In the Portland fake-bomb case, American justice is being tested. The case illustrates again how fighting would-be terrorism chips away at the safeguards that are supposed to protect liberty. Almost exactly two years ago, a 19-year-old native of Somalia, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, was arrested for trying to set off a bomb which, if it had […]
There was something in the news the other day about neckties. Well, actually it was about neckties and complete men’s suits. You may have seen the story in the Oregonian, where it first appeared. In a nutshell, Portland State University had arranged to provide formal tailored business suits for each of its 71 football players, […]
Here’s an idea for all those Republicans still smarting over the results of the general election. They may feel discouraged because everything they hear and read tells them they have to change their views on some things if they ever want to win elections again. That seems to be true across the country as the […]
Every once in a while we can use a reminder that we’re not the first civilization to occupy this place. I’m talking about this continent, and I’m not talking about recent history but many thousands of years ago.The reminder came in the current edition of Oregon Quarterly, the magazine published by the University of […]
The gym for exercise? To keep off pounds? What could be more boring than that? And time consuming. And expensive in both time and gas, depending on how far from the gym you live. I got to thinking about this after seeing an editorial cartoon in the Democrat-Herald, where I used to work. It showed […]
Let’s explain why there are warnings about contaminated water posted along the Willamette River in Albany.
Rising sea level: Where?
We are supposed to be worried about the rise in sea levels brought on by global warming. But should we be — worried, that is? How much of a threat is that in reality? Most of the scientists writing about this say the oceans are rising because the great ice sheets on land continue melting, […]
Tags: global warming, Oregon coast, sea level