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Alice Waters, the so-called mother of slow food, was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night. She helped introduce a program in a Berkeley middle school where students learned to grow, harvest and prepare their food. Search cbsnews.com for more detail. Oregon should institute similar programs to create synergy with the existing farm-to-school program.

LEP sounds like the kind of learning environment that should receive support from Portland Public Schools. I attended MLC (Metropolitan Learning Center) for eighth grade and I believe that experienced saved me.

Bored out of my skull at public grade school, I begged my parents to send me to MLC where my primary teacher encouraged me to develop a curriculum that interested me. I especially recall trumpet lessons; volunteering as a tour guide at OMSI; getting into computers which eventually became a profession; and practicing yoga which helped shape my life's outlook. I only attended MLC for one year but the experience provided a profound break from boredom and conformity.

I grudgingly re-embraced conformity and discipline at Benson High School. Benson offered an excellent opportunity to gain well-rounded college preparation in addition to auto mechanics, machine shop, electronics, carpentry, welding, drafting, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.

I understand Benson is being dismantled as a trade school and this is disappointing. Our so-called "knowledge society" is missing an essential ingredient: people who can innovate and build stuff. We've lost too many craftspeople and their good paying jobs. We're losing the path from a school like Benson to apprenticeship to professional.

The first four or five jobs I had after college involved mentors and apprenticeship, but as I progressed through my work experience, training and mentoring disappeared. This should not happen in a knowledge-based society which relies on the constant updating of skills to remain competitive. I believe competition has been over-emphasized at the expense of cooperation but that's an issue for another TOL.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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While I'm hopeful the drug czar will nurture meaninful change, I don't see catalysts yet. Why do so many use drugs? Do they escape boredom, or the lack of opportunity to do useful things with their lives? When will we truthfully address the reasons we produce and consume drugs in the first place? I hope people learn the true causes of their suffering so they can eventually eliminate them.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Thank you for the links. I drink 5-10 pints a year. But I won't pay $4.50 for a 32oz soda at the theatre, nor will I pay $6 for a pint of lovely Oregon home brew. Too bad because I want Oregon's small breweries to thrive.  Since I don't make anywhere near as much as I did a decade ago I should not afford beer. Beer tax won't affect me but it will drive small breweries out of business.

I grew up with rules and responsibilities. I probably don't drink much because I don't want to potentially face the consequences of needing rehabilitation, getting a DUII, or worse. How many of our problems would be solved if people handled their responsibilities? I'm aware not all of us are in control of our lives but most of us are. Hang up your cell phone and pay attention while you drive.

The corporate minimum tax is a joke so let's get rid of it. Let's say there are 100,000 businesses in Oregon. If each business pays $500 a year then that's only $50 million in tax revenue. Oregon's annual budget is $8 billion. Six tenths of a percent (0.625) is essentially nothing when it comes to fixing Oregon's revenue problems.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Taxes Continued

13. I'm annoyed the Federal government gets 5% to 35% (possibly after 2010), of tax payers' capital gains. Back in the day mostly rich people played with stocks and the government sought a cut of the action. But now there a lot of us lose money with stocks and 401ks.(Lottery for those of us who've escaped Vegas, Megabucks and Spirit Mountain thus far. I have nothing against gambling until it goes pear shaped.)

I hear all sorts of conflicting information. For example, 62% of federal tax revenue is provided by the rich: those making more than $250,000 annually. Is that true? I don't believe it.

Two days ago I heard on OPB that the IRS is attempting to force UBS to reveal the names and personal information of U.S. rich citizens who've stashed their cash in purportedly secret Swiss bank accounts. 12 names have been revealed out of an initial pool of 300. Purportedly, there are 52,000 Americans who have Swiss bank accounts used expressly to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Enough already.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Taxe Reform Continued

8. We do need to corner the crooks in their spider holes and convince them to change. I suggest peeling off their skins with rusty pliers but I'll accept changing the system so they can't hire excellent lawyers and accountants to get out of paying taxes. Billionaire Leona Helmsley saying "...only little people pay taxes." entirely frosts my gourd.

9. The system we have is backwards. The poor are penalized. At Vanguard, investors with fewer resources pay more in fees. The rich pay less because they invest more, but the poorer investors need the reduced fees. (Let's not shed crocodile tears for those who have resources to invest in equity markets when most people in this world can't get enough to eat.)

10. Most of us want just enough government to do specific tasks for us. Fine, let's close the 900-some military bases the U.S. has spread around the world to prop up U.S. imperialism. Refer to Blowback and Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson. Our military exploits are budgeted at $500 billion a year. The Iraq and Afghanastan wars have, or will, cost trillions? This doesn't make any sense, especially given our ongoing economic keel hauling.

11. Let's take the State and Federal tax forms and reduce them to two pages at most. Remove all the loopholes and preferential treatment. We must create a fair tax system that treats poor, medium and rich fairly. This would free up a majority of the Federal government's 115,000 IRS employees to do useful work. How many hundreds of millions of hours do we spend filing tax returns which are fraught with errors and fraud? Nothing against the tax preparation business, but we should not need professional tax preparers to help us complete overly complex tax returns.

