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When talking about impact of tidal surges from the tsunami event it is important to note that on The Oregon coast, at least, this surge is arriving on a low tide. (1.2' at 10:32 AM at the Columbia River bar).  This would serve to greatly reduce the potential impact of such a wave today.

posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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The Pendleton police chief is the most articulate law enforcement officer I've ever heard. Clearly there are some good lessons here for small communities, but the approach is resource intensive and I'm not sure how scaleable for larger metropolitan areas.

Jim, Portand

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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I was a reporter covering the American Legion Convention and Vortex I and had many subsequent conversations with Tom McCall, Ed Westerdahl and press aide Ron Schmidt (Doris's boss).  Absolutely, the Governor's primary motivation was to keep the image of his beloved state from being sullied. His war views aside, he did not want another Kent State to happen. Not on his watch. Gutsy decision? You bet. But it was totally within his persona to make independent, courageous decisions. Would we reward that kind of leadership today? I wonder.

Jim Swenson

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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My daughter, a sophomore at OSU, has also been at the conference for two weeks as a representative of the Sierra Club.  I've skyped with her daily and have watched her mood move from one of hope to one of desolation and cynicism - about the process and about the commitment of her own country.

Jim Swenson

Portland

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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One should also keep in mind that there are a lot of very powerful interests at work who greatly benefit from NO agreement coming out of Copenhagen: oil industry, oil-producing countries, coal companies, power utilities -- world wide.  Since UN rules require near unanimous consent, it is very easy to quietly sew seeds of dissent among the parties to scuttle any agreement with no fingerprints left behind.  

Jim Swenson

Portland

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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