Jun 15 2007
Had to make a quick pit stop, but kindly granted a press conference before his fundraiser. Best part was when KING 5's Bernard Choi (I think) posed a good question starting at 2:39: "I lived in New York. … If you just have one minute to convince all the liberal folks in this state, how would you do that?" (I'm sorry this isn't better.)
Jun 15 2007
It appears that at least a couple of pygmy rabbits have overcome all odds and have, following release, hooked up and reproduced. Previously, for the past several years, none have existed in the wild; as was done with California condors, all remaining bunnies were caught up and bred in captivity for re-release.
One item of interest that really stands out is the fact that the Washington subspecies was crossbred with the subspecies from Idaho. Because the offspring have at least half of the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit's genes, they are considered the real thing.
This revelation begs the following question: why are hatchery salmon, which contain well over 50% of wild genes, not considered as part of the overall salmon population? Why does that magic ratio work for bunnies and birdies - but not for fish?
Jun 15 2007
It's amazing how short the public attention span is - 30 years ago, every media outlet was freaking on global cooling. Today, it's all about global warming. Just a few years ago, vice-perpetrator AlGore was on an entirely different riff. He was blaming Bush for not taking out Saddam. Because it was well known that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, supported terrorism, and was working toward gaining even more potent weapons. Wait - what?
Jun 15 2007
Ummm, well now, there's no need to get all serious about this, is there? That whole "Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!" thing was sort of over the top, don't you think? Really - this is the 21st century, after all. People fighting and dying to preserve sovereign borders is really just so…what's the word? Antiquated? Quaint? What sort of idiot would get so hung up on the idea, today? After the great raid on the Del Monte plant in north Portland, in which some 48 folks out of the 600 or so working there were found to have actual, valid identification, the place was shut down. Yet today, it was up and running again - with American workers. Doing the jobs that Americans won't do - or don't do, depending upon which flavor of spin George Bush and his buddy, Teddy "swimmer" Kennedy choose to deploy on any given day.
Jun 15 2007
The great duct-tape debate rages on in Portland. The burning question: Should people be allowed to continue to use duct-tape to mark their terrirory along the route of the Grand Floral Parade? This is going to require some serious study, and so a Duct-Tape Task Force has been convened, with the goal of reporting back to Portland City Council in six months. This is right up there with covering the water reservoirs, setting up a Water Bureau billing system, and selling off parts of Mt. Tabor Park in terms of the degree of public process - if not more so.
It's good to see that our city leaders aren't afraid to tackle the tough issues!