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Penny_From_Eugene's comments:
on Turf Wars
I can definitely see the added value aspect of your yard vs. a lawn.
My partner and I would do that, too, if we had a yard of our own. Unfortunately, we live in the upstairs of an 'over-and-under' duplex.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Turf Wars
I'm with you, Sally, on the dislike of farmers who feel the 'need' to burn their fields annually. When I was a kid (about grade-school age), I would sometimes go with my grandmother in the afternoons when she would deliver her newspapers out north of Coburg. Well, long story short, this included during field-burning season, and I suspect that to be one of the contributing factors that led to me developing asthma as an adult.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Turf Wars
A Conversation about Nature (Part I)
God: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature; what in the world is going on down there in the U.S.? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles and the stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought, and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of color by now. All I see are patches of green.
St. Francis: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. They are called The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
God: Grass? But it is so boring, it's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, bees or birds, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want grass growing there?
St. Francis: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it has grown a little, they cut it—sometimes two times a week.
God: They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?
St. Francis: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
God: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
St. Francis: No sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
God: Now let me get this straight...they fertilize it to make it grow and when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
St. Francis: Yes, sir.
God: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.
St. Francis: You aren't going to believe this Lord, but when the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Even in the "Old West" when one entered a saloon, they were asked to 'check their iron' at the door. Usual exceptions to that rule were the Sheriff and the Marshal. (Gunsmoke, for example... yes, yes, I know, it was a TV show.)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Police officers in Oregon also have training to deploy their Tazers against exchange students who are unable to comply with their commands due to not understanding spoken English. (Sept 22, Eugene)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
"I lost count of the number of times I have been at a range with punks just rapid-firing their handguns at targets 7 yards away." -- slakr007
Why were they practicing with a target just 7 yards away? I can only think of one reason -- urban gun-fighting, gang activity.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
"Oh, he won't bite." I don't believe these people, after all, for everything, there is a first time.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Well, if we want to get ridiculously technical, guns don't kill people, bullets don't kill people, the oxygen-starvation of the brain caused by exsanguination (blood loss) from a gun-shot wound kills people. (Or maybe technically ridiculous.)
Seriously, though, I do agree that thorough initial training and comprehensve on-going maintenance training are invaluable if one is going to own, let alone carry a firearm, whether concealed or open, and regardless of the type of firearm...handgun, rifle, or shotgun.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Which parking lot? And whether the property owners have a policy about open carry on their private property may be of little importance if we are talking about a retail space occupied by someone other than the property owner (such as a Starbucks in a leased location). Suppose, for a moment that Hungerdunger, et al. own a strip mall...they lease out all the spaces to a variety of retailers, and have no on-site office, since they are located in another state. Hungerdunger, et al. would have no real means for enforcing such a restriction.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
It is not always possible to "fully understand" a law, whether it is a statute, an ordinance, or an administrative code, as they tend to be written in legalese gobbledy-gook that few who haven't been to law school and earned a Juris Doctor can comprehend.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
"I carry my gun openly because I do not want to have to use it. Why would a criminal attack a person obviously ready to defend themselves with deadly force when they can go down the street one block or wait for two minutes and there will be plenty of potential victims coming along who are not visibly armed?" -- NavyLT
Your argument seems logical, but, if you are an officer in our Navy, as your handle suggests, you likely also have much more firearms and handgun training than the average citizen strolling about town. You would, as a military officer, be better prepared to take non-lethal counter-measures against an aggressor than most of us.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on RX: Containing Costs
"Recall that a decade or two back, federal law was changed to allow easy direct marketing of prescription drugs to consumers i.e. on television commercials." -- rj oregon
I find this practice annoying, disturbing, and (eventually) disgusting. I don't care for watching tv some evening, and then have to sit through a series of commercials -- oftentimes all in one commercial break for -- Viagra, Lyrica, Levitra, Vytorin, Yaz, Cialis, Lipitor, and Zetia. I really wish that the law were changed back to eliminate direct marketing of prescription meds. Then, maybe, (unfortunately it seems unlikely, however) prescription meds would go down in price since they wouldn't be shelling out hundred$ of thou$and$ of dollar$ for TV ads.
