Free Republic

For three years, an incredibly nerdy—but consequential—debate has raged among health policy researchers regarding Medicaid, America’s government-run health-care program for the poor. Piles of studies have shown that people on Medicaid have health outcomes that are no better, and often worse, than those with no insurance at all. But supporters of Obamacare were cheered in 2011 when a lone study, out of Oregon, purported to show that Medicaid was better than being uninsured. Yesterday, however, the authors of the Oregon study published their updated, two-year results, finding that Medicaid “generated no significant improvement in measured physical health outcomes.”

HALFWAY -- Two masked men wearing hoodies and wielding handguns burst into the Pine Eagle Charter School in this tiny rural community on Friday. Students were at home for an in-service day, so the gunmen headed into a meeting room full of teachers and opened fire. Someone figured out in a few seconds that the bullets were not drawing blood because they were blanks and the exercise was a drill, designed to test Pine Eagle's preparation for an assault by "active shooters" who were, in reality, members of the school staff. But those few seconds left everybody plenty scared. Principal...

Six former members of Congress to hear space alien testimony By Justin Sink - 04/29/13 11:29 AM ET Six former members of Congress have signed up for a week of congressional-style testimony on the existence of space aliens. The hearing, which will occur this week at the National Press Club, will feature some 30 hours of testimony on the possible existence of extraterrestrials and be recorded for a documentary film. Around three dozen researchers and academics are expected to testify. Participants will include ex-Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), and ex-Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.),...

And the defense attorneys want Osama bin Laden's name excluded from the proceedings, even though Mustafa Kamel Mustafa was an al-Qaeda operative. How did a preacher of Islam get the crazy idea that Islam mandated killing unbelievers? Doesn't he know it's a peaceful religion, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise? "US defends arrest of Egyptian Islamic preacher, says bin Laden’s name belongs in NY trial," from the Associated Press, April 28: NEW YORK — Osama bin Laden’s name should not be banned from the terrorism trial of an Egyptian Islamic preacher despite claims by defense lawyers that it would...

TheTownCrier had a disagreement with a radio host yesterday. His guest was a state representative, a republican, who has introduced a bill to give illegal aliens drivers license. Their conversation was polite with no objection to the bill by the host. I commented to the host that the lawmaker should have been given some challenge about this...why doesn't the lawmaker promote existing immigration law, instead of rewarding illegal behavior. The host, usually a fair chap, decided to get ALL righteous and indignant, informing me how stupid I was...that a mere state rep can't do anything about federal law. BALDERDASH! The...

The sheriffs of Clatsop and Pacific counties say they aren’t worried about the surge of guns coming into the two counties as citizens fearful of firearms regulations stock up. “It’s a right, and I support that a thousand percent,” said Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin. “I hope that this government sees through this knee-jerk reaction that’s saying, ‘We’re going to ban assault weapons,’ or ‘Do this or do that.’ Unfortunately, it’s put a big bind on purchasing ammunition for law enforcement or recreational shooting.” Pacific County Sheriff Scott Johnson is also concerned about the rising cost of ammunition for the...

Salem, OR – The Rough and Ready Lumber Company announced it is closing its Cave Junction sawmill. The mill, which provided 85 family wage jobs with benefits, has not been able to secure a sufficient supply of logs to remain competitive. “Today is a very sad day for Josephine County,” said Senator Herman Baertschiger (R-Grants Pass). “The great tragedy is that the land surrounding this mill is full of timber, 2.7 million acres of timber. It is like starving in a grocery store and not being allowed to eat.”

A woman in Tualatin, Ore., is breathing a sigh of relief after a three-year battle to prove Wells Fargo had wrongfully moved to foreclose on her home, saying she had missed mortgage payments. A judge ruled Wednesday that Wells Fargo failed to prove she was actually behind in her payments, which Delores Dingman, 80, attributes to the bank's simple "accounting errors." "I just praise God for it all because I kept praying so many times about this, because I knew I had made the payments, but their accounting errors made it hard," she said.

OREGON — An Oregon resident with 3 massive man-made ponds on his property is sentenced to 30 days in jail after being found guilty (again) of collecting rainwater without a permit.

