doing even the small things well.
We're sorry the woman was the victim of a theft, but the biggest hassle is worrying about ID theft. Let's hope the cash-seeking thief gets some help in the new year.
• • •
• ROSES to a delightful sight, well suited to the season: A handmade 1910 dollhouse, the pride and joy of Jill Jackson for decades, is back on display in the window of Janis Larson's store, Furniture Restoration Center of Oregon, at 1321 Main St. in Philomath.
We featured the house in an article last Christmas. It's a work of art. Jackson was a youngster when she borrowed $600 to buy the house back in the early 1970s. She's never regretted it.
A Chicago craftsman used walnut and brass nails to make the dollhouse for his daughter. It is a one-foot-to-one-inch scale model of their real house. It has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, bathroom, a back porch off the kitchen and front porch off the living room. It weighs 100 pounds, empty.
Its walnut doors work, each with a brass doorknob. Lace curtains hang in the windows, and the house number - 710 - is visible on the copper placard above the mailbox on the front porch. It's worth a look.
• • •
• ROSES to one tough hitchhiking fluff-o. We're talking here about a 12-week-old kitten who crawled up into a wheel well of an SUV in Olympia, Wash., and rode all the way to Oregon in freezing weather.
Marc Lichty said he left Olympia, Wash. on Dec. 9 after working a full day. He stopped at a rest area on his way home to Tualatin and thought he heard a kitten but couldn't find one. At home - 120 miles later - he again heard the faint mewling.
He grabbed a flashlight and found the kitten tucked up underneath the spare tire spot of his SUV.
Lichty's daughter, Jenna, helped to coax the kitten out with salmon. (No fool, this cat). Lichty told the Associated Press that he couldn't image making that trip at 70 miles an hour in what was then subfreezing temperatures.
The Lichtys have adopted the kitten. They deserve ROSES and catnip.
• • •
• ROSES to winter. The Winter Solstice arrived Monday, which was the longest night of the year. From now on, here comes the sun.
It was this time of darkness that prompted the ancients to include a celebration of the day the light began to return a little each day.
But already, we can see early signs of spring to sustain us: a few hardy violets poke their tiny purple faces through the soggy lawn. A few lambs already trot after their moms in the fields.
We're for sure not done with the ice and cold. (We haven't yet seen any snow like the kind that closed PDX last year), but it's nice to see that winter's arrival in the mid-valley also coincides with signs of its inevitable departure.
• • •
• ROSES to how the depths of our winter are comparatively shallow, if you take advantage of all of the spring-like events. We speak of the Corvallis Winter Indoor Market, which starts Saturday, Jan. 16 - just a little more than three weeks from now.
If you've never been to this market at the Benton County Fairgrounds, you're missing a local re-enactment of the scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy steps out of her sepia-toned world and into the Technicolor realm of the Munchkins.
The gray wooden buildings at the fairgrounds play host to a space overflowing with color, scents and flavors.
From winter vegetables and apple cider to an explosion of forced bulb flowers such as tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, it's a preview of coming attractions that are weeks away on the idle winter landscape.
This year, the market will continue through March, meaning it will finish with the arrival of spring.
Editor's note: Because Christmas falls on Friday this year, and we traditionally assembled a traditional and special editorial page for that day, we're running the Roses and Raspberries column today. But in appreciation of the season, we're holding off on the raspberries.
• • •
• ROSES to help when you need it. This time, it was help from the Oregon State Police troopers assigned to the Oregon State University campus. No call is routine for them.
So when a 64-year-old woman who was serving as an usher at the First Church of Christ, Science, reported that her purse went missing the Sunday morning of Dec. 6, the troopers went to the church at 310 N.W. 16th St. to check it out. Within half an hour, they'd searched for and found the woman's driver's license and debit and credit cards. Roses to them for doing even the small things well.
We're sorry the woman was the victim of a theft, but the biggest hassle is worrying about ID theft. Let's hope the cash-seeking thief gets some help in the new year.
• • •
• ROSES to a delightful sight, well suited to the season: A handmade 1910 dollhouse, the pride and joy of Jill Jackson for decades, is back on display in the window of Janis Larson's store, Furniture Restoration Center of Oregon, at 1321 Main St. in Philomath.
We featured the house in an article last Christmas. It's a work of art. Jackson was a youngster when she borrowed $600 to buy the house back in the early 1970s. She's never regretted it.
A Chicago craftsman used walnut and brass nails to make the dollhouse for his daughter. It is a one-foot-to-one-inch scale model of their real house. It has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, bathroom, a back porch off the kitchen and front porch off the living room. It weighs 100 pounds, empty.
Its walnut doors work, each with a brass doorknob. Lace curtains hang in the windows, and the house number - 710 - is visible on the copper placard above the mailbox on the front porch. It's worth a look.
• • •
• ROSES to one tough hitchhiking fluff-o. We're talking here about a 12-week-old kitten who crawled up into a wheel well of an SUV in Olympia, Wash., and rode all the way to Oregon in freezing weather.
Marc Lichty said he left Olympia, Wash. on Dec. 9 after working a full day. He stopped at a rest area on his way home to Tualatin and thought he heard a kitten but couldn't find one. At home - 120 miles later - he again heard the faint mewling.
He grabbed a flashlight and found the kitten tucked up underneath the spare tire spot of his SUV.
Lichty's daughter, Jenna, helped to coax the kitten out with salmon. (No fool, this cat). Lichty told the Associated Press that he couldn't image making that trip at 70 miles an hour in what was then subfreezing temperatures.
The Lichtys have adopted the kitten. They deserve ROSES and catnip.
• • •
• ROSES to winter. The Winter Solstice arrived Monday, which was the longest night of the year. From now on, here comes the sun.
It was this time of darkness that prompted the ancients to include a celebration of the day the light began to return a little each day.
But already, we can see early signs of spring to sustain us: a few hardy violets poke their tiny purple faces through the soggy lawn. A few lambs already trot after their moms in the fields.
We're for sure not done with the ice and cold. (We haven't yet seen any snow like the kind that closed PDX last year), but it's nice to see that winter's arrival in the mid-valley also coincides with signs of its inevitable departure.
• • •
• ROSES to how the depths of our winter are comparatively shallow, if you take advantage of all of the spring-like events. We speak of the Corvallis Winter Indoor Market, which starts Saturday, Jan. 16 - just a little more than three weeks from now.
If you've never been to this market at the Benton County Fairgrounds, you're missing a local re-enactment of the scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy steps out of her sepia-toned world and into the Technicolor realm of the Munchkins.
The gray wooden buildings at the fairgrounds play host to a space overflowing with color, scents and flavors.
From winter vegetables and apple cider to an explosion of forced bulb flowers such as tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, it's a preview of coming attractions that are weeks away on the idle winter landscape.
This year, the market will continue through March, meaning it will finish with the arrival of spring.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Letter: Article about Muslim holy day hardly tipped balance
I thank the Gazette-Times for the wonderful article describing the Eid al Adha, a Muslim holiday. It was with dismay and some amusement that I read Bobbie Younger's letter (Dec. 7, "Other religions should get as much ink as Islam did") lamenting the coverage and asking for equal coverage for Jewish and Christian Holidays.
In the 16-plus years I have been living in Corvallis, the Muslim holy days have been mentioned via national press releases only, with a few notable exceptions, including: a food day article profiling the foods of Ramadan several years ago; the tragic death of the leader of the mosque last year and the aforementioned article.
Corvallis houses one of approximately six mosques and the only Muslim cemetery in all of Oregon.
So, yes, it is important to those of us who have friends and family in the Muslim community in Corvallis to let the community know that we live, attend school, work, volunteer, celebrate holidays and are active members of this community.
Yes, we would like to share the details of the faith to further understanding and to educate the community in order to (hopefully) build bridges that have been so badly burned by a loud minority.
I, for one, look forward to the December holiday season and enjoy reading about the people and companies who are giving to the community; the holiday recipes, the decorating ideas and the different ways the various faiths and cultures celebrate. I hope Ms. Younger wouldn't deny Muslims the same opportunity.
Kristin Rifai, Corvallis
In the 16-plus years I have been living in Corvallis, the Muslim holy days have been mentioned via national press releases only, with a few notable exceptions, including: a food day article profiling the foods of Ramadan several years ago; the tragic death of the leader of the mosque last year and the aforementioned article.
Corvallis houses one of approximately six mosques and the only Muslim cemetery in all of Oregon.
So, yes, it is important to those of us who have friends and family in the Muslim community in Corvallis to let the community know that we live, attend school, work, volunteer, celebrate holidays and are active members of this community.
Yes, we would like to share the details of the faith to further understanding and to educate the community in order to (hopefully) build bridges that have been so badly burned by a loud minority.
I, for one, look forward to the December holiday season and enjoy reading about the people and companies who are giving to the community; the holiday recipes, the decorating ideas and the different ways the various faiths and cultures celebrate. I hope Ms. Younger wouldn't deny Muslims the same opportunity.
Kristin Rifai, Corvallis
Monday, December 14, 2009
Stephen King and the Army
Sunday, December 13, 2009
AP
BANGOR, Maine — "Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays.
King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas. The soldiers left Maine last week for training at Camp Atterbury. They are scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in January.
Julie Eugley, one of King's personal assistants, told the Bangor Daily News that the Kings were approached about giving $13,000.
But Stephen King thought the number 13 was a bit unlucky, so the couple pitched in $12,999 instead. Eugley chipped in $1 to make for an even $13,000."
Finally, Hollywierd is stepping up to bring home the troops... Well, bus home some of the troops after training, but before they deploy. I do find it odd that a uber rich fella like King only put up $12,999. If 13 is an unlucky number why not put up $15,000? Hell why stop there? He's rich; why not $15,000,000.00? Those 150 "troops" were most likely stupid kids that were coerced into signing up because they just couldn't read anyway. I mean, well, lets let Stevie's quote speak for itself:
"I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got, the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's, it's not as bright. So, that's my little commercial for that."
Well said Stephen, well said... Thank God I learned to read! Sky's the limit!
All kidding aside this is a nice gesture around Christmas. Bravo Stephen!
AP
BANGOR, Maine — "Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays.
King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas. The soldiers left Maine last week for training at Camp Atterbury. They are scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in January.
Julie Eugley, one of King's personal assistants, told the Bangor Daily News that the Kings were approached about giving $13,000.
But Stephen King thought the number 13 was a bit unlucky, so the couple pitched in $12,999 instead. Eugley chipped in $1 to make for an even $13,000."
Finally, Hollywierd is stepping up to bring home the troops... Well, bus home some of the troops after training, but before they deploy. I do find it odd that a uber rich fella like King only put up $12,999. If 13 is an unlucky number why not put up $15,000? Hell why stop there? He's rich; why not $15,000,000.00? Those 150 "troops" were most likely stupid kids that were coerced into signing up because they just couldn't read anyway. I mean, well, lets let Stevie's quote speak for itself:
"I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got, the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's, it's not as bright. So, that's my little commercial for that."
Well said Stephen, well said... Thank God I learned to read! Sky's the limit!
All kidding aside this is a nice gesture around Christmas. Bravo Stephen!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Obama Spokesman: 'Silly' Not to Allow Vet to Fly Flag (fixed by Tom...I think)
Vet not allowed to fly flag
For some reason the system will not let me paste a URL, or the text of the article.
For some reason the system will not let me paste a URL, or the text of the article.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Letter: Symbols and pot: Are we free?
Two items from Sunday, Nov. 29:
Kevin Taylor’s careful parsing of the American past would be fine were there not an organized and highly partisan “crusade” to “brand” America as Christian. We can recognize that America has become a much more pluralistic and diverse culture without insulting the dominantly WASP Founders and early Americans.
We insult them when we forget that they rejected putting the religious brand on this nation and explicitly founded a secular civil state. There is no American Christian Church composed of the not so different forms of British American Christianity and their European cousins. When the Culture War crusaders cease and desist, a cross in a public place can once again be a reminder of history rather than a symbol of religious/cultural warfare.
Second: George Will is technically correct in his concern over “the hypocrisy of medical pot.” But he misses the mockery of the law in the War on Pot.
Medical marijuana is a token bow to rationality and humanity against the theme of “the law’s an ass.” It is the illegality of pot that mocks any integrity or nobility in the Law. It is safer than beer and good medicine for people with pain. We should be able to grow our own.
Land of the free?
Don Caughey
Corvallis
Kevin Taylor’s careful parsing of the American past would be fine were there not an organized and highly partisan “crusade” to “brand” America as Christian. We can recognize that America has become a much more pluralistic and diverse culture without insulting the dominantly WASP Founders and early Americans.
We insult them when we forget that they rejected putting the religious brand on this nation and explicitly founded a secular civil state. There is no American Christian Church composed of the not so different forms of British American Christianity and their European cousins. When the Culture War crusaders cease and desist, a cross in a public place can once again be a reminder of history rather than a symbol of religious/cultural warfare.
Second: George Will is technically correct in his concern over “the hypocrisy of medical pot.” But he misses the mockery of the law in the War on Pot.
Medical marijuana is a token bow to rationality and humanity against the theme of “the law’s an ass.” It is the illegality of pot that mocks any integrity or nobility in the Law. It is safer than beer and good medicine for people with pain. We should be able to grow our own.
Land of the free?
Don Caughey
Corvallis
Letter: Biggest problem: Unequal wealth
We are hearing some pretty lame arguments supporting the initiative to repeal the tax increase on the rich and large corporations. Tax them and they will go somewhere else we are told. Ever wonder who is paying for those ads? Of course the opposite argument is to not tax them at all and let them freeload on working people. This is what Reagan did, and look at the economic mess that has caused!
The major problem with our economy is an inequitable distribution of wealth. For example, a few years back Bill Gates was more than twice as rich as the next richest person on Earth. His wealth was equal to that of forty percent of the U.S. population. Now suppose that we took away half of Gates’ wealth and gave it to the poorest forty percent. Gates would still have been the wealthiest person on the planet, but four tenths of our population would have half again as much to spend. If you are a business owner think what that would mean to you. Forty percent of your customers would have half again as much to spend in your store.
When was the last time Bill Gates bought anything from you?
To be successful a business must have customers. To be a customer people need money. Over the last 30 years we have seen an increasing part of the nation’s wealth being hoarded by a small number of greedy “have mores.” The direct result is fewer customers for the nation’s businesses.
