Cozy, Friendly, Greasy Crook County

In the history of economics these are "interesting times", times when the great deceit that is "Free Market Reaganomics" was exposed for what it really is - a lie covering up a thieving game in which exorbitantly paid gamblers play high risk games with other people's money - a game in which winnings are privatized and losses are subsidized by the taxpayer. Is there no end to the bovine forbearance of the American taxpayer? In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a foreigner, living in Bend and I've had the benefit of several years of entertainment in which the American populace has been skillfully divided against itself by trivialities like gay marriage, gun ownership and the Oath of Allegiance while the aristocracy laughs all the way to the bank in their $750,000 cars.
The sight of an ultra-right, Neo-Con junta fervently nationalizing financial institutions Cuban style is high comedy indeed. Hey Ronald, what happened to "trickle-down" economics?

 
I am writing this to let everyone know about a parking ticket scam going on in the dirt lot behind the Midtown (and please know it has nothing to do with owner or operator of the Midtown). Last Friday, Sept. 12, I parked in said dirt lot around 7:30pm to work at a concert at The Domino Room like I've done for the past five years. (I actually always assumed it was part of the Midtown's property, but it's not.) Upon returning home around 1am I noticed a parking ticket under my windshield wiper. When I opened the envelope it was issued for "Not having a parking permit" to park in that dirt lot, a fine of $25, and it was written up at 10pm! On a Friday!! The following Monday I called the issuing company, "Municipal Parking Services," out of Redmond, which is basically a guy and his cell phone, and inquired about the ticket. He informed me the owner of the dirt lot, a lawyer in town (who no one has anything nice to say about, btw) hired his company to ticket people at night during concerts for parking in his lot. He also told me new signs were posted and there was nothing I could do about it. Remember, I've been parking in this same spot for five years without a single problem.

The political cartoon (?) in the Sept. 18 edition of the Oregonian was right on! McCain is pointing to a graph saying "The Fundamentals Are Strong." The graph shows "LIES" up, "BALDFACED LIES" up, "WHOPPERS" up, "DENIAL OF OBJECTIVE REALITY" up, and "CANARDS" up! Palin is looking on with a big smile. Let's check for facts: Palin's acceptance speech "trips up on her facts, and Guiliani and Huckabee have their own stumbles on Night 3 of the Republican confab" (Source: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/gop_covent'n)
Summary:
"Sarah Palin's much awaited speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night may have shown she could play the role of attack dog, but it also showed her to be short on facts when it came to touting her own record and going after Obama's.
We found Rudy Guiliani, who introduced her to be as factually challenged as he sometimes was back when he was in the race. But Mike Huckabee may have laid the biggest egg of all.

First, about golf: yes, it's spendy. It also sucks up all of our water.