Rob Kremer

• More ClimateGate revelations

  This is getting very interesting.
  
  The programming code for the climate models at CRU have been released, and now the geeks are tearing into the models, and seeing how the models manipulate the data to force a result the modelers want.
  
  It's unreal. They literally just add a [...]
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  Posted: December 10, 2009, 10:38pm EST
  

• Oregonian in denial

  Gotta love the Oregonian's lead editorial on Sunday, the eve of the Copenhagen Climate Summit. After three weeks of failing to cover anything about ClimateGate, they open their piece with their "world-as-we-wish-it-was" stubbornness:
  
  "The thousands of e-mail messages and files hacked from computers of some top climate scientists do" [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 8:14pm EST
  

• Another media cover up

  Wouldn't you think that if the Vice President of the United States was at the center of a libel lawsuit in which a global warming skeptic scientist, whose work was a huge embarrassment to the VP, was being defamed by another scientists closely associated with the VP, and the result' [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 8:08am EST
  

• Steven Hayward on ClimateGate

  Steve Hayward is one of the smartest guys I know. He is a fellow at American Enterprise Institute. He has written two 700 page books on Reagan (the second of which I am about half done with.) He has long published the "Index of Leading Environmental Indicators" which [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 11:28pm EST
  

• A decade of global warming propaganda

  I have studied the global warming crowd for almost fifteen years. More than ten years ago I wrote a cover story for BrainstormNW Magazine that went through my own journey of discovery about the global warming issue, during which I realized that it was nothing more than a large scale [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 8:06am EST
  

• More on Climate Gate

  It's almost funny the lengths the LameStream media is going to ignore the CRU emails.
  
  The Oregonian lead editorial today talks of the upcoming Copenhagen climate confab, and how China and Obama are now ready to agree to CO2 limits. The piece goes on about how promising it is [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 10:36pm EST
  

• Climate gate finally getting noticed

  Sure, the mainstream media here in the the U.S. are still refusing to report the story, but the international media sees it for what it is: The biggest scientific scandal ever.
  
  On the eve of the Copenhagan conference, I'll bet this thing cools their private jets just a' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 7:10pm EST
  

• Doing the Lars Larson Show today

  Noon til 3:00 Pacific. www.kxl.com [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:23am EST
  

• They are coming after your lifestyle

  Here they come: the planners want to change how you live. Everything from what you eat to how warm or cool you keep your home to how you get to work. And they aren't even trying to hide it.
  
  It's all right here in Multnomah County's "Climate Action'" [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 11:55am EST
  

• PAC-10 is the most entertaining football in the nation

  The country was treated to two incredibly entertaining PAC-10 football games today, which put all the other games on TV all day long to shame.
  
  Stanford lost a heartbreaker to Cal when their terrific freshman QB threw an interception on the five yard line with a little over a [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:49pm EST
  

• The O: Trying to pretend the fringe is mainstream

  I shouldn't EVER read the "How We Live" section of the Oregonian. I almost never do.
  
  I usually read the front page section, laugh at the Business section, read the Metro section and the editorial page, and then on to Sports. The "How We Live" section is so reliably' [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 12:50am EST
  

• End of the Oprah era

  So Oprah announced that 2011 will be her last year doing her show.
  
  I've never much watched her show because it always ran during the day. So I am not really a fan in the sense of being a loyal follower who watches her show.
  
  But I have' [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 12:00am EST
  

• Newsweek - a once proud magazine

  Imagine a liberal woman, a national figure, once a candidate for Vice President of the United States, being pictured by Newsweek Magazine as they pictured Sarah Palin on their cover this week. It simply would never happen.
  
  They want to diminish Sarah Palin, so they [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:23pm EST
  

• Read this, but make sure there are no firearms nearby

  Because I guarantee you will want to shoot someone after reading it. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 2:07pm EST
  

• Phil Keisling report on PERS

  Former Secretary of State Phil Keisling has drafted a report on the current problems with PERS. Bojack got a copy of it, and I read the thing tonight.
  
  It is quite simply the seminal work explaining the so very complicated structure of PERS and its dizzying problems. The [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 8:43pm EST
  

• This is a must read

  If you want to understand why our financial system collapsed, and why the fixes they have put in place are going to fail, you have to read the column pasted below, which ran in the WSJ Weekend Edition.
  
