What About Bob?

This man is Bob Packwood.

He left the Senate after it was found out that he served wine from boxes and stepped on women's toes.



This is Bill Clinton. He left the White House after it was found out he lied about his mentoring style.



This is Bill Clinton's imagination. While President Clinton lied under oath and had his license to practice law stripped from him, Lefties Love Bill.

My point is, isn't it time we rehabilitate Bob?




This is Gordon Smith. Gordon Smith is Oregon's current "Republican" United States Senator. Unlike Bob or Bill, nobody has ever said that Gordon likes women. Nothing about toes. Nothing about rape. Nothing about anything, really.

The only problem is, Gordon Smith is as much a Republican as is Hillary.



This is Huma Abedin. If I were Huma Abedin I'd want to know why a guy like Bob Packwood is stuck doing lobbying work in Washington, instead of representing the State of Oregon.

Like Huma, I'd be looking at the track record of Oregon's current Republican United States Senator, Senator Smith, and asking, what is it that makes him a Republican? It isn't stuff like this:

Smith Rallies for Children’s Health Care

PORTLAND, OR – Senator Gordon H. Smith joined health, child advocacy and public policy organizations in Oregon today to call on Congress to put partisanship aside and pass an important children’s health care measure. The measure, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), provides health care coverage to approximately 40,000 of Oregon’s children of low-income families. Reauthorization of the program would provide the funds needed to double the number of uninsured children in Oregon able to receive care.

“The future health and well-being of Oregon’s thousands of uninsured children depends on us finding a solution that provides our kids with affordable and meaningful health care,” said Senator Smith. “We need solutions, not more partisan rhetoric. The Governor and I intend to work together to ensure that both the federal and state leaders get their work done to help Oregon’s children get access to the health care they need.”

“The children of Oregon are counting on Congress,” said Governor Kulongoski. “We cannot allow these kids to lose the health care that is keeping them safe and strong.”

“We're too close to turn back now,” said Robin Christian, Executive Director of Children First for Oregon. “Senator Smith has led the way and serves as an example of a congressional leader rising above partisan politics and taking strides to advance children's coverage. It remains up to every member of Congress to become a hero for America's kids and finish the job to cover 10 million uninsured children.”

Healthcare in America isn't broke. Or broken. You want to see a doctor? Call a doctor's office. Let him know what your situation is. You know what? Nine out of ten, you'll see a doctor. It may take a call or two, but you'll see a doctor. Or a dentist.

You know why? Because these guys are healers. The best and brightest of the doctors and dentists in this community will take care of you...if you're not a known deadbeat.

Guess what? There are people out there gaming the system. In a small town it's easy to find out who the dicks are. In a large metro area? Your best bet is to head for the emergency room of your nearest hospital. In small towns, the dicks don't get help. They've cried "Wolf!" too many times. In a big city? The liars always win. Just ask a liar. He'll tell you. If you don't know who he is, you'll trust him the same way you trust everybody else. It's your weak spot.

Different people have different weak spots. With Senator Packwood it was thinking private moments of communion with Bachus would remain private. With President Bill Clinton, it was thinking that rape or harassment would be okay, since it always was okay. For Huma Abedin, just being close to the candidate is enough.

But what about Senator Gordon Smith? He's not a Republican. He's another collectivist, rich, white and dumb. With a law degree. Never stepped on a woman's toe that we know of. And never a thought in his head that ever gave him grief.

Our primary election is coming in May. Is it too early to suggest a write-in campaign for the Republican nomination for the United State Senate?

Who would you rather vote for; a man who opposes victory in Iraq? What about Senator Gordon Smith, the man who favors socialized medicine? Compare him to Senator Bob Packwood, the man who wrote one of the most important pieces of tax legislation in the history of the United States?

There is no other statesman of the stature of Bob Packwood of Oregon currently living. Certainly not the "K's" of the Democrat Party.

If Gays, Lesbians, Transgendereds are important, why can't guys who are white, bright and never raped anybody less important?

The panoply of absurd reductions in the current political debate have rendered systems of cultural decision-making useless. The new norm is no norm.

