As mentioned here previously, Oregon's all about the tough issues, like requiring schools to eliminate Indian mascot names. Naturally, some folks have a problem with this.
EUGENE (AP) — Oregon’s new ban on Native American mascots in public high schools means a charter school on tribal land may have to change its Warriors logo, a chief in a headdress.
The new rules have drawn objections from two of the nine tribal groups in Oregon recognized by the federal government, including the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
Talk about a downhill run! Oregon Zoo gets a couple of pieces in The Zero, which naturally, given its "reporters" like Katy Muldoon, are nothing more than rehashed press releases. Katy regales us with a brief piece of fluff about a new arrival at the zoo - a giraffe. She of course neglects to mention that the professional animal care staff have been unable to get the animal to move indoors since his arrival, so he's spent the past few weeks living outdoors - meaning that the exhibit can't be cleaned and the pool can't be disinfected and refilled with fresh water. Nobody seems to know quite what to do, despite the fact that there are five "managers" and half a dozen "Senior Keepers" "supervising" some 32 "trained, experienced, professional animal care staff". Oregon state guidelines presently call for one manager for every eleven staff; clearly OZ is a bit over-"managed".
Nationwide, the zoo's reputation is in tatters, judging from comments left on social media sites relating to zoos and their management. It appears that the organization in Portland has embarked upon an "ethnic cleansing" strategy designed to remove all experienced, older staff, and replacing them with fresh-faced 20 to 30 - somethings who toe the party line.
There have even been rumors of a potential class-action lawsuit regarding apparent age-related discrimination by management there. Clearly, all is not well - and you won't read a word about it in any of Katy's "reports".
Also breezily "reported" in The Zero: apparently not content with the fact that the zoo is second only to the Oregon Convention Center as a money-loser in the Metro regional government's portfolio, they've decided to up the ante by removing the three or four outdoor smoking areas and have declared the entire acreage a "smoke-free zone". That'll do a lot for their bottom line, but hey - it's "green" and "politically correct". Look for them to run to you for another bond measure in the not-too-distant future. Social engineering costs money.
Government does this all the time: they tax smokes, then ban them, then complain that they're losing money. They tax fuel, mandate better mileage, then whine that they aren't getting enough of your money. That's why they work in government, where bad decisions carry no consequences.
North Carolina helped put Barky over the top in 2008, and it seemed like a good place to hold the 2012 Democrat convention. Now, not so much. Things have changed since then:
Since 2008, Republicans took over both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction, and Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, who had hoped that Obama’s presence in the state could elevate her own campaign, has decided not to run for reelection amid widespread speculation that she’d have little chance of winning.
Moreover, blacks - who charged out to vote for Barky in '08 -charged out again in their recent election, and voted heavily in favor of their homosexual marriage ban. Barky's not in a good spot; he just "came out" in support of homosexual marriage, and the organized homosexual groups are predictably, pissedly, petitioning to have the convention pulled and moved to a "more deserving" state. That's not going to happen, but these are big problems for Barky to dance around. It's also a Right To Work state, so the union thugs aren't happy, either.
And this, just in from the Department of Not Thinking Things Through: what effect do you suppose that Barky's "evolved thinking" in regard to homosexual marriage is going to have on his international efforts to appease the Muslims? Unless something's change recently, they tend to stone homosexuals to death, or saw their heads off, or both. It may have been a great move when it comes to collecting millions from Hollywood, but it's probably not going to play well in Saudi Arabia.
The norovirus mini-epidemic that was traced to a "green" reuseable bag is something that our overlords were warned about before they implemented their self-righteous, feel-good ban on plastic bags.
The industry has been fighting attempts to fight local and state bans on single-use plastic check-out bags, and one of their arguments has been that reusable bags are unsanitary.
"The public health issue is real and we raised it last session and it was ignored," said Anna Richter Taylor, a Portland-based spokeswoman for Hilex Poly, a major plastic bag manufacturer.
Unlike most "green" bags, the plastic bags aren't absorbent - and moreover, they're better for the environment, as they are produced from a waste product. As well, unlike the "green" reuseable bags, the plastic ones require less energy to produce, and are recyclable.
Drive less. Save More. That's the mantra of these idiots who seem to believe that they're doing essential government work by dreaming up propaganda, formatting it on computers, sending it out to be printed, then mailing it to your home. Tax dollars pay for the "staff", pay for the computers, pay for the printing, and pay for the mailing. For what? You can use the junk to start a fire in the fireplace or wood stove, but other than that, it's good for nothing. Remember this the next time they wail about being low on cash. They produce very expensive fire-starters, but nothing more.
U.S. District Judge James A. Redden, who presided over the Northwest's biggest salmon lawsuit for nearly a decade, told Idaho Public Television that the Snake River's four hydropower dams should be breached to help wild salmon.
"I think we need to take those dams down," Redden said.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber wants an extensive federal government review of exporting coal to Asia through Northwest ports, saying coal export could clog barge and train routes, increase diesel and coal dust pollution and boost amounts of toxic mercury drifting back to Oregon when Asian countries burn coal.
Kitzhaber, a Democrat with strong ties to environmental groups that oppose coal export, requested the comprehensive review in a letter Wednesday to the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers today. He also called for the review in a broader speech on "clean energy" today before the Future Energy Conference in Portland.
Yep, Kitz is right in there, fighting for Oregon jobs and economic growth (as long as only wind power is used to keep those all-important espresso machines running for the legions of baristas who'll be flocking here Real Soon Now). Even though the USA has a lot of coal - and the technology to burn it cleaner than anybody else on the planet - Retread doesn't want us to use it. But he also doesn't want anybody else to use it, either.