  The Man Who Predicted the Depression
  Ludwig von Mises [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 9:25am EST
  

• Political correctness can be deadly

  The real story is taking shape now. I think it is clear enough to be stated:
  
  The Army had a jihadist Muslim in its ranks. A traitor whose allegiance was to Islam first. Further, he let it be widely known, through his words and actions, that he thught the [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 8:40am EST
  

• What kind of America are we?

  It has become more and more apparent to me lately that there are really two general world views that determine how a person views the kind of country America is and should be.
  
  The two views are incompatible. There is no "compromise" between them that doesn't move the country' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 8:25am EST
  

• Fort Hood shooting reaction

  As the details start to roll in about the Fort Hood shooting, it seems more and more obvious that the shooter was indeed motivated by Muslim extremism. Reports of him yelling "Allah Akbar" as he fired the shots should be a pretty good hint as to his motive.
  
  Which [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:02pm EST
  

• Interpreting NY-23

  Here come the post-mortems on the results of NY-23 last night.
  
  Democrats will say it shows the dysfunction of the Republican party, because they ate their own and delivered a victory to the Democrat. They will say it lays bare the rift in the Republican party between the Tea [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:56am EST
  

• 2009 election night

  As I write this, it is so far a Republican sweep in the races that have been called so far. The one race not yet determined is the famed NY-23rd district, where the Conservative party candidate is behind by about 4,000 votes with 65% of the count done.
  
  So [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:02pm EST
  

• Governor: "I am NOT corrupt. Just incompetent"

  I am insulted, and you should be too.
  
  I mean, you would think they would respect us enough to try to come up with some excuse that at least sounds marginally plausible. But they don't. They know that any old excuse will do, because in our one party state' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 9:26am EST
  

• Here they go again

  Sam Adams is just back from DC where he was trying to get $20 million out of the feds to help pay for the latest "linchpin" project that they are just CERTAIN will pay for itself many times over by attracting untold levels of economic activity.
  
  Untold, of course, [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 9:43am EDT
  

• Central planning is dead. Long live central planning

  An article in the Portland Tribune this week is a great example of the ability of our local politicians and planners to refuse to acknowledge the failures of their policies.
  
  The article, to summarize, says: "Shucks, it turns out that remodeling an entire region into our vision of" [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 8:10am EDT
  

• On cue, the Oregonian praises Nike

  What a surprise that the day after Nike announces it wants everyone in the U.S. to pay higher energy prices, the Oregonian praises them and the other large corporations that are on board with carbon tax legislation.
  
  The lead editorial also praises the "forward looking" companies that support [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 8:43am EDT
  

• I'm boycotting Nike

  Nike announced yesterday that the company is withdrawing from the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because if its opposition to the Waxman-Merkey Cap & Trade legislation. So Nike supports raising domestic energy prices.
  
  Pretty hypocritical for a company that makes ALL of its consumer products in places [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 8:41am EDT
  

• Race to the Status Quo

  There's one area of policy that I think President Obama is handling quite well, at least in the sense of using a federal executive branch apparatus to actually bring about positive change: education.
  
  Back when he chose Arne Duncan as his education secretary, I wrote a column in BrainstormNW' [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 9:29am EDT
  

• Serena and Kanye

  What a weekend for civility!
  
  At first blush, the actions of Kanye West and Serena Williams appear to be pretty similar: two immature performers acting horribly on an international stage.
  
  But if you drill down a bit, look at the context of what each of them did and [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2009, 7:08am EDT
  

• Live lavishly so others can simply live

  The Oregonian today devoted almost the entire front page of the Sunday paper to cheerlead the new state energy conservation program that gives subsidized low interest 20 year loans to homeowners to install insulation and other energy savings stuff.
  
  The huge article, which consumes almost two full pages complete [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2009, 11:03pm EDT
  

• Sorry for the inconvenience!

  Here's a very interesting story from Missouri about a woman complaining to the Sherriff about being inconvenienced by a funeral procession for a soldier killed in Afghanistan.
  
  What an incredibly poignant response from the Sherriff who responded to her email. It read, in part:
  
  "While you were'" [...]
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  Posted: September 12, 2009, 8:39am EDT
  

• Some pictures are worth 3000 names

  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2009, 8:23am EDT
  

• School bureaucrats cry: "We shouldn't have to compete!"

  What an incredible front page article in the Oregonian today.
  
