Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard on getting the top draft pick for NBA basketball (read it here):
"Huge. Unbelievably huge. Franchise-making," Pritchard said. "This is bigger than the Rose Garden, bigger than the organization, bigger than the city of Portland. The whole state and the whole area revolves around the Portland Trail Blazers... As we go, so does the city. This has a chance to change the organization and the city..."
Um, Kevin? It's just basketball. A game, a game played by some often very spoiled adults wearing shorts.
Tax reform; great schools; a non cyclical economic base; healthy Ponderosa forests on the east side, clean water on the west side; health insurance for all Oregon children; opportunity for all Oregon children: These are bigger than the City of Portland, these are the priorities around which the State of Oregon revolves, not the Blazers, not basketball.
Get some perspective, will ya? And talk that guy from Seattle into selling the team to a local consortium with some class.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Protect us from ourselves
“Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, suggested (in The Oregonian, read it here) that many consumers get taken in by sham sales, and counted herself among them. She said she bought a bedroom set at a furniture store’s 'going out of business' sale, only to find the same set at a lower price at a different store. And the store where she bought the furniture didn't close.
'I was stupid; I was an idiot,' she said, before voting for the bill."
C’mon, Margaret, grow up, shop around. You weren't stupid, you were lazy. Don’t deprive the rest of us the opportunity to learn from our own laziness, don’t protect stores that charge higher prices, by passing a law (Senate Bill 684).
Neither Republicans nor Democrats favor liberty: Republicans want to control our bedrooms, Democrats want to control our wallets.
But Democrats just can't seem to resist the need to pass laws to set the world right for everyone. This bill will cost more to enforce than everyone lost buying a cheap bedroom set from the same store that has been going out of business for the last three years. What a waste of Legislative time and money.
'I was stupid; I was an idiot,' she said, before voting for the bill."
C’mon, Margaret, grow up, shop around. You weren't stupid, you were lazy. Don’t deprive the rest of us the opportunity to learn from our own laziness, don’t protect stores that charge higher prices, by passing a law (Senate Bill 684).
Neither Republicans nor Democrats favor liberty: Republicans want to control our bedrooms, Democrats want to control our wallets.
But Democrats just can't seem to resist the need to pass laws to set the world right for everyone. This bill will cost more to enforce than everyone lost buying a cheap bedroom set from the same store that has been going out of business for the last three years. What a waste of Legislative time and money.
Don't waste money on state police
Democrats in Oregon want to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on the Oregon State Police. And they want make the funding an entitlement, so if money needs to be saved in the future, OSP will not have to share.
The budget is scheduled for a work session on Monday, May 14 at 3:00 pm at the Oregon State Capitol.
Folks, the OSP gets hundreds of millions of dollars a year. How many more highway patrols to you want? What about schools? What about roads? What about investment? What in the hell are you getting for your money?
Will someone please give us some facts here?
Let's talk first about response times and support for other police: Response times have been improved by the increase in the number of cell phones far more than the number of troopers.
Then we need to ask, what is the cost per officer of an OSP Trooper versus a Clackamas County Sheriff if each is a five-year veteran? What is the "efficiency" of those officers, that is, what is the "Total cost per trooper" versus the "total cost per deputy?" or better yet, "total cost per trooper per mile on the road" versus "total cost per deputy per mile on the road?"
Is it possible we might get three deputies for the cost of two troopers? What does that mean for response times?
Let's move on to support for other agencies: do OSP and Clackamas County work as well together as Clackamas and Multnomah Counties on a true mutual aid call? Ask a couple of deputies, and promise them absolute anonymity. Ask them how they like working with the other sheriff's office, and ask them about working with OSP. There are culture differences between all of them: Bernie's agency may be hard to work with, etc. But it's a good question to put out there.
It has been said that a proposed 139 additional troopers alone will cost $17.6 million of new money initially, growing larger every two years, at least $80 million of new money in the next decade for just the increase. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO GET FOR THAT MONEY? You will not get $80 million of lives saved, or $80 million of meth busts, or $80 million of anything that has a positive impact on the lives of Oregonians.
The emphasis so far has been on 24 hour patrols, and more cops on the road. On that subject, see if you can find any statistics, anywhere, that shows that issuing tickets causes a population to drive more slowly, or saves any lives.
