« August 2009 | Main | October 2009 »
Rarely do I find myself in agreement with anything published in Salon, but Kate's dead-on in her assessment of the Polanski arrest.
With any luck, he won't be extradited to Oregon, where induhviduals like Neil Goldschmidt and Sam Adams are not only accepted, but celebrated.
|
|
The City That Works (you over) is at it again, this time with grand plans for six-tenths of a mile of "road improvements" for the South Waterfront area. Price tag? Their liar's budget sets the cost at sixty-six and a half million dollars.
But of course, it's not "road improvements". No, this is Portland, so it includes a shiny new pair of streetcar tracks, a bit of plumbing, and (of course!) new bike lanes. This is the latest "linchpin" that's really going to bring South Waterfront together, according to Portland's pervy "mayor". No, this time we really mean it; it's going to unlock prime riverfront land to new development and potentially growing companies. Okay, that whole aerial tram thing didn't lead to the tens of thousands of biotech jobs that we told you would magically appear, but this here is the real deal.
Sam Adams said Friday that South Waterfront -- despite a condo glut and empty storefronts -- provides the city's best opportunities for job growth. They even have a catchy new name: they're calling it the "Innovation Quadrant." They're hoping that a new name will stop people from referring to the massive sinkhole as the "So What? District"
Why not just call it what it is? It was pushed by the vegetable team of Sam Adams and Randy Leonard. It's not an "Innovation Quadrant" - it's a Vegetation Quadrant. Veg Square.
|
|
The Big 0 noted the other day that another push is underway to shut down Portland General Electric's Boardman coal-fired power plant in eastern Oregon. PGE's under pressure to install half a billion dollars' worth of scrubbers and other technology to reduce the particulate haze that the plant - considered to be the "largest stationary source of pollution west of the Rockies" - produces. Groups including NW Energy Coalition are pushing to simply close the plant - which provides nearly half of the region's electric power.
Erroneously classified as a "ratepayer advocacy group" by The Big 0, the Northwest Energy Coalition is actually a "clean, renewable" energy advocacy organization - which means that they actually work against ratepayers. In the journalistic world of The Big 0, however, that's a minor point; not worth considering. But here's something that is worth considering: prior to the closure of PGE's Trojan nuke plant, Oregon was a net exporter of electric energy. That kept your rates low. Following the closure, rates jumped up.
And NEC wants to cut off some 45% of the region's power, by closing Boardman. Any guesses as to what that'd do to your rates?
Of course, it gets better: NEC and its affiliates also want to remove the hydro dams because they're somehow not "clean, renewable" energy sources. While nuclear technology has been scaled down and become remarkably more efficient and safe, thanks to bed technology and improved fuel reprocessing techniques, they're agin' it. They don't want nukes, don't want coal, don't want natural gas, don't want hydro.
Well...how are you going to plug in your electric car? What's going to power their precious streetcars? Solar? Wind? Not likely. Environmeddlists actually oppose those, as well.
California's Mojave Desert may seem ideally suited for solar energy production, but concern over what several proposed projects might do to the aesthetics of the region and its tortoise population is setting up a potential clash between conservationists and companies seeking to develop renewable energy.
"It would destroy the entire Mojave Desert ecosystem," said David Myers, executive director of The Wildlands Conservancy.
And wind turbines? It turns out that they are for unknown reasons fairly attractive to bats, and the spinning blades produce cavitation pockets, which cause the lungs of the animals to essentially explode - a phenomenon known as barotrauma.
So, let's see: no nukes, no coal, no natural gas, no hydro, no solar, no wind. Is it okay to rub a couple of sticks together?
|
|
There's not a whole lot going on right now. Oh, Iran tested some middle-range missiles, and the healthcare-reform initiative that the president has touted as the critical benchmark of his first year in office also faces a key week. But hey. BO's going to jet on over to Copenhagen to turn on the charm and, ideally, secure the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.