  The Corbett School District is a little district wedged between a couple east county districts and the Columbia River. Over the years, it has developed some very strong academic programs that gained the notice of a lot of [...]
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  Posted: August 31, 2009, 6:21pm EDT
  

• Potpourri

  A few things that have accumulated over the last few days:
  
  The Clackamas Teachers Union insisted on receiving their contractual pay raise, so the district had to lay off 60 teachers. This is a great illustration of what is wrong with how the public sector operates.
  
  The existing [...]
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  Posted: August 26, 2009, 8:35am EDT
  

• The incredible shriking credibility of Obama

  President Obama is taking heat from the left, people such as columnist Paul Krugman, for not being tough enough on the opponents of his health care plan and for backing off on the centerpiece, the "public option."
  
  Krugman says
  
  "there’s a point at which realism shades over" [...]
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  Posted: August 21, 2009, 8:25am EDT
  

• BlueOregon's Chisolm reveals himself as propagandist

  Over at BlueOregon, blog founder Kari Chisolm has the funniest post ever.
  
  He wants the left's narrative of "violent conservative protests against ObamaCare" to stick, but other than some shouting at various town hall meetings (which I think is not the greatest idea, BTW) they don't have any [...]
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  Posted: August 08, 2009, 9:26am EDT
  

• Public opion leads to single payer

  You've probably already heard or seen this video, where Pres. Obama basically admits that a public option will lead to the end of private insurance. I just wanted to post it on my blog so I would have it handy when I needed it.
  
  There's also some other [...]
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  Posted: August 04, 2009, 7:49am EDT
  

• Clunker program hurts the poor and unemployed

  I can't believe that some people think it is a good idea for the government to pay people to destroy things of value. Are you in the habit of taking valuable durable goods that could be easily sold on Craigs List and ruining them?
  
  That is what the federal' [...]
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  Posted: August 02, 2009, 8:13am EDT
  

• "Trees have rights too"

  Remember when Commissioner Dan Saltzman uttered these now-famous words when advocating for a Portland tree ordinance?
  
  Yes, the notion of inanimate objects having legal standing is absurd. Yes, to actually believe it requires a rejection of the American concept of "rights" upon which this nation was founded, and which [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 7:52am EDT
  

• The Beer Summit

  So today is the breaking of the bread between Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. Crowley.
  
  This could actually be interesting. Remember, this meeting was suggested by Crowley when Obama called him - so it wasn't just a damage control idea of the Obama handlers. Obama agreed to it, certainly,' [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 7:59am EDT
  

• "Birther" mystery solved!

  The Obama birth certificate controversy has been interesting to watch.
  
  Here's the bottom line: Even if the birthers are correct, and Obama is not constitutionally qualified to be president, what then? The constitution has only a single mechanism for removing a sitting president - impeachment - and that is [...]
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  Posted: July 29, 2009, 7:37am EDT
  

• Oregon: ObamaCare laboratory

  Want a good preview for what health care would look like under ObamaCare? Well, Oregon is a pretty good petri dish. The Oregon Health Plan (OHP) is basically the equivalent of the "public option" envisioned by Obama.
  
  To be sure, the OHP doesn't go near as far as ObamaCare' [...]
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  Posted: July 28, 2009, 10:05am EDT
  

• Wasting your money on solar panels

  You want to know why I am so reluctant to support any hike in the gas tax? Because I don't trust that ODOT will spend the money wisely. The gas tax increase that passed this summer at least had a list of road projects that the funds would pay for,' [...]
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  Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:27am EDT
  

• The wrong solution to the achievement gap

  There's a front page Metro Section article in today's Oregonian about how the Tualatin-Tigard School District is focusing anew on the achievement gap.
  
  OK, fine. The achievement gap is without question the biggest problem in public schools today. Why is it the most pressing issue? Because if a [...]
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  Posted: July 24, 2009, 10:57am EDT
  

• Subbing for Lars this week

  www.larslarson.com
  
  Tune in, noon til three, the rest of the week. AM 750 or kxl.com [...]
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  Posted: July 14, 2009, 10:15am EDT
  

• Triple-A All Star Game Home Run Derby

  The Triple-A All Star game is at PGE Park this week, and my son has been asked to do some catching duties during the festivities. During the game Wednesday he will be warming up the pitchers in the bullpen. Tonight he caught during the Home Run Derby.
  