Since this spring’s blink-and-you-missed-it debate over reauthorization of several controversial provisions of the Patriot Act, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mark Udall (D-CO) have been complaining to anyone who’d listen about a “Secret Patriot Act“—an interpretation of one of the law’s provisions by the classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court granting surveillance powers exceeding those an ordinary person would understand to be conferred from the text of the statute itself. As I argued at the time, there is an enormous amount of strong circumstantial evidence suggesting that this referred to a “sensitive collection program” involving cell phone location tracking—potentially on a...

As the list of news reports of police officers shooting dogs with minimal provocation grows, I've been waiting, in a watching-the motorcyclist-hit-the-oil-slick sort of way, for a person to get drawn in as "collateral damage." A good many dog owners feel a strong, familial emotional bond to their pets. I know that I dropped a wad of cash and a lot of time on my dog, Max, when he tangled with a rattlesnake. A friend of mine called a business trip short, last week, when her pooch needed emergency surgery. I figured it was only a matter of time before...

Jeff Smith was pulling a stump from his garden near McDowell Creek Park on Monday, but his mud-caked boot slipped off the tractor’s clutch. The machine flipped upside down and on top of him. The steering wheel pinned the 36-year-old to the dirt, pressing into his chest. He yelled for help. “I was losing more and more breath every time I screamed,” he said. His daughters, just home from school, were walking the family’s dogs. “We heard, ‘Save me. Help me, God,’” said 14-year-old Haylee Smith, an eighth-grader at Hamilton Creek School. She and her sister Hannah Smith, a 16-year-old...

Pay attention, Connecticut. You’re next. Colt Competition, a manufacturer of high end Colt AR-15 rifles in Canby, Oregon, is moving its firearms production to the 2nd Amendment supporting state of Texas. According to CBS DFW, A firearms company that makes AR-15 style rifles for the iconic brand Colt, will open a plant in Breckenridge in Stephens County. Oregon company Bold Ideas confirmed the development Friday. Bold Ideas goes by the name Colt Competition, making high accuracy rifles for competition shooting. --snip-- This move follows on the heels of Magpul’s recent decision to pull their manufacturing of the company’s highly popular...

"You don't know what freedom is because you never lost it!" With a pointed finger Manuel Martinez called out Anti-Gun Committee Leader Floyd Prozansky during heated testimony on Friday. You can bet Prozansky got the message. To quote Mr. Martinez: "malicious individuals, masquerading as Democrats,.. established ... a dictatorial regime ... in my nation called Communism, Socialism, Stalinism, Marxism, and whatever other named -ism you want to put on it. The reason why it was done was to take away the guns from the People." Mr. Martinez escaped the brutal Communist regime in Cuba in 1954. His testimony included how...

The co-author of a book on partisan science recently examined by Pacific Standard argues that our reviewer was a little too partisan himself. Any book that touches upon politics almost automatically angers half of the American public, regardless of what is written inside of it. It takes a special person—an objective, open-minded and self-critical one—to read and learn from a science book that criticizes people with whom the reader likes and agrees with politically.Recently, Pacific Standard published a review (“Red Science, Blue Science,” January/February 2013) by Wray Herbert, a pop psychology writer,of political writer Chris Mooney’s book The Republican Brain...

BRECKENRIDGE (CBS 11 NEWS) – A firearms company that makes AR-15 style rifles for the iconic brand Colt, will open a plant in Breckenridge in Stephens County. Oregon company Bold Ideas confirmed the development Friday. Bold Ideas goes by the name Colt Competition, making high accuracy rifles for competition shooting. The company has not officially announced the opening, but employment applications are already available at the Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce. A non-specific, help wanted ad appeared in the local newspaper classifieds earlier in the week.

SALEM -- A package of four gun bills drafted after the Sandy Hook and Clackamas shootings stayed on track Friday following a marathon hearing that pitted Gov. John Kitzhaber and several victims of gun violence against a National Rifle Association lobbyist and several impassioned gun-rights activists. After the four-hour hearing, Senate Judiciary Chairman Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said he intends to proceed with the four bills, which he called "common-sense legislation regarding gun safety." Prozanski said he would work on amendments to the measures and bring the bills back to the committee for a vote before April 18. The measures are...

Last week, a Portland, Oregon math teacher was led out of his classroom by police and is expected to be fired for his opposition to Planned Parenthood. For years, Benson High School teacher Bill Diss has protested Planned Parenthood of Columbia Willamette (PPCW) building an abortion facility as well as their infiltration into the city’s schools. PPshebopThis Fall, he refused to allow Planned Parenthood staffers to come into his class to push their agenda, under the auspices of the Teen Outreach Program – why was this interrupting a math class, of all things? – and ever since, the school’s administration...

