Free Republic

Mr. Ali Jadaan, a local contractor in Scania, Iraq, welcomed members of the Oregon Army National Guard into his home recently for a pre-Ramadan feast. Photo by Spc. Anita VanderMolen, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. SCANIA — Ali Jadaan, a local shaykh and contractor here, recently hosted members of the Oregon National Guard for a pre-Ramadan feast prepared by his family. "There was a lot of food, a lot of variety," said Capt. Charles Ellis, Alpha Company, 2-162 Infantry. "It was definitely harvest time with all the fresh fruit there. It was very nice."The guests enjoyed chicken and rice, meat...

Stephanie Yao Long/The OregonianIndish's version of vegetable korma. I recently watched "Monsoon Wedding," the Bollywood story of a grandiose Punjabi marriage celebration, a film as intricate as the four days of family drama leading to the ceremony. While we don't actually see what must have been a banquet to end all banquets, we can well imagine a feast as complex and elaborate as the convoluted wedding itself. I mention this affair because Indish, a new Indian restaurant, stakes its claim for uniqueness on a refusal to serve what owner Raj Sharma calls ornate and elegant wedding cooking. Rather than...

        2(sic) Oregon soldiers killed in Iraq identified Aug 29, 2009 11:23 AM AP   Related Topics: PORTLAND, Ore.PORTLAND, Ore. (Map, News) - The Oregon National Guard has identified two soldiers killed when a convoy they were guarding was attacked in Iraq. Pfc. Taylor D. Marks, 19, and a decorated veteran, Sgt. Earl D. Werner, 38, died Friday when the convoy was struck by an explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, an armor-piercing explosive that turns into a projectile when detonated.Werner was on his third deployment with the Oregon National Guard. He had been awarded the Bronze...

My argument is that if corporate taxes were eliminated, then there could be fairer price competition among businesses. (CALGARY, Alberta) - Houdini was able to make an elephant disappear in a crowded theatre. How was he able to do it? Misdirection. Misdirection is the primary process in our tax system and no one wants to explain it. I’ve tried more than once over the last thirty years, but the mainstream media (the little people who are the gatekeepers) will not touch it. Here it is. A press release from The Oregon Center for Public Policy published elsewhere on this site...

Nearly 600 people came to Medford's Abraham Lincoln Elementary School today to hear Sen. Ron Wyden talk about health-care reform in a town-hall meeting. Questions from the spirited crowd reflected the range of issues in the national debate about how to make health care affordable and available. The Oregon Democrat said everyone will have to give up something in the effort, which he noted has been a work in progress since Harry Truman was president. Wyden repeatedly turned the conversation to his own health care reform proposal, the Healthy Americans Act, which has support from both Democrats and Republicans. Wyden...

The elk in New Mexico are big and beautiful — a hunter's dream, a landowner's nightmare. Property owners across the state long have complained about wildlife overrunning their private land and destroying crops. But the problem is boiling over in the Sierra Nacimiento in northern New Mexico, where ranchers say they're being ignored and wildlife managers aren't doing enough to curb the damage or compensate them. Some frustrated property owners say they are considering a last resort: shooting the hungry animals. "We enjoy the elk. We don't mind the elk being around but we cannot feed the elk. If it...

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' half brother, who as a boy carried her wedding train up the aisle but later became estranged from her, has been indicted on felony charges of possessing child pornography in Oregon. James Auchincloss was indicted Tuesday by a Jackson County grand jury in Medford on 25 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse resulting from the alleged duplication and possession of child pornography. Auchincloss, 62, did not immediately return messages left on his home phone and cell phone. His attorney, Carl Caplan of Medford, also did not return phone messages. Deputy District Attorney David Hoppe said a plea...

Onassis half brother accused of having child porn By JEFF BARNARD and WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press Writers AP Photo AP Photo/Jeff Barnard Advertisement Buy AP Photo Reprints Your Questions Answered Ask AP: New cars that don't sell, government czars ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Jamie Auchincloss is well known and well liked in this storybook town for his longtime support of local theater, his videos of Democratic political events, and being the half brother to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. So when authorities announced Tuesday that Auchincloss had been indicted on charges of encouraging child sexual abuse by possessing, duplicating and disseminating child...

A fellow Washingtonian and veteran marine tells Congressman Brian Baird what's what!!

