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sharklady's comments:
on Kitzhaber Wins
What drew attention to Portland's voting was the rate of vote counting.
If votes had been counted faster, the lopsided ratio would have blended in with the rest of the state, and then who would you blame?
If any other lopsided county had been the last to count, you'd be blaming them instead.
posted 1 year, 6 months ago
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on Paper, Plastic or What?
It's not that anyone necessarily thinks free bags are an entitlement. We're re-using something we already have, rather than having to purchase another product that requires resources, factories, transport, etc. The perception is that purchasing specific trash/poop bags has a larger impact than reusing grocery bags.
Does that answer your question? If not, how might I clarify for you?
P.S. I didn't spot any objection to the idea of a small charge for bags from the people who use them a trash or poop bags. Those comments might be there and I just missed them though.
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Paper, Plastic or What?
pixiestyx: Not everyone can compost. I never found a rental property that allowed composting. Sometimes people just gotta throw stuff away, even if they don't want to. Sometimes the stuff we buy comes with non-recyclable packaging. It stinks, but it is sometimes the case. Surely you must have some non-food-related waste, too.
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Paper, Plastic or What?
Senators: If paper bags are so much worse than plastic bags, why aren't you trying to ban paper bags?
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Paper, Plastic or What?
Re: littering problem vs. bag problem, I agree. There are not a lot of "please don't litter" messages going out. Instead we implement bottle and can deposits to give financial incentive for recycling (or motivation for people who need the money and rummage for them). It doesn't change the mentality, and that's the key to reducing litter. It's at least a better plan and more efficient than picking on individual products.
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Paper, Plastic or What?
Has anyone thought about how often you're given a plastic bag when you really don't need one? Do you need a bag for one or two items? Do you really need a bag for that pack of gum?
When I lived in Colorado the stores asked if you need a bag, rather than just assume you want one. It at least makes customers think about whether they really need a bag or if maybe they can just carry that milk. Honestly though, I don't know what the impact on bag usage was, but it couldn't hurt!
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Paper, Plastic or What?
First of all, i have about a dozen reusable canvas bags, in fact they're my souvenir of choice when I go to events, if they're for sale. But, I still skip the reusables when I'm running low and need to scoop the cat boxes. I'd use them to clean up after a dog if I had one.
Is the alternative to purchase plastic bags to collect animal waste? That seems silly at best. I have the same question as Dave about what to use instead, and I'm open to alternatives! Anyone?
I thought about a deposit, like we do for cans and bottles (which I hate), but there's no way to get it back...unless someone wants my bag of cat poo!
Also, what stores give out 1mm thick plastic bags?
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on As We Are: Child Free
The two 'advantages' I remember being brought up in the show were taxes and leave from work. Since your baby is 7 months old, you haven't filed your taxes yet. There are all kinds of parent-related boxes to check and benefits in there! And depending on your employer, there are categories of leave available to parents that non-parents don't have access to. As far as leave goes, I'm all for it (and I am not a parent). If your child is sick or hurt, then by all means a parent needs to tend to them!
Maybe it's not that our society is more or less fair to parents or non-parents. Maybe there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides and the grass is always greener on the other side....
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Rx: Individual Mandates
Would you have less of a problem with mandated health insurance if it was your state telling you you had to buy it? Or are you opposed to any mandate from any level of government? I had the same question when you called in, assuming that was you early in the hour.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Rx: Individual Mandates
One of the reasons for mandating health insurance coverage was to ease the burdon on tax payers for covering the uninsured when they seek care, especially emergency care.
Can someone explain how tax payer subsidies to health insurance coverage is any less expensive than tax payer subsidies for emergency room care for the uninsured?
In general I'm for health insurance reform because I've had to buy personal insurance, but this mandate thing is the wrong way to go about it. Mandating people to buy horribly overpriced horrible coverage? It's completely missed the mark.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Changing Climate Change
That's where conservation comes into the equation. It may not solve the problem single-handedly, but it can bring the baseload down significantly.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Changing Climate Change
I was just thinking the same thing.
