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Suicide by Police Officer.  The man appears to have wanted to end his life with the cuts.  The wound that killed him was one of the very few times when the bullet wound would have killed him.  If it was as easy to kill with gunshots as we see on TV there would be far fewer Veterans of Iraq/Afganistan and even Korea and Nam walking around.

  The person I feel sorry for is the Policeman.  He will remember this for the rest of his life.  I hope they have him with a counselor now.

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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Scott,

Last winter we had a man die because he drove his car onto a gated road.  Rescuers went out and found his family and his car.  Driving doesn't necessarily make you brighter than the average door knob.  I have a survival kit in my car with stove, food, warm clothes and boots.  Do you not get rescued when you drive in weather like the mid-west and east are getting now because there is a chance of getting stuck and snowed under even on a turnpike?  I believe that they recently pulled people out of their cars which were stuck on the Pennsylvania turnpike.  It took more than an ambulance and a jaws of life to get to these people.  The rescue teams were also in danger even in snow-plows.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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Mountain Climbing is dangerous.  So is driving on I 5.  Mt. Hood has racked up deaths every year.  So has I5.  We do both voluntarily and expect rescue if something goes wrong.

Every climber I know takes more in the way of survival gear than most drivers.

It's when it gets to the point where we are sending out search parties when the chance of survival is at 1% that I stop seeing a reason for risking lives and equipment.  If the rescuer wants to be there that's their choice, possibly a life or death one.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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The United States, and the State of Oregon were built on the brains and backs of immigrants both "Legal" and illegal.  We are incredibly fortunate that there are people who are willing to come here and add their intense labor and brains.  Children who have been educated in Oregon should be able to do In-State tuition.  They will add years of taxes and effort to this country.

The second thing is that these young people should have a straight line "check the box" way of becoming Legal Residents of the United States.  They should become US Citizens.  They have already done things to be proud of in simply doing well enough to gain access to our colleges.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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Non-ranched furs are better than fur from animals that were caught in leg hold traps and died in agony after possibly days of pain and hunger?

Fur coats are heavily interlined and supported by padding and linings that are not necessarily non-synthetic.  My old Mouton Lamb parka is padded and lined with rayon.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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When you rip up roads, carpet, etc. that is not "Green" what do you do with this basically toxic stuff.  Chicago was told they could save by replacing the asphalt roads with cement.  Besides the fact that cement is terrible to drive on in the winter.  What do you do with ALL THAT ASPHALT!  It has to go someplace and still be toxic.  In Germany we had to re-pave the runways at Ramstein AFB.  They found layer after layer of asphalt when they decided to completely re-do them.  This stuff had been leaking into the water table for 50 years or more.  Ripping it up and resealing everything and then re-laying it was not really a great option.

  If you are going to replace something still useable with a Green alternative you should have to prove that the poison you are creating from the cast off can be contained.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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The site evidently wasn't working perfectly when I posted.
My parents were young adults during the Great Depression.  They both said that a Handyman (now woman) never went hungry or without at least some money.

I have a job that won't go away.  I need things like housepainting, lawn-care, and some finish carpentry.  I can pay for it.  These jobs aren't poorly paid and always in demand.
   What is essential is that the person who chooses this does so with the determination to do it as a job.  Not flake off, give value for value.  Word of mouth is still a great advertisement for individuals.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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This is a great comment as long as you are focused on doing a fair days work for the pay.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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Gilmour says he is rehabilitated. He feels confident about himself, etc. So what happens if he does Rape again? I assume he goes back to jail, but do we let him out again and again so he can inflict pain for his pleasure on more women and girls who are helpless against him?

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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My mother told me I went on my first fishing trip when I was 14 days old. The family tent camped from that time until I was 21 and left home for Alaska.
My brothers, I and my parents tent camped until we children had all left home and my parents could afford a small trailer.

Now I camp several times during the summer. Because of the organization I belong to I have a tent that is 12' x 12'. I'm over 60 and I can set up a 12 foot diameter round medieval style pavillion. It took me less than 10 minutes to learn how to set up my Rainer 12 foot oval that is tension supported. Which tent I use depends on the site.
A human being who can't figure out how to set up a tent with directions they can read (or even just figure it out) needs to stay in a motel. They aren't "outdoorsman stuff".

posted 4 years, 12 months ago
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My parents spent nearly all their vacation time and weekends out in the woods fishing, hunting, or just plain enjoying the outdoors. When we three children came along they added the Oregon Beaches then as many National Parks as were in reach.

All my favorite memories of my family include being out in the woods. Usually at the Forks of the Umatilla, or Dale Ranger Station area, John Day, etc. My father and brothers went fishing or hunting. My mother and I stayed in camp and walked, looked at flowers (my mother would not allow anything to be picked). I enjoyed playing in the water and damming the streem with rocks if it was small enough (these dams never impeded the stream much, but I was confident I was creating a place for trout to gather.