This is the real reason for our faltering economy. The only way to take the nation back to the prosperity we had before Reaganomics is to put the burden of taxation back on those who benefit the most and reduce the tax burden on your customers.
Phillip Hays
Corvallis
The major problem with our economy is an inequitable distribution of wealth. For example, a few years back Bill Gates was more than twice as rich as the next richest person on Earth. His wealth was equal to that of forty percent of the U.S. population. Now suppose that we took away half of Gates’ wealth and gave it to the poorest forty percent. Gates would still have been the wealthiest person on the planet, but four tenths of our population would have half again as much to spend. If you are a business owner think what that would mean to you. Forty percent of your customers would have half again as much to spend in your store.
When was the last time Bill Gates bought anything from you?
To be successful a business must have customers. To be a customer people need money. Over the last 30 years we have seen an increasing part of the nation’s wealth being hoarded by a small number of greedy “have mores.” The direct result is fewer customers for the nation’s businesses.
This is the real reason for our faltering economy. The only way to take the nation back to the prosperity we had before Reaganomics is to put the burden of taxation back on those who benefit the most and reduce the tax burden on your customers.
Phillip Hays
Corvallis
A dubious and costly record
Another White House Summit planned to help American’s get jobs, supposedly. Let’s look at the past summits by the BHO Administration.
• There was the Stimulus Summit, which was intended to save Americans from losing their jobs, keep job loss under 8 percent and create 3 million new jobs. It cost America $768 billion, plus $1.4 trillion to the deficit. The outcome: 10.2 percent unemployment, more than 3 million jobs lost and big lies about new jobs created in congressional districts that never existed. In addition, 83 percent of the money went to Democratic Districts.
• Now the Health Care Summit was planned to save millions of Americans money on their health insurance premiums, insure the uninsured and provide better quality of care. So far, the Democratic Congress with the administration plans to cut more than $490 billion from Medicare repayments and tax Americans who have so-called Cadillac plans, ration Americans’ health care, even private plans. Many experts say it will cost taxpayers $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Above all, the taxation begins next year, if passed, but no goodies until 2013.
• The Global Warming Summit, but now called Climate Change. A proposed treaty, if signed and passed by the U.S.Senate will cost Americans more than $145 trillion in wealth redistribution. Yet, all the data those soothsayers presented is now being disproved. Evidence has emerged showing many scientists falsified their data so their preconceived beliefs showed a relationship with their computer models. Yet, scientists that wanted an open debate were targeted; some fired. Sounds like Climategate to me.
Wayne A. Pruitt
Lebanon
• There was the Stimulus Summit, which was intended to save Americans from losing their jobs, keep job loss under 8 percent and create 3 million new jobs. It cost America $768 billion, plus $1.4 trillion to the deficit. The outcome: 10.2 percent unemployment, more than 3 million jobs lost and big lies about new jobs created in congressional districts that never existed. In addition, 83 percent of the money went to Democratic Districts.
• Now the Health Care Summit was planned to save millions of Americans money on their health insurance premiums, insure the uninsured and provide better quality of care. So far, the Democratic Congress with the administration plans to cut more than $490 billion from Medicare repayments and tax Americans who have so-called Cadillac plans, ration Americans’ health care, even private plans. Many experts say it will cost taxpayers $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Above all, the taxation begins next year, if passed, but no goodies until 2013.
• The Global Warming Summit, but now called Climate Change. A proposed treaty, if signed and passed by the U.S.Senate will cost Americans more than $145 trillion in wealth redistribution. Yet, all the data those soothsayers presented is now being disproved. Evidence has emerged showing many scientists falsified their data so their preconceived beliefs showed a relationship with their computer models. Yet, scientists that wanted an open debate were targeted; some fired. Sounds like Climategate to me.
Wayne A. Pruitt
Lebanon
Friday, December 4, 2009
Roses and Raspberries (Dec. 4)
We hereby deliver:
• ROSES to - who else? - The Oregon State University Beavers football team, coach Mike Riley and the entire population of Beaver Nation. Those of us who remember the dark days of the 1983 "Toilet Bowl" Civil War encounter were especially ebullient ever since we realized that this year's Civil War encounter would be the most dramatic since the series began in 1894.
The Beavers played a beautiful game, and although the score was 37-33 at the end in favor of the Ducks, we are proud of our team.
• • •
• ROSES to the lowest fatality total for the 102-hour Thanksgiving travel period in 31 years. That tied the lowest fatality report for the Thanksgiving weekend that begins the Wednesday before and concludes Sunday just before midnight.
The Oregon State Police compiled the statewide report, and said the lone fatality occurred when a 60-year-old Milwaukie woman was struck by a car near Gladstone while trying to cross Highway 99E on foot.
We credit good fortune, considering that most people -86 percent - who traveled elsewhere for the holiday chose to drive. We hope that this trend continues through the end of the holiday season.
• • •
• RASPBERRIES to the near-pathological drive for celebrity - any kind of celebrity - that prompted two people to crash a state dinner that President Obama was hosting for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. We aren't going to repeat their names; that would be giving them what they most want.
However, the second part of this raspberry is to the Secret Service, which contended that the fact that two posers got in to see President Obama did not mean that he was in any danger. Oh, really? A photo of Obama shaking hands with the crashers kind of disproved that statement.
Our confidence in his safety been shaken. We don't even want to think about who might feel emboldened by this incident.
• • •
• ROSES to all of the good that is a by-product of the rivalry between OSU and the UO.
OSU won the annual blood drive, but the real winners were the many patients who will need blood between now and the end of the year, when blood donations are historically low.
The energy drive - which had Ducks and Beavers sweating it out over elliptical machines to produce energy - also was a valuable way to focus attention on the need for alternative energy.
We know that each year, we ding football fans for the many examples of rude behaviors (usually fueled by alcohol). But all in all, regardless of what ends up on the scoreboard, that rivalry produces a lot of good things.
• • •
• ROSE-BERRIES to fighting long odds. The roses go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and to two sea turtles it is trying to rehabilitate. The Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is one of the smallest species of sea turtle. It is named for the olive-green color of its heart-shaped shell. The Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a large sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae.
Both of the endangered turtles swam through warmer-than-normal ocean currents into the cold waters off the Pacific Coast instead of their more tropical homelands. The Olive Ridley was found on Agate Beach in Newport; the Green sea turtle on the southern Washington Coast. The two are females.
The Olive Ridley is in relatively good shape, but the Green turtle is still cold and has a front flipper injury. Once they improve, they will be transferred to a larger sea turtle rehabilitation facility possibly at SeaWorld in San Diego. From there, the goal is to release them back into their natural habitat.
Because of the tricky ocean conditions, more sea turtles could be stranded. Anyone who finds one should call the Oregon State Police Wildlife Hotline at 1-800-452-7888 to ensure the turtle gets the proper help.
• • •
• ROSES to Winter's Eve Corvallis. Join us tonight from 5 to 10 p.m. at the annual event that lights up the night with fun for a good cause. Sponsored by the Assistance League of Corvallis and the downtown Corvallis merchants, it's set up in lighted tents on Madison Avenue between Second and Third streets. All proceeds help children and families in Benton County. (Information: www.al corvallis.org.)
This year marks the third annual Corvallis Wassail Bowl Caroling Contest from 6 to 7 p.m. at various downtown locations. The group among the participants that raises the most money by the end of the evening takes home the People's Choice Award. Sponsored by St. Mary's Assembly of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, the donations benefit the Jackson Street Youth Shelter.
Don't miss it!
• ROSES to - who else? - The Oregon State University Beavers football team, coach Mike Riley and the entire population of Beaver Nation. Those of us who remember the dark days of the 1983 "Toilet Bowl" Civil War encounter were especially ebullient ever since we realized that this year's Civil War encounter would be the most dramatic since the series began in 1894.
The Beavers played a beautiful game, and although the score was 37-33 at the end in favor of the Ducks, we are proud of our team.
• • •
• ROSES to the lowest fatality total for the 102-hour Thanksgiving travel period in 31 years. That tied the lowest fatality report for the Thanksgiving weekend that begins the Wednesday before and concludes Sunday just before midnight.
The Oregon State Police compiled the statewide report, and said the lone fatality occurred when a 60-year-old Milwaukie woman was struck by a car near Gladstone while trying to cross Highway 99E on foot.
We credit good fortune, considering that most people -86 percent - who traveled elsewhere for the holiday chose to drive. We hope that this trend continues through the end of the holiday season.
• • •
• RASPBERRIES to the near-pathological drive for celebrity - any kind of celebrity - that prompted two people to crash a state dinner that President Obama was hosting for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. We aren't going to repeat their names; that would be giving them what they most want.
However, the second part of this raspberry is to the Secret Service, which contended that the fact that two posers got in to see President Obama did not mean that he was in any danger. Oh, really? A photo of Obama shaking hands with the crashers kind of disproved that statement.
Our confidence in his safety been shaken. We don't even want to think about who might feel emboldened by this incident.
• • •
• ROSES to all of the good that is a by-product of the rivalry between OSU and the UO.
OSU won the annual blood drive, but the real winners were the many patients who will need blood between now and the end of the year, when blood donations are historically low.
The energy drive - which had Ducks and Beavers sweating it out over elliptical machines to produce energy - also was a valuable way to focus attention on the need for alternative energy.
We know that each year, we ding football fans for the many examples of rude behaviors (usually fueled by alcohol). But all in all, regardless of what ends up on the scoreboard, that rivalry produces a lot of good things.
• • •
• ROSE-BERRIES to fighting long odds. The roses go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and to two sea turtles it is trying to rehabilitate. The Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is one of the smallest species of sea turtle. It is named for the olive-green color of its heart-shaped shell. The Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a large sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae.
Both of the endangered turtles swam through warmer-than-normal ocean currents into the cold waters off the Pacific Coast instead of their more tropical homelands. The Olive Ridley was found on Agate Beach in Newport; the Green sea turtle on the southern Washington Coast. The two are females.
The Olive Ridley is in relatively good shape, but the Green turtle is still cold and has a front flipper injury. Once they improve, they will be transferred to a larger sea turtle rehabilitation facility possibly at SeaWorld in San Diego. From there, the goal is to release them back into their natural habitat.
Because of the tricky ocean conditions, more sea turtles could be stranded. Anyone who finds one should call the Oregon State Police Wildlife Hotline at 1-800-452-7888 to ensure the turtle gets the proper help.
• • •
• ROSES to Winter's Eve Corvallis. Join us tonight from 5 to 10 p.m. at the annual event that lights up the night with fun for a good cause. Sponsored by the Assistance League of Corvallis and the downtown Corvallis merchants, it's set up in lighted tents on Madison Avenue between Second and Third streets. All proceeds help children and families in Benton County. (Information: www.al corvallis.org.)
This year marks the third annual Corvallis Wassail Bowl Caroling Contest from 6 to 7 p.m. at various downtown locations. The group among the participants that raises the most money by the end of the evening takes home the People's Choice Award. Sponsored by St. Mary's Assembly of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, the donations benefit the Jackson Street Youth Shelter.
Don't miss it!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Letter: Sign the Christian manifesto called Manhattan Declaration
A manifesto called "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience" was recently published by a diverse collection of religious leaders. This seven-page document focuses on three aspects of America's descent into God-less immorality: the sanctity of life, the definition and meaning of marriage and religious freedom.
After reading the declaration, I was struck by its humility, civility and compassion. The signatories are self-admitted imperfect humans whose lives have fallen short of divine intentions. The writers obviously drafted the document within a framework of love (not hate, as a few cynics will claim) and a genuine concern for the common good (not prejudice, as a few cynics will claim).
At the same time, the positions contained in the declaration are unequivocal, including a call to civil disobedience when certain laws force us into doing things that violate our conscience.
All people of goodwill (believers and non-believers) should seriously consider supporting this declaration. If you care about the disintegration of our society and the tyranny we are slouching toward, give serious thought to adding your signature at manhattandeclaration.org.
Gordon L. Shadle
Albany
After reading the declaration, I was struck by its humility, civility and compassion. The signatories are self-admitted imperfect humans whose lives have fallen short of divine intentions. The writers obviously drafted the document within a framework of love (not hate, as a few cynics will claim) and a genuine concern for the common good (not prejudice, as a few cynics will claim).
At the same time, the positions contained in the declaration are unequivocal, including a call to civil disobedience when certain laws force us into doing things that violate our conscience.
All people of goodwill (believers and non-believers) should seriously consider supporting this declaration. If you care about the disintegration of our society and the tyranny we are slouching toward, give serious thought to adding your signature at manhattandeclaration.org.
Gordon L. Shadle
Albany
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Mailbag: Our war on pot smokers
Regarding your Nov. 24 editorial:
The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession.
At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.
The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va.
The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession.
At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.
The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Women face tough choices without bill making it worse
The Nov. 12 article, “Women face tough choices on abortion coverage” discusses some of the implications and uncertainties surrounding the Stupak amendment to the House version of the health care reform bill.
This amendment prohibits millions of women from buying (with their own money) private health insurance which provides full reproductive health care benefits.
It is not an extension of the current law, which forbids the use of federal funds to pay for abortions. It in fact restricts private insurance companies participating in the insurance exchange from offering abortion coverage if even one of their policy holders receives a federal subsidy.
The suggestion that women can buy a separate rider is a red herring. Such policies do not exist at present; furthermore, no one expects an unplanned pregnancy or one with severe medical complications.
The Senate is considering their version of the health care bill now. We must let our senators know that the Stupack amendment is not acceptable to the majority of the American people.
Priscilla Newberger
Corvallis
This amendment prohibits millions of women from buying (with their own money) private health insurance which provides full reproductive health care benefits.
It is not an extension of the current law, which forbids the use of federal funds to pay for abortions. It in fact restricts private insurance companies participating in the insurance exchange from offering abortion coverage if even one of their policy holders receives a federal subsidy.
The suggestion that women can buy a separate rider is a red herring. Such policies do not exist at present; furthermore, no one expects an unplanned pregnancy or one with severe medical complications.
The Senate is considering their version of the health care bill now. We must let our senators know that the Stupack amendment is not acceptable to the majority of the American people.
Priscilla Newberger
Corvallis
Telegraph UK Sunday, Nov, 29th 2009
"A British university has placed an advertisement looking for a lap-dance researcher with experience studying the erotic dance industry, The Telegraph reported.
