It was a gut-wrenching experience the moment health care reform became doomed with the special election in Massachusetts. A democratically elected President of far too much personal integrity was asked to do what the GOP would not hesitate to do in his position – use the last remaining days of party majority to advance a controversial political agenda, in this case health- care reform. This writer knows far too well the consequences of the outcome; I've been living for several years with major health issues that are excluded under current law as pre-existing conditions. I had been waiting, hoping, praying for reform to come into effect so that I might be able to seek out the health care I desperately need and cannot afford.
Source Weekly
Posted inCulture
The Crime Bowl
I have a deeply rooted psychological problem, and… wait. What do you mean, “No shit, Sherlock”? For all you know, YOU'RE the one with a deeply rooted psychological problem, and I'M the one who's AWESOME… and NORMAL! Now I'll happily admit that my feelings toward the Super Bowl (CBS, Sun Feb 7, 3 pm) run counter to that of most of the nation. Half of you, for example, love the spectacle of steroid-addled meatloafs giving each other concussions and chasing a ball around a field for the opportunity to score a touchdown and feel up each others' asses on the sideline. (Actually, that doesn't sound half bad… but don't interrupt me! I'm on a roll!) The other half don't give two poops about football, and are instead fans of zany and wildly expensive Super Bowl commercials (that are almost as homoerotic as the real life sideline ass grabs – I'm looking at YOU, Snickers!). And because I hate both of those things, I'M THE PSYCHOLOGICALLY CRAZY ONE??
Posted inFood & Drink
Phoenix Rising: The Phoenix re-opens with a fresh menu and new locale
To state how The Phoenix rises from the ashes in rejuvenation and rebirth would be obvious, but what isn't so obvious to many in Bend is that The Phoenix Café has reopened as The Phoenix in the old Kayo's Roadhouse location.
With the moniker, “A Restaurant for Everyone,” The new Phoenix menu sets no boundaries of regional flavor, blending elements of American steakhouse, Thai fusion and California cuisine. With dark, private banquette seating and dim lighting, the space is conducive to intimate dining despite high-volume traffic. The wait staff is attractive and well trained – the sort of people I want to be serving my food.
For breakfast, the thought behind the Phoenix Omelette ($8.50) was good; it had mushrooms, spinach, Swiss and sausage ($1.50). The sausage was well seasoned and flavorful, while the eggs and vegetables could have benefited from more seasoning. A little Cholula went a long way. The rosemary roasted potatoes were crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
Posted inFood & Drink
Phoenix Rising: The Phoenix re-opens with a fresh menu and new locale
To state how The Phoenix rises from the ashes in rejuvenation and rebirth would be obvious, but what isn't so obvious to many in Bend is that The Phoenix Café has reopened as The Phoenix in the old Kayo's Roadhouse location.
With the moniker, “A Restaurant for Everyone,” The new Phoenix menu sets no boundaries of regional flavor, blending elements of American steakhouse, Thai fusion and California cuisine. With dark, private banquette seating and dim lighting, the space is conducive to intimate dining despite high-volume traffic. The wait staff is attractive and well trained – the sort of people I want to be serving my food.
For breakfast, the thought behind the Phoenix Omelette ($8.50) was good; it had mushrooms, spinach, Swiss and sausage ($1.50). The sausage was well seasoned and flavorful, while the eggs and vegetables could have benefited from more seasoning. A little Cholula went a long way. The rosemary roasted potatoes were crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
Posted inCulture
Our Picks for 2/3 – 2/11: Art Walk, Cash’d Out, Slightly Stoopid and more
First Friday Art Walkfriday 5After taking January off, the First Friday Art Walk is back on with all the usual suspects (downtown, Old Mill, Northwest Crossing and beyond) showing off local, regional and national artists. Hit our Local Arts listings for a complete gallery guide.