  It was [...]
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  Posted: July 14, 2009, 10:11pm EDT
  

• Obama doesn't really believe in America

  I've been taking a hiatus from my blog since the session ended. Not that there wasn't plenty to write about over the last two weeks - there most certainly was. But sometimes the muse just doesn't sing to me.
  
  I've been observing President Obama over the last few weeks, [...]
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  Posted: July 13, 2009, 8:07am EDT
  

• Session over; virtual school bill passes

  The virtual school bill finished its long shameful journey today on the last day of the session, as the house voted 31-29 to adopt the amendments made to the bill in the conference committee.
  
  The bill had a total of 56 amendments, and by the time it got [...]
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  Posted: June 30, 2009, 11:02pm EDT
  

• House passes SB767

  It was another weird chapter in a saga that has been fraught with bungling, mishandling, outright lies, and the most cynical political power plays that I have witnessed in almost 15 years of dealing with the legislature.
  
  Here is the scene:
  
  The bill as amended in committee [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2009, 8:54pm EDT
  

• THAT"S the problem!

  If you want to understand exactly how much the public employee unions are running things around here, read this story from Willamette Week.
  
  The OEA used the State Department of Education's lawyer to draft its bill to kill virtual charter schools - even though several of the provisions [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2009, 6:34am EDT
  

• The Senate did it

  In a 16-14 vote, the Oregon Senate passed SB767. Now, the future of vitual charter schools will likely, quite literally, lie in the hands of their enemies.
  
  Sure, the bill still has to pass the House. But we'd have to get 6 Democrat votes (and keep every Republican on' [...]
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  Posted: June 11, 2009, 10:50pm EDT
  

• Union lies to its members about virtual schools

  The OEA publishes a monthly magazine, The OEA Today. The June issue has a blurb about SB 767 in which they blatantly lie about virtual charter schools and what the bill does.
  
  You would think that the OEA could manage to be honest when telling their own members what [...]
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  Posted: June 09, 2009, 3:05pm EDT
  

• Floor vote tomorrow on bill to kill virtual charters

  The teacher union's bill to kill virtual charter schools in Oregon (SB 767) is scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor tomorrow. We will see once and for all which Senate Democrats are willing to sell the kids down the river at the demand of the union.
  
  It' [...]
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  Posted: June 09, 2009, 9:43am EDT
  

• Brooks on the GM deal

  David Brooks writes in today's New York Times about why the Obama plan for GM is fated to fail.
  
  Here is just one of his many excellent points:
  
  "Fourth, the Obama plan dilutes the company’s focus. Instead of thinking obsessively about profitability and quality, G.M. will also'" [...]
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  Posted: June 02, 2009, 9:53am EDT
  

• Why I love the Bend Bulletin

  Read this all the way to the end. I received it over email, so I assume this is not a copyright violation. If it is, I will take it down. But at least there is one newspaper in Oregon that is calling out the ridiculous job killing policies Oregon [...]
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  Posted: June 01, 2009, 5:01pm EDT
  

• Obama Car Dealer Scandal?

  It's very early in this story, but as the numbers start to come in, it sure does look suspicious.
  
  NWRepublican has a post that is a pretty good portal to follow this story. Did the Obama administration engineer the Chrysler dealership closures to benefit political supporters?
  
  The' [...]
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  Posted: May 31, 2009, 6:34pm EDT
  

• Japanese scientist government advisory panel rebukes global warming theorists

  A panel of Japanese scientists which also acts as an advisory panel to the government released a report last month that is highly critical of the IPCC's theory that human activity caused the warming apparent from 1970 -2000.
  
  The Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) represents scientists' [...]
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  Posted: May 27, 2009, 8:07am EDT
  

• You know it will be a great day when...

  
  You wake up, check the traps you set yesterday, and find: [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 9:14am EDT
  

• When the government runs the auto industry

  So President Obama proposed his new CAFE standards and tailpipe CO2 emission limits to nary a whisper of dissent from the auto industry. Why the silence?
  
  Duh.
  
  What amazes me is that people actually think its a good idea for the federal government to run the car industry. [...]
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  Posted: May 20, 2009, 7:55am EDT
  

• Are they really that small minded?

  Over at Bojack.org, there's a post saying that the Sam Adams recall effort is doomed because conservative talk show host Victoria Taft was "front and center" last night at the recall effort's kick-off party.
  
  Bojack says that having conservatives involved will turn off all those groups that are [...]
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  Posted: May 15, 2009, 10:16am EDT
  

• Another huge technology overrun at City of Portland

  Story today at KATU about yet another mishandled technology project.
  