The University of Leeds advertised the position for its school of sociology and social policy, according to the paper.
The advertisement reads: "Research Officer -- The rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labor and consumption in the night time economy," MyFoxChicago.com reported.
The university requires "prior experience of conducting research in the female sex industry," MyFoxChicago.com reported.
The researcher will study the "rise, tolerance and integration of sexual consumption and sexual labor displayed through the erotic dance industry."
Sociologists at the school intend to interview 300 exotic dancers in the U.K., as well as managers and regulators, as part of their research."
Uhhh, where do I sign up? :)
"A British university has placed an advertisement looking for a lap-dance researcher with experience studying the erotic dance industry, The Telegraph reported.
The University of Leeds advertised the position for its school of sociology and social policy, according to the paper.
The advertisement reads: "Research Officer -- The rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labor and consumption in the night time economy," MyFoxChicago.com reported.
The university requires "prior experience of conducting research in the female sex industry," MyFoxChicago.com reported.
The researcher will study the "rise, tolerance and integration of sexual consumption and sexual labor displayed through the erotic dance industry."
Sociologists at the school intend to interview 300 exotic dancers in the U.K., as well as managers and regulators, as part of their research."
Uhhh, where do I sign up? :)
It's Islams' turn
AP Sunday, November 29, 2009
"GENEVA — Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets on Sunday, barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a surprise vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.
Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad condemned the vote as biased and anti-Islamic. Business groups said the decision hurt Switzerland's international standing and could damage relations with Muslim nations and wealthy investors who bank, travel and shop there.
"The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion and human rights," said Omar Al-Rawi, integration representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria, which said its reaction was "grief and deep disappointment."
The referendum by the nationalist Swiss People's Party labeled minarets as symbols of rising Muslim political power that could one day transform Switzerland into an Islamic nation. The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by some 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution.
Muslims comprise about 6 percent of Switzerland's 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.
The country's four standing minarets, which won't be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.
The sponsors of the initiative provoked complaints of bias from local officials and human-rights group with campaign posters that showed minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country "because Muslims don't just practice religion."
"The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage and genital mutilation of girls," the sponsors said. They noted that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared mosques to Islam's military barracks and called "the minarets our bayonets."
Anxieties about growing Muslim minorities have rippled across Europe in recent years, leading to legal changes in some countries. There have been French moves to ban the full-length body covering known as the burqa. Some German states have introduced bans on head scarves for Muslim women teaching in public schools. Mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have been met by protests.
But the Swiss ban in minarets, sponsored by the country's largest political party, was one of the most extreme reactions.
"It's a sad day for freedom of religion," said Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a British youth organization. "A constitutional amendment that's targeted towards one religious community is discriminatory and abhorrent."
He said he was concerned the decision could have reverberations in other European countries.
Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights.
The seven-member Cabinet that heads the Swiss government had spoken out strongly against the initiative but the government said it accepted the vote and would impose an immediate ban on minaret construction.
It said that "Muslims in Switzerland are able to practice their religion alone or in community with others, and live according to their beliefs just as before." It took the unusual step of issuing its press release in Arabic as well as German, French, Italian and English.
Sunday's results stood in stark contrast to opinion polls, last taken 10 days ago, that showed 37 percent supporting the proposal. Experts said before the vote that they feared Swiss had pretended during the polling that they opposed the ban because they didn't want to appear intolerant.
"The sponsors of the ban have achieved something everyone wanted to prevent, and that is to influence and change the relations to Muslims and their social integration in a negative way," said Taner Hatipoglu, president of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Zurich. "Muslims indeed will not feel safe anymore."
The People's Party has campaigned mainly unsuccessfully in previous years against immigrants with campaign posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag and another with brown hands grabbing eagerly for Swiss passports.
Geneva's main mosque was vandalized Thursday when someone threw a pot of pink paint at the entrance. Earlier this month, a vehicle with a loudspeaker drove through the area imitating a muezzin's call to prayer, and vandals damaged a mosaic when they threw cobblestones at the building."
"GENEVA — Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets on Sunday, barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a surprise vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.
Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad condemned the vote as biased and anti-Islamic. Business groups said the decision hurt Switzerland's international standing and could damage relations with Muslim nations and wealthy investors who bank, travel and shop there.
"The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion and human rights," said Omar Al-Rawi, integration representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria, which said its reaction was "grief and deep disappointment."
The referendum by the nationalist Swiss People's Party labeled minarets as symbols of rising Muslim political power that could one day transform Switzerland into an Islamic nation. The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by some 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution.
Muslims comprise about 6 percent of Switzerland's 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.
The country's four standing minarets, which won't be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.
The sponsors of the initiative provoked complaints of bias from local officials and human-rights group with campaign posters that showed minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country "because Muslims don't just practice religion."
"The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage and genital mutilation of girls," the sponsors said. They noted that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared mosques to Islam's military barracks and called "the minarets our bayonets."
Anxieties about growing Muslim minorities have rippled across Europe in recent years, leading to legal changes in some countries. There have been French moves to ban the full-length body covering known as the burqa. Some German states have introduced bans on head scarves for Muslim women teaching in public schools. Mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have been met by protests.
But the Swiss ban in minarets, sponsored by the country's largest political party, was one of the most extreme reactions.
"It's a sad day for freedom of religion," said Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a British youth organization. "A constitutional amendment that's targeted towards one religious community is discriminatory and abhorrent."
He said he was concerned the decision could have reverberations in other European countries.
Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights.
The seven-member Cabinet that heads the Swiss government had spoken out strongly against the initiative but the government said it accepted the vote and would impose an immediate ban on minaret construction.
It said that "Muslims in Switzerland are able to practice their religion alone or in community with others, and live according to their beliefs just as before." It took the unusual step of issuing its press release in Arabic as well as German, French, Italian and English.
Sunday's results stood in stark contrast to opinion polls, last taken 10 days ago, that showed 37 percent supporting the proposal. Experts said before the vote that they feared Swiss had pretended during the polling that they opposed the ban because they didn't want to appear intolerant.
"The sponsors of the ban have achieved something everyone wanted to prevent, and that is to influence and change the relations to Muslims and their social integration in a negative way," said Taner Hatipoglu, president of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Zurich. "Muslims indeed will not feel safe anymore."
The People's Party has campaigned mainly unsuccessfully in previous years against immigrants with campaign posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag and another with brown hands grabbing eagerly for Swiss passports.
Geneva's main mosque was vandalized Thursday when someone threw a pot of pink paint at the entrance. Earlier this month, a vehicle with a loudspeaker drove through the area imitating a muezzin's call to prayer, and vandals damaged a mosaic when they threw cobblestones at the building."
Upcoming Nazi Guard Trial
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577766,00.html
John Demjanjuk goes on trial on Monday for his part in WWII atrocities.
John Demjanjuk goes on trial on Monday for his part in WWII atrocities.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Mike Penner
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Times sportswriter, who announced two years ago he was a transsexual and was changing his gender to female, was found dead in a suspected suicide, the paper reported Saturday.
Mike Penner, 52, who shocked colleagues and readers after he announced he was becoming a woman in April 2007, then returned to work as a man, was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to the paper.
Penner had worked for 25 years on the sports staff of the Times.
"He was one of the most talented writers I've ever worked with," wrote Times Sports Editor Mike James on a blog on the Times Web site. "He was a gentle man, a kind man. It's just a tragedy," James wrote.
Penner revealed his transsexuality in a column in the paper, telling readers that he would continue to cover sports news under the name of Christine Daniels.
"How do you go about sharing your most important truth, one you spent a lifetime trying to keep deeply buried, to a world that has grown familiar and comfortable with your facade?" Penner wrote in his column.
"I am a transsexual sportswriter," he wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them."
Penner covered the NFL, tennis, the Olympics and the Los Angeles Angels in his tenure at the paper.
Mike Penner, 52, who shocked colleagues and readers after he announced he was becoming a woman in April 2007, then returned to work as a man, was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to the paper.
Penner had worked for 25 years on the sports staff of the Times.
"He was one of the most talented writers I've ever worked with," wrote Times Sports Editor Mike James on a blog on the Times Web site. "He was a gentle man, a kind man. It's just a tragedy," James wrote.
Penner revealed his transsexuality in a column in the paper, telling readers that he would continue to cover sports news under the name of Christine Daniels.
"How do you go about sharing your most important truth, one you spent a lifetime trying to keep deeply buried, to a world that has grown familiar and comfortable with your facade?" Penner wrote in his column.
"I am a transsexual sportswriter," he wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them."
Penner covered the NFL, tennis, the Olympics and the Los Angeles Angels in his tenure at the paper.
Mailbag: A question of exploitation
In your Sunday editorial you found “byzantine” a bill passed by the legislature that would provide if “private contractors save the government money by paying people less, they are not allowed to get a contract to do the work” where public workers are already doing the work. Judging from your comments, you would probably find “living wage” provisions equally so.
Furthermore you connect this bill to the upcoming vote in January on the action by the legislature taxing corporations and households making over $250,000 — “you might want to remember the following as an example of how the Legislature that gave you the tax proposals also made it hard to reduce the cost of government.”
What should never be forgotten is the long-standing effort to exploit workers. Often, of late, done in a devious and surreptitious manner. Sometimes even with the aid of some workers, those who fall for the deceit and secrecy — unable to connect the dots of their repression.
It’s a simple clash of values, those in favor of exploiting workers versus those who are opposed.
Often such a clash cannot be resolved any other way than by a vote — like the one coming up in January. I hope those who are opposed to exploiting workers will join me in voting “Yes.”
Robert G. Gourley, Corvallis
Furthermore you connect this bill to the upcoming vote in January on the action by the legislature taxing corporations and households making over $250,000 — “you might want to remember the following as an example of how the Legislature that gave you the tax proposals also made it hard to reduce the cost of government.”
What should never be forgotten is the long-standing effort to exploit workers. Often, of late, done in a devious and surreptitious manner. Sometimes even with the aid of some workers, those who fall for the deceit and secrecy — unable to connect the dots of their repression.
It’s a simple clash of values, those in favor of exploiting workers versus those who are opposed.
Often such a clash cannot be resolved any other way than by a vote — like the one coming up in January. I hope those who are opposed to exploiting workers will join me in voting “Yes.”
Robert G. Gourley, Corvallis
Letter: Why was no citation issued to officer who rear-ended a pickup?
I noticed in the Nov. 25 Crime Watch section that on Nov. 21, Philomath police cruiser rear-ended a pickup truck in the middle of an intersection and within a signed construction zone.
To my surprise, no citations were issued apparently because "The truck's brake lights were already on" on so when the slow moving truck braked additionally hard to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, the brake lights "did not flash" to indicate it was stopping (again, because the brake lights were "already on").
Four years ago, my teenage son was cited for the exact same infraction (Although not in a signed construction zone). He was cited for failure to maintain a safe driving distance. His fine was somewhere around $200 and his insurance rates shot up.
I'd like to know why the police officer was not cited for the same thing. And in a construction zone no less. The way I understand it, even on a rural road, if you come around a corner and there is a disabled or parked vehicle in the road (brake lights or not) and you can't stop in time, you may be cited for your inability to stop.
Steve Dockins, Philomath
To my surprise, no citations were issued apparently because "The truck's brake lights were already on" on so when the slow moving truck braked additionally hard to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, the brake lights "did not flash" to indicate it was stopping (again, because the brake lights were "already on").
Four years ago, my teenage son was cited for the exact same infraction (Although not in a signed construction zone). He was cited for failure to maintain a safe driving distance. His fine was somewhere around $200 and his insurance rates shot up.
I'd like to know why the police officer was not cited for the same thing. And in a construction zone no less. The way I understand it, even on a rural road, if you come around a corner and there is a disabled or parked vehicle in the road (brake lights or not) and you can't stop in time, you may be cited for your inability to stop.
Steve Dockins, Philomath
Basketball and Obama
AP
"It was a family affair for President Obama at the Oregon State-George Washington University basketball game Saturday.
It was a family affair for President Obama at the Oregon State-George Washington University basketball game Saturday.
Brother-in-law Craig Robinson is the Oregon State coach. And the president brought along first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson.
The family sat courtside in the half-full Smith Center, munching on popcorn as Oregon State (1-3) tried to hand George Washington its first loss after four victories.
OSU led 34-24 at halftime.
Naturally, the Obamas were intensely interested in the outcome. Obama and Mrs. Robinson clapped when OSU scored. Mrs. Obama smiled and clapped, too.
Obama, an avid basketball fan who likes to play the game himself as often as he can, spent the past two days out of public view, enjoying Thanksgiving at the White House with family and friends."
By the way the Beavers beat George Washington 64-57... GO BEAVS!
"It was a family affair for President Obama at the Oregon State-George Washington University basketball game Saturday.
It was a family affair for President Obama at the Oregon State-George Washington University basketball game Saturday.
Brother-in-law Craig Robinson is the Oregon State coach. And the president brought along first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson.
The family sat courtside in the half-full Smith Center, munching on popcorn as Oregon State (1-3) tried to hand George Washington its first loss after four victories.
OSU led 34-24 at halftime.
Naturally, the Obamas were intensely interested in the outcome. Obama and Mrs. Robinson clapped when OSU scored. Mrs. Obama smiled and clapped, too.
Obama, an avid basketball fan who likes to play the game himself as often as he can, spent the past two days out of public view, enjoying Thanksgiving at the White House with family and friends."
By the way the Beavers beat George Washington 64-57... GO BEAVS!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Big One
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/111909_ReidBill.pdf
The link to the full bill set for debate... I have a headache now from starting to read it. Below is Rep. Greg Walden's comments on 11/09/09:
“Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives had a choice of two healthcare reform plans. I voted for healthcare reform that would reduce the cost of health insurance premiums by 10 percent, cut the federal deficit by $68 billion, and make insurance more accessible to millions of Americans. Unfortunately, that’s not the plan that passed.
“As a small business owner for more than 21 years, I know what it’s like to pay the bills and sign the front side of a paycheck. Independent analysts estimate that the $730 billion in new taxes on Americans families and small businesses in the bill that passed today will result in the loss of 5.5 million American jobs. There’s even an unthinkable new tax on items like pacemakers, artificial hips, and stints.
“The country cannot afford a new $1.3 trillion government program that creates 111 new bureaucracies, especially when nationwide unemployment is at its highest level in 26 years. Just this year, Washington, D.C. has launched unprecedented national takeovers of the auto industry, the energy industry, and now the healthcare of every American.
