2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session 2013 special election arts arts and culture author ballot measures bomb books budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration international internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal portland mayor president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes television terrorism theater third parties timber payments transportation union university of oregon violence washington water wildfire women

Cap CO2? Go nuclear.  Energy needs will continue to increase and conservation will mildly reduce these. If future energy needs do not get met we will be back in the middle-ages.  Capitalism requires it; we can't/won't get off that track.

And, before anyone gets bent out of shape about the dangers of nuclear pause to think of the 20,000 Americans that are killed in drink related driving crashes each year and the 27,000 people killed accidently each year by guns.  Not too mention the150,000 kileed by bacteria nd mistakes in hospitals every year.

Risk needs to be evaluated without knee-jerk reactions.

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
view in context

I suggest you visit California to see what crowds of turbines look like.  I agree in small groups there is a poetry to them but in the numbers needed to make meaningful impact on power generation they are ugly and damaging to the true visual beauty that is the Northwest.

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
view in context

I was very pro wind turbines.  Several together are quite beutiful.  Then I came across the endless rows of turbines in California.  Not pretty.

My main objection is one of aesthetics.  They damage the visual impact of the land they dominate.

So concerned am I, I changed my PGE wind source option.

Local nuclear as envisioned by Bill Gates at Terrapower is preferable.  Non-polluting, quiet and far less obtrusive.

Jef Fowler

Portland, OR

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
view in context

Back in the sixties in England three was teasing and bullying.  One was considered mean and bullying more serious.

Teasing is probably a rite of passage that a young child needs to overcome (of course, many don't).  I don't recall being teased to the point of mental anguish or if I was being affected by it until I graduated to high school.

In (the equivalent) of high school I was bullied.  Physically, usually being picked upon, hit and beaten up by the school thugs.

This had an adverse affect that has taken many years to overcome.  Several years after I left that school, in conversation with a school friend, it came out that my mother was responsible.

Mum had (still has!) an unfortunate lack of control on her opinions and she would gossip about my contemporaries families.  This got back to those families and that was why I was a target.

As this discovery occured many years after the events I still love my mom.   But it was an eye-opener.

posted 2 years, 8 months ago
view in context

I watched the wall being taken down piece by piece on CNN while staying at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China.  Very surreal.

The changes in Eastern Europe during 1989 had given hope to far too optimistic students who led a revolt that ended in the Tiananmen tradegy.

Twenty years on China is an economic powerhouse that has changed more than a unified Germany, all within the confines of the communist system.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
view in context

Onerous? Irritating maybe, but the benefits to us all are worth any extra time on the homeowners part.

Permits should be free (or a nominal cost) when the homeowner is doing the work themselves and/or the value is less than a certain amount. Permits should not be a source of revenue.

The permitting process should also be available online.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
view in context

I think you answered your own concern. Opt out of the political contribution.

If 64 passes you will have to write weekly or monthly checks. You want that cost and aggravation? Vote for 64.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
view in context

You make a good point, if the cost of the permit is driving people away from obtaining them then the costs should be reduced (free?). The benefits of safe construction should be borne by the entire community.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
view in context

Great. Yet another republican looking to deregulate. Why are we in the financial mess we are in right now? Mostly deregulation or lack of regulation.

I know it is a pain to get a permit but the reality is many people who do not get permits now, probably don't follow code and the work is below standard.

A guest on today's show (a landlord) said he felt his tenants were "like family"; many don't.

Don't use drugs or drunk driving to prove a point, how about parking, speeding and overloading trucks?

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
view in context