The Portland Thorns are removing a T-shirt from store shelves and the team's website in response to criticism that its slogan "Feelin' Thorny?" was sexist. The T-shirt was gone in slightly less than 24 hours since the controversy broke on Facebook and was fueled on other social media platforms.

Oregon school cancels zombie survival classes, ensures students will be eaten Armand Larive Middle School had what is perhaps the greatest junior high social studies class ever: Zombie Survival Skills. But the killjoy parents and administrators put the kibosh on the post-apocalyptic class, feeling that undead studies were not appropriate for growing minds. The East Oregonian reported on Rich Harshberger's zombie survival classes at Armand Larive earlier this week, a class that focused largely on real-world survival skills and also had a reading and writing component. Apparently, parents were a bit surprised to learn the school was teaching a class...

An Oregon public school teacher says he’s on the verge of being fired because of his outspoken views against Planned Parenthood and abortion. Bill Diss, who taught at Benson High School in Portland for 11 years, was placed on paid leave March 19 and recommended for dismissal, the Oregonian reported. That day, the math teacher said he was given a few minutes to collect his things and was escorted from school premises by police, according to the Christian News Network. Diss is a staunch Roman Catholic and blocked two Planned Parenthood workers from entering his classroom in September because, he...

The food stamp program seems to be a breeding ground of waste, fraud, and abuse. Some of the horror stories I’ve shared include: Using food stamps to buy luxury coffee at Starbucks. Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. The Obama Administration rewarding states that sign up more food stamp recipients. Proposals to make it easier to use food stamps at fast food restaurants. College kids scamming the program for handouts. New York City giving food stamps to newly released prisoners and running foreign-language ads encouraging more people to sign up for the program. The Octo-Mom mooching off the food...

Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) has sponsored a strange bill to make it more difficult to obtain a concealed handgun license in Oregon. SB 796 requires that a person applying for a CHL pass a firing range test, but with some very strange twists. For example, Sen. Prozanski’s bill requires the use of human silhouette targets and it requires the use of high capacity magazines or speed loaders.

It’s no surprise that many Hollywood actors and actresses are on the left side of the aisle. But what is a surprise -- and a nice one at that -- is to see some of them stand by their ideology even when many liberals on Capitol Hill will not. Last Wednesday, while many Democrats on Capitol Hill stood silent on a big civil liberties issue, one major celebrity went on twitter to chastise some of his ideological allies. On an issue that they are both passionate about, the liberal actor John Cusack -- the star of films like “Being...

Democrat Ginny Burdick -- the most impassioned gun-control advocate in the Oregon Senate -- recently dealt with one of those home visits. Some klutz spent several hours filming Burdick outside her home, and Jeff Reynolds, chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party, gleefully posted the video online. ---------------------------cut------------------- Burdick, meanwhile, has announced that four gun-control bills -- including background checks on all gun transactions except those between immediate family members -- will be heard Thursday in Senate Judiciary. "It's clear that intimidation works," Burdick said. "This is the extremist, highly motivated fringe. The strategy is to make life so miserable...

SALEM, OR (KPTV) - A 6-year-old girl is recovering after she was attacked by a pack of Chihuahuas in Salem. The attack happened Wednesday night on 17th Street Northeast near Nebraska Street, according to Salem police. The girl was taken to the hospital but is expected to be OK. Four of the Chihuahuas are now at the Marion County Animal Shelter under a 10-day quarantine. Once that is finished, a veterinarian will evaluate each dog for either adoption or euthanasia. William Van Aken, the victim's father, said he and his daughter were on a walk to her school. "We were...

"Portland terrorism arrest: Emails show connection between Portland city worker and Pakistan suicide attacker, feds say" SNIPPET: "At the beginning of 2006, Reaz Qadir Khan received an email from a man he knew, goading him about Khan's past devotion to seek martyrdom for Allah, authorities said."

A bill promoted by Ceasefire Oregon to ban many semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity gun magazines generated a national outcry over the weekend from angry pro-gun activists. Even Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, the c hief sponsor of House Bill 3200, said the bill as introduced goes too far in not only banning the sale of these weapons but in limiting each gun owner to continue possessing just one of these firearms. Greenlick said he also disagrees with a provision that would allow the state police to investigate gun owners who possess one of these weapons to make sure they are safely...

