Secrets from inside the State Capitol

(a photo gallery)
Peaceful basement plaques in honor of groups past. And secret gardens you can only get to if you are able to get back in (not for me).

1935 Special Session declaration of the new capitol building, since the old one burned down - pictures of this are in the Cafe in the basement. So -- special sessions *can* accomplish something. The building was opened to the public in 1938.

Buildings have memories. Even the ground has memory of what was there before.

Marble-lined hallways. Silence of time "between sessions".

Running fountains are a joy for kids of all ages. A new espresso purveyor with a new umbrella.

The halls, waiting to envelop a new governor and his administration in 5.5 months' time. And the same lobbyist administration.

What Does Money Buy?

Oregon teachers' unions spend $347 per teacher for union activities such as combating ballot initiatives that would weaken their stance or cause a reduction in their benefit packages. This compared with the national average of $22, we are #1 on this measure!

This is more than the $250 tax credit permitted teachers for purchase of classroom supplies. I suppose people make choices with their discretionary income.. Or do they?
* A lack of resources combined with a commitment to your students, results in buying classroom supplies (I would too).
* Union pay - well ok fair share (where you don't have a choice in paying union dues if your group is represented), and the CAPE (additional political action contributions you can sign up for).

Lets compare these choices: one is constructive participation in the learning process. One is purely political - protecting the status quo: tenure not merit pay, endless ESL at the expense of other academic programs. So my kid, going to public school (unlike candidate Kitzhaber's son..), is not able to take Calculus BC AP, so that my landscaper's kid can get several years of ESL math.

Is this the way to build our economy? What does money buy you = lobbyists lobbyists lobbyists. They don't always look like the well-heeled fast-talking types lining the hallways of the Capitol building in Salem. Sometimes they look like your kid's classroom teacher. But the effect is the same. Money buys influence.

I wonder - if I was a landscaper would I want my kid to have 3 years of ESL math - or a chance to take more AP classes as a senior. These aren't even choices that parents are making. Money seems to be making these choices.

Eating off the Land (homage to Y2K)

Survival instincts, in the suburbs..
Back in the advent of Y2K I wondered if I could live off my property. In summer there is a (sort of) bounty of food.

Enough to live on?
Blackberries
Blueberries
Crabapples
Thimbleberries
Filberts (potential)
Cherry plums - yellow
Cherry plus - red











And apples, and a well with water.

Exercise for the reader - which one is not native this year?

Today I am an organ donor

The stress and time of waiting at the DMV to renew my license, acc to
the "new" rules. But I am good at following government instructions
and at waiting in lines.

Today I said "yes" to being an organ donor. So - if I get into some
horrible fatal car crash , someone will take a look at my driver's
license and see that there are organs for the taking. Though, the
nice people at the DMV- somehow I can't imagine them heading out to
the crash scene, carefully ripping me open to preserve those vital
organs for someone needy across the country. Must be some interesting
cross-training they are getting these days.

Politics Platforms and Policies

Politics - individuals
Platforms - strategies for political parties
Policies - where they meet

I was worried for a moment that diplomacy was similar to politics but its not. This week I have decided to be objective. I've only said that about a dozen times to half a dozen people. What does this mean?

Trying to be factual. Not political. This does not rule out diplomacy, which is required to keep everyone, well, from fighting and from getting pissed off at each other (and entering the political domain).

That is the view from the trenches of Salem today.

Also, I think now that I have been officially labeled a cspan junkie by my colleagues, it is finally getting to me. Watching the continual standoff between Rs and Ds in the Senate over passing an unemployment extension and no possible solution. And the pending change-in-rulership in Salem over state government.

Why am I a Democrat again? Hmm, random acts can change a life. I saw a poster at PSU for the Progressive Party - if they get 1000 registered voters by August 1, they can become a Real Party in Oregon. Look at their website: progparty.org. I didn't see anything to disagree with - clean energy, gay marriage, single payer health care, oppose use of military mercenaries, oppose civilian spying - those were the "strongly agree" ones for me, there are others. Check it out. I was the 401st registrant so they only need 600 more in the next 3.5 weeks - this can happen!

Born in the USA, and everywhere else..

Portland Blues Festival
Ever feel like the only normal person in a crowd? I guess there are always other parts of the crowd where you can fit in, that is the point of it being a "crowd".

Up front by the stage where endlessly dancing people, alone, together, whoever shows up, I guess this is not our crowd. But it did make us feel normal.

I have not ever been asked "where is the beer garden" during a singing of the national anthem before, but there is a first time for everything (like last night). Maybe they just didn't know the words. And anyhow after 10 the beer garden is closed; they were disappointed. I don't even think there was a beer garden, in any case.

The metal man from Pioneer Place was there. I never noticed before his menagerie of little metal animals (in front), cute!

This time I had a decent cell camera to take pics of the fireworks (decent for me, I am a blogger, not a photographer). Right smack over the Hawthorne Bridge!

Still close enough to the stage where KINK was blasting out a soundtrack to the fireworks - cool! I would have to say that Bruce Springsteen in his "Born in the USA" was *the* *most* popular song, everyone knew the words. Rah!

On the way home our MAX strategy worked (shhh..), go to a stop or two earlier than where you would usually get on, when there are less people and get on there. Yes! After that it was near bedlam as each stop was met with hundreds of zombie-looking people (definition: people not on the train and we weren't letting them on) who were denied entrance. Somehow we survived and by the time we got to our end of the line it was all families with small children, maybe they were all born in the USA, but we were all Americans in any case.

Trading Face Masks for a Day

An elephant and a donkey meet in the road..

"No I won't budge", they each say.

Donkey - The sky is falling, its an emergency!
Elephant - Pay for it! You must pay to reconstruct that sky!

An intractable problem - what if they change sides?

Donkey (playing he's an elephant) - Right, its an emergency, but it can't go on forever, or does it? Well there is some urgency, so maybe we can pay for some of it..

Elephant (playing he's a donkey) - Some do need out help right now, so maybe help them..

Each budges just a little bit. Then a little bit more.. (iterative)

Suppose they show up with face masks and try to play each other's role - for one day.

Budget choices are hard. Why is there outcry over sending our dollars to the Middle East for oil, or over an imbalance of payments to China (Yet - we do those things anyhow..)

Yet - for something both sides feel we need - a federal unemployment extension - they hold fast to their positions. Is it political platform flag-waving (yes). Should they get over it and do what's right for people (yes).

Postscript: Friday's jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor:
+83,000 private sector jobs created in June
-220,000 jobs lost overall in June
=> net 125,000 jobs lost in June
-----
Obama - nobody's listening to you about immigration - this is a diversion. Please pay attention.