Hasso Hering

Oregon: Money and smoking

Written October 3rd, 2013 by

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With one part of the tax bill passed by the special session of the legislature Wednesday (10/2/2013), Oregon continues its two-faced approach to cigarette smokers. On the one hand the state has worked hard to discourage smoking. On the other, it relies on smokers to pay for essential services. On the one hand it treats […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: cigarettes, Frankfurt Airport smoking zones, Oregon taxation

Special session: Not that grand

Written October 2nd, 2013 by

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It’s hard to see why some called what the legislature did during the special session a “grand bargain.” When you look at the result of the tax and spending bills it passed on Wednesday, it’s not all that grand. As a label, “minuscule” would be more apt. Lawmakers increased some taxes, lowered others, reduced future […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: cigarette tax, income tax, Oregon legislature, PERS, public pensions, special session

Albany email dispute: Story continues

Written October 2nd, 2013 by

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Tom Cordier, the citizen activist in Albany, has scored a partial victory for the public’s right to get public records, in this case email addresses. The case also raises a question about the city’s own use of those addresses. Cordier had sought to use a list of 33,800 addresses to which the city government emails its […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany city, Doug Marteeny, email addresses, Tom Cordier

Fast and legal (but not here)

Written October 1st, 2013 by

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The last time I was moving — being moved, rather — at more than 100 miles an hour was Monday in seat 4D of a Canadair regional jet on the runway at the Eugene Airport. A day before, it was on a German autobahn in the back seat of a BMW driven by my nephew. We were […]

Posted in: Commentary, Videos
Tags: autobahn, I-5, Oregon legislature, speed limit, traffic safety

Basic comfort should not cost extra

Written October 1st, 2013 by

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There was a story in the paper Tuesday about changes in air travel. It said airlines were beginning to offer passengers goodies or extra services in exchange for additional fees. That’s bound to make air travel even more burdensome than it already is for those passengers who either can’t or won’t pay extra. For example, […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: air travel, airline fees, airlines

A small town in Germany

Written October 1st, 2013 by

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After a few days off for my mother’s funeral in Germany, I’m back at my home laptop with this and that. Here (in the video above) is a quick and very limited look at the little town where I’ve been the last few days. I was struck by, among other things, the development of wind power […]

Posted in: Commentary, Videos
Tags: Tecklenburg, wind power

See you soon …

Written September 24th, 2013 by

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Dear readers, Thanks for following my offerings here. I’ll have to take a few days off in order to attend my mother’s funeral. Expect the next items to appear here about Oct. 2. Hope to see you then. Hasso Hering

Posted in: Uncategorized