Cash'd Out
friday 5Tribute bands can sometimes wander into dangerously corny territory, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this San Diego-based Johnny Cash cover band. Their covers of mostly early Cash numbers (including all the classics, of course) are eerily on target – down to the twang of the guitar and the smoothly deep vocals that made Cash an American legend. Larry and His Flask open. $12/door. All ages. 9pm. Domino Room, 51 NW Greenwood Ave.After Hours Art Party friday 6After doing the walk of art (our second favorite walk, behind the walk of life, of course), you can keep your creative appreciation muscles flexed by hitting up the Silver Moon where you'll see live painting from Erik Hoogen and music from Mindscape. $5. 9pm. Silver Moon Brewing Co., 24 NW Greenwood Ave.
Posted inOpinion
Ripped From The Headlines: Torn gets ripped, Obama woodsheds Congress and more!
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from the Super Bowl (really his couch, a bottle and bookie only a reach away), hating the guy who loves the commercials – on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Busted Piggy Banks
President Obama is doing more damage control than Toyota. Gas pedals sticking to the floor and sending cars out of control at high speed (stop, think, put the car in neutral, people) is much like government spending. The new $3.6-trillion budget is akin to a panhandler trying to sell a Hummer (err, let's say Porsche) and will increase our deficit by $1.6 trillion over ten years, a reality that the White House defended by pointing out that Obama inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit from Bush. Does any of this make sense? Of course not. We're dealing with D.C. here, where our money and morals are mere talking points. The budget does include cuts: Bush's attempt to explore the moon (so much cheese still undiscovered), border security (shhh, don't tell Mexico), and a bunch of programs that fix the environment and actually help people but are no longer compelling sound-bites on television and YouTube.
Posted inOpinion
Oregon's Priorities
It's no secret that Oregon's prison spending has been spiraling out of control. Now comes the latest evidence that Oregon has its priorities backward at a time when it's slashing spending on education, healthcare and other social safety net programs.
Posted inOpinion
Mayor Daley's Raid on Oregon
When you're the mayor of a decaying Rust Belt city, you naturally are inclined to grasp at any straw of hope that seems to present itself, so we probably shouldn't be too hard on Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
His Honor has been bragging loudly about how Oregon's passage of Measures 66 and 67, which modestly increased taxes on affluent individuals and big businesses, is going to prove to be a windfall for America's former Second (now Third) City.
“It will help our economic development immediately,” Daley told the Chicago Sun-Times. “You'd better believe it. We'll be out in Oregon enticing corporations to relocate to Chicago.”
Daley couldn't resist throwing in some faux populist, anti-progressive-tax rhetoric: “I've always thought America stands for [rewarding success]. … I never knew it's a class war – that those who succeed in life are the ones that have to bear all the burden. … It will be a whole change in America that those who succeed and work hard, we're gonna tax 'em more than anyone else.”
Posted inOpinion
Letter of the Week: Democracy loses
Letter to the editor.
This week's letter come from Sue Bastian who takes direct aim at the recent Supreme Court decision that removed campaign spending restrictions on corporations in federal elections, a move that is expected to increase Corporate America's influence on our government. Thanks for the letter Sue. You can pick up your winner's spoils, a bag of Strictly Organic Coffee at our office, 704 NW Georgia – no corporate influence peddling required.
The Supremes pounded the final nail in the coffin of democracy with their recent decision to unleash the few remaining restraints on the corporados and banksters to own and control government.
In 1886, the Supremes granted personhood to corporations endowing these artificial entities (legal fictions) with all the rights of real persons except the right to vote.
In 1976, the Supremes ruled that money is synonymous with free speech essentially deciding that corporations could buy elections using money as an expression of free speech. Now corporations could vote.
The McCain-Feingold Act in 2002 restricted some of the more onerous practices of corporations in federal elections.
Posted inOpinion
The Fallacy of Freedom
Letter to the editor.
Freedom is a funny thing, or maybe not. It takes on gravity when we are told that America was attacked on 9/11 because, “they (whoever they might be) hate our freedoms.”
Funny that what most citizens hate is the erosion of individual freedoms in the USA after 9/11. As someone said, 'If freedom was the main reason for the attacks, Holland should have been attacked a long time ago.
Some of freedom's irony lies in the definition of the word. For the most of the working and middle class folks of the world, it means having individual rights and freedom from exploitation. For the wealthy elite (and their agents, the politicians) it means freedom to exploit and freedom from interference in any of their escapades.
