2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college 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 internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media 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 president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes technology television terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

I forgot to mention that I helped my father in law gain his citizenship by helping him study for months....  The sad thing is my sister who was born in the USA knew about 20% of the questions on the practice test...  FAIL!  My Mexican born immigrant father in law knows more about our country than my own flesh and blood, and possibly most of the people who are strongly opposed to immigration in general...  Our country is a melting pot of culture, and has a strong economy in general (despite our current status), immigrants play a vital role in our economy - think of who farmed your food, cleans your hotel rooms, etc...  Many of those jobs are paid under the table below minimum wage, disrupting our CHEAP labor force would further disrupt our economy - that doesn't justify our current system - I just want to shed some light...  Thanks for letting me rant!

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context

There are a few posts that bring up valid points, but are misguided at best. AZTOM pointed out that proof of citizenship is required to use our tax dollars. WRONG. 90% of the hispanics on our block are illegal, (my wife is the only LEGAL hisapnic living on our street) as far as I know all of the whites are legal. My wife is a manager at a financial institution and sees illegals using social security numbers to open bank accounts in order to function in our society, while others scam citizens with fraudulant debt, evade taxes, and of course using our SCHOOLS, ROADS, HOSPITALS, MEDICARE, FOOD STAMPS, WIC, etc. find it frustrating that illegals evade taxes and scam our system - the honest citizens and residents foot the bill! I think we should make it easier to obtain residence in our country, and have stricter laws regarding illegals who commit fraud or violent crimes. My grandma lives in Sun City Arizona and agrees 100% with the law the governor signed - she goes off on tangents about the illegals pouring over the borders everyday, yet she lives in a "retired caucasion" neighborhood - the only illegals she sees are her lawn care and home repairmen (which I might add are easily HALF the cost of what we would pay here in Portland!) I hit a nerve with her last week when I asked her if she were willing to pay twice as much to have a legal citizen do yard maintenance for her instead of the illegals she hires. Her response was "well, I don't know for sure if they're illegal" and I said "uh, grandma, if they are not licensed and they accept CASH ONLY and only 1 out of 4 of them can speak broken english, do you honestly think they are USA citizens? To gain citizenship you need to speak & understand english, not to mention have extensive knowledge of our history?!?"  She replied "well, they aren't like the criminals who just keep coming back into the USA in order sell drugs or rob people". I just smiled. I think EVERYONE agrees that we need to find a solution soon. Out of the 10+ illegals living next door to me, the only person deported in the past 5 years was a permanent resident who was charged with theft, he served a few months in jail and then was transfered up to Tacoma and then deported a week later.  One of my illegal neighbors has been here longer than I have and makes better money than I do with his drywall business.  Our system is BROKEN -we need to fix it and I don't see a practical solution that will work for everyone.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context

Here's my little bit...  I was looking to lower my overhead and purchase property instead of renting a warehouse a couple years ago and actually purchased land in Klamath County to build on.  The only reason we haven't made the move is because of the downturn in the economy and without the added income my wife provides we would not be able to make ends meet if we were to relocate to a rural area instead of our urban/suburban location in Clackamas (SE PDX).  Luckily UPS, FEDEX, and USPS make it possible to compete in the ever growing global market...  I am surprised that more people are NOT moving to less expensive areas to run their "online" businesses, especially with the weakening economy which encourages lean business practices.  It has also spurred some of my family members to change their lifestyles in order to be more self sufficient by planting gardens, cutting energy costs, renting out un-used rooms in their house, etc.  I have also noticed more co-op buying groups sprouting up in the past few years as well, it seems that the independent business owner is FINALLY starting to compete with large corporations, those of us who are still in business...... ;-)

