Guest Commentary

Why it's time for Oregon to get behind Obama. I support Barack Obama because both he and I are Patriotic Americans who believe OUR flag can once again stand for what it has long represented … a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Barack Obama and I also agree that "the people" referred to in the Declaration of Independence consists of each and every individual citizen of the United States, whether born on our soil or naturalized citizens. We are, with all due respect to our Native American Indian citizens, a nation of immigrants.

John McCain and his band of Republican "carpetbaggers" have spent the past twenty plus years trying to morph our glorious flag into the equivalent of the Corporate Logo for their use in the Global Economy … where the jobs go overseas and the profits go to insiders and corporate investors, and where "we the people" pick up the tab when the feces hits the fan.

John McCain and his band of Republican "carpetbaggers" embrace a simple minded, cynical notion of Corporate Personhood that gives enormous political power and influence over our governmental and political affairs to foreign nationals so long as they wield that influence ($$$$$$$$$$) through their investments in and control over any domestically incorporated entity.

While our fine City continues to paste yellow "smiley faces" over a myriad of problems at Juniper Ridge, The Bulletin provides front page coverage for a miniscule 10 employee (no new job) candidate for property there. Taxpayers should start asking penetrating questions regarding how much this will cost after the shellacking we took from Les Schwab along with the following:

1. State of the Union at JR

Preface: Last December Jim Clinton said, and I quote, that "as time goes on, all of these forces have come to bear which will likely lead to a dumbed-down mediocre project. I keep wondering if the mess we're in now was foreseeable, and I guess for me it wasn't." Moreover, developers across CO are scrambling for sidelines, mothballing projects, reneging on deals, and filing for bankruptcy in this ugly market.

Question: Given the sincerity of Jim's assessment, the myriad of problems that JR has encountered, and a bleak economic outlook, why are we pouring millions into this black hole?

The cops shot a cougar in Chicago a month ago. DNA tests suggested the young male may have begun his journey in the Black Hills of South Dakota, 1,000 miles away.
If so, he roamed across three big states, looking for love. Earlier this winter, an automatic camera set up by a biologist photographed a wolverine in a forest north of Lake Tahoe. This was jaw dropping — the first documented wolverine sighting in California in 85 years. Hair samples suggested this vagabond may have come from as far away as Idaho's Sawtooth Range. Scientists suspect these pioneers are following stream courses, figuring it out as they go much the way Lewis and Clark did, though without the help of Sacagawea. I imagine it's harder for a cougar to reach Chicago than it is for a climber to summit Everest. Wisconsin is awash in whitetails, but even at today's lofty gasoline prices Eisenhower's interstates are a shooting gallery. Try crossing I-10 in Phoenix on foot and you get the idea.

Editor’s Note: The following piece is part of an ongoing debate in our letters page that started with a column by Jim Anderson (Killer Cat 5-21) about a domestic cat at the High Desert Museum that nabbed a chipmunk in front of patrons.
By Tom Rodhouse
At the risk of fanning the flames here, I cannot sit idly by. By way of reply to an email response from The High Desert Museum to Jim Anderson's "Killer Cat" article last week, I have been compelled to clarify that the cat in question was nowhere near the cabin "scene" but was hunting around the bird feeders at the sitting area above the otter exhibit.
This particular part of the Museum is a wildlife viewing area, not a historical reconstruction. Jim's article, perhaps a result of editing down for word count, failed to mention that the cat actually caught a yellow-pine chipmunk, and was not just stalking it. And it was indeed a chipmunk, not one of the "overrunning" ground squirrels that the Museum complains about. As a wildlife biologist with a life-long fascination with predatory animals, I have to admit I was mighty impressed with the facility this cat exhibited. Honestly, I have never seen such a talented hunter at work before. If it were a bobcat, I'd have chalked it up as one of my life list's top wonderful natural history moments. The cat clearly was a pro working around the feeders and the rocks and log adjacent to the clearing. It did run halfway up a tree after another chipmunk or bird moments after I tried to run it off after its first catch. The cat was serious about its business and clearly had spent time working that particular area over before. Of course at the time I had no idea this was a sanctioned Museum exhibition, and assumed it was one of the many feral cats wreaking havoc on native wildlife in our open lands. I was shocked when I was met with resistance by Museum staff over this issue, and I am amazed at the Museum's continued insistence that the cat is not a detriment.

As a little girl growing up in the desert east of Bend, nothing escaped my inquisitive eye. Everything from the blue summer sky to the warm sand under my bare feet, each unique attribute of my desert world, was observed, touched, smelled, heard, and occasionally tasted. My childhood memories are speckled with the scent of sage leaves crushed between my fingers, the carefree songs of finches and chickadees, the rough feel of juniper bark, and the mesmerizing activity of an anthill. Every blue-bellied lizard and lichen-painted rock told me its story, and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place and time to hear it. The desert molded my childhood life and has a large influence on the person I am today.

As a longtime resident and active member of this community, I take offense at The Bulletin's attack on the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District. Once again The Bulletin is misguiding readers with inaccurate and misleading information. As a neighborhood representative, I attend 99% of park district meetings and have heard first-hand the plans for the new administrative building and adjacent park complex as well as those for the Pine Nursery and multiple other projects. The district has revised plans in response to the slow down in local construction which funds SDC's, (System Development Charges), the funds used for growth related projects. Because of this slow down, SDC's, citywide have dropped by 67%. In regard to the new office building, it sits on the upper end of the 14-acre Riverbend Park land, near, not next to the river.

Last March, I took my 3-year-old daughter to Salem to lobby for two laws that would increase the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the state of Oregon. Both laws - an anti discrimination law and a domestic partnership law passed during the 2007 legislative session. As the director of Human Dignity Coalition, I joined my family, friends and others in the Central Oregon progressive community, celebrating this victory in the civil rights movement for sexual and gender minority rights. Legislative successes like these lead me to be optimistic that my daughter will grow up in a society free from hatred, oppression and discrimination. But, we are not there yet and this last week proved it.