<p>The Oregon House has voted to extend resident college tuition rates to some young illegal immigrants.</p> <p>The House's 38-18 vote on Friday sends the measure to the Senate. In the last decade, similar legislation has failed twice.</p> <p>The measure would allow students to qualify for in-state tuition at the Oregon's seven public universities if they've attended an Oregon high school for at least three years and lived in the United States for at least five.</p>

Two days after Senate Democrats claimed they would not seek a ban on modern firearms and feeding devices, Democrats in the Oregon House introduced just that. Seven Senators joined with eight House Reps to introduce a sweeping ban on virtually all modern firearms. Among the Senators is, of course, Ginny Burdick, who claimed on Wednesday “that she is backing off an attempt to push through a bill on gun clips that she drafted following the December shootings at the Clackamas Mall.” The other sponsors are: Representatives BAILEY, BUCKLEY, DEMBROW, FREDERICK, READ, REARDON, TOMEI, Senators , DINGFELDER, HASS, MONNES- ANDERSON, MONROE,...

Howls of rage went up after the Joint Terrorism Task Force, guns drawn, arrested Maher Hawash in the parking lot of an Intel Corporation facility in March, 2003, and placed him in solitary confinement. The protests intensified as prosecutors detained him without charges for more than a month in an Oregon jail while they pored over the evidence. Given Maher Mofeid "Mike" Hawash's biography, this all came as a particular shock, for he personified the American success story. A Palestinian born in Nablus in 1964 and reared in Kuwait, he arrived in the United States in 1984, earning degrees in...

Four days ago Warblogging reported on the story of Maher (Mike) Hawash. Mr. Hawash's problems have now been the subject of an article in the New York Times. Mr. Hawash is a programmer, working at Intel, who was detained by the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force as a material witness. He has so far spent just about two weeks in jail without being charged with a crime and without being questioned or told why he is detained. He is being kept in solitary confinement. Mr. Hawash was detained by FBI agents wearing helments, body armor and carrying assault rifles...

Jackson County, Oregon Sheriff Mike Winters stands up to the press and their STOOOPID questions. At about 12:23 on the video, he mentions Fast & Furious and this administrations complicity in the murder of our border agent, Brian Terry. He further stated the US Government will NEVER be allowed to confiscate guns in Jackson County.

The Oregon state attorney general's office is investigating a Christian baker who declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Aaron Klein, owner of the Gresham, Ore. bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa, told The Oregonian newspaper he chose not to make the cake because he believes marriage is “a religious institution between a man and woman as stated in the Bible.” “When someone tells me that their definition is something different, I strongly disagree. I don’t think I should be penalized for that.” His business, which he co-owns with his wife, could face as much as $50,000 in...

Enlarge Image Credit: UNOLS As many as three new coastal research vessels are slated to join the United States' oceanographic research fleet—and Oregon State University will take the lead in designing and building them, OSU President Edward Ray announced yesterday. The National Science Foundation (NSF) will give OSU an initial $3 million to coordinate the concept design; the total expected cost will be $290 million, assuming the U.S. Congress comes up with the money for the new ships. The vessels are part of a long-term plan to replace some of the vessels in the rapidly aging U.S. scientific fleet....

Ginny Burdick, a Democratic state senator from Oregon, called for gun registration while laughing about a shooting victim and insulting gun owners as "Rambos" in a video posted to YouTube on Sunday, Twitchy reported. "There’s a real Rambo complex going on here," she said. "You know my favorite one was the guy who after Aurora [Theater massacre] brought his gun to the same theater so he could get the attacker again and he shot himself in the butt," she added, laughing. "And that's a much more likely scenario instead of heading off an intruder." Ironically, the video starts with Burdick...

Trying to quit smoking? You might want to move to Oregon. A new bill would classify cigarettes as a Schedule III controlled substance, making them illegal to purchase without a doctor’s prescription. Portland Rep. Mitch Greenlick introduced the bill in the Oregon State Legislature in an attempt to reduce the number of addicted people, but has received criticism from smokers and non-smokers alike who believe the initiative is not feasible. Under Greenlick’s proposal, smokers would be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to one year’s imprisonment and a $6,250 fine for being caught with a cigarette or any of...