How does one not feel like a sucker after volunteering to pay extra, and then reading that the utilities are making record profits and paying out obscene bonuses? It feels like we're just volunteering to line their pockets, and I don't appreciate the utilities' double-talk.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Home Buying
Oh, but you see without the low interest rates we might not have bought anything (or maybe we would - not worth pondering at this point). That's the thing. The point you missed is that it was the low interest rates that made us able to buy. They last 30 years, not one. See how we're thinking in the long-term?
I suppose we and the others who wouldn't have otherwise been able to buy could have just let the houses rot on the market. And then we wouldn't hire people to do work. And then we could read your griping about something else - like how no one bought houses or put people to work and there are too many people panhandling at the side of the road.
Somone has to spend money so people can make money, and the circumstances were right to make us some of those people.
Yes. We benefitted. And yes, other people will, too when we spend money. But we only have the one house so we can only do what we can do - we surely can't be expected to spend enough to put a million people to work.
If you don't think the spending of people having work done will do anything, what do you think will make a difference? (I challenge you to answer without insulting me or making judgy generalizations.)
Also, if you were (or are) faced with receiving the tax credit, would you take it or decline to take it?
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Home Buying
A similar scenario happened to us: look at a house, find out it has an offer...look at a house, find out it has an offer...over and over!
Someone made a point that the market seems pretty active at the 'first time' end, and the collection of our stories seems to be in agreement with that point!
Congrats SuperElectrified! And I hope your closing experience less agonizing than ours was (our broker was a flake).
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Home Buying
Well yeah, we've got our emergency cushion, too. We've done what we've done and will do the improvements without touching the cushion.
(But seriously, you should see our carpets - the stains are still seeping through after we had them shampooed! Nasty!) :)
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Home Buying
The low-low interest rates definitely helped us, too! We wouldn't have gotten nearly as good a house as we did if the interest rates were much higher.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Home Buying
We were planning to buy a house this year anyway, so I wouldn't say the $8k was the deciding factor. It was a nice bonus though and we closed on our first home in April.
The benefits of the tax credit doesn't stop with us. Next year we'll put much of it back into local business by having the outside painted, getting new carpet, buying some furniture, and whatever else we can get with our income tax refund and the money we've saved this year. This is all stuff that is pretty desperately needed (the house was pretty neglected), and if we can do some other fun stuff, too, then we will! (Pie in the sky, I know.)
I guess my point here is that we shouldn't forget about the "round 2" benefits of the tax credit as people spend the money they get back.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Red Light Cameras
"...At both of these intersections people ROUTINELY go through the red to make turns."
As a fairly new resident of Oregon I have to ask: What is with people just blatatly ignoring red lights? I see people make illegal turns or just go right through a red light almost every day! These aren't even people squeeking through when the light just turned red, these are people who stop, wait a few seconds, and then go!
Seriously Oregon, what's with that? Is a red light just a suggestion to stop?
posted 2 years, 8 months ago
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on Red Light Cameras
I grew up and learned to drive in Colorado (near but not in Denver). I never noticed that the yellow lights were longer, but that's interesting. Even if Oregon doesn't lengthen the yellows, it might think about adding the 1-2 second pause between when one light turns red and the cross street light turns green. That gives those few (often significant) seconds for the intersection to clear and for the drivers trying to squeek through to clear out of the intersection.
posted 2 years, 8 months ago
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on Left Behind
A good friend of mine through junior high and high school had a similar experience. She was one of the smartest people I ever knew. She wasn't maladjusted, but she was very shy and our high school counselor just didn't know what to do with her. He actually recommended that she drop out, which I think she was planning to do anyway. And she did.
What kind of practice is that? I've always thought that was infuriating, and another friend who is now a high school counselor finds it reprehensible. If there's going to be a multi-pronged solution to the dropout problem, it's got to include not just adding more counselors, but adding good ones!
posted 3 years ago
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