“The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost of a family premium under the government takeover that passed today will be $15,000 in 2016. The Republican alternative that I voted for tonight would reduce that cost to $10,000 in 2016.
“I served on a hospital board for many years and strongly believe that this country is in need of healthcare reform. But that reform should not be borne on the backs of seniors in the form of over $500 million in cuts to Medicare Advantage in Oregon’s Second District, which would impact the healthcare of 38,000 seniors in central, southern, and eastern Oregon. Americans deserve a patient-centered approach to healthcare, not a government plan that threatens to force you off the care you enjoy right now with a more expensive plan.
“We can do better with a targeted approach that tackles the biggest problems, and that’s what I voted for. We can lower the cost of premiums and expand access by giving employers the ability to group together for stronger bargaining with health insurance companies, just like corporations and unions do right now. We can allow insurance to be purchased across state lines, giving families and businesses much more choice and competition to bring down the cost of health insurance. And we can protect Medicare and the seniors who rely on it and ensure that no one is denied access to healthcare because pre-existing conditions. The Republican plan I voted for would have done all of that.
“Finally, I am strongly disappointed that rural America was left behind in this bill. Two amendments I proposed in the Energy and Commerce Committee to ensure a voice for rural America on government healthcare committees were stripped behind closed doors, with no explanation. That’s just plain wrong, and it speaks to why the American people are so frustrated with the broken system of government in Washington, D.C.”
The link to the full bill set for debate... I have a headache now from starting to read it. Below is Rep. Greg Walden's comments on 11/09/09:
“Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives had a choice of two healthcare reform plans. I voted for healthcare reform that would reduce the cost of health insurance premiums by 10 percent, cut the federal deficit by $68 billion, and make insurance more accessible to millions of Americans. Unfortunately, that’s not the plan that passed.
“As a small business owner for more than 21 years, I know what it’s like to pay the bills and sign the front side of a paycheck. Independent analysts estimate that the $730 billion in new taxes on Americans families and small businesses in the bill that passed today will result in the loss of 5.5 million American jobs. There’s even an unthinkable new tax on items like pacemakers, artificial hips, and stints.
“The country cannot afford a new $1.3 trillion government program that creates 111 new bureaucracies, especially when nationwide unemployment is at its highest level in 26 years. Just this year, Washington, D.C. has launched unprecedented national takeovers of the auto industry, the energy industry, and now the healthcare of every American.
“The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost of a family premium under the government takeover that passed today will be $15,000 in 2016. The Republican alternative that I voted for tonight would reduce that cost to $10,000 in 2016.
“I served on a hospital board for many years and strongly believe that this country is in need of healthcare reform. But that reform should not be borne on the backs of seniors in the form of over $500 million in cuts to Medicare Advantage in Oregon’s Second District, which would impact the healthcare of 38,000 seniors in central, southern, and eastern Oregon. Americans deserve a patient-centered approach to healthcare, not a government plan that threatens to force you off the care you enjoy right now with a more expensive plan.
“We can do better with a targeted approach that tackles the biggest problems, and that’s what I voted for. We can lower the cost of premiums and expand access by giving employers the ability to group together for stronger bargaining with health insurance companies, just like corporations and unions do right now. We can allow insurance to be purchased across state lines, giving families and businesses much more choice and competition to bring down the cost of health insurance. And we can protect Medicare and the seniors who rely on it and ensure that no one is denied access to healthcare because pre-existing conditions. The Republican plan I voted for would have done all of that.
“Finally, I am strongly disappointed that rural America was left behind in this bill. Two amendments I proposed in the Energy and Commerce Committee to ensure a voice for rural America on government healthcare committees were stripped behind closed doors, with no explanation. That’s just plain wrong, and it speaks to why the American people are so frustrated with the broken system of government in Washington, D.C.”
Private vs Public good...
http://antipatrioticvenezuelan.blogspot.com/2009/10/end-of-private-property-as-i-know-it.html
Glimse into the (maybe) distant future...
Glimse into the (maybe) distant future...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Symbolism on Public...
http://gazettetimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_6614dc8a-d702-11de-9be1-001cc4c002e0.html
Interesting letter... I do like the suggestion at the end. I would have to ask however, does that mean we would have to switch out all the crosses in Arlington? What about crosses on the side of the highways?
Interesting letter... I do like the suggestion at the end. I would have to ask however, does that mean we would have to switch out all the crosses in Arlington? What about crosses on the side of the highways?
Wake Up America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SHnpWohrg0
This might be what's wrong with America! I do love the look on the second Cop's face though...
This might be what's wrong with America! I do love the look on the second Cop's face though...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Roses ‘n’ Raspberries (Nov. 13)
ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.
RASPBERRY (raz’ber’e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.
We hereby deliver:
• • •
• RASPBERRIES to the idea now making the rounds among certain sportswriters that the Pacific-10 Conference should abandon its round-robin schedule for football.
Here’s the background: Under the current schedule, each Pac-10 team plays every other team in the conference during the season. Before the college football season expanded to 12 games in 2006, Pac-10 teams like Oregon State didn’t play every conference foe every year — one conference team rotated out of the schedule each year.
Like so much else in college sports these days, the argument to stop playing the round-robin schedule boils down to cash: If the Pac-10 schools were able to eliminate one conference game every year, the reasoning goes, they would schedule in its stead a nonconference “cupcake” game — a game that the Pac-10 school would be a virtual lock to win. With more wins on their records, more Pac-10 teams would be eligible for bowls and an additional Pac-10 team might even sneak into another one of the Bowl Championship Series games (and, yes, our annual BCS editorial is on the schedule for December).
To which we say, balderdash! Horsefeathers! At the end of each season’s conference play, the Pac-10 has a true champion, a team that has battled every other team in the conference. In addition, playing the round-robin schedule adds familiarity to the schedule and helps fuel the rivalries that provide so much of the pleasure of college sports — what Beavers fan, for example, is not awaiting the 2010 game against USC in Corvallis? The Pac-10 does it right as it is. Let’s not mess with something that’s working just to pursue a few more dollars.
• • •
• ROSES to Robert Blackledge, the former business owner, city councilor and downtown Corvallis advocate who died last week at the age of 93. Blackledge’s legacy of civic service included 10 years on the City Council and two years on the city Planning Commission. He also served many years on the Downtown Parking Commission and also was a volunteer firefighter for nearly half a century.
• ROSES as well to Dale Schrock, who served for 16 years as a Benton County commissioner, from 1975 to 1991 and before that, toiled on the Benton County Planning Commission, where he backed Hewlett-Packard’s controversial plans to build a high-tech campus in Corvallis. Schrock died Oct. 31 in a vehicle crash on Highway 99W. He was 80. Schrock also helped draw up the county’s first comprehensive land plan and never let anyone forget that the county didn’t end at the city limits of Corvallis.
• ROSES, finally, to Lillian “Lil” Brown, who worked at the Department of Human Services and volunteered her time with a number of local organizations, including Community Outreach Inc., Altrusa and the Majestic Theater. She died recently at the age of 56. Allen was well-known for her big voice, her flamboyant personality and for her tireless (and often thankless) work on behalf of the poor, the needy, the abused and the suffering.
These are people who invested much of their lives doing the kind of work that helps to build a community and for that, we are in their debt.
• • •
• ROSES to the Benton County Foundation for more than 50 years of service to the county. This is Community Foundation Week across the United States, and it’s worth celebrating the good work that organizations such as the Benton County Foundation do. In the last five years alone, the Benton County Foundation quietly has contributed nearly $2 million in grants to nonprofit agencies and scholarships to students. Across the nation, these foundations are assets to their communities, and the Benton County Foundation deserves to have a higher profile here.
• • •
• ROSES to the organizers of this week’s Veterans Day activities across the mid-valley. Albany, of course, is justifiably proud of its mammoth parade, but we were pleased to see a number of Benton County schools planning assemblies and other events to honor veterans as well. We look forward to today’s activities at Oregon State University, where students, faculty and staff will have a timely reminder that the Memorial Union, the center of the campus, is meant to honor those fallen military men and women who have been association in some way with OSU. With American military men and women still in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan, the ceremonies this week couldn’t have been timelier.
RASPBERRY (raz’ber’e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.
We hereby deliver:
• • •
• RASPBERRIES to the idea now making the rounds among certain sportswriters that the Pacific-10 Conference should abandon its round-robin schedule for football.
Here’s the background: Under the current schedule, each Pac-10 team plays every other team in the conference during the season. Before the college football season expanded to 12 games in 2006, Pac-10 teams like Oregon State didn’t play every conference foe every year — one conference team rotated out of the schedule each year.
Like so much else in college sports these days, the argument to stop playing the round-robin schedule boils down to cash: If the Pac-10 schools were able to eliminate one conference game every year, the reasoning goes, they would schedule in its stead a nonconference “cupcake” game — a game that the Pac-10 school would be a virtual lock to win. With more wins on their records, more Pac-10 teams would be eligible for bowls and an additional Pac-10 team might even sneak into another one of the Bowl Championship Series games (and, yes, our annual BCS editorial is on the schedule for December).
To which we say, balderdash! Horsefeathers! At the end of each season’s conference play, the Pac-10 has a true champion, a team that has battled every other team in the conference. In addition, playing the round-robin schedule adds familiarity to the schedule and helps fuel the rivalries that provide so much of the pleasure of college sports — what Beavers fan, for example, is not awaiting the 2010 game against USC in Corvallis? The Pac-10 does it right as it is. Let’s not mess with something that’s working just to pursue a few more dollars.
• • •
• ROSES to Robert Blackledge, the former business owner, city councilor and downtown Corvallis advocate who died last week at the age of 93. Blackledge’s legacy of civic service included 10 years on the City Council and two years on the city Planning Commission. He also served many years on the Downtown Parking Commission and also was a volunteer firefighter for nearly half a century.
• ROSES as well to Dale Schrock, who served for 16 years as a Benton County commissioner, from 1975 to 1991 and before that, toiled on the Benton County Planning Commission, where he backed Hewlett-Packard’s controversial plans to build a high-tech campus in Corvallis. Schrock died Oct. 31 in a vehicle crash on Highway 99W. He was 80. Schrock also helped draw up the county’s first comprehensive land plan and never let anyone forget that the county didn’t end at the city limits of Corvallis.
• ROSES, finally, to Lillian “Lil” Brown, who worked at the Department of Human Services and volunteered her time with a number of local organizations, including Community Outreach Inc., Altrusa and the Majestic Theater. She died recently at the age of 56. Allen was well-known for her big voice, her flamboyant personality and for her tireless (and often thankless) work on behalf of the poor, the needy, the abused and the suffering.
These are people who invested much of their lives doing the kind of work that helps to build a community and for that, we are in their debt.
• • •
• ROSES to the Benton County Foundation for more than 50 years of service to the county. This is Community Foundation Week across the United States, and it’s worth celebrating the good work that organizations such as the Benton County Foundation do. In the last five years alone, the Benton County Foundation quietly has contributed nearly $2 million in grants to nonprofit agencies and scholarships to students. Across the nation, these foundations are assets to their communities, and the Benton County Foundation deserves to have a higher profile here.
• • •
• ROSES to the organizers of this week’s Veterans Day activities across the mid-valley. Albany, of course, is justifiably proud of its mammoth parade, but we were pleased to see a number of Benton County schools planning assemblies and other events to honor veterans as well. We look forward to today’s activities at Oregon State University, where students, faculty and staff will have a timely reminder that the Memorial Union, the center of the campus, is meant to honor those fallen military men and women who have been association in some way with OSU. With American military men and women still in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan, the ceremonies this week couldn’t have been timelier.
Continuing the discussion surrounding health care
Editorial: Game vs. reality
It is true, as the demonstrators at Heritage Mall on Monday night said, that war is not a game. But neither is “Call of Duty,” the game they were protesting, anything like war. It’s a video game, that’s all.
Yes, judging from the snippets advertising the game you can find online, it features highly disturbing images and actions. And one wonders about the mental makeup of people who enjoy engaging in that sort of game, especially as a matter of habit instead of momentary curiosity. But after all the arguments against that sort of entertainment are made, it’s still just a game. No actual person is physically harmed.
The art and technical virtuosity of the producers of computerized video games such as this one are truly astonishing. They can create ... well, creatures that seem to be alive and scenes that look like what we imagine apocalypse to look like.
As advanced as it already is, the technology will progress with every passing year. So it is reasonable to assume that the virtual reality in these games will become ever more impressive, ever more seemingly real, as time goes on.
This assumption allows us to anticipate a time when people will be able to lead a virtual life that is as real to them as reality out here in the physical world.
But even then, what happens in those game consoles will still be just that, make-believe. Our communities might actually be safer and more peaceful if we can relegate most violence and crime to what people do on their screens. (hh)
Yes, judging from the snippets advertising the game you can find online, it features highly disturbing images and actions. And one wonders about the mental makeup of people who enjoy engaging in that sort of game, especially as a matter of habit instead of momentary curiosity. But after all the arguments against that sort of entertainment are made, it’s still just a game. No actual person is physically harmed.
The art and technical virtuosity of the producers of computerized video games such as this one are truly astonishing. They can create ... well, creatures that seem to be alive and scenes that look like what we imagine apocalypse to look like.
As advanced as it already is, the technology will progress with every passing year. So it is reasonable to assume that the virtual reality in these games will become ever more impressive, ever more seemingly real, as time goes on.
This assumption allows us to anticipate a time when people will be able to lead a virtual life that is as real to them as reality out here in the physical world.
But even then, what happens in those game consoles will still be just that, make-believe. Our communities might actually be safer and more peaceful if we can relegate most violence and crime to what people do on their screens. (hh)
Letter: Nondiscrimination act would guard against prejudice (Nov. 12)
I believe that, howsoever it may be, we are all equal, and we are endowed by that equality with certain inalienable rights, and numbered among these are the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As with most Americans, my belief in this is supported and informed by some religious belief and background. As a believer in this and the Constitution, I am not inclined to expect anyone to share or understand those religious beliefs. I do expect my fellow Americans to understand and share a belief in my opening statement, however, central as it is to our collective happiness, peace and prosperity, to fulfilling our founders' vision of an ever more perfect union.
