Free Republic

On Thursday (March 14th), the Oregon Health Authority is going to vote on a proposal that just about everyone who treats chronic pain thinks is a bad idea. Essentially, the proposal would force Oregon Medicaid patients off opioid medications without their consent. This vote is happening despite intense criticism aimed at the agency from over 100 leaders in pain medicine, addiction and public health who raised their concern in a letter that was sent to the Oregon Health Authority. It said that the risks of involuntary tapering and the importance of facilitating access of medications to people who need them...

Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been,” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities.” Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but non-binary—and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female.

Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been,” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities.” Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but non-binary—and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female. Now, I want to live again as the man that I am. I’m one of the lucky...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has awarded the Trump administration a victory by staying a lower court decision which blocked the administration’s attempts to restrict the military service of transgender people who suffer from a condition known as gender dysphoria. The court found that Trump’s new policy, which was based upon the findings of former Secretary of State Jim Mattis (see below), was in fact a more nuanced version of the original policy and should not have been summarily blocked by District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to...

Sara Kelly Keenan says she’s living proof that gender isn’t binarySara Kelly Keenan was sitting in a booth with her father at Santa Cruz Diner eight years ago this month when he admitted that doctors had wanted to assign her a gender when she was born: “They said that they could make you a 3-inch penis if I wanted them to, but I said, ‘Hell no, that’s my daughter, she’s a girl!’” “That’s when I realized that he knew I was genetically a male,” says Keenan. It took 49 years and the onset of advanced Alzheimer’s for Keenan’s father to...

When Oregon resident Jamie Shupe quietly walked into a Portland, Oregon, courthouse this June and received permission to change their gender from female to "non-binary," they did so without the assistance of any nonprofit or national transgender advocacy group. Shupe's successful legal change to a third gender stunned the national LGBTQ community; many intersex and gender nonconforming people had dreamed of someday being able to opt out of "male" and "female" gender designations, but no one thought it could be done so easily. In the six months since Shupe became the first legally non-binary U.S. citizen, the amount of people...

Oregon resident Jamie Shupe, who identifies as neither male nor female, can legally be considered nonbinary, a judge ruled.

Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been,” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities.” Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but nonbinary—and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female. Now, I want to live again as the man that I am. I’m one of the lucky...

Oregon legislation to allow children to vote should bring to an end our first reaction to crazy ideas involving our elections -- namely laughter. It’s dangerous to laugh at proposals like child-voting when the advocates are deadly serious. Oregon Senator Shemia Fagan introduced legislation at a press conference to allow sixteen-year-olds to vote. She was flanked by teens wearing homemade T-shirts criticizing firearms. "Sixteen-year-olds are couch surfing with friends while their families are experiencing homelessness, and begging us to take action to protect their future and planet," Fagan said. As long as democracies have existed, and as long as...

An unvaccinated 6-year-old boy from Oregon has racked up more than $800,000 in medical bills after almost dying in the state's first case of pediatric tetanus in 30 years. The unidentified boy contracted tetanus - a serious infection caused by bacteria entering a wound - through a cut on his forehead while playing outside on a farm in 2017. It was the first time a child in Oregon had been diagnosed with rare disease in more than 30 years, according to a report on the case by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday.

I lived in the Bible Belt when I was an atheist. Was I discriminated against? I don't know. Maybe. I do know that the service industry jobs I applied for were always happy that I was willing to work on Sundays. Discrimination was a term I never thought about in regards to myself. I guess I was more self-sufficient and confident than today's atheists. Definitely more so than those who live in Portland, Oregon. Apparently, the 42 percent of Portland residents who identify as atheist, agnostic, or a religious "none" have been suffering under a great wave of persecution in their...