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context

It looks like everyone is converging from all angles, so here's mine...  I have had friends and family members who have used marijuana which has lead to "harder drugs" 90% of the time.  If you have "lost" a sister to cocaine who started smoking the "green gateway" drug in high school you might have a different stance than arguing in favor of pot legalization.  I was hit by a medicinal marijuana user who was driving under the influance.  Where do your rights end and mine begin?  While there are responsible drinkers, there are plenty of people that drink and drive, taking innocent lives each year...  Full legalization of marijuana would have it's down turns as well, just like alcohol.  Is one worse than the other?  I do not smoke pot, but I was young once...  I developed a problem with alcohol, can that be blamed on the nature of the substance, or because it is legal to anyone of age?  Should we ban alcohol and legalize pot?  This is a moral issue more than anything else, and all facets should be explored.  I think "medical marijuana" has already changed society's view on the drug, what about "medical opium" or "production enhancing meth"?  If someone can go to work and be productive for 18 hours straight on meth, why not legalize and regulate meth?  I would like to hear from a councelor who works with drug addicts on a daily basis - what are the ramifications of changing laws encouraging or discouraging drug use? 

I personally do not drink, smoke weed or do any other sort of drugs.  That is a moral choice I made in order to STRENGTHEN the relationships between family and friends, and stay productive at work.  Some people are on disability and sit at home all day in pain - so who am I to judge what they do?  As long as it is not affecting me or my family I do not have a problem with what they do, but as soon as someone violates my rights "life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness" I DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR ACTIONS.  Is a fine balance between legalization and heavy regulation practical?  I guess we will see how this all plays out in the coming years.....

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context

I think we all own the ocean, and are responsible for doing our part to keep our environment as natural as possible.  This is obviously NOT the case today...  Everyone is upset with BP, and big oil for that matter.  Media loves playing the blame game, but reality is WE ARE ALL TO BLAME!  If we weren't buying it, big oil wouldn't be selling it.  No matter how safe or unsafe drilling for oil may be, it still pollutes and kills wildlife - not to mention harms our health on a daily basis.  Some people are more affected than others, but the bottom line is we ALL take part in this dangerous game we call "society".  Until we all start using our purchasing power to encourage socially responsible companies, and change our daily actions to minimize harm to our environment, we are ALL TO BLAME for disasters which are caused by humans.  I drive a car and have plastic products in my home, I personally take blame for our oil addiction - I have been feeding this fire too long and am taking small steps to lower my fossil fuel consumption...  The only thing that really scares me is how fast people are to point a finger and curse (well deserved I might add) while neglecting to see the ROOT CAUSE of this problem.  There is no high-tech solution for this disaster, in fact the solution that works the best is very basic.  STOP DRIVING, start walking, biking, carpooling, using mass transit and consolidating your driving.  How many BILLIONS of gallons of gas are burned up in engines each year with the exhaust spewing into the air?!?  You can call me a tree hugger, but seriously, it's better to hug a tree than a tailpipe - I'm not going to get burned.....

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context

One of my best friends from high school decided to move to Oklahoma and live off the grid about 3 years ago.  My buddy (Jason) had always been crafty and would make paper from scratch and spend most of his days wood carving or leatherworking.  He was struggling to make a living selling his crafts and his mother had just retired from being a correctional officer for Multnomah County Jail.  They pooled their money together and purchased 40 acres in the hills of OK.  The first few months they lived in tents while they slowly built a cabin, mainly from trees growing on their land.  After a year their basic cabin was completed, and they started on a 2nd for his mom.  The only means of communicating with my buddy was via his pre-paid cell phone which didn't have reception on his land, but he would check his messages when he would drive into town twice a month...  Last time I spoke with him it had been over 2 years and they were nearly self sufficient at that point in time, but my buddy was getting tired of the isolation and was ready to move back onto the grid, possibly a rural area with running water and electricity.  The reason I am writing about my best bud from back in the day, is the discussion on TOL earlier reminded me of some of the conversations I would have with Jason in the past few years.  He had lived in SE Portland close to 122nd, where the neighborhood wasn't the best and constantly had strange neighbors pulling even stranger stunts...  I can't blame him for wanting to get out of town and away from people, especially after disasters like the BP oil crisis, because deep down I know WE ARE ALL TO BLAME...  If we weren't buying it, they wouldn't be selling it!  I sometimes dream of living off the grid, but the modern amenities we all take for granted seem to outweigh the benefits at the time.  The best we can do is install solar power, conserve, recycle, and grow a garden instead of a lawn.  Once my wife and I are retired we could possibly be moving out to the boonies and try living off the fat of the land, until then I guess it's just hustle and bustle in this little rat race we call society.......

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context