I am disappointed when I discover there is resistance to such things as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. If someone were fired because they are white or Christian, we would be justly outraged. What if you were fired because you are straight or male? The community would rally around you and the law would come down on your side.
If one of your fellow Americans were fired because they are homosexual, bisexual or transgendered, this would not be the case. The law abandons these, our fellow Americans, to the prejudice of their employers. EDNA does nothing more than protect people from prejudice, to ensure to all of us the same equal opportunity which we all so treasure and to which we enjoy Constitutional guarantee.
Please, urge our congressional delegation to pass EDNA (H.R 3017).
Jeffrey Hinman II, Corvallis
I am disappointed when I discover there is resistance to such things as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. If someone were fired because they are white or Christian, we would be justly outraged. What if you were fired because you are straight or male? The community would rally around you and the law would come down on your side.
If one of your fellow Americans were fired because they are homosexual, bisexual or transgendered, this would not be the case. The law abandons these, our fellow Americans, to the prejudice of their employers. EDNA does nothing more than protect people from prejudice, to ensure to all of us the same equal opportunity which we all so treasure and to which we enjoy Constitutional guarantee.
Please, urge our congressional delegation to pass EDNA (H.R 3017).
Jeffrey Hinman II, Corvallis
Monday, November 9, 2009
Reflections of Alvaro Barreto
“You must understand that jiu-jitsu is really four things:
One: it is a philosophy that can be summed up by the statement ‘give to win’. For example if you make strength with your arms then you give a point of leverage for your opponent to use against you. If you stay loose then you deprive your opponent of that so by appearing to be weak you gain strength.
Secondly it is a system of teaching. It gives access to proper rules of human behavior, self respect, honor, discipline, courage and so on.
Third it is a therapy. If man is too aggressive, it will calm him. Is he too weak or passive? It will make him stronger.
And finally it is a fighting system. Today in MMA people only concentrate on the last and ignore the first three.What is the essence of jiu-jitsu? Jiu-Jitsu is not an end. It is a tool for creating a better life.
On Cirriculum: In my vision, jiu-jitsu is made up of four courses: self defense, traumatic moves (locks and chokes), judo and ground fighting. To be a complete martial artist you need to know all four, because each helps the other.”On Jiu-Jitsu Professors:"Some teachers don't live correctly. A good teacher should be a good citizen with a good educational background, such as from a university. That makes him better at passing on information. Students need a leader they can look up to because the majority of the time, they look for instructors to give them confidence and keep them strong."
One: it is a philosophy that can be summed up by the statement ‘give to win’. For example if you make strength with your arms then you give a point of leverage for your opponent to use against you. If you stay loose then you deprive your opponent of that so by appearing to be weak you gain strength.
Secondly it is a system of teaching. It gives access to proper rules of human behavior, self respect, honor, discipline, courage and so on.
Third it is a therapy. If man is too aggressive, it will calm him. Is he too weak or passive? It will make him stronger.
And finally it is a fighting system. Today in MMA people only concentrate on the last and ignore the first three.What is the essence of jiu-jitsu? Jiu-Jitsu is not an end. It is a tool for creating a better life.
On Cirriculum: In my vision, jiu-jitsu is made up of four courses: self defense, traumatic moves (locks and chokes), judo and ground fighting. To be a complete martial artist you need to know all four, because each helps the other.”On Jiu-Jitsu Professors:"Some teachers don't live correctly. A good teacher should be a good citizen with a good educational background, such as from a university. That makes him better at passing on information. Students need a leader they can look up to because the majority of the time, they look for instructors to give them confidence and keep them strong."
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Healthy Kiddos
http://www.usaweekend.com/09_issues/091108/091108health-kids.html
In an attempt to "Give it a rest" there is no Right Wing nut job spin here...
In an attempt to "Give it a rest" there is no Right Wing nut job spin here...
Mailbag: Offended by this plate
I am outraged as a legal U.S. citizen with a son who has gone to battle twice in Iraq to protect our country. I want answers to how an idiotically run state government office can allow what I saw.
On Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, while I was driving down Highway 20 towards Lebanon, I saw a newer black Ford Explorer. He was in front of me. The vehicle had a tinted back window of a Mexico flag and a license plate that read "Ilegal."
Is this not a slap in the face? How did DMV allow this? Does the INS know about this?
I am so sick and tired of the illegals doing what they want and where they want to whomever they want. I know that "Mexifornia" has taken over California, but here in Oregon too?
Are we now known as "Or Gone South Olé"? It is pathetic and I think DMV should be fined for allowing this. And the driver of this vehicle, be aware because when I see you again on the road, I will have INS on speed dial on my cell phone and alert them. You like advertising like this? Go back to where you came from.
Kim Lawrence, Sweet Home
The Democrat-Herald contacted the vehicle's owner, Mary Ann Patricio of Sweet Home. She said that her husband, Jesus, is from Mexico and at one time entered the U.S. illegally but obtained his citizenship about eight years ago. "I support good, decent people who are trying to come here to build a better life and to do good," Patricio said. "I don't support those who come here and do bad." The license plate is her way of showing that support.
On Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, while I was driving down Highway 20 towards Lebanon, I saw a newer black Ford Explorer. He was in front of me. The vehicle had a tinted back window of a Mexico flag and a license plate that read "Ilegal."
Is this not a slap in the face? How did DMV allow this? Does the INS know about this?
I am so sick and tired of the illegals doing what they want and where they want to whomever they want. I know that "Mexifornia" has taken over California, but here in Oregon too?
Are we now known as "Or Gone South Olé"? It is pathetic and I think DMV should be fined for allowing this. And the driver of this vehicle, be aware because when I see you again on the road, I will have INS on speed dial on my cell phone and alert them. You like advertising like this? Go back to where you came from.
Kim Lawrence, Sweet Home
The Democrat-Herald contacted the vehicle's owner, Mary Ann Patricio of Sweet Home. She said that her husband, Jesus, is from Mexico and at one time entered the U.S. illegally but obtained his citizenship about eight years ago. "I support good, decent people who are trying to come here to build a better life and to do good," Patricio said. "I don't support those who come here and do bad." The license plate is her way of showing that support.
Letter: The effect keeps us warm (Nov. 8)
ohn Jones ("Letter: Sunday's carbon dioxide article was utter bunk", Letters, Nov. 1) claims that the greenhouse effect is a myth, and provides scientific-like statements to support his position.
Fortunately, he is wrong. The earth's mean surface temperature can only be explained through the greenhouse effect, primarily associated with low-concentration gases including water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane.
Without the heat-trapping effects of these gases, the planet would be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. This was already explained to Mr. Jones in a letter by Andreas Schmittner in the weekday Gazette-Times on Oct. 12. There are numerous web sites, text books and general science books that explain the effect.
Mr. Jones then explains what he really doesn't like; a group whose goals include social justice and a fair distribution of wealth and power. How do you argue against social justice? How can you even argue against "fair distribution"? Nothing in that statement says "equal distributio," just "fair."
Judging by polls, the climate-change denialist movement in the U.S. has had a good year. Mr. Jones, in his fight against the promotion of social justice and fairness, can claim some credit. The U.S. runs a significant risk, however, of being left behind in the global race for engineering solutions to a real problem, precisely because the public is so easily swayed by pseudo-science.
This doesn't augur well for the free market, or the American way of life, or whatever it is that Mr. Jones thinks he is protecting.
Laurence Padman, Corvallis
Fortunately, he is wrong. The earth's mean surface temperature can only be explained through the greenhouse effect, primarily associated with low-concentration gases including water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane.
Without the heat-trapping effects of these gases, the planet would be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. This was already explained to Mr. Jones in a letter by Andreas Schmittner in the weekday Gazette-Times on Oct. 12. There are numerous web sites, text books and general science books that explain the effect.
Mr. Jones then explains what he really doesn't like; a group whose goals include social justice and a fair distribution of wealth and power. How do you argue against social justice? How can you even argue against "fair distribution"? Nothing in that statement says "equal distributio," just "fair."
Judging by polls, the climate-change denialist movement in the U.S. has had a good year. Mr. Jones, in his fight against the promotion of social justice and fairness, can claim some credit. The U.S. runs a significant risk, however, of being left behind in the global race for engineering solutions to a real problem, precisely because the public is so easily swayed by pseudo-science.
This doesn't augur well for the free market, or the American way of life, or whatever it is that Mr. Jones thinks he is protecting.
Laurence Padman, Corvallis
Editorial: Marriage vote never ends
No one is surprised that supporters of gay rights want Oregon to vote again, in 2012, to try to repeal the 2004 constitutional amendment defining state-approved marriage as between a man and a woman. They won't give up until their goal is reached, so the issue will never go away.
If voters affirm their 2004 decision in 2012 - the way Maine just did on the same subject - activists will shoot for bringing it back maybe in 2020 or 2022. And if it goes the other way in any of those elections, you can bet that those who won the case in 2004 will have enough energy and conviction to get something on the ballot to try to repeal the repeal.
Let's just remember that in our system, nothing is ever settled for all time.
Nobody who already has an opinion is likely to change his views on something as fundamental as the definition of marriage.
But as long as activists with a different view can get petitions signed in sufficient numbers, we'll be voting on that issue again and again. (hh)
If voters affirm their 2004 decision in 2012 - the way Maine just did on the same subject - activists will shoot for bringing it back maybe in 2020 or 2022. And if it goes the other way in any of those elections, you can bet that those who won the case in 2004 will have enough energy and conviction to get something on the ballot to try to repeal the repeal.
Let's just remember that in our system, nothing is ever settled for all time.
Nobody who already has an opinion is likely to change his views on something as fundamental as the definition of marriage.
But as long as activists with a different view can get petitions signed in sufficient numbers, we'll be voting on that issue again and again. (hh)
Editorial: Guns and pot
The sheriffs of Jackson and Washington counties have argued before the Oregon Court of Appeals that they should not have to give concealed handgun licenses to otherwise qualified citizens who hold medical marijuana cards. Their case is not convincing.
They claim they are in a bind because of the federal law against marijuana, medical or otherwise. The sheriffs ought to remember who votes for them and who pays them - and it's NOT the federal government.
Further, only recently the same sheriffs made the valid point - in regard to a proposed change in public records law, a change that failed to get through the 2009 legislature - that people often get those licenses because they have security concerns. Seems like of all the people in Oregon, medical pot permit holders may have more need of personal security and protection than most.
Let's hope the court quickly confirms that the sheriffs have no grounds to withhold handgun licenses from the users of medical pot. (hh)
They claim they are in a bind because of the federal law against marijuana, medical or otherwise. The sheriffs ought to remember who votes for them and who pays them - and it's NOT the federal government.
Further, only recently the same sheriffs made the valid point - in regard to a proposed change in public records law, a change that failed to get through the 2009 legislature - that people often get those licenses because they have security concerns. Seems like of all the people in Oregon, medical pot permit holders may have more need of personal security and protection than most.
Let's hope the court quickly confirms that the sheriffs have no grounds to withhold handgun licenses from the users of medical pot. (hh)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
"Christmas Carol"
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810049009/info
This Friday morning my wife and I took our kids to see Disney's "Christmas Carol". Word of caution there are scary scenes. As you may know having talked or conversed with me on various topics that this "story" is one that I like very much. I always have.
I want to first talk about the sheer beauty of this film.
Some 3D movies are only in it for the cheap 3D gimmick. You know, the random excuse for something to jump out or fall into the audience. Of course having nothing to do with the plot. This film uses the 3D format to make the audience say to themselves, with mouths opened and eyes wide, "Wow", "Ohh", "Ahh".
There are the dirty London street scenes, snowy countryside scenes, and the three ghosts each with their own unique image and personality. Without giving too much away I was impressed on how there could be something done within the bounds of these very well know, and beloved characters which are somehow different yet not off putting. At no point during this film did I think to myself, yeah, yeah on to the next ghost. I was looking forward to the next, while not wanting the current ghost to go off screen.
Jim Carrey lends his voice to: Scrooge/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Past/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Present/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Gary Oldman lends his voice to Bob Cratchit / Marley / Tiny Tim
While Bob Haskins of ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit") lends his voice to Mr. Fezziwig / Old Joe
Without getting into the social, political, or religious implications of this story (too much) I turn my attention to the story. I like how this version sticks pretty close to the book. I found myself thinking about the less fortunate, orphans, and people I work with and for. At the films end I left feeling uplifted, spirit renewed, and ready for Christmas! I know, I know it's only November 7th. I do have to say 99.1 FM will soon start playing Christmas music 24-7...
Bottom line for me was; if you like the story go see this movie. If for no other reason for the 3D beauty, and unique story telling methods used. If you don't care for the story; go anyway simply for the 3D experience. Trust me you'll love it.
This Friday morning my wife and I took our kids to see Disney's "Christmas Carol". Word of caution there are scary scenes. As you may know having talked or conversed with me on various topics that this "story" is one that I like very much. I always have.
I want to first talk about the sheer beauty of this film.
Some 3D movies are only in it for the cheap 3D gimmick. You know, the random excuse for something to jump out or fall into the audience. Of course having nothing to do with the plot. This film uses the 3D format to make the audience say to themselves, with mouths opened and eyes wide, "Wow", "Ohh", "Ahh".
There are the dirty London street scenes, snowy countryside scenes, and the three ghosts each with their own unique image and personality. Without giving too much away I was impressed on how there could be something done within the bounds of these very well know, and beloved characters which are somehow different yet not off putting. At no point during this film did I think to myself, yeah, yeah on to the next ghost. I was looking forward to the next, while not wanting the current ghost to go off screen.
Jim Carrey lends his voice to: Scrooge/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Past/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Present/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Gary Oldman lends his voice to Bob Cratchit / Marley / Tiny Tim
While Bob Haskins of ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit") lends his voice to Mr. Fezziwig / Old Joe
Without getting into the social, political, or religious implications of this story (too much) I turn my attention to the story. I like how this version sticks pretty close to the book. I found myself thinking about the less fortunate, orphans, and people I work with and for. At the films end I left feeling uplifted, spirit renewed, and ready for Christmas! I know, I know it's only November 7th. I do have to say 99.1 FM will soon start playing Christmas music 24-7...
Bottom line for me was; if you like the story go see this movie. If for no other reason for the 3D beauty, and unique story telling methods used. If you don't care for the story; go anyway simply for the 3D experience. Trust me you'll love it.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Mailbag: A reference to Kenya
Since you had the honesty to print the article in yesterday's paper (the Oct. 18 Sunday Gazette-Times), I was hoping you had the integrity to check out and print the enclosed article.