  Portland is trying to join the late 20th century in terms of financial management systems. The new system was supposed to cost about $28 million. Current cost: $50 million and counting. The city is paying consultants on the [...]
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  Posted: May 14, 2009, 9:34am EDT
  

• Shrinking our way to prosperity

  I am sorry for the disrespectful language, but is our governor really this much of a dumbass?
  
  He's in New York City the other day, telling the Times that we have to produce less. That's right, Governor. We can solve our problems by producing fewer consumers goods. That [...]
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  Posted: May 07, 2009, 11:06am EDT
  

• 'Hey dude, your fly is down, and your pants are unbuttoned!

  It just gets wierder. Portland style.
  
  So it turns out, when Sam Adams crashed into the Subaru, pushed it across a curbed garden bed and into another car, then continued spinning the car's wheels for another 75 feet, he got out of the car and was told by the' [...]
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  Posted: May 06, 2009, 4:38pm EDT
  

• Chrysler - The Obama kleptocracy

  The more I learn about the Chrysler "bankruptcy," the angrier I get. This is not a bankruptcy, it is a looting of a troubled business for the benefit of organized labor. Pure and simple.
  
  The secured bondholders are getting screwed by Obama. They own almost $7 billion in secured [...]
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  Posted: May 06, 2009, 10:34pm EDT
  

• Sam Adams car wreck

  Reading about the Sam Adams car wreck, the only thing that is obvious is that the story and its explanation just don't add up.
  
  He T-boned the passenger door of a Subaru which was making a right turn into the Car Toys lot. OK - that in and of' [...]
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  Posted: May 05, 2009, 8:11am EDT
  

• Obama doublespeak on his Supreme Court Justice criteria

  Obama said the following about the kind of person he would appoint to fill David Souter's seat on the SCOTUS:
  
  "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes," he said. "I" [...]
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  Posted: May 05, 2009, 10:22pm EDT
  

• Obama in his own words: "Electricity rates skyrocket"

  He couldn't be much more clear. President Obama knows that Cap & Trade will dramatically raise energy prices. He admits in a very forthright way in an interview in January 2008 with the San Francisco Chronicle.
  
  "Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would'" [...]
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  Posted: May 01, 2009, 9:33am EDT
  

• The best Oregonian ink Kremer ever received

  But of course, it is the natural order of things for the son to exceed the father! [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 8:29am EDT
  

• A solution to the Cesar Chavez problem

  What a mess! After completely botching the process to rename Interstate Avenue "Cesar Chavez Blvd." a couple years ago, the city council is back at it again. Now they want to rename 39th Street after the labor leader.
  
  Which is just bringing out a different group of people who [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2009, 4:39pm EDT
  

• Developments in the OEA attack on virtual charters

  I think every Oregon citizen should have, as part of his civic education, the experience of closely following a controversial piece of legislation through the legislative process. If more people knew how public policy was actually made, they would be far more able to call bull**** on our publicly elected [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2009, 8:37am EDT
  

• The rotten Appell

  I just HAVE to respond to the stuff David Appell wrote in the comment section of one of my posts, because it is just so typical of how the extreme left argues.
  
  I'll do the "my comments in red" thing to his post, below:
  
  David Appell said...[...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 1:16pm EDT
  

• Defazio on Cap & Trade

  There are a lot of things I like about Congressman Peter DeFazio. For one, when he speaks you have little doubt about what he means and thinks. I appreciate that in a politician, because it is very rare.
  
  On the issue of Cap & Trade, he sees clearly (and [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 7:55am EDT
  

• Earth Day brings out the loons

  Today is that great pagan holiday, Earth Day.
  
  It's a day when the state's newspapers are obligated to pretend that extreme environmental looneys are mainstream, and so we get treated with articles and op-ed contributions that reveal some of their more breathtaking nihilism.
  
  For instance, check out this [...]
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  Posted: April 22, 2009, 7:53am EDT
  

• Soccer/baseball stadium house of cards revealed

  There is a terrific piece of journalism in the Oregonian today spelling out the details of the Paulson family "guarantee" for the soccer/baseball stadium deals.
  