Now this area is nastily patrolled so you can't just pull off and enjoy a hike or a short fishing trip (fish must be catch and release). It's hard to obtain a camping permit since it has to be done at some town a distance from the area.

I rarely see kids ourside their own yards any longer. The beautiful parks of Portland are severely under-utilized by kids just playing. The pick-up baseball games of my childhood have ceased. If the Diamond or the Basketball courts are in use it is Little League.

Even organizational use of the Portland Parks is discouraged by use fees which seems rediculous since I and my friends pay taxes to keep these parks up.

Parents have been terrorized by thoughts of child snatching and the real worry about a bicycling child being hit by a car. I was usually told to "Go Out and Play" if the day wasn't actually raining.

Keep parks available to tent campers. It's fine to keep parks wild, but if that means that people can't use them I don't know how we will keep them.

posted 4 years, 12 months ago
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I am the Republican Party's worst nightmare. An Eisenhower/Reagan Republican who is wondering who hijacked the party I joined when I was 21 in Pendleton. NPR did a show on whether Islam had been taken over by extremists. It could do the same with the Republican party.

There is an Obama for President sign on my lawn. At this point what I realy want is "Democrat for President!" I don't care who. I'm tired of a party that puts up with a President who signs legislation then uses a signing statement to tell us that he did it with his fingers crossed behind his back. I'd like a President and Congress that have actually read the Constitution they swear to protect and defend.

posted 4 years, 12 months ago
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The question about what would happen if HIV testing were to prove positive for a person who simply had been in a hurry and not opted out. It would make it impossible to get insurance from that point on. I imagine that if you were already covered by an employee plan you could keep that, but anywhere else it would be a pre-existing condition. I would prefer to see a Opt-In clause for those of us who don't read those forms we sign closely. My experience in the Health Care area says most people don't.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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The father of a Vietnamese friend was a Helicopter pilot for the Americans until the pull out. When Saigon fell he was captured and put into prison for 8 years. When he got out he was able to get out and bring his family to the US. The whole family works, but are handicapped by great difficulty speaking English. The Iraqi Interpreters are not anonymous "they" as a class. They are individuals that we should treat with gratitude and respect. If they come to the US, our country can only be the better for it. Iraq will have spokespersons among us who know actual conditions. Nothing will keep them from going back to help with Iraqi politics except a bullet to the head before we can get them out.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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I genuinely agree that older women like myself (61) have seen us come a long way. I personally have never hit the "glass ceiling" more than my male counterparts. I've had paying jobs when my male friends have been on the street because I could easily take a job as a Secretary. Computers opened to women immediately because we typed, and data entry was typing and "below" the male Engineers I worked with. Still, you have to be prepared to take the "luck" when it comes around. Too many women hid in the housewife/mother image instead of preparing themselves even in high school to succeed in a world where working outside the home is the norm.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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My Grandmother received her teaching degree in 1898; my mother graduated from Pharmacy school in 1934 from Oregon State College (then). I graduated from University of Concordia here in Portland in 1996 (took 30 years, but I did it). My niece graduated from MIT the same year as an Engineer and is a real Rocket Scientist.
My taking a lot of time for my degree and efforts was my choice, not gender bias.
It takes Guts to succeed, either male or female. I was never discouraged from doing anything because I'm a woman in my 60 years. Presidential power is being drastically abused right now. The next President has to be ready to return us from a dictatorship (the President's word is law) to a Democracy. That's going to take the help of the members of Congress who have wet noodles where their spines should be. The President should be one/third of the equasion. The only question has to be who has the grit to do the job.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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If I understand what was just said you can escape wearing a bicycle helmet by declaring a religious belief? Do you really believe that the contact of a skull with a cement curb will not destroy or severely damage that skull and the person? Today the US Armed Forces lose far more young men to these 4 wheeler cycles and dune buggies than to hostile fire. These young men forget they aren't wearing 60 pounds of armor and special helmets. They die!
What about me, the driver? If I accidently hit or am hit by a cyclist who is not wearing a helmet and they suffer damage or death because of THEIR religion what about me? I would find that accident something to follow me the rest of my life. Both the guilt of hitting, or even being hit by the cyclist and the anger that the idiot wasn't wearing common safety gear.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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I'm over 60 and I remember my mother telling me that a neighbor, a member of the 7th Day Adventist, had refused to allow her son to be treated for Scarlet Fever. The Sherrif went into the home, took the boy to the hospital where he was treated with 1940's medications and survived.
The parents were no poor dirt farmers. The father had been a member of the Oregon Legislature for years. Not a political decision.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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