OSP sells budget increases with a misuse of numbers: In an accident, force at impact increases by the square of speed increase, (true) therefore, issuing tickets saves lives (false). Invalid because (1) Few accidents are caused by speed in a way that more troopers would prevent; (2) We don't really want traffic to move more slowly, we want it to move more safely, and they are not the same; (3) Things that are true in the singular (one driver) often fail in the aggregate (traffic safety).
Over the same period the number of troopers has been going down, the number of fatal accidents per mile driven has been going down. Ask again: What are we getting for our $17.6 million of new money that will directly benefit Oregonians?
We could put that money into schools, teaching boys and girls how to pound nails, how to weld, how to earn a living; We could create a state service program for all 18 years olds; We could put that money into a bypass around Sisters, Oregon; We could put that money into investments in alternative energy, growing soybeans for diesel fuel, turning logging slash or underbrush clearing into ethanol; We could attract a business with jobs to Newport or Coos Bay; We could improve a bridge. Widen a road. Reform K-8 education by teaching parents how to parent.
There is so much to do with that money, my god don’t throw it away on the OSP.
Time is short. Write your legislator. Find the address on the right side of this article.
The budget is scheduled for a work session on Monday, May 14 at 3:00 pm at the Oregon State Capitol.
Folks, the OSP gets hundreds of millions of dollars a year. How many more highway patrols to you want? What about schools? What about roads? What about investment? What in the hell are you getting for your money?
Will someone please give us some facts here?
Let's talk first about response times and support for other police: Response times have been improved by the increase in the number of cell phones far more than the number of troopers.
Then we need to ask, what is the cost per officer of an OSP Trooper versus a Clackamas County Sheriff if each is a five-year veteran? What is the "efficiency" of those officers, that is, what is the "Total cost per trooper" versus the "total cost per deputy?" or better yet, "total cost per trooper per mile on the road" versus "total cost per deputy per mile on the road?"
Is it possible we might get three deputies for the cost of two troopers? What does that mean for response times?
Let's move on to support for other agencies: do OSP and Clackamas County work as well together as Clackamas and Multnomah Counties on a true mutual aid call? Ask a couple of deputies, and promise them absolute anonymity. Ask them how they like working with the other sheriff's office, and ask them about working with OSP. There are culture differences between all of them: Bernie's agency may be hard to work with, etc. But it's a good question to put out there.
It has been said that a proposed 139 additional troopers alone will cost $17.6 million of new money initially, growing larger every two years, at least $80 million of new money in the next decade for just the increase. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO GET FOR THAT MONEY? You will not get $80 million of lives saved, or $80 million of meth busts, or $80 million of anything that has a positive impact on the lives of Oregonians.
The emphasis so far has been on 24 hour patrols, and more cops on the road. On that subject, see if you can find any statistics, anywhere, that shows that issuing tickets causes a population to drive more slowly, or saves any lives.
OSP sells budget increases with a misuse of numbers: In an accident, force at impact increases by the square of speed increase, (true) therefore, issuing tickets saves lives (false). Invalid because (1) Few accidents are caused by speed in a way that more troopers would prevent; (2) We don't really want traffic to move more slowly, we want it to move more safely, and they are not the same; (3) Things that are true in the singular (one driver) often fail in the aggregate (traffic safety).
Over the same period the number of troopers has been going down, the number of fatal accidents per mile driven has been going down. Ask again: What are we getting for our $17.6 million of new money that will directly benefit Oregonians?
We could put that money into schools, teaching boys and girls how to pound nails, how to weld, how to earn a living; We could create a state service program for all 18 years olds; We could put that money into a bypass around Sisters, Oregon; We could put that money into investments in alternative energy, growing soybeans for diesel fuel, turning logging slash or underbrush clearing into ethanol; We could attract a business with jobs to Newport or Coos Bay; We could improve a bridge. Widen a road. Reform K-8 education by teaching parents how to parent.
There is so much to do with that money, my god don’t throw it away on the OSP.
Time is short. Write your legislator. Find the address on the right side of this article.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Life is not always nice
An article in today’s Oregonian by Shelby Wood talks of gay rights taking two historic steps (read it here). I would agree, but worry they are steps backward.
The first is creation of domestic partnerships for gays. We have now defined another class of human being. To limit discrimination based on sexual orientation, we have created another category by which to discriminate. It would have been better to get Oregon out of the marriage business altogether and we have missed a historic opportunity. But we have railed on this before (read it here).
The second step has to do with laws against job discrimination based on sexual orientation.
