Ball-park to burgeon burb.

The Doser has difficulty fathoming the rationale for the idea, held by at least part of the Portland City Council, that building an expensive baseball park for, perhaps as many as 3000, idlers to view ball games will bring vitality to the depressed Lents area.

Marijuana, the Demon Cause of Crime.

The O. this morning, June 17,2009, provided an example of the common sort of drug war propaganda which tries to get us to believe that marijuana use explains a lot of criminal conduct. The story was of two teen-agers that went on a spree vandalizing property with fascist symbols. The article gratuitously points out that they had recently used marijuana. (The implication being that one should immediately realize that the cause of such deviant conduct could only be marijuana.)

We'll protect you, little brother.

A de-militarized Palestinian state is not to be considered a valid, sovereign state under the world rules that now prevail. The Doser wonders if a different process may not be used: Could a fang-less Palestine be provided a military assurance, subsidized by the rest of the world, that it could call defense into play in the event Israeli hard-liners do what they like to do?

The fickle finger of blame.

It seems to The Doser that we're more often, these days, trying to fix blame rather than trying to fix the problem. Even "fixing blame" seems to have become a watered-down process: If a scapegoat is designated, the selection of that fall-guy depends on how highly-placed the "actual wrong-doer" was (the farther down the patsy pecking order the scapegoat is depends on how well-empowered the faulty one is.) May one hope that the scrutiny of the possible VA Aids installation will not prove to be another Congressional lime-light grab followed by another janitor's head falling?

Better little than nothing.

Perhaps it is better to have a subsidized medically-operated health care system than none at all. Dem. willingness for "a speedy compromise" health plan means that the Dems. can't marshall a full-plan medical parade.

Hate - Anti-abortion variety

Hatred of other people can be based on many issues. It exists in America in most of its historical brands - and we are an armed populace with protection to encourage action and freedom to act. Bill O'Reilly is an example of a Constitutionally-protected provocateur. He is, by no means, the only one. He is, however, the most highly-paid and most notorious. One of his biases relates to abortion. To air that bias he has, essentially, been saying: "Tiller, the abortionist, is a murderer of children, and he is protected by the government, but you (any one of three and one half million listeners) will be justified in killing him." O'Reilly has no connection (except through his rhetoric) with the crazed hater that went over and shot Tiller. It would be difficult to prove that Scott Roeder ever even listened to the O'Reilly Factor. In a recent Rachel Maddox interview, the dangers of the solitary McVeigh-like actor and the excesses permitted a broad-caster like O'Reilly are discussed. The conclusion is that O'Reilly is protected for saying those inflammatory things and that the ordinary laws (not anti-terrorism approaches) are the only protection from the results of his conduct.
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Outre outrage.

The Reps have initiated a big so-called "ethics" flap by making "violation of the public trust" accusations against two ingenuous Dems. It seemed the Dems put in writing an "I'll-scratch-your-back-if-you'll-scratch-mine" deal they'd made with a wily Rep. Essentially, the deal was that the Dems would support some measures important to the Rep, if the Rep would support a tax measure the Dems wanted. At last count, The Doser knows of only three naive Oregonians that believe that legislative measures are passed solely on the basis of persuasive oratory. Everybody else believes that they are passed,usually, on the basis of tit-for-tat agreements. Deals like: I will support measures that you are interested in if you will support a measure that I favor.

Change is not always good.

Those of us that remember our joy when "Shah" was over-thrown in Iran would do well to temper our hopefulness regarding the "overthrow" process that may be going on there now.

Recusal refusal.

Every single honest judge in the US, without exception, recuses himself or herself when there exists a possibility of the "appearance of a personal involvement" with a contestant before the court. Justice Scalia did not do that in an appeal relating to a matter in which the Sierra Club was involved. The Supreme Court is now expounding a rule that judges should step out of cases that involve big money contributors to their election. The Supreme Court does not need to make a ruling that judges should avoid the appearance of personal involvement. It is already a hard-and-fast rule that all honest judges follow. By definition, dishonest judges don't follow the rules and can't be expected to follow this one.

No silk purse out of this sow's ear.

Leonard Pitts, Jr., The Doser's second choice for candidate for President in 2008, remarks about the interminable Republican effort to characterize Supreme Court Appointee Sonia Sotomayor as a "racist." The title of the column is to the point: "When lacking facts, try for confusion." The whole frantic effort - largely carried by Tom Tancredo and Rush Limbaugh - was based on a 2001 statement of the appointee. Eight years stale and and certainly of a sort that reasonable minds could say - "....she could say that in my presence and I wouldn't even cut her off my Christmas card list, let alone say I don't want her on the Supreme Court." As Leonard Pitts, Jr. (!Pitts for President in 2016!) concluded: "Based on one foolish quote, we have spent a week asking if Sonia Sotomayor is a racist. I'd call that mission accomplished. And I wish Kutcher would come out already."

The cost of illegal abortions.

This article describes what the anti-abortionists want for our sisters, daughters and wives - and theirs.

Just a pat-on-the-back to the Oregon Department of Standards and Training. It demanded that Multnomah County Sheriff Bob Skipper meet the fitness training rules for Sheriff's employees. Correct! That was the rule that the legislature had provided for the Department's function. When Sheriff Skipper asked for a reasonable, fully warranted, waiver, the Department refused it. Correct! There was no legislative direction to grant a waiver under those circumstances. Correct! When The Oregonian pressed that the Department should rightly grant a waiver, the Department did not act to grant a waiver. Correct! The legislature had not directed the Department to respond to journalistic advices. The legislature changed the law to allow the waiver. The Department granted it. Correct! And, when The Doser thinks about it, he is enormously pleased. The Oregon Department of Standards and Training responds to the legislature that created it and not to other pressures, albeit rational ones.

Plane Crash

The Doser thinks that, since the storm over the Central Atlantic was severe enough to tear the Flight 447 plane apart, it would seem to have been a storm that would have warranted turning a bit easterly across Africa, and then north to France. rather than proceeding directly on the great circle route.

Mistake

The Doser discovers O'Bama mistakes only very reluctantly. The President made a mistake in Saudi Arabia. Setting the stage a bit: President O'Bama is the leader of a country that supports the Arab anathema, Israel. He is the leader of the country that has armies in two Muslim countries. He received the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit and, here's his mistake, he took it off in the presence of the Saudi officials! It is reported that they demurred and he explained that he wanted to put it away for safe-keeping. Mistake! He should be wearing the medal even with his pajamas these days.