You know what I'm tired of.
Skyline Forest from Bend German statesman Otto von Bismarck defined politics as "the art of the possible." American economist John Kenneth Galbraith disagreed. "Politics is not the art of the possible," he said. "It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."
Considering the fate of Skyline Forest, the Oregon House faced a choice between the disastrous - doing nothing and potentially allowing the almost 33,000-acre tract to be clear-cut or chopped up - and the unpalatable - passing a bill that would allow development of part of the forest in exchange for protecting the rest. Wisely, it chose the second option.
For years, the Deschutes Land Trust has been trying to acquire Skyline Forest - less picturesquely known as the Bull Springs Tree Farm - to preserve it for its recreation and scenic values. The land, owned by Fidelity National Timber Resources, is zoned for exclusive forest use, preventing its development. But it could be carved up into small private parcels, restricting public access. Or Fidelity or some future owner could simply bring in the bulldozers and chainsaws.
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from a closed car dealership, turning lemons into lemonade, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Muscle Cars Are Awesome
"Everything's possible when we're working together, and we're off to a great start," offered President Obama during a speech announcing new fuel economy standards on Tuesday (while also thanking the many auto execs and "outstanding elected leaders and appointees" in attendance). Kicking his environmental aims into overdrive, Obama is insisting on higher CAFÉ standards of 35.5 MPG (39 for cars and 30 for trucks) by 2016 – four years earlier than previously planned. This will cut national oil demand by eight billion gallons annually, slash greenhouse gases by one-third, and make GM look even more inept for creating Hummer while shuttering Saturn. Fear always helps in selling such policies, and Obama has framed the new standards as essential for national security, then dismissed the additional $600 per car by invoking idealism, saying that the program should pay for itself in three years. Ever hopeful, the plan is based on figures from 2016 (Obama does have time-traveling powers, if you don't know), when gas will cost $3.50 per gallon, cats and dogs will be lovers, and Exxon-Mobil has our best interests at heart.
Ever since the Cascades Campus of Oregon State University was founded in 2001 it's been treated like the ugly stepchild of the state higher education system - unwanted, undernourished and unloved.
Now, with the economy still tanking and a budget shortfall of more than $4 billion looming over the next two years, there are those in the state legislature who want to kick the stepchild out of the house. That would be a huge mistake, both now and in the long run.
Although so far it hasn't lived up to the early enrollment projections - in part because the state provided only half as much money for it as it originally promised - OSU-Cascades already is giving hundreds of Central and Eastern Oregon students a higher education opportunity they probably wouldn't have otherwise.
Well here we go again, another destination resort is proposed for the Sisters area-only this one is being called, a "guest lodge."
Hank Queen, retired Boeing executive, decided to get out of the rain in Seattle and build a magnificent Dream Home, (www.sunburstretreat.com) on 9+ acres of the north end of Sun Mountain Estates. (If you're not familiar with the location, it's along Highway 20, between Sisters and Bend.) The only thing is, Hank wants all his friends to come visit him, along with others who want to drive a few golf balls, "meditate," and maybe he'll have a few weddings on the side. The area is zoned, MUA-10, (multiple use agriculture) so it's no wonder a lot of the residents of Sun Mountain are waving the red flag.
Hey, I was wondering why all the news about what is happening outside of Bend when we, as individuals, have no control over what is happening 7,000 miles away? So many opinions about what is happening with the torturings and to what point? If anything talk about the issues closer to home like the problems here in Bend! Talk about them for a few seconds BUT do something about them and make a difference. I have met so many thousands of people who always whine about what is happening overseas instead of doing something here in town to make a difference. My question is this "can you make a difference with what is happening overseas? Most likely "NO." However can you make a difference here in town? The odds are far greater to your favor here in Bend. There are scores of problems here in Bend that need serious attention and watching TV about Obama, the war in Iraq, the torturing issues, the silly media hype on anything overseas.
I believe you are the best newspaper in town, but your last WTF note re: the water level at Smith Rock rates journalistically on a par with that rag that claims to be a local daily newspaper.
Your rant shows a lack of research on your reporter's part.
Ever since Oregon's public records law was passed some 40 years ago, special interests have been nibbling holes in it. This week, with the help of Rep. Judy Stiegler of Bend, the legislature bit off another chunk.
Stiegler issued a press release on Monday talking about her role in the passage of HB 2727, a bill that would create an exemption from the law for information about holders of concealed handgun licenses (CHLs).
Sheriffs in counties across Oregon, including Deschutes, have been simply flouting the public records law and refusing requests by reporters for information about concealed-carry permits. This legislation essentially throws a cloak of legality over what the sheriffs have been doing illegally.
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting on hedge-funding the 'Green' movement, and stealing advertisers from the Boston Globe while on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Never speak ill of the deadThankfully,
Obama's Recession
Hasn't Hurt Bush
107 days and counting, it is amazing how Obama has utterly ruined our country - the economy sucks, the CIA tortures, exotic flus are spreading, Joe Biden can't shut-up… Gracefully, the president who handed our country over to this Socialism semi-Muslim is still doing swell; George W. Bush has already raised $100 million for his Presidential Library, planned to open on Southern Methodist University's campus in Dallas by 2013 when the shredding is completed. Pitched to donors as a place to "further the domestic and international goals of the Bush administration," the library will contain no books, pictures, or documents, but rather house a total of 911 American flags and the souls of all who worked in the White House from 2001-2008. Two notes: Bill Clinton didn't hit the $100 hallmark until well into his second year of fundraising for his own brothel, err, library in Arkansas, and Bush can thank the same friends who made his two terms so successful; Texas oilman Donald Evans chairs the library foundation – one of the seven total Americans who benefited from eight years of Bush, a president who left office with a favorability rating of 22%, and still believes that "history will vindicate" him.
This week's letter comes from Mike Caba who continues our ongoing dialogue over interrogation practices with a nice meditation on the moral perils of state-sponsored torture. Thanks for the letter, Mike. You can pick up your winnings, a pound of Strictly Organic Coffee, at our offices, 704 NW Georgia.
With this business about torture our country has accomplished two bits of the devil's business, namely, we are both more evil within, and less protected from evil without. When this unfortunate practice is examined, we see that discussion surrounding the use of torture nearly always circles around two pivot points, the moral and the utilitarian, summarized as follows: is it evil and, does it work? On the first question, nary a voice is heard in opposition to the contention that torture is essentially evil at its core; and those who have practiced it in the past, or who unfortunately still practice it today, have often devalued their victims to a subhuman status in order to soothe their own moral vibes against the use of various devices (e.g. the Nazis and the untermensch).
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