(I really don't want to watch a series of ads for stiffy pills, heart attack preventives, and mood alterers. That plus the crappy all-or-nothing "digital" tv is just about enough to make a girl throw her TV into the street.)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on The Fight Over Sugar Beets
"If you feel hinky about insecticide and fertilizer, grow your own edibles from seeds in your own garden. You will get produce that tastes great and is as healthy as you can grow it. The PROBLEM is that here we can have fresh produce for maybe 4 or 5 months."
The other hitch with this suggestion (which is otherwise a great idea) is that some of us live in a duplex (my partner and I live in an "over & under" duplex) or an apartment with no yard. Can you imagine going out into the common areas of an apartment complex and tilling it up to plant your carrots and tomatoes and peppers? One would likely be evicted before the day was out!
(Don't get me wrong -- it is a great idea, generally.)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on The Fight Over Sugar Beets
Not only is the Federal Government subsidizing the sugar industry, it is also subsidizing the dairy industry, the corn industry, the soybean industry, as well.
Remember the episode of "The Simpsons" where Bart gets into a 4-H farm? He learns how to drive a crop harvester, then says, "Set brake, dis-engage harvester drive, and endorse farm subsidy check for crops I didn't grow."
(I'm sure that I'll get flamed by scottmil, but I think this illustrates my point about Federal Farm Subsidies.)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on The Fight Over Sugar Beets
Canola pollen can cross with cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts? That is something I did not know until now!
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on The Fight Over Sugar Beets
Isn't Dwight Schrute a character on NBC's lamest of shows, "The Office?"
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Women in the Military
Is it wrong for a woman to want to serve her country?
How about the women who have served this country through all its wars, beginning with the War for Independence back in the 1770's? Molly Pitcher, for example, a water carrier, who brought water to the cannon crews, then stepped in to replace a fallen soldier, keeping the cannon crew in action? How about the many women who disguised themselves as men, binding their breasts and cutting their hair, so they could serve the Union (and the Confederacy) in the Civil War (there's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one)? How about the women who became pilots, and shuttled the new fighters and bombers from the factories to the air bases in WWII? The WACs, and WAVES, and WASPs.
(Just to name a few...hundred)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Women in the Military
Thank you for this discussion. Sexual assault is clearly a growing problem in our Armed Services, likely due to the twin components of more women serving and increased reporting (though I'm confident that not all incidents are reported). It is also a problem plaguing women in the civilian world as well (though, again, under-reported). I appreciated your guest's use of the children's game "Red Light, Green Light" as a metaphor for explaining how assailants select their targets.
And thank you to your other guest for her service to Our Great Nation. I respect your courage to serve, and your courage to come forward with your story.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Primary Conversations: Governor (D)
Will you reject any and all frivolous projects, such as Gov. Kulongoski's plan to re-name and re-sign Belt Line Highway as the "Randy Pape Beltway" when there is no good reason to pursue these projects?
I have not talked with a single person who is going to change what they call the road. It has been Belt Line for 42 years, and Belt Line it should remain. (If he wants to spend the $250K out of his own personal pocket, then that will be a different matter.)
(P.S. I'm still annoyed with the Eugene City Council for re-naming Centennial Boulevard after Dr. King. Not that a great man should not be remembered with a bridge or a street or a school, but Centennial was re-named as such back in 1959 to mark Oregon's 100th anniversary of Statehood.)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Where's Your Money?
"Just for the heck of it I asked the teller what kind of transactions the bank reported to the federal govt."
"The manager wearing a tight lipped smirk said that they reported every cash transaction over a certain amount. When I asked her what that amount was, she said it was against policy to give out that info."
If memory serves, the threshold is $10,000 US. (This may have changed after the rushed passage of the USA PATRIOT Act.)
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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