PORTLAND, Ore. — Some terminally ill patients in Oregon who turned to their state for health care were denied treatment and offered doctor-assisted suicide instead, a proposal some experts have called a "chilling" corruption of medical ethics. Since the spread of his prostate cancer, 53-year-old Randy Stroup of Dexter, Ore., has been in a fight for his life. Uninsured and unable to pay for expensive chemotherapy, he applied to Oregon's state-run health plan for help. Lane Individual Practice Association (LIPA), which administers the Oregon Health Plan in Lane County, responded to Stroup's request with a letter saying the state would...

Khoa Tan Tran, one of 28 Vietnamese engineering students getting bachelor's degrees paid for by Intel, tries his hand at making a plastic mold in a manufacturing processes lab at Portland State University. The assignment: Design and build an amplifier circuit that controls music volume, bass and treble. Huong Ha, 21, had never done anything like it in her electrical engineering classes in Vietnam. Sure, she had studied the theory, but she had never had the chance to make one herself. "The first time I heard a voice coming from my circuits, I was really happy," Ha said. That's...

SEQUIM -- Health care reform will take center stage in a public meeting Tuesday as a group of Oregon physicians calling themselves "Mad As Hell Doctors" will promote universal health care and discuss the current proposals for reform. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Sequim High School Auditorium, 601 N. Sequim Ave. "We have, for the first time, a group of physicians that is stepping forward in this moment of total confusion and fear that's been fomented on the health care issue," said Bill Kildall, coordinator of Reform Health Care Now, which is sponsoring the event. "These doctors...

Ashland's city attorney will look into whether the city's partial ban on public nudity can be expanded — but also whether there might be legal problems with restrictions already in place. On Tuesday night, a council majority voted to have City Attorney Richard Appicello research legal issues about the ban on the display of genitals in parks and downtown and also whether it could be expanded to prohibit the display of genitals in areas around schools. At least two council members voiced concerns that Ashland's current partial ban on nudity may violate rights to freedom of expression. Council mrmnrt Eric...

SALEM, Ore. – Marion County Sheriff Russ Isham has resigned after an investigation found "substantial evidence" of official misconduct. In a separate public statement, Isham admitted to an extramarital affair. According to Tony Green of the Attorney General's office, the Oregon Department of Justice was asked on August 12 by Marion County to investigate a report of official misconduct. Within the week, the DOJ found substantial evidence of official misconduct as a result of Sheriff Isham trying to conceal a "personal impropriety." On Wednesday, Isham admitted that the impropriety was an affair. According to Green, a subordinate learned of the...

The top consumer advocate in the Oregon attorney general's office spent years on the other side of legal aisle, defending companies against consumer claims, before becoming charged with pursuing nefarious businesses and flim-flam artists in the Beaver State.

Major Update: Incredibly we have two examples of the Inquisitor’s death panels in action today. There is one operating in the State of Oregon (one place I was once thinking about retiring to – clearly not anymore): "Oregon’s Health Plan does not cover everyone in the state as Obama’s Gov’t Care Plan eventually aims to do. The Oregon Health Plan covers only low-income people, and a panel ranks diseases and conditions in order of priority for treatment." … If you have a deformity of your upper body, arms, or legs, no treatment for you! Ditto if your vocal cords are...

The gift moved by wire and satellite, leaving a saltwater trail. It came from a field on the edge of the Cascade Mountains and traveled around the world. The gift was a story. It began with a hanging curveball and ended with a strange, slow procession. It gave gooseflesh to a phys-ed teacher in Pennsylvania, made a market researcher in Texas weak in the knees, put a lump in the throat of a crusty old man in Minnesota. It convinced a cynic in Connecticut that all was not lost. At an office in the South, one woman tried to tell...

Section 1233 would have Medicare pay doctors to counsel seniors on "end-of-life" matters once every five years - or more if the patient's health is dicey. Obama's supporters have forwarded to me links to Politifact.org and FactCheck.org, which have examined Section 1233 [of HR 3200], and conclude nothing sinister is in the bill. Several facts are missing, however. The man who wrote Section 1233, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., advocates euthanasia or, as he calls it on his Web site, "Death with Dignity." In 2005, as the Bush administration challenged Oregon's "Death with Dignity" law, Blumenauer issued a statement criticizing the...

Portland Police this morning arrested Lee Perlman, the reporter for the Hollywood Star News who allegedly defaced a petition to recall Mayor Sam Adams last week. The charge Perlman faces is criminal mischief (PDF) in the third degree, a misdemeanor. Reached by phone last week, Perlman offered no clear explanation for his actions, saying over and over again that he had “sloppy handwriting.” He did, however, offer a story about goats.

