The Bulletin’s Taser Stunt

As a general internist in Portland for 30 years, I often treat a patient with needs that require the expertise of a consultant. When faced with the question of where the patient should be referred, among the important criteria we discuss are the facility's patient safety record and its insurance coverage in case the medical staff commits an act of negligence.
While the tram ride is beautiful and the multimillion-dollar riverfront development and new buildings on the hillside are state of the art, I don't recommend OHSU to my patients. That's because OHSU receives special privileges and unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by no other medical center in Oregon – placing business over patient care and safety.

On Feb. 4, 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story in which the following was stated:
"Beginning in 1999, the government has entered into a series of single-bid contracts with Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States. The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of rail cars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees."

Andy High, director of government affairs for the Central Oregon Builders Association, wrote a piece published in the "other" newspaper on Jan. 13. Andy claims that COBA continually gave warnings to the city council going back to perhaps 2005. In mid-2006 COBA claimed awareness that new home starts were declining and "warned jurisdictions" to reflect that in future budgets. Their warnings failed to get the city's attention. I think I am correct in saying that when you're in the middle of an unprecedented boom, you don't want any negatives coming your way! I'll accept what COBA says about its many warnings because I can't prove otherwise.
COBA suggests that the slowdown in new home construction was because of the "market," for one reason, and the increased cost of doing business with the city, for the other. Okay, I agree with the "market," but the other can be challenged. The increased cost of doing business with the city came about by "growth out of control"! The city was in a crisis mode of two steps forward and one back. COBA failed to warn the city of the severe consequences of that. But why would they?

Amnesty International, famous for their efforts defending the human rights of terrorists and criminals everywhere, are now, with the full support of the Source, weighing in on the subject of TASER use. The premise is that TASERS are the primary factor in hundreds of deaths among those unfortunate enough to have been Tased. The reason for the use of force is conveniently sidestepped in all but the most sensational of cases.
Over 200 people have died within a two-hour window of being hit with a TASER. However, medical examiners (aka the experts) determined TASER use to have been the primary or secondary cause in only 23 of those cases.

This past Sunday’s concert at the Tower featuring bluegrass legend Del McCoury was something that I had been looking forward to all winter.Bend rarely gets such a performer in town, and as Del mentioned, he had to "cross about 16 mountains to get here.
While Del and the boys put on a fantastic show Sunday, I have to say I was extremely embarrassed for our "vocal" Bend crowd. As Del usually does, he asked for requests halfway through his show. Immediately there were requests for songs as audacious as "Rocky Top" and Bill Monroe’s "Uncle Pen," among others. And even when Del mentioned that he had played "Uncle Pen" every night that he played with Bill Monroe and was kinda tired of it, he was challenged with a comment that he has had "50 years to get over it."