It is said the workplace is a nicer place since sexual harassment lawsuits changed behavior in the 1990s. Maybe, but I don’t know if we can equate the addictive power of sex and extortion power of supervisors over women to the stupid insults of ignorant men.
A fellow traveler said a while ago that it is shame, not guilt, that modifies behavior. The problem, of course, is that some men will never feel shame, and others may feel it for all the wrong reasons.
It is difficult to legislate attitudes, but perhaps if we can legislate behavior, the attitudes will follow. I don’t know. But I do believe the power of the state is so great that it must be used judiciously. Or we shall consume ourselves in fruitless debates over what was said, what was meant, who was hurt, and how.
The first is creation of domestic partnerships for gays. We have now defined another class of human being. To limit discrimination based on sexual orientation, we have created another category by which to discriminate. It would have been better to get Oregon out of the marriage business altogether and we have missed a historic opportunity. But we have railed on this before (read it here).
The second step has to do with laws against job discrimination based on sexual orientation.
It is said the workplace is a nicer place since sexual harassment lawsuits changed behavior in the 1990s. Maybe, but I don’t know if we can equate the addictive power of sex and extortion power of supervisors over women to the stupid insults of ignorant men.
A fellow traveler said a while ago that it is shame, not guilt, that modifies behavior. The problem, of course, is that some men will never feel shame, and others may feel it for all the wrong reasons.
It is difficult to legislate attitudes, but perhaps if we can legislate behavior, the attitudes will follow. I don’t know. But I do believe the power of the state is so great that it must be used judiciously. Or we shall consume ourselves in fruitless debates over what was said, what was meant, who was hurt, and how.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Replace or repair
The other day ... about three weeks ago really, I asked my local computer store about the latch on my lap top. The lid would not stay closed, the result of being hauled around in my less-than-tidy briefcase.
The tech behind the counter said it would be about $250 to open the case and replace the latch. “Yeah, you really get hammered when these things are out of warranty.”
Yeah.
So, I hauled out a can of compressed air, some Q-tips and the dry lubricant I use on my Sig P229 .40 semiautomatic and went to work. I worried the lube might cause a short in the keyboard or elsewhere, but I figured a dry lube used sparingly right at the point of friction would be safe enough.
In about 10 minutes I had the latch free and the lid would stay closed. Power of the pen, indeed.
$250 means something to me. And the latch was not broken, it was dirty. Would a new latch have been better? No. My fix will last as long as the 1.67 GHz CPU and the 2 GB of SDRAM, the hinges on the lid and the LCD.
My grandfather was an engineer, so were all three of my mother’s uncles. They repaired and replaced, I was amazed at what they could take apart and rebuild. I used to work on cars, never could call myself a mechanic but I know not to over-torque with a 3/8 inch ratchet.
But the kids in my house don’t do that stuff. They can’t do that stuff at ages 12 or 13 or 17. They haven’t learned, they don’t want to learn, they have no place to learn. And because they don’t pay the bills, they think that paying $250 for a latch is just fine, or perhaps latch failure is a sign from God that it’s time for a new lap top.
I’ve let them down.
The tech behind the counter said it would be about $250 to open the case and replace the latch. “Yeah, you really get hammered when these things are out of warranty.”
Yeah.
So, I hauled out a can of compressed air, some Q-tips and the dry lubricant I use on my Sig P229 .40 semiautomatic and went to work. I worried the lube might cause a short in the keyboard or elsewhere, but I figured a dry lube used sparingly right at the point of friction would be safe enough.
In about 10 minutes I had the latch free and the lid would stay closed. Power of the pen, indeed.
$250 means something to me. And the latch was not broken, it was dirty. Would a new latch have been better? No. My fix will last as long as the 1.67 GHz CPU and the 2 GB of SDRAM, the hinges on the lid and the LCD.
My grandfather was an engineer, so were all three of my mother’s uncles. They repaired and replaced, I was amazed at what they could take apart and rebuild. I used to work on cars, never could call myself a mechanic but I know not to over-torque with a 3/8 inch ratchet.
But the kids in my house don’t do that stuff. They can’t do that stuff at ages 12 or 13 or 17. They haven’t learned, they don’t want to learn, they have no place to learn. And because they don’t pay the bills, they think that paying $250 for a latch is just fine, or perhaps latch failure is a sign from God that it’s time for a new lap top.
I’ve let them down.
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