Principles for Health Reform One of the biggest challenges facing our economy is the skyrocketing cost of medical coverage. It is imperative to our long term economic stability and health as a nation that we reform our healthcare system. The current healthcare system is unsustainable and we need to implement reforms that will keep costs down while providing a higher quality of care. Health reform should: Lower the increasing cost of healthcare without burdening the middle class with higher taxes Be fully paid for and add nothing to our national debt Be affordable to taxpayers, businesses and the individual Require...

Health care town hall meeting in Grants Pass, OR, August 12, 2009, Anne Basker Auditorium. Peter DeFazio D-OR, 4th Congressional District. The auditorium was filled to capacity by the time I arrived at about 5:00 P.M. for the announced 5:15 P.M. town hall meeting. The auditorium has a capacity of around 200/250. The crowd outside numbered in the 300 to 400 range. They were peaceful and respectful. Some chanting: "No Obama health care," and similar things. Small group of SEIU and professional gov't types tried to chant pro Obamacare slogans, but were drowned out. The numbers outside were about 10...

Lately I’ve been studying voting patterns in Oregon during 2004, 2006, and 2008 just for the fun of it. I’m reading reports and statistics from analysts, editorialists, and state and county elections bureaus, studying demographics relevant to the elections, looking at who ran, how much money they spent and where and how they spent it in Oregon – true political geekiness. And an amateur political geek at that; make no mistake. While it’s too early for me to discuss any significant trends I’ve noticed that differ from what professional political scientists have noted, the current cluster flock going on in...

One of our sources at the David Wu protest Monday found this. I suspect a direct connection between Pelosi's vineyard in Napa, WWV and Acorn.

A day battling in the middle of LibTown Portland OR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKvEllKpbc Pray for America

McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Passions overflowed at a health care forum hosted by Congressman David Wu on Monday as Oregonians packed a small McMinnville conference room while hundreds of others lined up outside, unable to get in. The health care reform debate playing out across the U.S. came home to Oregon as opponents and supporters of a federal overhaul yelled and sniped at one another at Wu's town hall meeting. Congressman David Wu hosted a town hall meeting on healthcare reform Monday night in McMinnville. And the calm of the summer evening gave way to an evening full of debates. “I...

On O'Rielly Factor 8/10/09 a story was put forward about a lady that had cervical cancer and was denied the cancer drugs by the state (they have universal healthcare) and she was told tehy would pay for the drugs that would terminate her life. if anyone has the links for reference on this story (other than O'Rielly), it would be a great story to plaster all over the net and local news organizations. In the end the "evil" drug companies donated teh drugs to her for what was the rest of her existence. Who knows how much time the quest...

Health Care: There might not be a "death panel," as Sarah Palin described it, but federal bureaucrats will be making end-of-life decisions. That's why state-run medicine is a leading cause of death in Britain and Canada.A post on the former Alaska governor's Facebook page has caused a stir by discussing openly what many privately fear and something we have written about. End-of-life counseling and efforts to measure cost-effectiveness of treatment will combine in a perfect storm to ration care in a way that lets the government decide who lives and who dies. "The America I know and love is not...

The Silverton, Oregon, city council has censured its transgender mayor. Mayor Stu Rasmussen admitted to wearing an open-back bathing suit, mini skirt, and high heels when he spoke before a group of children at a non-profit organization. A person attending the speech was displeased and filed a complaint. Andrea Lafferty is with the Traditional Values Coalition. "This is a man who's dressing like a woman. He was born a man. He has male DNA. That cannot change," she believes. Lafferty says the idea of making the appearance in front of children is an affront to parents who do not want...

The news from Barbara Wagner's doctor was bad, but the rejection letter from her insurance company was crushing. The 64-year-old Oregon woman, whose lung cancer had been in remission, learned the disease had returned and would likely kill her. Her last hope was a $4,000-a-month drug that her doctor prescribed for her, but the insurance company refused to pay. What the Oregon Health Plan did agree to cover, however, were drugs for a physician-assisted death. Those drugs would cost about $50. "It was horrible," Wagner told ABCNews.com. "I got a letter in the mail that basically said if you want...

When the nation's economy was spinning out of control, folks wanted action -- and they wanted it now. The president, Congress, state legislators and governors responded with stimulus plans. Government money -- taxpayer dollars -- was spent on programs aimed at putting people to work. Did the stimulus plans succeed? Well, that depends on who you ask or how you define success? Unfortunately, some government officials have twisted the numbers more artfully than a clown making balloon animals. Oregon's clowns -- er, government officials -- claim that state's $176 million stimulus program has created 3,236 new jobs in the program's...

