News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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This level of ugliness has to be the result of some sort of system failure. How is it that Americans have to choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump as the next president of the United States? The whole situation is overwhelmingly putrid, a pot of stew that started with bad meat and then sat on the stove for far too long. It’s not just rot-at-the-top. The vegetables in Congress are utterly dysfunctional. Stonewalling has become a game where “we won’t work to benefit Ameri... Full story
To the parents of Trenton Burger: I am so sorry for your loss. No words of mine can mend your wounds. I can’t even imagine the pain you have endured. Trenton, 15, died after he collided with a minivan while riding an e-bike in Bend. The driver of the van was not cited, it being determined that the driver was not responsible. There are many ways to imagine how this tragedy might have been averted. Trenton was illegally riding on a sidewalk. Trenton was was not of legal age t... Full story
Thank God. I’m not too old to run for president. Even though yesterday I had trouble remembering which seven pills I needed to take. The day before, I couldn’t find my car keys. A week ago, it took a while to find that car in the Costco parking lot. But that could happen to anyone, and the Constitution does not prohibit me from running just because I forget how to spell “doddering.” I’m younger than either of the two men currently running for president, so I might be a viable... Full story
After concluding three months as managing editor of the The Leader newspaper in Port Townsend, Washington, I’m confronted with an uncomfortable realization: I did the best I could, but could have done better. Getting old offers many chances for denial. Or embarrassment, when denial doesn’t suffice. And frustration, when opportunities recede. Disappointment lurks at every staircase, doctor’s visit, encounter, and challenge. Getting old also teaches there is value in exper... Full story
I was looking forward to seeing “Golda,” a film about the Yom Kippur War that played a large part in my own life. Now I wonder if my memories are skewed or if writers and directors took liberties with history I did not anticipate. Golda Meir was prime minister of Israel when the Yom Kippur War broke out on October 6, 1973. As the title suggests, the movie is all about Golda, her agonies and anguish during the war. I was on a freighter between Brindisi, Italy and Patras, Gre... Full story
The world is entering a new era. Human birthrates are falling below replacement levels. “For the first time possibly since the Black Death,” according to a recent article in The Economist newspaper, the number of people on the planet could shrink by the end of the century. Demographic scientist Peter Zeihan is even more specific. Zeihan anticipates the collapse of China in about a decade due to depopulation and a realignment of the world order that has been in place for gen... Full story
For weeks I’ve corresponded with ChatGPT, which might be loosely described as “software.” My impression? Alternative Intelligence has arrived. We are not alone. This will change us, forever. I’m not imagining “The Matrix,” or “Terminator.” Instead, we are at an “event horizon” with no idea about what will happen once our information slips inside an intelligence with nearly instant access to all the world’s thought. From 1950 until about a couple of decades ago, the “Turing Tes... Full story
For the last year, a contractor friend near my home in Oregon has been unable to hire carpenters. Three months ago, a mechanic couldn’t find a new muffler to install on my old truck. Last month, stranded in Canada on a boat, I was told it could take three weeks to get a repair. Two days ago, the owner of one of my favorite coffee shops announced he’s going to close because he can’t hire a barista. Something is going on. It’s as if a whole generation of workers have disappe... Full story
Elon Musk recently tweeted, “At risk of stating the obvious, unless something changes to cause the birth rate to exceed the death rate, Japan will eventually cease to exist. This would be a great loss for the world.” That’s probably not true. Japan will not disappear. But Musk is not alone in his concern. On June 22, 2022 there was a story in Bloomberg about Japan’s falling birthrate. The author wrote it’s hard to know why: “All fertile societies are alike; each infertile s... Full story
Many women are crushed by the Supreme Court ruling on Roe V. Wade. I empathize. The ruling gives more power to states over what happens within a woman’s body. I can think of no similar laws allowing one human being to appropriate the biology of another. Restrictions on abortion are unique. At the same time, women’s intimate role in the life of another is also unique. That’s the crux: If a court’s role is to protect rights of an individual against an unfair majority, then wh... Full story
Commentary…. On a Monday last October, I was told by a friend with whom I’d had coffee they’d tested positive for COVID. I was fully vaccinated so I didn’t think much about it. But two days later, on Wednesday, October 27, I was feeling lousy and decided to be tested. The test came back positive. Due to my age, asthma, and a fresh, new coronary stent, I qualified for an infusion of monoclonal antibodies. I received these the next day, Thursday, October 28, then went... Full story
Remember the “information age”? Well, we can forget about that. We find ourselves instead in the age of misinformation, where there is too much fake news, too many rumors, too much going on “behind the scenes,” too many “anonymous” sources, too much about a “stolen election” without a shred of proof, too many companies hiding poison behind “trade secrets.” Here’s the truth: Democracy, as envisioned by Jefferson, requires an “informed electorate.” Here’s another: The marke... Full story
One can become detached, hunkered down on a rock in the middle of nowhere, or in a boat out on the edge. It’s a lifestyle with consequences, even if not consciously embraced, it’s often pointed out. But there’s a perspective in that detachment, though it should not be called objective. There’s no such thing. Let’s get that out of the way. Yesterday I gave up my membership in the Democratic Party and became “unaffiliated.” Not Independent, and God knows, not Republican &m... Full story
There is something about the fall season that encourages me to become active. Change in temperature, angle of sunlight, return of rain — I have no clue why, but it’s been constant over the years. I start to prepare the cave for winter. I would hike South Sister in September or early October, jokingly calling the climb to 10,300 feet my annual cardiac stress test. Exercise-induced asthma made that a challenge a couple of times, but inhalers allowed me to get to the t... Full story
Two weeks ago, camps of the homeless, aka the houseless, aka those living in rough shelter, in squalor and despair rank in the hot July sun near the Columbia River in Portland, seemed almost apocalyptic. After asking liberals and conservatives what they thought could be done, and reading a variety of publications, I think there may actually be some options but am not at all sure we can get there from here. Because I had a bias against publicly funded “affordable housing” (at... Full story
Over coffee, The Editor introduced me to a new word: presentism. We were trying to make sense of current debates about the teaching of racism, and revisions to American history. History is an arena of The Editor’s expertise. He pointed out that “presentism,” the evaluation of “past events in terms of modern values and concepts,” is recognized by historians as fallacy. I’d not encountered the word before, and think it’s an important one. Presentism is a filter through which... Full story
On Friday, April 30, Deschutes County entered another COVID-19 lockdown. Restaurants closed to indoor dining, gyms are limited. Lives are disrupted. Governor Kate Brown announced she was moving 15 Oregon Counties into the “extreme risk” category. Deschutes County made the list because of a rate of nearly 467 cases per 100,000 residents (from OregonLive.com), above the 200 cases per 100,000 set as a cut-off by the governor. If I’m doing the math right, the governor says that... Full story
The coronavirus is a once-in-a-generation event. As it has ended many lives, going forward it will define many others. It will perhaps define our country, what we have become and who we will be. The virus is an insidious enemy, spreading among people who do not appear to be sick. It can attack in terrifying ways, causing blood clots and strokes in young and seemingly healthy people, invading the lungs in a way that does not cause shortness of breath until there is too little o... Full story
The coronavirus is a once-in-a-generation event. As it has ended many lives, going forward it will define many others. It will perhaps define our country, what we have become and who we will be. The virus is an insidious enemy, spreading among people who do not appear to be sick. It can attack in terrifying ways, causing blood clots and strokes in young and seemingly healthy people, invading the lungs in a way that does not cause shortness of breath until there is too little o... Full story