12. Closer to home, how much is Oregon's budget? 16 billion for two years? Fine. How realistic is Oregon's budget? How much pork is in it? Has the Oregon budget been fiercely combed to eliminate unnecessary spending bugs? How many tax payers were there in Oregon before the "economalypse(tm)"? Divide Oregon's budget by the number of tax payers and we'll arrive at the average tax to be paid by each of us.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Taxes can be fun? This I've got to hear! I just filed my return yesterday and I'm not a happy camper. But I'll count my hatched chickens: I have Emily, Dave and Think Out Loud to keep me scratching my head and swearing at the radio. Thank you!

Taxes are another pink elephant we try to stuff into a refrigerator as we nurse a hangover. We've got to divide this odious beast into five-dollar foot longs.

1. Revise the tax system. The current system is too complex and corrupted. Make paying and administering taxes simple and easy. Alternately, get rid of the existing tax systems and start over with better replacements.

2. Federal and state budgets must be pork free.

3. Nobody should be able to game the tax systems with impunity.

4. The tax system has to be fair to everybody.

5. We must address the disparity in income between rich and poor. Executives should not make 1,000 to 10,000 times more than their workers. We shouldn't have poor or underclass citizens.

6. Wall Street fat cats should not "earn" $60 million bonuses and golden parachutes while their businesses languish on life support.

7. The rich should not pay for those who can't pay taxes, especially when it's the rich who provide livelihoods. We must not overly tax those who add value to society.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Thanks for bringing me up to speed on the different money pots, Finn. If there's absolutely no risk that those who don't wish to support soccer won't end up paying for it then I remove my protest. I hope soccer fan will rise to the occassion and support their team.

I was busy while listening to the show so I wasn't paying close attention. Were bad and worst case scenarios addressed? I'm sure Paulson's not in business to lose money, but I'd be annoyed if this soccer pitch (get it?) is based on pie-in-the-sky numbers.

Zero risk? Sorry, I don't believe in such a thing. I'll accept that the risk is minimal if Paulson guarantees repayment with tangible collateral instead of ephimeral equities.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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How many of us use our reusable shopping bags when we shop? How many of us think we're being "green" when we replace incadescent bulbs with Mercury-laced compact fluorescents? Living sustainably is more than a slogan, it's a mindset, it's a lifestyle change. Keep a diary of your activities that promote sustainability. Incorporate more sustainable techniques as you go. We all have to become "green" if our society is to rehabilitate its selfish and wasteful ways. Good luck, I visualize your success.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Silly Alternate Take

Portland might be more interesting if it had professional football, baseball, soccer and kite fighting, but I don't want to pay for these non-necessities through taxation. Give me a choice - don't impose a tax  - or use my tax dollars to pay for luxury things while Rome burns.

I'd prefer we spend limited resources making sure people had jobs, food, education and opportunities to better themselves. Once we take care of the base challenges I'll be more amenable to stadiums where lions and tigers play tug-of-war with urban gladiators.

I enjoy watching the Olympics and world cup soccer every four years. Cricket and a spot of tea, anyone?

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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The City of Portland should focus its limited resources and attention to fix infrastructure and social issues. I've not been able to get the city to come and fix a depression along the curb where my driveway meets the street. The city that works for me left a rain-gathering depression after they paved.

What could Portland gain from MLS soccer? How much in revenues and costs do the Blazers provide and impose on Portland?

Those who want professional soccer should pay for it. I would prefer that Portland did not have professional football, soccer or baseball. But I'm not oppossed to these luxuries if they and are funded privately.

Deep-pocketed entrepreneurs can take the risk and earn the rewards as long as they pay their fair share of taxes to keep Portland clean and green.

The city should execute infrastructure and social service responsibilities. The city should guide the location and development of privately held venues in a manner that makes sense with respect to the city's long-term plan.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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I worked at a windsurfing shop in Hood River in which the owner implemented Gorge Bucks "community dollars" to keep currency local. Interesting experiment with lots of details to work out. For example, how are Gorge Bucks handled in the accounting and taxes of the business? I think the goals of community dollars are worthy of further thought and discussion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_currency

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_community_currencies_in_the_United_States

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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I'm opposed to the Navy expanding its sonar training. Let's take our foot off the stupid pedal. There's so much we don't understand about human impact on the oceans. Check out this 16 minute video.

Exploring the reef's Twighlight Zone: Richard Pyle on TED.com

http://blog.ted.com/2009/02/richard_pyle.php

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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As a native Portlander my biggest concern is a chicken and egg situation. On one selfish hand I want Portland to be a relatively unfriendly business climate to moderate population growth. This doesn't seem to be working because people are still moving to Oregon even if they don't have jobs.

No offense to those who've moved to Portland over the last 25 years, but more people means more infrastructure, more expense, and the quality of life has deteriorated.