  The reporter is Helen Jung. I dealt with Helen a couple summers ago when I was involved with the Blazer deal, and [...]
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  Posted: April 20, 2009, 10:24am EDT
  

• An incredible exchange over at BlueOregon

  BlueOregon had a post about the death penalty today. I posted something off-topic in the comments section. I have been curious lately what BlueOregon types think of shutting down Oregon's virtual charter schools. So I posted the following:
  
  "This question is about a death penalty of a different sort...[...]
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  Posted: April 19, 2009, 2:35pm EDT
  

• Typical mainstream media reporting

  So there were Tea Party protests all over the state yesterday. Big ones at the Capitol at noon, and at Pioneer Courthouse Square in the evening.
  
  I was unable to make either one because of a luncheon commitment for Congressman Greg Walden and a baseball game in the eve. [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 10:36pm EDT
  

• Eradicating opportunity

  Unemployment has doubled in six months. We sit at 12.1%, and the political class in Oregon has no clue. No clue at all that its policies are the CAUSE of Oregon's #1 national rank in the one statistic no one wants to lead.
  
  It's not as if this is [...]
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  Posted: April 14, 2009, 7:10am EDT
  

• They really believe they shouldn't have to compete

  The Corbett School District is a little 700 student enclave in East County, wedged between much larger school districts such as Reynolds, David Douglass, and Sandy.
  
  Corbett just happens to be doing quite well. They've developed some innovative programs over the years, and lots of people want to send' [...]
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  Posted: April 13, 2009, 8:35am EDT
  

• For Nick Adenhart

  This was written by a man I know who runs the most influential amateur baseball scouting organization in the country. I post it here because I know he would want me to.
  
  I just can't quite wrap my mind around the fact this young man died last night in' [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2009, 9:59pm EDT
  

• A really horrible tragedy

  If you follow baseball, you may have seen the news. A terrific young ballplayer who just this season broke into the starting rotation for the Los Angeles Angels, died last night in a car accident just hours after his first start of the season.
  
  His name is Nick [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 10:01am EDT
  

• Unimaginable Stupidty

  Only in Oregon. Things look different here. We love dreamers.
  
  We especially love government bureaucrats and government programs that flush millions of public funds down the toilet.
  
  Here's the deal, as detailed in today's Portland Tribune article. The Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit program gives tax credits [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 8:06am EDT
  

• Bio-fools

  Willamette Week's cover story this week chronciles the rapid failure of the big Columbia County biofuels plant, Cascade Grain. Nigel Jaquiss does a great job detailing the events and market conditions that led to the failure of this $200 million project just seven months after it opened.
  
  Guess' [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 10:45pm EDT
  

• The OEA to kids: "Don't go to public school!"

  A couple weeks ago I quoted an education establishment official who argued that bringing kids into the public school system was bad, because it caused slices of the K-12 funding pie to be thinner.
  
  In a hearing this week on SB767, which is the education establishment's attempt to' [...]
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  Posted: April 04, 2009, 7:11am EDT
  

• Easiest question ever!

  I had to laugh at the headline of the article on the front page of the the Oregonian today.
  
  So where do YOU want MAX to stop?
  
  Gee, I have an idea. How about we stop right now? We've already wasted about $10 billion.' [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2009, 8:09am EDT
  

• These people teach our children!

  The teachers union struck back today with a letter-to-the-editor responding to Elizabeth Hovde's column Sunday which criticized the OEA for trying to kill the Oregon Connections Academy.
  
  There is so much in the letter that is just idiotic and inane, I thought the best thing to do was' [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2009, 7:52am EDT
  

• The fault line they just won't cross

  We had a very interesting meeting yesterday. It was also very revealing.
  
  The meeting was between representatives of The Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA) and a sub-committee of the State Board of Education. The meeting was supposed to be a "negotiation" over the terms and conditions of a possible waiver [...]
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  Posted: March 31, 2009, 2:58pm EDT
  

• Spring break is over

  My wife and I spent the week in Phoenix to watch my son play baseball games with his high school team on their annual spring break trip. Here are some thoughts that occurred to me on the trip, disconnected as they may be:
  
  Phoenix is a town that seems [...]
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  Posted: March 28, 2009, 11:07am EDT
  

• Oregon School Administrators: keep kids out of public schools!

  The Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) is one of the "big three" education establishment groups in Oregon. Its membership consists of, as its name would suggest, public school principals and superintendents. They, along with the teachers union (OEA) and the school boards association (OSBA) are very influential in Salem [...]
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  Posted: March 16, 2009, 8:14am EDT
  

• Krauthammer on Obama's stem cell order

  Charles Krauthammer is, in my view, one of the most astute commentators in the country. He is deeply thoughtful and reasoned, and constantly makes points and looks at things from an angle that I learn from.
  