I have seen a number of articles and tapes attesting to the fact that Obama was born in Kenya, and to the fact that his mother has not resided in the United States for five years after the age of 14 (she was 18 when he was born in Kenya), thus making him not a citizen in any way at birth. This makes him ineligible for the presidency.
The deceit must be brought to light. It is an insult to our founders, and to all those who have followed the constitutional requirements.
Susan C. Woods, Albany
Ms. Woods included a printout of a web page from a 2004 edition of a paper in Kenya that refers to "Kenyan-born U.S. Senate hopeful Barack Obama."
I have seen a number of articles and tapes attesting to the fact that Obama was born in Kenya, and to the fact that his mother has not resided in the United States for five years after the age of 14 (she was 18 when he was born in Kenya), thus making him not a citizen in any way at birth. This makes him ineligible for the presidency.
The deceit must be brought to light. It is an insult to our founders, and to all those who have followed the constitutional requirements.
Susan C. Woods, Albany
Ms. Woods included a printout of a web page from a 2004 edition of a paper in Kenya that refers to "Kenyan-born U.S. Senate hopeful Barack Obama."
Deja Vu
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809962998/video/16379548
Is it just me, or is this a remake of an "Outer Limits", or "Tales From The Darkside" of the same title? I swear I saw this episode... I don't think it was a "Twilight Zone"...
Is it just me, or is this a remake of an "Outer Limits", or "Tales From The Darkside" of the same title? I swear I saw this episode... I don't think it was a "Twilight Zone"...
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Mailbag: How can world allow this?
I just saw the play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," and wept, heartbroken at the horrendous suffering of Gazans - which Americans fund.
Hamas is called a terrorist organization (suicide bombers ARE terrorists) but the bigger terrorists are politicians who use Gazans as pawns in pursuit of political gain.
• Olmert, Livni, and Barak who betrayed Sderot's residents (also pawns) by breaking the June cease-fire although Hamas had essentially stopped rocket fire.
• Abbas, who told Israel to keep bombing Gaza so as to destroy his political enemy Hamas.
• Obama who caved in to Zionist pressure from Congress, dropping his demand for a settlement freeze in order to gain support for health care reform.
• Christian Zionists, who count their flawed theology more important than human lives created in the image of God.
Rachel screamed, "How can the world allow this to continue?" after seeing tanks and bulldozers destroying any semblance of a normal childhood in Gaza, tearing down homes and greenhouses, destroying the food supply, wiping out sewage, electricity and water treatment. She stood amazed by brave families practicing nonviolent resistance simply by continuing their daily tasks in the shadow of Israeli guns.
How CAN the world allow this inhuman siege to continue? How can Americans continue to fund this brutality with $13 million every day?
Please do something: join the boycott and divestment movement. Support a single truly-democratic state with equal rights for both Palestinians and Jews.
June Forsyth Kenagy, Albany
Hamas is called a terrorist organization (suicide bombers ARE terrorists) but the bigger terrorists are politicians who use Gazans as pawns in pursuit of political gain.
• Olmert, Livni, and Barak who betrayed Sderot's residents (also pawns) by breaking the June cease-fire although Hamas had essentially stopped rocket fire.
• Abbas, who told Israel to keep bombing Gaza so as to destroy his political enemy Hamas.
• Obama who caved in to Zionist pressure from Congress, dropping his demand for a settlement freeze in order to gain support for health care reform.
• Christian Zionists, who count their flawed theology more important than human lives created in the image of God.
Rachel screamed, "How can the world allow this to continue?" after seeing tanks and bulldozers destroying any semblance of a normal childhood in Gaza, tearing down homes and greenhouses, destroying the food supply, wiping out sewage, electricity and water treatment. She stood amazed by brave families practicing nonviolent resistance simply by continuing their daily tasks in the shadow of Israeli guns.
How CAN the world allow this inhuman siege to continue? How can Americans continue to fund this brutality with $13 million every day?
Please do something: join the boycott and divestment movement. Support a single truly-democratic state with equal rights for both Palestinians and Jews.
June Forsyth Kenagy, Albany
Friday, October 30, 2009
Letter: Selling, tossing Halloween candy poor way to thank those who give (Oct. 30)
Each year in the paper, there is an article about the dentist who gives children money in trade for the Halloween candy that they have collected.
I have worked in retail for years, and have seen the elderly - as well as others having a hard time financially - count out what money they do have available to buy candy so as not to disappoint the children when they come to trick or treat.
How would they feel if they knew that the candy they work so hard to buy is thrown away?
What kind of parent would encourage their children to go out and get as much candy as they can so that they can turn it in for cash?
Why don't the parents and the dentist just offer children cash instead of going trick-or-treating? At least then, those nice folks who hand out the treats wouldn't be throwing away their hard-earned money by giving treats to children who don't appreciate it.
Cathie Beard, Philomath
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Flag this message Important information about your MidValley Voice user account
This weekend we learned that MidValley Voice user account information was accessible for several days.
A list of usernames, passwords and email addresses was available in an obscure network known primarily to product testers working for our vendor, who partners with us to operate the MidValley Voice network.
After learning of the security problem, our partner immediately secured the account information. Further investigation leads us to believe that exposure was very limited, primarily by our registered users who may have searched for their own names in Google. We have received no word from customers that any accounts were compromised.
As a precaution, we suggest changing your MidValley Voice password and monitoring the e-mail account associated with our network for any problems. To change your password, login to MidValley Voice (http://broadcaster.townnews-mail.com/t?ctl=2EEBB1:7AB9130BC0E1C3FBA7ACCC6059EA3D34033306CAEDE0DB61& click the 'My Stuff' tab, then select 'Account Settings.' Then, on the left-hand menu, choose 'Login/Password.'
Please also notify us immediately if you experience problems that are associated with this issue.
To help with your questions and concerns, we will host a live chat this afternoon until 5 p.m. To join, follow this link: http://broadcaster.townnews-mail.com/t?ctl=2EEBB2:7AB9130BC0E1C3FBA7ACCC6059EA3D34033306CAEDE0DB61& After today's chat is over, it will be available for you to read and use for your own troubleshooting, or you can contact us at contact@midvalleyvoice.com.
As always, we respect your personal information and thank you for your continued support for all of our online products.
Mike McInally, publisher, Gazette-Times
Matt Neznanski, community coordinator, MidValley Voice
A list of usernames, passwords and email addresses was available in an obscure network known primarily to product testers working for our vendor, who partners with us to operate the MidValley Voice network.
After learning of the security problem, our partner immediately secured the account information. Further investigation leads us to believe that exposure was very limited, primarily by our registered users who may have searched for their own names in Google. We have received no word from customers that any accounts were compromised.
As a precaution, we suggest changing your MidValley Voice password and monitoring the e-mail account associated with our network for any problems. To change your password, login to MidValley Voice (http://broadcaster.townnews-mail.com/t?ctl=2EEBB1:7AB9130BC0E1C3FBA7ACCC6059EA3D34033306CAEDE0DB61& click the 'My Stuff' tab, then select 'Account Settings.' Then, on the left-hand menu, choose 'Login/Password.'
Please also notify us immediately if you experience problems that are associated with this issue.
To help with your questions and concerns, we will host a live chat this afternoon until 5 p.m. To join, follow this link: http://broadcaster.townnews-mail.com/t?ctl=2EEBB2:7AB9130BC0E1C3FBA7ACCC6059EA3D34033306CAEDE0DB61& After today's chat is over, it will be available for you to read and use for your own troubleshooting, or you can contact us at contact@midvalleyvoice.com.
As always, we respect your personal information and thank you for your continued support for all of our online products.
Mike McInally, publisher, Gazette-Times
Matt Neznanski, community coordinator, MidValley Voice
Editorial: When life is over
Doctors, lawyers and others urge us to make living wills and give end-of-life directives for our care. What we also need, it sometimes seems, is direction for what to do about us when we completely lose our minds so that every moment becomes a living hell.
The answer is obvious when all that afflicts us is normal senility associated with old age. They can just park us in a wheelchair or a bed, medicate us and wait for us to expire.
But what if we cause trouble? What if we fight those who would take care of us? What if we run off every chance we get. What if we imagine we are somewhere else, that nobody helps us even though helpers are constantly there?
What if, even though close to 90 years of age, for everybody's safety we have to be either locked up or tied down? What if the torment of being locked up or tied down is apparent in our eyes and audible when we speak. What are the caretakers supposed to do then? Just look away?
Contemplating what might happen if advanced dementia robs us of our minds and condemns us to some kind of hell on Earth, some of us might sign an advanced directive that says: "When that stage is reached, give me a dose to stop my heart, because my life has ended long before."
Such an act of kindness, though, the law does not allow. On the subject of advanced directives, it seems, we have a long way to go. (hh)
The answer is obvious when all that afflicts us is normal senility associated with old age. They can just park us in a wheelchair or a bed, medicate us and wait for us to expire.
But what if we cause trouble? What if we fight those who would take care of us? What if we run off every chance we get. What if we imagine we are somewhere else, that nobody helps us even though helpers are constantly there?
What if, even though close to 90 years of age, for everybody's safety we have to be either locked up or tied down? What if the torment of being locked up or tied down is apparent in our eyes and audible when we speak. What are the caretakers supposed to do then? Just look away?
Contemplating what might happen if advanced dementia robs us of our minds and condemns us to some kind of hell on Earth, some of us might sign an advanced directive that says: "When that stage is reached, give me a dose to stop my heart, because my life has ended long before."
Such an act of kindness, though, the law does not allow. On the subject of advanced directives, it seems, we have a long way to go. (hh)
Letter: ACORN law might just hit some mighty big corporate targets
The recent news of government-funded organizations participating in criminal fraud have been shocking. That's why Congress should pass the ACORN Act as soon as possible to prevent such things from happening again.
It is inexcusable for criminals to continue to receive federal funds.
For example, since 1995 Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrup Grumman have paid $3 billion in fines for "misconduct," but that shouldn't have been hard since the taxpayers continue to shovel wads of cash at them ($77 billion in 2007).
In September, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer paid $2.3 billion to settle several cases, including Medicare fraud. This was not a problem for a company with $40 billion in profits last year; it continues to get millions of dollars in contracts from U.S. taxpayers.
Similarly, Halliburton continues to get billions of dollars from us, despite gross negligence that resulted in poisoned "drinking water" and showers that killed troops in Iraq by electrocution.
Please urge your representatives to co-sponsor the Against Corporations Organizing to Rip off the Nation Act (HR 3679). Given how rapidly Congress pulled funding from an organization whose employees provided prostitution business advice, passage of this bill should be a cinch!
Andrew Gray
Corvallis
It is inexcusable for criminals to continue to receive federal funds.
For example, since 1995 Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrup Grumman have paid $3 billion in fines for "misconduct," but that shouldn't have been hard since the taxpayers continue to shovel wads of cash at them ($77 billion in 2007).
In September, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer paid $2.3 billion to settle several cases, including Medicare fraud. This was not a problem for a company with $40 billion in profits last year; it continues to get millions of dollars in contracts from U.S. taxpayers.
Similarly, Halliburton continues to get billions of dollars from us, despite gross negligence that resulted in poisoned "drinking water" and showers that killed troops in Iraq by electrocution.
Please urge your representatives to co-sponsor the Against Corporations Organizing to Rip off the Nation Act (HR 3679). Given how rapidly Congress pulled funding from an organization whose employees provided prostitution business advice, passage of this bill should be a cinch!
Andrew Gray
Corvallis
Editorial: Self-defense at college, too
Nothing much has been heard of the legal challenge filed against the policy of Oregon state colleges to ban the possession of weapons on campus. But that's all right. The Oregon Court of Appeals, where this appeal was filed in August by a private foundation, is not exactly known for blinding speed, and we should give it time.
There's a report, however, that the Oregon University System is asking the legislature to ratify its weapons bans when it meets in January. If the legislature does this, it likely will be wasting its time, for the issue is mainly a constitutional one which the courts should get a chance to affirm.
The words of the Oregon constitution are as clear as can be. In its bill of rights, our founding document says: "The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defense of themselves, and the state, but the military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power."
The section - No. 27 in Article I - guarantees the right to bear arms for two purposes. The first is self-defense. The second is defense of the state. But it doesn't condition either upon the other. So even if we are no longer called upon as a militia to repel an attack, the right of self-defense remains.
The right does not disappear the minute somebody sets foot on a state university campus. Instead, it might be even more important there than in other public places. Students or professors walking by themselves to their cars on a far-off parking lot after a night class may consider it especially useful to equip themselves for any threat.
As the law now reads, universities seem to have overstepped their authority by punishing people for being found with weapons. But even if the legislature changes the law, the constitutional right "to bear arms for the defense of themselves" remains one of the many civil rights that college students and the rest of us enjoy. (hh)
There's a report, however, that the Oregon University System is asking the legislature to ratify its weapons bans when it meets in January. If the legislature does this, it likely will be wasting its time, for the issue is mainly a constitutional one which the courts should get a chance to affirm.
The words of the Oregon constitution are as clear as can be. In its bill of rights, our founding document says: "The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defense of themselves, and the state, but the military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power."
The section - No. 27 in Article I - guarantees the right to bear arms for two purposes. The first is self-defense. The second is defense of the state. But it doesn't condition either upon the other. So even if we are no longer called upon as a militia to repel an attack, the right of self-defense remains.
The right does not disappear the minute somebody sets foot on a state university campus. Instead, it might be even more important there than in other public places. Students or professors walking by themselves to their cars on a far-off parking lot after a night class may consider it especially useful to equip themselves for any threat.
As the law now reads, universities seem to have overstepped their authority by punishing people for being found with weapons. But even if the legislature changes the law, the constitutional right "to bear arms for the defense of themselves" remains one of the many civil rights that college students and the rest of us enjoy. (hh)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Going to miss the big, stinky mill
Editorial: Coming together to curb homelessness (Oct. 27)
We've said it before: The problem of homelessness in our community isn't one problem, but rather a series of related issues. It's not going to be solved by a single answer.
That's why it was so encouraging last week to see a number of different approaches toward homelessness all getting a little bit of traction in Corvallis.
