It was only a shower, but it made a fitting background for a couple of points about winter in these latitudes. The main point is that we ought to be glad we still have thermal sources such as coal and natural gas to keep us warm and our houses and work places well lighted. Federal […]
Television and the press have just dished up another of those stories about how eating this or that is bad for us. This time it was about too much sugar and dying of heart disease. But as usual, the most important piece of information was missing: the odds of dying of heart disease regardless or […]
I’ve been rereading Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels since attending a very fine review in Corvallis last month. One of the recurring scenes in the books is the pursuit of one sailing vessel by another trying to capture or destroy it. In order to get away, the quarry throws things overboard to make itself lighter and faster. […]
It’s time to repeal or just ignore Oregon’s so-called 40-40-20 goal, which isn’t doing anything for anybody except the higher education establishment. But the president of Oregon State, among others, thinks it’s still a great idea.
Governor Kitzhaber has worked on health care and insurance reform since the 1980s. It’s what he is known for. He’s supposed to be the expert. When he was out of office during the Kulongoski years, he gave impressive speeches on his vision of how medical costs could be curtailed and insurance coverage be provided for […]
California is having its driest winter season in a century and a half. We should not be surprised if sooner or later, somebody tries to revive the schemes of 30 or 40 years ago to tap the rivers of Oregon to help the nation’s biggest state survive.
These gulls waited in vain
I didn’t have to ask what these gulls were doing in the parking lot at Albany’s Timber-Linn Park on this February day. They were waiting for somebody to come around to feed the ducks in the lake, and they meant to be there to claim their share.
Tags: Albany gulls, seagulls, Timber-Linn Park, wesern gulls