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griffbear's comments:

on Covering Kyron

I am constantly concerned with the degree to which we over protect our children. in the name of keeping them safe and alive we often don't let them live. I have tried to avoid the coverage of Kyron's kidnapping. the circumstances of his kidnapping from the school are so rare in Portland public schools that they are dwarfed by the number of children  killed in car accidents and yet we all still drive our children in our cars. now everyone is going to be panicked about the bogeyman taking  children from their school. perhaps our children shouldn't walk through our neighborhood to school anymore. lock our doors tighter. higher fences. fear strangers. forget about riding bikes out of my sight. NO!  I won't buy it. this story will be overdone by 1000 times - but it should change nothing about my choices for my own children. if I let myself be bombarded that will be very difficult. so I choose otherwise for my children's sake.  

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on To The Woods

I talk to my 10 y.o. daughter about cliques, popularity games, and all the typical drama of gradeschool. it seems so real to her and yet so contrived to me. this is the same feeling I have when I can get away from the bustle of modern life. priorities are clearer, perceived but contrived and illusory drama and stress fall away. I'm not denegrating modern life - I'm just not sure we can handle it and maintain much clarity.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on $200 Billion Bucks

these are huge and complicated questions that do not lend themselves to simple "all or nothing," "this or that" solutions.  but here's a thought:

if i am deep in credit card debt & can't keep up and i come into unexpected spending power (even if it's a loan) - what's the best way for me to spend that?  i could, of course, just send it right to my creditors.  maybe i could buy a couple nice suits to wear for job interviews, or take some classes or get some help with resume & interviewng skils, in hopes of increasing my income.  maybe i can get some work done on my furnace that will head off having to replace it soon at much greater expense.

most likely my best strategy is going to be some carefully considered combination of various options.  likewise, i'm not wedded to one approach or another with the returning TARP money - i just want them to honestly look at the possible options and make the best decisions they can.  of course it's much more likely it will be decided by what postures they think will be most politically advantageous.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Schools Left Behind


It is vitally important to me to understand differing positions on important issues. In areas such as "trickle down" and market economics, "justice reform," and even the war, I have my own views, but I can also understand and even appreciate opposing views.

So I am hoping this morning to hear from proponents of Measure 5 and other similar "tax reforms," because I just cannot understand how there is anything to gain by starving our schools. The health, prosperity, public safety, cultural life, and economic viability of any society are all dependent on the education of the young. I am honestly hoping to hear some explanation of how the tax reformers think that weakening the schools can help us in any way.

My wife and I have two children, one who has already been in the portland schools for several years. I have always believed in (and attended) public schools, but I am increasingly horrified by the quality of education I am seeing, and it still seems to be dropping. We are strongly considering moving to another area, and the largest factor is finding an adequate school system. Note we're not even looking for an "outstanding" system, just adequate.

My daughter is in an elementary school that was recently converted to "K-8." I would rate this transition as an unqualified failure, by any standard. I believe the "NCLB" standardized testing approach is counterproductive at best. However, we must face that our schools are starving, and would fail any accurate measure or standard. The federal system may be problematic, but let's not let the conversation distract us from the fact that we as Oregonians are betraying our own children and futures by letting the schools die on the vine.

That's not on the feds. That's on us.

griff bear
portland

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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on Jury Deliberations


The prosecutor says 90% of retrials after hung juries ultimately result in conviction anyway, so requiring unanimous decisions will not make a significant difference.

Really?

It will sure make a difference for the other 10%!

griff bear.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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on Burning Questions


The FBI representative and others characterize this issue as operating "within the law" or going "outside the law." The FBI guest said she couldn't understand those that were not satisfied with the legal means to redress grievances. This is extremely naive.

One of the reasons people feel driven to work outside the law is the rampant and flagrant disregard for the law shown by their opponents. Contracts for logging in National Forests often include many specifications and limitations, for example geographic boundaries and sizes of trees that may be cut. A "salvage" operation for burns or insect infestation may limit the cut to certain sizes or to "dead or dying." However these restrictions are often purposely disregarded by those holding the contract. This is the first step "outside the law." Does the government chase them down and hold them accountable? No. In fact for nearly a decade it was commonplace for the Forest Service to routinely place "Closure Orders" around such an operation so that no one could get within sight to witness or document the illegal logging. Many people would sneak in, often with cameras to try to document. Of course, if they were caught, they would be arrested.

A close friend of mine was arrested for entering a "closure" area with cameras. What he found was a logging operation that was bypassing all the small trees and logging the old growth as fast as possible, although the contract specified that only young trees (up to a specified diameter) were to be cut. Of course the logging company wants the more profitable larger trees, and they know that even if they get caught, once they've cut down the tree, the whole point is moot.

Funny thing ... when my friends were caught, they were put in handcuffs, held for a while, then released right there ... but the Forest Service personnel kept the film that they had removed from the cameras.

If our legal system was actually a "justice system," rather than a means to justify and enforce the will of the powerful, then more people would put their energy into working through that system. As it is, the current Administration has been working as hard and fast as possible to diminish the voice of the "citizen" across the range of environmental legislation.

If you are going to have guests refer to the "legal processes," you should have an environmental lawyer explain how those processes work ... or don't work ... and the drastic ways they've been curtailed over the last decade.

The more you close the citizenry out of the legal process, they more they will resort to other means ... always.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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