Last week as I sat reading in my room, one of my roommates sat upstairs having a sort of epiphany. He thumped down the stairs and threw open my door without knocking. I thought something horrible had happened because of the fury with which he came into my room and because of the traces [...]

I “need” a new car.
Given the recent sad news of layoffs at Ford, I feel like buying one of theirs. A unionized workforce is a natural left-leaning ally. And as an American, I do feel that buying USA-made is increasingly important.
The Japanese imports, while occasionally produced State-side, are non-union. And the noticeable [...]

Do you own a car that can run on the clean burning biofuel Ethanol? Maybe you’ve got a 2003 Dodge Cargo Minivan? Or a Mercedes C240? Maybe you drive a honkin’ Chevy Tahoe that you bought brand new in the last three years. If so, you drive what is known as [...]

The magazine True West has named the Rainbow, in Pendleton, as Oregon’s best saloon. Now, as with most people not familiar with the ways of the wild west, I am not exactly sure what a saloon is. I know it’s a kind of bar. I assume it might be hard to hear [...]

Every-other year, the Bus Project holds an Engage Oregon Conference. (The Bus Project is the parent organization of Onward Oregon.) This year it was called Rebooting Democracy and was held January 6-8, 2006, at Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Oregon. Here’s a report from Onward Oregon volunteer Howard Cutler:
I was very pleased with [...]

On Friday former Guv John Kitzhaber will announce his political plans for this year. Whatever he decides, he has definitely reentered the Oregon political world, and it looks as if he’s going to stick around for now, governor or not. Some say he’s had his day in the sun. But then again [...]

Sunday’s Oregonian had a front page interview with former Governor John Kitzhaber (audio included in link) regarding his vision for a new approach to health care in the state of Oregon and the nation. As a member of the small business community in Oregon, I was intrigued by what I read because Kitzhaber is [...]

From my bountiful inbox:

In April, 2004, on seven acres of garden, field and forest, tucked into Tryon Creek State Park, a small group of committed individuals saw boundless possibility. And they planted the seed that would become Tryon Life Community Farm (TLC Farm), a sustainability education and demonstration center serving the Portland community. [...]

…at least he did until yesterday when uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges. Today Senator Gordon Smith is scrambling to get rid of his Abramoff money faster than you can say “Golf trips to Scotland.”
The whole Abramoff scandal saw its first disinfecting sunlight in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee where [...]

The reaction to the war in Iraq on the University of Oregon campus is exactly how one would expect it to be; the only full-fledged, flag flyin’ support for the war and our Commander-in-Chief comes from the College Republican crowd and their conservative brethren. The average University of Oregon student, if there can be [...]