At the top of the news from the UK....Tommy Robinson's "contempt of court" case for reporting outside a grooming gang trial involving Muslim defendants will go to trial on March 22nd..... Living proof of Venezuela's serious problems Thursday with a nationwide power outage.... A weekend of Yellow Vests rallies starting today in France. Its Week 17 of the Yellow Vests protests. A call for a weekend long presence at the Champs-de-Mars near the Eiffel Tower starting this evening..... Some 36 nations led by Iceland including the 28 European Union nations have condemned Saudi Arabia for the killing of Saudi journalist...

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) on Wednesday slammed former National Intelligence Director James Clapper for claiming he did not purposely lie to Congress when asked about an NSA mass surveillance program in March 2013, saying he sent the longtime intelligence official the question ahead of the hearing. “James Clapper needs to stop making excuses for lying to the American people about mass surveillance. To be clear: I sent him the question in advance. I asked him to correct the record afterward. He chose to let the lie stand,” the Oregon Democrat responded to Clapper’s excuse in a tweet.

Last week, Oregon became the first state in the nation to adopt a mandatory statewide rent control policy. Yet, rent control never delivers on the promise that it will multiply the affordable housing in high-value markets to serve middle- and lower-class families. It also always has negative consequences, and this time will be no different. The new statewide law applies to landlords who have at least four units, one of which is at least 15 years old. It prohibits them from increasing rent more than seven percent over inflation annually. The bill also prohibits no-cause evictions after the first year...

It's lonely at the top. That's what the Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, discovered when the only other store in the world -- located in Australia -- announced it was closing. Although Sandi Harding, the general manager of the Oregon Blockbuster, is excited that hers is the last Blockbuster on the planet, she expressed her condolences for friends at the Australia store. "We all have a kinship with the other Blockbusters," Harding told CNN. The Oregon location has been open for more than 20 years. It offers customers the newest movie releases, but Harding says the classic older titles are the...

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration over new rules that would cut federal funding from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide or discuss abortions. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, announced his decision on Monday to sue separately in a press conference and a coalition of 19 other states and the District of Columbia prepared to file their own suit Tuesday. The rule in dispute applies to a $286 million-a-year grant, known as Title X, that pays for birth control, testing of sexually transmitted diseases, and cancer screenings for 4 million low-income...

House Democrats are reintroducing their proposal of a financial transaction tax on stock, bond and derivative deals, and this time they've signed on a key new supporter: left-wing firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., is leading the effort to bring back a bill, titled the "Wall Street Tax Act of 2019," which slaps a tax on securities transactions and could have a particular negative effect on high-frequency traders. Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the lead co-sponsor. DeFazio is expected to file the bill on Tuesday. "What we were looking at is if there's a sweet spot when you do a...

Oregon is the first state in the nation with statewide rent control. Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 608 into law Thursday. It takes effect immediately. Brown called the legislation a groundbreaking, bold start. “(This) will provide immediate relief to Oregonians struggling to keep up with rising rents and a tight rental market, but it doesn’t work on its own,” the governor said. “It’s going to take much more work to ensure that every Oregonian in our communities large and small have access to housing choices.”

(BREAKING NEWS: Pakistan is saying it shot down two Indian jets in its airspace in Kashmir today. Pakistan says it bombed open ground but did not bomb six military targets it identified in the region. Pakistani Prime Minister Imram Khan says "We shot down two of their Migs. The pilots are with us". Khan has asked for dialogue with India.... A Saudi Arabian man, accused off the hit and run death of a 15-year-old in Oregon, is unlikely to face justice in the US. Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah was bailed out of jail in Oregon and surrendered his passport, but was...

The train hit a tree that had fallen onto the tracks. It hasn’t moved more than 30 hours. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told CNN that none of the 183 passengers and dozen crew members were injured, but that “conditions further deteriorated with numerous track blockages from snow and fallen trees.” “Due to worsening conditions, area road closures and no viable way to safely transport passengers or crews via alternate transportation, Train 11 stopped in Oakridge, Oregon,” The train had power and enough food on board — for which passengers will not be charged, Amtrak said on Twitter on Monday. But...