Jimmy hates hydro; Johnny hates coal. Both hate inexpensive energy. Neither live in mud huts.
The company's been in the news lately, but only due to the usual - executive ineptitude, store closings, and layoffs. Bad enough, but the most important story has been completely passed over by the media: their ties to islamofascism and terrorism.
Best Buy contributed as a Platinum sponsor to the annual banquet of CAIR’s Minnesota chapter this past February.
According to the Left's favorite source for "information", Wikipedia, The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is America's largest Muslimcivil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights.
So, what's the problem? Isn't corporate sponsorship of a fine, upstanding, humanitarian organization like CAIR a good and noble gesture? Isn't that how we want our big corporations to behave?
Actually, no.
The United States named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator of the Holy Land Foundation, a fundraiser for Hamas that the government shut down in the aftermath of 9/11.
As the Palestinians over in Gaza are discovering, those fun-loving Hamas boys are way better at lobbing rockets into Israel than they are at actually governing even a dinky little enclave like the Gaza strip. Human rights? Not so much.
Next time you're in the market for a new tv, home theater, computer, cell phone, washer, dryer, or refrigerator, you might want to pass by Best Buy.
The state overlords have some really great news! If you'd like to perhaps save a bit of money by recyling your graywater, by golly, you're in luck because they'll now allow you to buy an annual permit to allow you to do just that!
Yessir, folks, this is huge news: if you want to use the water from your washing machine or your shower to, say, water your lawn or a garden - you can do that! There are a few rules, though: you can't use water that may run through your garbage disposal, for example, as that water might be "contaminated" with grease or something. But if you follow their rules, and if you buy less than 300 gallons of water a day, then all you have to do is pay them 90 bucks for the first year of your permit. Really! This is great, see because if you follow their rules and pay them, then the water you've already paid to use won't have to go down the drain and into the sewer system; you can just haul it outdoors and dump it on your lawn. If you're really liking it, you can also pay to have approved lines disconnected and plugged into a gray water reclamation system that you can buy, and then you can use, like, hoses and stuff to sprinkle the water around "your" home. Isn't that a great idea?
Oh, and here's the real kicker: every year thereafter, you'll only need to pay $40 to keep your annual permit current! Sounds too good to be true, but it's for real. Oregon's DEQ stands ready to collect your tribute, Citizen!
Oh, by the way: don't expect the rate you pay for sewer services to go down. That would be silly. Sewer use is calculated on the basis of the amount of water you purchase, so your annual permit fees and other expenses won't figure in. And don't even think about using kitchen water or toilet water; that's one of the rules that you need to abide by. You can only use gray water from officially sanctioned sources. Please make a note of it. Oh, one more thing: rainwater is officially classified as gray water. You may need to be surcharged if it seems that citizens are using a lot of that.
Cisco Systems, angling for a contract with City of Portland to install new surveillance cameras and related equipment in the City, has been in closed-door negotiations for months, and - credit when due - The Oregonian actually broke the story. Portland's smarmy "mayor" Scam Adumbs demanded a $100,000 "donation" toward his prized "Oregon Sustainability Center" fund, and a letter of intent from the company to rent space at exhorbitant prices in the building, should it ever be constructed.
Presumably, when Scam leaves office, he plans to run for governor of Illinois.
Meanwhile, back in Salem, the usual suspects (Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and assorted others who've devoted time and effort to the goal of killing off jobs in Oregon) staged a "rally" against the demonic, horrid coal trains that might possibly bring good jobs to parts of the state that desperately need them. That's because they're "progressive" folks, which means that they hate logging and other agricultural jobs - and jobs in general. You should be able to derive all of your needs from the sun or the wind.
Undergoing chemo for lymphoma can be inordinately debilitating, and typically reactions take one of two forms: resignation or rage. It appears that John Derbyshire has taken the latter course. Recent columns have tackled issues that nobody wants people to talk about, such as the corruption of multiculturalism and most recently, "the talk". It is the latter column that proved too much for the folks at National Review, so they've terminated their relationship with him.
In the wake of the shooting of a black teenager by an overzealous neighborhood watch guy, it's become fashionable for black writers to hold forth about "the talk", and how painful it is to tell young black men to watch their behavior. Article after article after article have circulated in various media, all variants on the same theme:;
ATLANTA -- Her sons were 12 and 8 when Marlyn Tillman realized it was time for her to have the talk.
Buying a water gun was perfectly acceptable for their white friends, but not for them. As young African-American men, she told them, even owning a water gun could make them an easy target for police.
"I could no longer keep them in the dark," Tillman said. "I had to break it to them that the world sees them differently."
According to a 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, homicide was the leading cause of death for black males age 12-19.
What they don't mention is that virtually all of these homicides are black-on-black crimes; it's not the cops, and it's rarely a white guy or a latino or an asian that kills the young black man. Most often, the young black man is killed by another young black man. Jesse Jackson never mentions that, Al Sharpton never mentions that, and if these two paragons of virtue don't talk about it, nobody else should either.
But the uncomfortable fact (for some) of the matter is that blacks kill whites at a rate that is 13 times higher than that of whites who kill blacks. You're not supposed to talk about that.
MARY FRANCES BERRY (current head of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights)—"Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of white men and do not apply to them." [Civil Rights Under Reagan, San Francisco, ICS Press, 1991, p. 141.]
John Derbyshire had the unmitigated audacity to briefly discuss these taboo subjects, and has therefore been, predictably enough, branded a racist and roundly condemned for the crime of placing facts into the arena of public discourse. Read the piece, follow the links, take the exam.
Amusingly, some Leftists characterize the Taki's Magazine site as a "white nationalist" site. Yeah, you know - any place that features material by folks like Patrick J. Buchanan has got to be a goose-stepping Nazi site.
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