  He wrote a typically insightful column on Obama's stem cell executive order.[...]
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  Posted: March 14, 2009, 9:28am EDT
  

• Another HUGE economic engine!

  The Funny Paper is so amazing. They must think our memories have a half life of a .
  
  Their lead editorial today insists that the legislature fund the new education building at South Waterfront. You remember South Waterfront ... that huge opportunity to attract 10,000 biotech jobs that [...]
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  Posted: March 13, 2009, 7:55am EDT
  

• More on the bullying bill

  I was going to respond in the comments section to some of the questions and criticisms of my post on the bullying bill, but decided to do it in another post, since it will be a little long for a comment.
  
  First - what specific language in the bill [...]
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  Posted: March 08, 2009, 3:53pm EDT
  

• Insanity everywhere

  Things are getting crazy everywhere. In the news just in the last couple days:
  
  Anti-bullying legislation, HB2599, will be heard next week. The bill will require school districts to have policies defining harrasment, intimidation, bullying and cyberbullying, and procedures and staff in place for investigating complaints and disciplining the [...]
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  Posted: March 05, 2009, 4:27pm EST
  

• A defining moment for President Obama

  So far, President Obama has governed like a radical lefty. He used the Pelosi-deisgned "stimulus" bill to fund every pent-up lefty wish list item in the cupboard, and his breathtaking budget is itself an expression of a far reaching leftist ideology.
  
  Not what he sold us, is it?
  
  [...]
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  Posted: March 04, 2009, 7:39am EST
  

• Why do we even participate in the United Nations?

  The United Nations is proposing a binding declaration on "religous blasphemy."
  
  They want member nations to make it illegal to criticize or negatively portray the religous beliefs of others. Any guesses as which religion they have in mind?
  
  Take a look at this Lou Dobbs segment.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: February 27, 2009, 10:56am EST
  

• Clackamas County Sheriff's Office

  I had the pleasure yesterday to spend the afternoon in the training center of the Clackamas Country Sheriff, learning about officer-involved shooting procedures and getting a look at some of the "shoot/no-shoot" training programs they put officers through.
  
  First, I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with [...]
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  Posted: February 26, 2009, 11:11am EST
  

• This love affair is getting a bit sloppy

  Hey - you two! Get a room, will you?
  
  It's one thing when the love affair between the national newspaper press and President Obama glosses over his lack of experience and accomplishments enough to get the guy elected. But it's quite another when they resort to the most obvious [...]
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  Posted: February 24, 2009, 8:27am EST
  

• This is going to be very interesting

  With the revenue forecast yesterday, the game has changed even more than expected. This will be an interesting study in special interest politics to see which group protects itself the most from the shrinking budget.
  
  You see, Oregon's government doesn't know how to shrink. Over the last 25 or [...]
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  Posted: February 21, 2009, 8:20am EST
  

• Jack Bogdanski at his best

  Check out this highly entertaining and scathingly funny satire of how the new "Major League" soccer PGE Park remodel is going to unfold, over at Bojack.org.
  
  This is Jack at his best. He is very talented. He and I have tangled over a few things, not the least [...]
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  Posted: February 18, 2009, 9:54am EST
  

• Another couple of sad ironies

  Did you see that Geert Wilders, the Dutch guy who made the short film "Fitna," which showed the violence of the words of the Koran and the deeds of the Islamic fundamentalists - was barred from entering the UK to give a speech at the House of Lords.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: February 17, 2009, 10:43am EST
  

• Can you lose what you don't have?

  The Funny Paper reports today that Metro's auditor, Suzanne Flynn, took a look at Metro's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, and found it lacking.
  
  It seems they are spending the vast majority of their "sustainability efforts" (read: money) on projects that have little impact on CO2 reduction, [...]
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  Posted: February 17, 2009, 10:01am EST
  

• An interesting conspiracy theory

  If the basis for this theory wasn't a US Congressman's interview on C-Span, I wouldn't make too much of it. I'm not big on conspiracy theories.
  
  As it stands, there are a lot more questions than answers. But it is interesting. Exactly how unusual is it to get [...]
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  Posted: February 16, 2009, 10:59pm EST