Consider these events from last week:
Benton County released the latest version of its 10-year plan to curb homelessness. The linchpin of that plan: Housing first. That means putting a priority on support services to keep vulnerable people from becoming homeless in the first place - because when you're trying to climb out of a hole, the first step is to stop digging.
Another highlight of the 10-year plan is its call for transitional housing to help people get back on their feet after coming out of jail, psychiatric treatment, drug or alcohol rehab or other situations that make it difficult to find housing. Again, the idea is to make sure the problem doesn't get any worse by finding shelter for a vulnerable population.
The Corvallis Homeless Shelter Coalition announced plans to open a cold-weather shelter for women at Knollbrook Christian Reformed Church, 1677 S.W. 35th St. This will be an "all-comers" shelter, which means that women finding shelter there won't have to meet the sobriety requirements enforced by Community Outreach Inc. at its shelter. (Community Outreach, by the way, reports that its 70-bed shelter is full to capacity now.) The women's shelter will complement the men's cold-weather shelter, which will return this year to Westside Community Church, 4000 S.W. Western Blvd.
Project Homeless Connect, an day-long program which aims to connect homeless people with community services, came to Corvallis for the first time. (A similar event has been held in Albany in recent years.) The event, held at the First Christian Church downtown, offered a host of free services to the homeless, from haircuts (courtesy of Supercuts) to dental services to HIV counseling.
To some extent, all of these developments targeted somewhat different aspects of homelessness. Again, the idea isn't to come up with one single solution - no such animal exists - but to pull together a quilt of services from the best efforts of government agencies and nonprofit organizations.
In that light, one of the most encouraging aspects of Project Homeless Connect was the fact that it attracted about two dozen agencies, organizations and businesses, all starting to understand that not one of them alone has the resources to banish homelessness in our community.
Alone, we can't do it. Together, we have a shot.
That's why it was so encouraging last week to see a number of different approaches toward homelessness all getting a little bit of traction in Corvallis.
Consider these events from last week:
Benton County released the latest version of its 10-year plan to curb homelessness. The linchpin of that plan: Housing first. That means putting a priority on support services to keep vulnerable people from becoming homeless in the first place - because when you're trying to climb out of a hole, the first step is to stop digging.
Another highlight of the 10-year plan is its call for transitional housing to help people get back on their feet after coming out of jail, psychiatric treatment, drug or alcohol rehab or other situations that make it difficult to find housing. Again, the idea is to make sure the problem doesn't get any worse by finding shelter for a vulnerable population.
The Corvallis Homeless Shelter Coalition announced plans to open a cold-weather shelter for women at Knollbrook Christian Reformed Church, 1677 S.W. 35th St. This will be an "all-comers" shelter, which means that women finding shelter there won't have to meet the sobriety requirements enforced by Community Outreach Inc. at its shelter. (Community Outreach, by the way, reports that its 70-bed shelter is full to capacity now.) The women's shelter will complement the men's cold-weather shelter, which will return this year to Westside Community Church, 4000 S.W. Western Blvd.
Project Homeless Connect, an day-long program which aims to connect homeless people with community services, came to Corvallis for the first time. (A similar event has been held in Albany in recent years.) The event, held at the First Christian Church downtown, offered a host of free services to the homeless, from haircuts (courtesy of Supercuts) to dental services to HIV counseling.
To some extent, all of these developments targeted somewhat different aspects of homelessness. Again, the idea isn't to come up with one single solution - no such animal exists - but to pull together a quilt of services from the best efforts of government agencies and nonprofit organizations.
In that light, one of the most encouraging aspects of Project Homeless Connect was the fact that it attracted about two dozen agencies, organizations and businesses, all starting to understand that not one of them alone has the resources to banish homelessness in our community.
Alone, we can't do it. Together, we have a shot.
Hey dummies, get your swine flu shot
Editorial: All that cash in drug trade
As a reminder of the huge amounts of cash involved in the illegal narcotics trade, take this report from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland:
A 28-year-old man was arraigned in federal court there on Friday. When he was arrested after a search of his apartment, vehicle and person, investigators seized more than a kilogram of crack cocaine, as well as powder cocaine, two loaded firearms, a digital scale, and more than $87,000 in cash.
The cocaine was valued by the police at about $20,000 as packaged and about $100,000 if distributed as individual doses.
This young fellow, if he's convicted, faces at least 10 years and possibly life in prison. Why would anyone risk that? For vast amounts of cash.
This is one of the results of the war on drugs. The more successful this war - and this latest seizure is said to make a major dent in the cocaine supply for the Portland area, at least for a while - the higher the price of the illicit stuff, and the greater the earning potential of people with criminal intent, no scruples and an itch to get rich quick at a young age.
The alternative would be to ease up on drug enforcement, change the laws, let the idiot drug users kill themselves if they want, remove or lessen the amounts of money involved, and let the illegal drug culture wither away by itself over time.
Would that work? It's a shame we can't run some giant social experiment to find out.
What we know already is the result of the current approach: vast amounts of continuing effort by the police at all levels, thousands of people in prison, a continuing supply of illegal drugs, and a steady stream of money-hungry criminals ready to constantly replenish the supply. (hh)
A 28-year-old man was arraigned in federal court there on Friday. When he was arrested after a search of his apartment, vehicle and person, investigators seized more than a kilogram of crack cocaine, as well as powder cocaine, two loaded firearms, a digital scale, and more than $87,000 in cash.
The cocaine was valued by the police at about $20,000 as packaged and about $100,000 if distributed as individual doses.
This young fellow, if he's convicted, faces at least 10 years and possibly life in prison. Why would anyone risk that? For vast amounts of cash.
This is one of the results of the war on drugs. The more successful this war - and this latest seizure is said to make a major dent in the cocaine supply for the Portland area, at least for a while - the higher the price of the illicit stuff, and the greater the earning potential of people with criminal intent, no scruples and an itch to get rich quick at a young age.
The alternative would be to ease up on drug enforcement, change the laws, let the idiot drug users kill themselves if they want, remove or lessen the amounts of money involved, and let the illegal drug culture wither away by itself over time.
Would that work? It's a shame we can't run some giant social experiment to find out.
What we know already is the result of the current approach: vast amounts of continuing effort by the police at all levels, thousands of people in prison, a continuing supply of illegal drugs, and a steady stream of money-hungry criminals ready to constantly replenish the supply. (hh)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Mailbag: Hate mongers and liars
So you think we need more people like Glenn Beck. Really? You think we need more fear mongers and hate mongers? You think we need more liars? You think we need more people promoting the belief that President Obama is a racist who hates white people?
You know what I think, Mr. Hering? I think Glenn Beck is a borderline lunatic, and we have too many crazies like him already. One of him is too many. Beck sucks. Your editorial sucks as well.
Dennis Newton, Lebanon
You know what I think, Mr. Hering? I think Glenn Beck is a borderline lunatic, and we have too many crazies like him already. One of him is too many. Beck sucks. Your editorial sucks as well.
Dennis Newton, Lebanon
ACORN and Jiu Jitsu
ACORN Scandal Involves Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Instructor:
If you’ve been following the ACORN scandal that’s been all over the news lately, you’re going to love this. The young woman who poses as the prostitute in the controversial undercover videos that are likely to end ACORN’s government funding is a four-stripe Gracie Jiu-Jitsu purple belt.
Hannah Giles has been training at Gracie Miami in South Florida since she was 11 years old, and now she’s using the principles of patience, leverage and technique to take on her toughest opponent yet! Watch the videos below, they’re great!Watch this to learn about the Acorn scandal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6l5yiFGwFo&feature=relatedWatch this to watch Hannah’s father talk GJJ (Minute 3:00): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4XTc9vsA2w
If you’ve been following the ACORN scandal that’s been all over the news lately, you’re going to love this. The young woman who poses as the prostitute in the controversial undercover videos that are likely to end ACORN’s government funding is a four-stripe Gracie Jiu-Jitsu purple belt.
Hannah Giles has been training at Gracie Miami in South Florida since she was 11 years old, and now she’s using the principles of patience, leverage and technique to take on her toughest opponent yet! Watch the videos below, they’re great!Watch this to learn about the Acorn scandal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6l5yiFGwFo&feature=relatedWatch this to watch Hannah’s father talk GJJ (Minute 3:00): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4XTc9vsA2w
"Flow Johnson"
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30659149
Funny preview (with violence and Language) funny none the less!
Funny preview (with violence and Language) funny none the less!
Richey's Market going the way of the Dodo?
http://gazettetimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_0191445e-bed1-11de-a8eb-001cc4c002e0.html
Having worked there throughout High School, it's sad they are closing their doors...
Having worked there throughout High School, it's sad they are closing their doors...
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Supreme Court Creats Another Hot Mess
One night five years ago outside a tavern in Toledo, Lincoln County, a man was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
On Oct. 8 the Oregon Supreme Court set aside his convictions in a ruling that reaffirms a citizen's right to defend himself, even against a cop trying to arrest him, if he believes the arresting officer is using unlawful excessive force.
Let us hope the ruling is not misunderstood: It does not give you license to try to fight any cop who's trying to take you into custody, even if you think the arrest is without cause. You have the right to do that only if the police act unlawfully, and in the heat of the moment that determination is hard to make so it stands up in court many years after the fact.
As in every case, the details of this one are important. The court went into great detail concerning what happened that night, some time before 9 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2004, on a Toledo street.
An officer on patrol, 6-3 tall and weighing 260 pounds, tried to stop a woman for jaywalking. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Wood, under 6 feet and weighing 160-180 pounds, came from across the street to learn what was going on. The officer told him to stop approaching. When Wood didn't, the policeman decided to arrest him for interfering and ordered him to the ground. Wood said he hadn't done anything but lay down, with his hands under his body.
The policeman ordered him to put his hands behind his back. Wood did not comply, and the officer sprayed him in the face with pepper spray. (The court said the spray is designed to be used from a few feet away, not inches as in this case.) This caused Wood to thrash about. The officer, kneeling on him, slammed him in the back eight times, yelling at him to show his hands.
Meanwhile, the woman's mother had emerged from an apartment house nearby, and others had come out of the tavern across the street to watch.
In the course of the struggle with Wood, one of his hands got cuffed, and Wood stood up, got an arm around the officer's waist and forced him down. A second patrolman arrived and hit Wood on the shoulder and brachial nerve and cuffed the second hand.
The court decision turned on the nature of the jury instructions during the trial of Wood and the mother and daughter.
The court ruled the jury should have been instructed that Wood had the right to self-defense against excessive force, and it was Wood's point of view, not the officer's, that had to be taken into account.
The case was sent back to the trial court, and whether the ruling helps Wood avoid conviction is unknown. It's hard to see how a person being hammered by the police under these kinds of circumstances is supposed to know what is excessive and unlawful force, and whether it's OK to try to defend oneself.
In similar situations, the best advice flowing from this case is for bystanders to keep their distance and for the cops to stay cool and not to overreact. (hh)
More Like Beck ?
Why is the cartoon below funny? Not because Glenn Beck is "scary," but because some people in public life think so.
Beck is not a reporter, though the news gives him plenty of material. He's an entertainer and a bit of a muckraker, raking up things that others think themselves too dignified to mention.
Example: Monday's Associated Press story on the wrangling between the White House and Fox News (Page A10) said Beck had campaigned for the ouster of White House adviser Van Jones for his "past statements and associations." That's true but lame. Beck went after Jones because in his younger years Jones had called himself a communist, and more recently he signed a petition implying the Bush administration was behind 9/11 - not the guy most people would want advising the U.S. government.
Beck manages to get something done while often mocking himself. For the cover of Time he posed sticking out his tongue.
As for commentators who don't take themselves too seriously, we could use a few more. (hh)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Medicaid Fraud
A couple of weeks ago the Oregon Attorney General's Office announced the successful prosecution of three people in the Portland area for pulling off a fraudulent Medicaid claim, which had gone on for more than two years. One wonders why the fraud was not discovered sooner, and the answer is that some people are good at lying.
The AG's Office gave this account: "John Lee Veals of Portland claimed that he was disabled-unable to walk without assistance, drive, brush his teeth or even shave. A Medicaid program designed to allow disabled people to remain at home instead of a nursing facility paid Veals' son, Ramone Lee Veals, approximately $1,600 per month for three years to provide care for his father. John Veals' companion, Christina Underwood, claimed she would provide the care when Ramone was unavailable."
The scheme began to unravel when a state caseworker discovered that Ramone was employed full-time as a construction worker. This triggered an investigation, which found that the disabled man had just been cited for running a red light in Gresham.
His appearance there proved that he could drive and walk, and the three people involved eventually were convicted of first-degree theft. John was sentenced to 13 months in prison, the others to hundreds of hours of community service, and all must pay restitution.
Good for the caseworker who first noticed something wrong. But how can a phony claim like that get started in the first place? And how can it continue for long without somebody noticing that it's a scam?
The answer, according to the Justice Department, is that Veals was in an ATV accident in 2004 and legitimately disabled. But then he recovered while continuing to claim he needed care. When a DHS caseworker checked on him once a year, he was in bed and said nothing, and the others lied that he was still unable to care for himself. It was a case of lying to obtain benefits to which the caregivers were not entitled.
Medicaid is the joint state-federal program to help low-income people with medical needs, and it does not have enough money to help everyone who needs help. It's a shame that some people make things worse with their lies. But to catch them, it might be a good idea to check on them more than once a year. (hh)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Why health care reform is needed right now
Editorial: A tax on pop? Freedom slips
It's only a long shot so far, but serious people on the national scene are giving more than passing thought to a tax on soft drinks. It's a sign of things to come as Americans give up notions of being free.
According to a report on National Public Radio Wednesday, researchers have concluded that a tax on soft drinks would yield hundreds of billions of dollars over several years. Think of all the good that could be done with that kind of money. And think of all the health problems - from obesity to tooth decay - that could be prevented with a tax on sugary drinks.
Reformers can always find reasons to increase their control over what people should not do, and what they must be prohibited from doing.
Health care is the excuse for a tax on risky behavior. If the government has to pay the bill, the government has a natural interest in trying to reduce the cost.
So don't expect the idea of a soft drink tax to remain a long shot forever. Sooner or later it will be adopted, just as taxes have been used to drive down the use of tobacco.
After that, what? There is no limit to the kinds of risky behavior that has the potential of increasing public costs.
We already have helmet laws on the grounds that the public should not have to bear the cost of caring for brain-injured motorcyclists who don't have means of their own.