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Is it democracy at work? Or mob rule? Protestors have disrupting health care town halls across the country. Now citizens in Vancouver won't get to discuss the proposed reforms publicly after Congressman Brian Baird of Vancouver received death threats and heard from constituents fearing for their safety. Town halls were scheduled to provide a forum for discussing President Obama's health care plan. But in public meetings across the country, those forums have degenerated into shouting matches. “It's not about showing up and having a real dialogue or discussing point A or B about the health care proposal,"...

NEW YORK — Regulators on Friday shut down two banks in Florida, bringing to 71 the number of federally insured banks to fail this year under the weight of the weak economy and rising loan losses. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the banks: First State Bank of Sarasota, Fla., and Venice, Fla.-based Community National Bank of Sarasota County. First State Bank had total assets of $463 million and deposits totaling $387 million. Community National Bank had $97 million of assets and $93 million in deposits.

Jonestown resident Marlon Coplin lives on the north side of Lake Travis and enjoys his lakefront property. But he is being taken to court by the city of Cedar Park because the city wants eminent domain rights of his property. By September, an intake barge in planned on being built in order to supply water to Cedar Park... "Just the land itself is worth $800,000," said Coplin. "They're offering me $42,000." As it stands now, Coplin feels he's being cheated. "Some day I'd like to sell my property, and now I'm going to have to sell it 50 cents on...

Smith walked in through the unlocked door and was unbuckling his pants and taking off his shoes when Cramer's wife, Christy, found the man, Stoll said. Smith then laid down on the couch and went to sleep, she said. Christy Cramer went into the master bedroom with her daughter and locked the door. The pair then left the house through a back door in the bedroom, Stoll said. Christy Cramer picked her husband up at the nearby bar and took him home. All three entered the home but could not get into the bedroom where guns were located because the...

Republicans are seeing a lot of opportunities for 2010, according to a letter from staffers at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The letter, issued to a variety of Republican PACs and reported first at AOL's Politics Daily website last week, states that over 70 different seats across the nation are being targetted for turnover.

An Oregon congressman says he wants to test having a government GPS unit in every car so a tax could be imposed on the miles driven. The proposal, H.R. 3311, which calls for a test project costing $150 million-plus, was introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. "Oregon has successfully tested a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee, and it is time to expand and test the VMT program across the country," he said in a statement on his website. "A VMT system can better assess fees based on use of our roads and bridges, as well as during times of peak congestion,...

An Oregon congressman says he wants to test having a government GPS unit in every car so a tax could be imposed on the miles driven. The proposal, H.R. 3311, which calls for a test project costing $150 million-plus, was introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore."Oregon has successfully tested a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee, and it is time to expand and test the VMT program across the country," he said in a statement on his website. "A VMT system can better assess fees based on use of our roads and bridges, as well as during times of peak congestion, than...

Oregon Health & Science University will receive more than $1.3 million to expand its biomedical informatics training program through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Specifically, 13 student internships have been funded, which allow students from a number of colleges and universities to work through the summer on projects led by OHSU faculty.

Anyone else in Southern Oregon hear the Tsuanmi warning--was just watching HGTV and it appeared across the screen. Just curious if this is a test--or a real warning.

Reporting from Flint, Mich. -- As the unemployment rate topped 25% and General Motors planned to cut more jobs in this long-struggling auto town, voters decided to focus their anger on one person: Mayor Donald J. Williamson. More than 17,000 residents signed a petition demanding his recall, citing waste, corruption, mismanagement and sundry other complaints. Williamson resigned 10 days before the vote. "He made people so mad," said Eric Mays, a retired GM worker who led an earlier effort to recall Williamson that failed. "He had to go." Fueled by the recession, voters nationwide are recalling local leaders, including mayors,...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- A Grants Pass man woke up in the middle of the night, and came face to face with an intruder. That intruder was a bear, and the man jumped into action. Everett Skinner was awakened by his daughter in the middle of the night. Skinner grabbed his shot gun. "I shot him once with the gun and that didn't bother him" skinner explained. "I put a third shot into his mid section and he was still growling and roaring" said Skinner. It took three more shots to finally put the bear down. The bear eventually collapsed...