Unemployment is high in Portland and Oregon partially due to the people who've moved to Oregon to enjoy the quality of life, but the commensurate number of stable and good-paying jobs haven't moved here. Many jobs have left due to Oregon's "hostile business environment".

Is it possible to have a livable Oregon and Washington where everybody is adequately employed and the infrastructure is affordable and maintainable?

I'm not a city planner but it seems like the larger the urban region, the harder it becomes to adequately maintain the infrastructure. The rising cost of services and materials places an increasing burden on the tax base and consumerism to balance the equation.

I don't understand how the CRC fits into a regional master plan that addresses livability as well as a scalable modernized infrastructure to handle the region's neccessities. I don't want to trade access to good paying jobs for pollution - that's a bridge to nowhere.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Have you ever asked yourself whether you're a glass-full or glass-empty person? I've recently determined that I'm a glass-fuller, but my glass is filled with algae. Some of us are prone to being perky while others are full-blown doom gloomsters, but there is a whole rainbow of personality types.

"News" affects everybody differently. But in general I've been fascinated that "bad news" gets higher ratings. Collectively we watch reality shows where people's lives derail in front of us. We rip people off their pedestals before their 15 minutes of fame have expired. We voyueristically absorb cat fights, bikini jello wrestling, and show like MTV's *Jackass*. We want  WWE (wrestling) to be real. What's wrong with us?

But It did feel really good to celebrate Chesley Sullenberger and crew's effective water landing of American Flight 1549 in the Hudson River. I'll keep my eyes peeled for more "good news".

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Yes, before they move. I'm talking about people who live in cities and decide they want the rural life, but they forget to do their due diligence to see if services like broadband are, or can be, available where they want to move.

For those of you who have lived in rural areas all your lives, you're faced with the dilemma that for-profit businesses realize providing service to relatively few geographically disperesed customers doesn't make business sense.

If I lived in a rural place I wouldn't expect anybody to provide services if I lived relatively far from the grid. I'd expect to pay for service and probably a lot more than people who have easier access to infrastructure. Every choice we make has consequences and trade offs.

I would research what technologies might serve my rural location. I'd talk to neighbors to see if there were a "group" solution that might serve everybody.

But sometimes the reality is it's too expensive or difficult to provide Internet access to a location given the state of today's technology. I'm sure these problems will be solved eventually. Hang in there. Keep researching. Good luck.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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I'm surprised more businesses don't create rainy day funds for their employess. How about saving three years of wages and health care benefits for each employee so companies and employees can get through economic down cycles?

I would like to see a reduction in exhorbitant managment pay. Managers and executives who make 5-1000 times more than their employees need to be paid less. How much is an executive or manager truly worth?

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Shouldn't the person who moves to a rural area be responsible for performing due diligence to determine what services are available BEFORE THEY MOVE? If phone or Internet is not availabe then the new rural resident has to figure out how to get that service provided.

I'm all for folks who already live in rural areas to have Internet access but who and how will it be paid for?

When I had a land phone line my bill contained a fee to pay for rural phone development. The fee was inexpensive and as far as I know everyone was paying. That seemed fair. Together, if we all pay a little we can create advantages for everybody.

I want stimulus money for rural development to be spent efficiently and effectively. Right now everybody is grumbling about paying for somebody else's service, or businesses don't want to provide rural service because they can't make a handsome profit. Selfish think will be overcome by motivated individuals and businesses.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Oh God, Jeff, hilarious. It'll take me all day to get the banjo music out of my head.

I don't know about turning money over to Oregon's elected officials though. Money has got to get into the hands of the unwashed masses and not get stuck upstream. (I'm none amused when I see images of CEOs being indignant and blustery when they defend their unearned bonuses.)

But I've also realized that Obama's stimulation isn't going to do a darned thing (directly anyway) for my wallet's tumescence. Oh well, I shouldn't be relying on the government to bail me out in the first place.

Sigh. Letting the days go by, after the money's gone, once in a life time, water flowing underground. Same as it ever was....

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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One danger of being an OPB junkie occurs when I absorb too much "bad" news and become toxic. I've turned off OBP lately because I started feeling all melodramatic: "there's no reason to go on, woe is me". Problem after problem being brought to light with few practical solutions gets really depressing.

Metaphorically speaking, I felt like laying across the railroad tracks and giving up. But I do know the cure for a "bad news overdose". I clicked off OPB and cranked up the Foo Fighters. If I listen to too much "bad news" I can convince myself that humans are incurably stupid and unable to find positive ways to negotiate their way through time.

Too many people are doing good things and we don't focus on them for very long. News doesn't focus on what is working in the world. We end up taking good news and deeds for granted.

Jannamocklopez said it: balance is required and not all is gloom and doom; "news" just makes it feel that way.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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What is the purpose of education: to train automatons to be replacable cogs in indifferent corporate engines; to help people learn who they are and how they can use their gifts to think critically and become more sensitive to the Universe's subtleties?

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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