Sheriffs have risen up all over our great nation to stand up against the unconstitutional gun control measures being taken. The following is a list of sheriffs and state sheriff’s associations from all over our great nation who have vowed to uphold and defend the Constitution against Obama’s unlawful gun control measures. I applaud these public servants for their courage and conviction. I would encourage other Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers to add their voices to the growing numbers of faithful protectors of our freedom. List of State Sheriff’s Associations 1. Utah Sheriff’s Association List of County Sheriffs 1. Sheriff...

What they fail to mention: in the state of Oregon, one can register to vote on the same form used to apply for a driver’s license, and their citizenship is never checked. Granting drivers licenses to illegals paves the way for MASSIVE voter fraud in the next election (like Oregon wasn’t rife with it already).

Oregon representative Carolyn Tomei, a Democrat, says she didn't think "anyone would notice" when she came up with a revision to the Pledge of Allegiance — swapping out "one nation under God" for the groovier, if less traditional, "one nation under love." Conservative bloggers picked up on the change when Tomei led the Oregon House in reciting the pledge this week.... A spokesperson for the Oregon House Speaker downplayed the dust-up: "My hope is that this is the last time I talk about it."

<p>PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) — More Oregon sheriffs are joining the chorus saying they would refuse to enforce any new federal gun law they believe are unconstitutional.</p> <p>Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley said Tuesday he sent the same letter to Vice President Joe Biden that was sent Monday by Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller.</p>

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon sheriff has written Vice President Joe Biden to say his department won’t enforce any new gun laws it considers unconstitutional. In his letter, Sheriff Tim Mueller of Linn County said politicians are “attempting to exploit the deaths of innocent victims” by supporting laws that would harm law-abiding Americans. Mueller says he took an oath to support the Constitution, and laws preventing citizens from owning certain semi-automatic firearms and ammunition magazines would violate their rights.

PORTLAND, Ore. – For more than two years, the only image the public has had of the man accused of plotting to detonate an 1,800-pound bomb at a Portland Christmas tree-lighting ceremony is this: A sullen-faced, sunken-eyed terrorism suspect in a mug shot taken just hours after his arrest.

I have been informed that John Noveske, master of the AR and the founder of Noveske Rifleworks, was killed in an auto accident yesterday in Oregon. Here is a statement released by Noveske Rifleworks, via Soldier Systems: Noveske Rifleworks would ask you to remember the passing of our founder, John Noveske, who died Friday, January 4th 2013 in an automobile accident. John planned for all eventualities, and wanted to ensure any changes would be as seamless as possible for our customers, dealers, suppliers, employees and friends. While this will be a trying time, we do not expect a change in...

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - Fuel-efficient cars are designed to save people money on gas, but those who drive them could soon start paying a mileage tax. The government has been collecting taxes at the pump to pay for building and fixing roads for years, but drivers of electric cars avoid the gas tax because they don't fuel up. State legislators are looking at adding a tax for cars that get at least 55 miles per gallon, with the money going toward state roads. Some Portland residents say area roads could use the help.

Scores of out-of-state strikebreakers wait on high alert in Northwest hotel rooms, ready to replace longshoremen in case of a lockout at grain terminals. Three fully crewed, non-union tugboats protected by armed guards stand by, prepared to keep grain ships docking. In a provocative move, a California company has moored the tugs on the Willamette River near longshore Local 8's Northwest Portland union hall. Quietly, owners of Portland, Vancouver and Puget Sound terminals have spent months preparing for a battle royal on the waterfront, lining up troops and assets like chess pieces. The agribusiness giants have laid legal groundwork for...

A Medford School Board member has criticized state Rep. Dennis Richardson's call to arm educators at local campuses to help prevent a mass shooting in Oregon. "I respect Dennis Richardson, but I don't always agree with him," said Paulie Brading, a former principal at three Oregon schools who has been on the board since 2008. "It's almost a knee-jerk reaction that has politicized this situation." Richardson, R-Central Point, has proposed arming and training two to three school officials at each school in the state to help prevent the kind of mass killing that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in...

Hope for finding a job, for paying next month's rent and for keeping the lights on over for the holidays is fading for Brenda Wallis. She lost her job in 2008, at the dawn of a recession that eventually claimed 147,700 Oregon jobs. She exhausted her unemployment benefits and has applied for cash assistance from the same state agency at which she once worked. And she's filled out hundreds of applications, landing six interviews but no offers. As the gap in her work history grows, the bills get harder to pay. There's little left to hope for, says the Fairview...

LInk only: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20121218/UPDATE/121217050/Roommate-Oregon-mall-shooter-called-tip-line