As we slip down that slope, future generations may be forced to accept regulations or limits on anything where injuries are more likely than during stints on the couch watching TV. Such activities would include mountaineering, bicycling and skiing, and hunting too.
And long before that, people in America can expect more regulations to regulate what they eat.
If anybody ever asks where in the Constitution our regulators find the authority, they may point to "general welfare" in the preamble. Or they might just say: Forget the Constitution; these regulations are for your own good. (hh)
According to a report on National Public Radio Wednesday, researchers have concluded that a tax on soft drinks would yield hundreds of billions of dollars over several years. Think of all the good that could be done with that kind of money. And think of all the health problems - from obesity to tooth decay - that could be prevented with a tax on sugary drinks.
Reformers can always find reasons to increase their control over what people should not do, and what they must be prohibited from doing.
Health care is the excuse for a tax on risky behavior. If the government has to pay the bill, the government has a natural interest in trying to reduce the cost.
So don't expect the idea of a soft drink tax to remain a long shot forever. Sooner or later it will be adopted, just as taxes have been used to drive down the use of tobacco.
After that, what? There is no limit to the kinds of risky behavior that has the potential of increasing public costs.
We already have helmet laws on the grounds that the public should not have to bear the cost of caring for brain-injured motorcyclists who don't have means of their own.
As we slip down that slope, future generations may be forced to accept regulations or limits on anything where injuries are more likely than during stints on the couch watching TV. Such activities would include mountaineering, bicycling and skiing, and hunting too.
And long before that, people in America can expect more regulations to regulate what they eat.
If anybody ever asks where in the Constitution our regulators find the authority, they may point to "general welfare" in the preamble. Or they might just say: Forget the Constitution; these regulations are for your own good. (hh)
Mailbag: Enough jokesters, already
Democrat funnyman Al Franken won the 2008 Minnesota Senate race by a little over 300 votes. Maybe the joke's on us.
ACORN registered 43,000 voters in Minnesota, virtually all Democrat. Of 1.3 million nationwide, ACORN has admitted to 400,000 fraudulent voter registrations so far.
How many Mickey Mouses, Donald Ducks and Dallas Cowboy football teams were registered to vote by ACORN in Minnesota?
Although Mickey and Donald are old enough to vote, shouldn't this possible "stolen" election be investigated?
And don't we already have enough jokesters in Congress?
Larry A. Smith, Shedd
ACORN registered 43,000 voters in Minnesota, virtually all Democrat. Of 1.3 million nationwide, ACORN has admitted to 400,000 fraudulent voter registrations so far.
How many Mickey Mouses, Donald Ducks and Dallas Cowboy football teams were registered to vote by ACORN in Minnesota?
Although Mickey and Donald are old enough to vote, shouldn't this possible "stolen" election be investigated?
And don't we already have enough jokesters in Congress?
Larry A. Smith, Shedd
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Person interest story...
http://gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_0e0833fa-b78d-11de-bff5-001cc4c002e0.html
This is my Grandpa. I remember many many football games spent eating peanuts in the rain. Some of my best childhood memories! I remember most of the bad years of football (27 years worth) and am glad he gets to see the good years!
I would add that the GT (as usual) mispelled names and made a few typos. Our last name is Nordyke. How can you spell it right the first time and then mispell it later in the article?
Lyle Moevao, Howard Croom, and James Dockery are class acts. Bravo to the OSU football program!
This is my Grandpa. I remember many many football games spent eating peanuts in the rain. Some of my best childhood memories! I remember most of the bad years of football (27 years worth) and am glad he gets to see the good years!
I would add that the GT (as usual) mispelled names and made a few typos. Our last name is Nordyke. How can you spell it right the first time and then mispell it later in the article?
Lyle Moevao, Howard Croom, and James Dockery are class acts. Bravo to the OSU football program!
Monday, October 12, 2009
"The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later" to debut at OSU
Letter: Corvallis woman attending football game found swastika
I am greatly disappointed in the people of Lebanon, and the students at Lebanon High School. When I entered the southeast gate of the Lebanon High School football field on Thursday, Oct. 1, I was greeted by a very large Nazi swastika painted on the concrete.
Why was it there? What hadn't it been removed? Why are people being silent, rather than outraged and disgusted by the vandalism, and obvious symbol of hatred painted on school grounds?
AnnaLiese M. Moran
Corvallis
Editor's note: Lebanon police are investigating a recent series of incidents of vandalism and graffiti. They are inviting anyone with information to call investigators at 541-451-1751. According to an article in The Lebanon Express, most of the graffiti sprayed around Lebanon High School and Seven Oak Middle School on Sept. 28 and 29 was promptly removed. However, they theorize that Moran on Oct. 1 either found a new Swastika painted after Sept. 29 or that it had been overlooked from the earlier vandalism. It was removed soon after she brought it to the attention of authorities.
Why was it there? What hadn't it been removed? Why are people being silent, rather than outraged and disgusted by the vandalism, and obvious symbol of hatred painted on school grounds?
AnnaLiese M. Moran
Corvallis
Editor's note: Lebanon police are investigating a recent series of incidents of vandalism and graffiti. They are inviting anyone with information to call investigators at 541-451-1751. According to an article in The Lebanon Express, most of the graffiti sprayed around Lebanon High School and Seven Oak Middle School on Sept. 28 and 29 was promptly removed. However, they theorize that Moran on Oct. 1 either found a new Swastika painted after Sept. 29 or that it had been overlooked from the earlier vandalism. It was removed soon after she brought it to the attention of authorities.
Friday, October 9, 2009
So this is what the economic recovery looks like?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Maine same-sex marriage measure: Prop. 8 rerun
MoveOn sent me an alert about this. They are running a campaign against it.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Preaching to the choir, but it's good music.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendon-ayanbadejo/same-sex-marriages-whats_b_190591.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-zirin/why-i-support-the-nationa_b_310890.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-zirin/why-i-support-the-nationa_b_310890.html
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/world/middleeast/04nuke.html?_r=1&hp
Maybe we need to just talk with them a little more; and maybe they won't build it...
Maybe we need to just talk with them a little more; and maybe they won't build it...
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Mailbag: Look beyond the cartoon
Thank you for running Harold Meyerson's Washington Post piece about the Drier/Martin study of media coverage of ACORN, even though it was placed directly beneath a very suggestive cartoon showing a tarted-up acorn being ignored, or unnoticed, by the "watchdog press."
I wonder how many of your readers will have their negative impression of the media reinforced by the cartoon, and the "steady drumbeat" from Glenn Beck and the folks at FOX, without even bothering to read Meyerson's article, or taking the trouble to find out more about the young man who filmed the "sting" of the ACORN staffers who so foolishly played along with his little hypothetical game.
This kind of manipulation of the press is right out of the Lee Atwater/Karl Rove playbook, and represents the sort of politics that we, the majority of the American electorate, rejected in the last election. I would hope that we are interested enough, and smart enough, to look beyond the cartoon.
Glenn Gang, Newport
I wonder how many of your readers will have their negative impression of the media reinforced by the cartoon, and the "steady drumbeat" from Glenn Beck and the folks at FOX, without even bothering to read Meyerson's article, or taking the trouble to find out more about the young man who filmed the "sting" of the ACORN staffers who so foolishly played along with his little hypothetical game.
This kind of manipulation of the press is right out of the Lee Atwater/Karl Rove playbook, and represents the sort of politics that we, the majority of the American electorate, rejected in the last election. I would hope that we are interested enough, and smart enough, to look beyond the cartoon.
Glenn Gang, Newport
Roses ‘n' Raspberries (Oct. 2)
ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.
RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.
We hereby deliver:
• ROSES to Oregon State University students who took part in the United Way Day of Caring last week for the first time.
More than 600 OSU students and staff members participated in the annual United Way event, and their participation more than doubled the turnout and the results: In all, nearly 1,000 volunteers tackled nearly 100 community service projects across Benton County.
In years past, the Day of Caring took place the second or third week of September, before most OSU students hit town. This year, though, Jennifer Moore, the executive director of the United Way of Benton and Lincoln Counties, teamed up with United Way board member Kris Winter, who works at OSU, and they found a way to push the event back to broaden OSU's participation.
• • •
• ROSES to one of our favorite Corvallis traditions, the Fall Festival, which celebrated its 37th edition in fine fashion last weekend. The weather was perfect, the music was great, and we always see some artwork that we absolutely have to own. (The only downside, of course, is that we can't possibly afford all of it.)
The relaxed groove of the Fall Festival always seems to us to be the perfect way to top off another Corvallis summer - and, as if to emphasize the point, Monday dawned cloudy, cooler and rainy.
As an added bonus, we loved Mark Allison's painting "It Was a Sunny Day," which was featured on this year's festival poster. It can take its rightful place among the best festival images.
• • •
• ROSES to Milt Sedlacek, the owner of the Corvallis Dental Lab, for celebrating his 50th anniversary at the lab. These days, Sedlacek owns the lab, but he's still tackling the same work he's been doing for a half-century, still enjoying it and still, by all accounts, doing a great job. In an era when career counselors advise people to be ready to change careers as often as they change haircuts, there is something comforting - and, yes, inspiring - about Sedlacek's story.
• • •
• RASPBERRIES to the Gazette-Times, which should have been a little more careful about an editorial this week, and the Oregon University System, for dragging its feet on fixing a scheduling conflict.
Monday, the first day of classes at Oregon State University, fell on Yom Kippur, a Jewish holy day, creating some tough choices for devout Jews, who typically stay away from work and school on that day so they can pray and reflect.
In an editorial Monday, we had praise for the calm and rational words that OSU officials and Jewish community leaders used in addressing the scheduling conflict - and we still have praise for the restraint and maturity those men used as they discussed the issue with the G-T.
However, after Monday's editorial appeared, an alert reader sent us a copy of minutes from an August 2004 meeting of the Oregon University System's Provosts' Council. One of the topics discussed at that meeting more than five years ago was the fact that in 2009, university system classes would start on the same day as Yom Kippur; in fact, the council considered a proposal at that meeting to start classes a week earlier, on Sept. 21.
You would think that five years should have been enough time to avoid the conflict that occurred this week at all the units of the university system, save the University of Oregon. OSU is doing the right thing by taking steps now to be sure the scheduling conflict doesn't happen again - but it certainly seems as if it didn't have to happen this year. And our story and editorial about this issue should have included this additional background.
• • •
• RASPBERRIES, again, to the G-T, for not thinking seriously enough about a photograph that illustrated a story about some nasty vandalism in Roseburg.
The story, which ran in Thursday's G-T, was about someone splattering feces on a window in front of a life-size cutout of President Barack Obama. We ran a particularly unpleasant photo from the Associated Press to illustrate the story.
Now, sometimes a newspaper will choose to run an unpleasant photo because it says something essential about a story that's hard to get across with just words. That's the power of photojournalism.
In this case, though, the photo we published doesn't live up to that standard. We made a mistake in judgment in running the photo, and we offer apologies to readers who were offended.
RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.
We hereby deliver:
• ROSES to Oregon State University students who took part in the United Way Day of Caring last week for the first time.
More than 600 OSU students and staff members participated in the annual United Way event, and their participation more than doubled the turnout and the results: In all, nearly 1,000 volunteers tackled nearly 100 community service projects across Benton County.
In years past, the Day of Caring took place the second or third week of September, before most OSU students hit town. This year, though, Jennifer Moore, the executive director of the United Way of Benton and Lincoln Counties, teamed up with United Way board member Kris Winter, who works at OSU, and they found a way to push the event back to broaden OSU's participation.
• • •
• ROSES to one of our favorite Corvallis traditions, the Fall Festival, which celebrated its 37th edition in fine fashion last weekend. The weather was perfect, the music was great, and we always see some artwork that we absolutely have to own. (The only downside, of course, is that we can't possibly afford all of it.)
The relaxed groove of the Fall Festival always seems to us to be the perfect way to top off another Corvallis summer - and, as if to emphasize the point, Monday dawned cloudy, cooler and rainy.
As an added bonus, we loved Mark Allison's painting "It Was a Sunny Day," which was featured on this year's festival poster. It can take its rightful place among the best festival images.
• • •
• ROSES to Milt Sedlacek, the owner of the Corvallis Dental Lab, for celebrating his 50th anniversary at the lab. These days, Sedlacek owns the lab, but he's still tackling the same work he's been doing for a half-century, still enjoying it and still, by all accounts, doing a great job. In an era when career counselors advise people to be ready to change careers as often as they change haircuts, there is something comforting - and, yes, inspiring - about Sedlacek's story.
• • •
• RASPBERRIES to the Gazette-Times, which should have been a little more careful about an editorial this week, and the Oregon University System, for dragging its feet on fixing a scheduling conflict.
Monday, the first day of classes at Oregon State University, fell on Yom Kippur, a Jewish holy day, creating some tough choices for devout Jews, who typically stay away from work and school on that day so they can pray and reflect.
In an editorial Monday, we had praise for the calm and rational words that OSU officials and Jewish community leaders used in addressing the scheduling conflict - and we still have praise for the restraint and maturity those men used as they discussed the issue with the G-T.
However, after Monday's editorial appeared, an alert reader sent us a copy of minutes from an August 2004 meeting of the Oregon University System's Provosts' Council. One of the topics discussed at that meeting more than five years ago was the fact that in 2009, university system classes would start on the same day as Yom Kippur; in fact, the council considered a proposal at that meeting to start classes a week earlier, on Sept. 21.
You would think that five years should have been enough time to avoid the conflict that occurred this week at all the units of the university system, save the University of Oregon. OSU is doing the right thing by taking steps now to be sure the scheduling conflict doesn't happen again - but it certainly seems as if it didn't have to happen this year. And our story and editorial about this issue should have included this additional background.
• • •
• RASPBERRIES, again, to the G-T, for not thinking seriously enough about a photograph that illustrated a story about some nasty vandalism in Roseburg.
The story, which ran in Thursday's G-T, was about someone splattering feces on a window in front of a life-size cutout of President Barack Obama. We ran a particularly unpleasant photo from the Associated Press to illustrate the story.
Now, sometimes a newspaper will choose to run an unpleasant photo because it says something essential about a story that's hard to get across with just words. That's the power of photojournalism.
In this case, though, the photo we published doesn't live up to that standard. We made a mistake in judgment in running the photo, and we offer apologies to readers who were offended.
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