Carl Brent Worthington was sentenced today to 60 days in jail and five years probation for failing to provide adequate medical care for his 15-month-old daughter. Clackamas County Circuit Judge Steven Maurer also will require regular medical checkups for Worthington's surviving child, a 5-year-old girl, and a post-birth medical examination of the child he and his wife are expecting. In the long history of child deaths associated with faith-healing practices of the Followers of Christ Church in Oregon City, Worthington is the first church member to be convicted of a crime. Addressing the defendant as well as a courtroom full...

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/TownHalls.aspx Health Care Public EventKingfisher County FairgroundsKingfisher, OK 73750Monday, September 28, 2009Start Time: 6:30 PM End Time: 8:30 PM In attendance, Rep. Mary Fallin H (REP) District 5 Health Care Town Hall MeetingHayward City HallHayward, CA 94541Saturday, September 12, 2009Start Time: 10:30 AM End Time: 11:30 AM In attendance, Rep. Fortney Stark H (DEM) District 13 Health Care Town Hall MeetingRuggieri Senior CenterUnion City, CA 94587Saturday, September 12, 2009Start Time: 9:00 AM End Time: 10:00 AM In attendance, Rep. Fortney Stark H (DEM) District 13 Health Care Town Hall MeetingAlameda City HallAlameda, CA 94501Saturday, September 12, 2009Start Time: 12:00 PM...

If you haven’t, read Erick’s post about an Oregon public health plan (”public option”) administrator responding to a cancer patient’s request for subsidized chemotherapy with a denial of treatment but an offer to fund a physician-assisted suicide. Now, know this: over the course of this decade, the state of Oregon has put in place a formal procedure for rationing care to patients whose health coverage is subsidized by government (i.e., who are enrolled in some form of the state’s “public option”). To date, they are the only government in the world to have formally done this, though many — from...

“Nearly All My Professors Are Democrats. Isn’t That a Problem?” is the title of a wonderful opinion piece at the Christian Science Monitor by University of Oregon journalism student Dan Lawton. Lawton’s investigation into the liberally funded diversity program at the University of Oregon yielded some interesting results: “The University of Oregon (UO), where I study journalism, invested millions annually in a diversity program that explicitly included "political affiliation" as a component. Yet, out of the 111 registered Oregon voters in the departments of journalism, law, political science, economics, and sociology, there were only two registered Republicans.” When Lawton published...

Many well-educated adults willing to stay in hip town even without a job. Portland, OR--Ceramics artist Heidi Sowa had her eyes set on Portland for years. The city was not too big, had a cohesive arts community and plenty of easygoing and helpful people. Within weeks of arriving, she landed a gig making costumes for 8-inch puppets in "Coraline," a 3-D stop-motion animated movie. Her job ended last year, and the movie opened in theaters earlier this year. Now, at 26, Sowa is living on unemployment, sleeping in a single room apartment and eating from a refrigerator in a studio...

Oregon's most recent Legislative session was marked by some disturbing trends.The greatest of which was the deliberate efforts to negate the will of Oregon voters. First, the legislature passed tax increases that will drastically affect Oregon citizens and businesses and they refused to send these taxes to the people for a vote. Most likely because they knew it would never pass. Instead of legislating the will of the people they were sent to Salem to serve, they passed legislation which will have the inevitable effect of costing tens of thousands of jobs in a state already facing unemployment of 13%....

More than $200 million collected from cell phone users for upgrades to the 911 system has been diverted in the past two years to plug state budget holes, keep campaign promises and, in at least one case, buy police uniforms... Dispatchers say the diversion of money comes at the expense of improvements that would give crime and accident victims more opportunities to reach responders. Someone who has been kidnapped, for instance, may not be able to talk but might be able to quietly send a text message or a photo. -- In New York -- In Wisconsin...decided to divert $100...

A jury today found Carl Worthington guilty of criminal mistreatment in the death of his 15-month-old daughter, the first conviction under a 1999 state law passed to protect the children of parents who believe in treating illness solely with faith healing. Carl and Raylene Worthington were acquitted of all other charges. Carl Worthington, 29, and Raylene Worthington, 26, had both been charged with second-degree manslughter and criminal mistreatment. The criminal mistreatment charge carries a sentence of up to one year in jail. After hearing 12 days of testimony from 21 witnesses, it took the jury more than a week...

Greg Walden has done the citizens of Oregon and indeed the Nation a great favor! He is actually reading the Health Care Bill! It is a sad state of affairs when the House of Representatives forces votes on sweeping and tremendously expensive legislation with out even reading what is in the measures it passes! Well one member of that august body is actually doing his job. Greg Walden is reading the bill! According to his twitter site the Representative was hoping to have the bill read by the 18th of this month. In the intervening days, there have been further...