MaxRedline

Fortunately, This Ain't Baltimore

Half of their light rail "system" was shut down because of autumn.  In Portland, that only happens when we get half an inch of snow or ice.

Latest Health And Safety Hazard: Carols

Now, it seems, carol singing has been banned in a shopping mall in Hemel Hempstead, citing... ‘health and safety’, reasons. 
It is increasingly apparent that ‘health and safety’ legislation is becoming a hazard to British customs, traditions and heritage. It contains the ‘catch-all’ regulations which can be zealously over-applied and exploited by those of the ‘liberal Left’ for distinctly illiberal purposes.

Well, hey - Christmas holiday carolers can be dangerous, too.  Just because nobody's been hurt or killed yet doesn't mean it can't happen, so it's best to err on the side of safety, don't you think?  After all, they're holding flammable materials in their hands.

More On Celilo Falls And Indian Heritage

The producer of the OPB segment was kind enough to forward a link to his program, which is titled "Celilo Revealed".  It's well worth your time - particularly if you weren't around when they inundated the magnificent feature.

Casey Jones, You Better Watch Your Speed

Urban rail transit investments rarely "create" new growth, but more typically redistribute growth that would have taken place without the investment. 

In general, transit investments and services are incapable by themselves of bringing about significant and lasting land-use and urban form changes without public policies that leverage these investments and the pressure of such forces as a rapidly expanding regional economy.

Oddly, the geniuses in the Portland area keep telling you exactly the opposite:  they tell you that fixed rail is a "linchpin" that "drives" economic development.  Yet the very studies that serve as their bibles state very clearly that public policies (subsidies) must be employed to "leverage" these "investments".    Moreover, a rapidly expanding economy is cited as an additional pressure component.

Unfortunately, Oregon's business-hostile attitude guarantees that the economy will not expand rapidly.  Oregon, in fact, often leads the nation in unemployment figures

So they spend billions of dollars on fixed rail projects that do nothing to drive economic development.  They spend more to subsidize any development at all along fixed rail lines.  They drive employers out of town - and preferably out of state.

Oregon.  Things look different here.

Time For Tough Love

That whole "man-made global warming" thing just isn't gaining a lot of traction.  Even worse for AlGore and the other Leftists, there's evidence of a push-back.

PARIS - There is both growing public reluctance to make personal sacrifices and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the major international efforts now underway to battle climate change, according to findings of a poll of 12,000 citizens in 11 countries, including Canada.

They keep telling you that global warming is All Your Fault™ - yet people just aren't buying it.  The solution, obviously, is to redouble their efforts to "educate" you.

"More needs to be done to inform consumers about measures such as green taxation or carbon trading to help them understand how tangible these can be."

Most people likely already understand the concepts behind "green taxation" and "carbon trading" - and they're not buying in.  They know that such schemes are simply vehicles by which the lefties hope to steal and "redistribute" income and resources.

And as the planet sinks into yet another cooling phase, that whole anthropogenic global warming religion gets ever tougher to sell.

Google Censorship?

Amid reports that Google CEO Schmidt is preparing to accept a position in the Obama administration comes the unsettling accusation that the giant may be censoring what it perceives as "anti-Obama" material.  Who's next?

Siamese Indians

The term, "Siamese twins" was popularized back in the day of P.T. Barnum, when Chang and Eng, Chinese brothers who were born in Siam (now Thailand) toured with his show.  Conjoined twins are caused by an anomaly in utero, in which incomplete fission of the developing egg occurs, or in which separation is completed but the stem cells locate and bind to one another.  Quite rare, though with a higher incidence in southwest Asia and parts of Africa, the occurrence has never been reported among American Indians - until now.

In Oklahoma City, a pair of conjoined girls were delivered by c-section to a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe.  Now a month old, they are slated to be separated when they grow strong enough to withstand the procedure.

In news closer to home of interest to natives:  The massive horseshoe-shaped Celilo Falls just east of the Columbia River dam at The Dalles was long rumored to have been blown to smithereens by the government prior to completion of the dam project.  As many tribes had fished at the site for generations, the falls held great significance for them.  Now, evidence provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers demonstrates that the falls are intact under the reservoir; should the day arrive when The Dalles dam is decommissioned, Celilo Falls may live again.

Fair And Unbalanced

 Chris Matthews got such a tingle in his leg thanks to his infatuation with Obama that it's now reported he's considering running for the U.S. Senate in 2010.  Presumably, he'd be going against Arlen Specter, and would be counting heavily on his pals at MSNBC and elsewhere in the media to push him into office.  It'll take a lot of pushing - Matthews, as you can see, doesn't miss a meal very often.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's never complete without the turkey drop.

Jihad: Close To Home

It has recently come to light that an Islamoterrorist website is illegally hosted by the Vancouver, Washington based Dotster.

Long time readers will remember that on several occasions the Washington based Dotster company has claimed that they have no way of verifying that kataaib.net [formerly almujaahid.com] was really al Shabaab's website and therefore it was up to us to prove it to them before they would take action. Even though, you know, the website carries Shabaab's logo, statements, "martyr" videos, and is heavily laden with images of Osama bin Laden they want "proof".

If you hit the link, you'll likely find it amazing.  It seems irrefutable that an Islamic Jihad website is hosted in Vancouver, USA, and that they are actively involved in recruiting new members to their terrorist agenda.

On the other hand, one may ask just how surprising the revelation really is:  the Pacific Northwest is chock-full of "tolerant" leftists, many of whom despise America.  An effort to set up a training camp in Oregon came dangerously close to fruition, and an Islamic "charity" in the state has been shut down because it allegedly funneled cash to terrorist operations.  And until quite recently, Oregon handed out drivers' licenses to anyone who asked.

Mayor Tommy Potter, in a fit of pique, pulled Portland out of the JTTF because the jowly little lawbreaker didn't qualify for top secret clearance.  Really, the lefty Portland area gives terrorists every amenity.  Is it any wonder that they run websites from the area?