Has he ticked off the Danes, yet? Certainly, his charisma has worn thin in other parts of the world.
|
|
The skull fragment with the bullet hole, long believed to have been that of the Dear Leader, has been analyzed - and the fragment is definitely not that of Dear Adoph. It was once part of a woman between the age of 20 to 40. It might well have been part of Eva Braun, Hitler's consort, who was 33 at the time of her murder - though even that is unclear.
What is clear is that what we thought we knew was demonstrably wrong.
|
|
Sound Transit has a bit of a problem: too much sound. In fact, their own studies have indicated that their brand-spankin' new light rail line produces a lot of screeching. Golly, who'd ever have thought that metal wheels on metal tracks - proven 19th-century technology - might do that?
How loud is it? Sound Transit said light rail is not just loud enough to interrupt sleep, but also loud enough to hurt you.
No biggie, though: they're all set to solve the problem that they created. Crews will install lubricating devices on the track way to essentially grease the wheels.
Very forward-thinking! They'll get you to use loot rail, thus "reducing our dependence upon foreign oil" and solve the noise issue by...using foreign oil. Who could resist?
|
|
The new hotness: catastrophic impact. According to Stephen Hawking's latest musings, asteroid impact is the greatest threat to advanced life. If you grew up in the 1950's, you know the drill: run to the hallway, duck and cover, kiss your butt goodbye.
All of that recycling, switching to mercury-laden CFC bulbs, driving that Prius - none of it matters when the next hit comes.
Oh, and while I've mentioned this before - if you're using antibacterial soap, STOP!
To refresh, soap is simply made up of a base and an acid and has two main purposes. Soap decreases the surface tension of water and adheres to dirt, oil, bacteria, viruses and the like. When you lather the soap, this all combines together and is easily washed down the drain. Antibacterial soap does not do this job any better than regular soap.
The common factor in the manufacture of antibiotic soaps is the inclusion of the antibacterial ingredient, triclosan. That's a problem by itself, as it selects in favor of resistant bacteria. Unfortunately, when combined with chlorine from potable water sources in the USA, the situation gets even worse: it forms a "super dioxin" compound, which is probably at least as bad as the selection mechanism. It can't be removed by wastewater treatment plants, and it can't be filtered out by downstream intakes that subsequently provide water to faucets.
|
|
An employee at Rocky Mountain Bank accidentally e-mailed the personal data of 1,325 customers to a random, unknown Gmail user, and then filed suit to force Google to disclose the account holder's identity. The judge agreed with the bank, and Google disabled account access for the user and will be providing the court with identity data.
All in all, it seems as though the user is being punished for the bank's mistake - without all the muss and fuss of demonstrating that the user somehow precipitated damage to the bank or to the customers that the bank so cavalierly treated.
|
|
BO's mouthpiece, Gibbsy, told reporters that reports that Brit Prime Minister Gordon Brown was denied five requests for a one-on-one meeting with BO Himself was "a media-generated bunch of silliness."
Strong words for a man whose administration was elected due to media bias.
Now, Gibbsy didn't go so far as to deny that five requests from Brown were rejected; rather, he sought to trivialize the reports. BO and company are treading dangerous ground, here, as the very media that loved them so much are emotionally fragile - and if wounded, may turn.
Particularly when viewed in light of the fact that nearly 60% of Americans polled are really ticked off, and believe that the level of anger is now higher than when George W. Bush was President.
BO: the bloom is definitely off the rose.
|
|
Hard to say, but something smells funny.
Former State Sen. Vicki Walker (D-Eugene) resigned her legislative seat earlier this year when Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed her to chair the state Parole Board, a full-time position.
That was weird, in and of itself, as Walker has no qualifications for the job (other than that a close relative is in lockup, having been convicted of murder). Nonetheless, off she went - but there was a problem: the job is unfunded. She was supposed to be sliding into a $97,000 per year job (with great benefits), but with the state looking at spending $180 million more than it has, something had to give.
One of the things that went away was the chair job.
Oh, but all is hardly lost: Walker will stay on at the Parole Board temporarily to do the administrative work but at a reduced salary of $82,000.
Dang. Would you accept a miserly $82,000 a year (plus benefits) to do administrative work? Didn't think so (unless they provide free hand cleanser).
|
|