Here's a vote for neo-retrogradism. Instead of trying to break new ground with untested candidates who have been media tested to the consistency of tapioca, let's take a bold step back, to one of the most truly brilliant men this state has ever produced. And yes, I hope that Gordon Smith loses this election. Just as much as I hope Hillary loses this election. If you don't look at the voting record, just having him in the party doesn't mean squat if the party remains in the minority after the next election.

It just means one more moronic dolt calling himself a Republican will be gone.

This is, as they say, a net gain.

Write-in Bob Packwood, U.S. Senate.

Against the Death Penalty

...and yet not a pacifist.

One of the best arguments I've ever read for the power of the state being used to kill its enemies is in Locke's Second Treatise. When people ask why I'm against the death penalty, I try to point out that the "perp" is in custody. I prefer a true life sentence.

In war the most expedient course is, in my estimation, to kill as much of your enemy as cheaply and quickly as is possible. The post-WWII commanders were hamstrung by politicians attempting to "massage" (McLuhan) a war. Understandably. Nuclear weapons changed the potential landscape of war.

As a student of Russian history, I think it's important to remember that the motive force behind Kruschev was not simply to compete with the West, but to supplant the West. They had imported the veneer of western societies without understanding the motive forces that generated those societies. I think Putin is of this mindset. Russians don't want to destroy, simply rule.

Our new enemy, the islam-whatevermagig wants not to supplant, but to destroy the West. A couple of millenia of sand up your ass tends to reduce social niceties to not shaking hands with the poop hand. This is not an Hegelian puzzle, seeking to find resolution through contradiction. This is the sickness of Charles Manson, or Hitler.

What tools should be off-limits to defend against the creators of Dachau? What tools should be off-limits to defend against suicide bombers that have chosen to kill school children?

As counterpoint to your argument, the best example I can come up with is the disagreement between Argentina and Great Britain over the Maldive Islands. Quaintly 19th century. Deadly. Ridiculous, rather than atrocious.

Could water boarding be considered an just tool during that conflict? Can you imagine pictures of Argentines in Guantanamo? No. This current conflict is of a type and kind distant from the Falklands War. Sadly, to the nuanced, immature left, war is simply war. And, war is bad. Simpletons with simple thoughts?

(Posted in response to AChance at Redstate.com)

First They Came For Our Energy, Then They Came For Our Cash

What drives the looney left? Beyond superstition, greed and envy?

There is a drive afoot to put additional pressure on corporations to leave Oregon. From the press release of a "new" political action committee, Citizens for Tax Fairness:

"The percentage of income taxes paid by corporations -- and particularly large multistate and multinational corporations operating in Oregon -- has gone from nearly 20 percent in the mid-1970's to less than 5 percent today.

"Oregon has had, for several years, one of the 10 highest tax rates for personal income taxes, and among the lowest rates for corporate taxes in the United States.

"We believe that businesses, particlarly multi-state and multi-national corporations operating in Oregon, should pay more of their fair share, and as a testament to that belief, Travis Diskin and I have, this morning, filed an initiative petition to remove the corporate kicker from the Oregon Constitution. "

If you didn't click on the link that takes you to their website, the funniest thing is that the board of this group aren't board members...they're "Leaders". Carry on, comrades.

To the communalists living in Oregon, the word corporation is anathema. Which is why I recommend Oregon legislatures make changes in the law so that the word "Cooperative" replaces the word "Corporate". It would drive the communalists crazy.

Imagine, "We oppose tax refunds to Cooperatives!" It would spin their tiny little heads. If not Cooperative, how about People's Action Committee? I imagine if you lived in Iowa you might scratch your head if you received a shipment of "Intel People's Action Committee" chips, but chips is chips.

And me? I'm thinking about registering as OregonGuy's Collective for the People, People's Action Committee. Would it change the law? Nope. Just change the word "Corporation" to "People's Action Committee" in the existing statutes.

Want to really fool the lefties? Change Corporation to Banana, and then watch them organize an action.

"We oppose General Motors Banana and Man Made Global Warming!" Ridiculous, no?

The Kicker they refer to, is money that is overpaid by corporations, and then returned. And guess what? Corporations overpay a bunch of money.

The thing is, these Guevarra wannabees want one thing. To stick it to their old man. And now that they've grown and realized how hopelessly pathetic their old man was in the first place, it's attack the Corporations. Which, as I write this, explains the pathetic lack of funnyness in what attempts to pass for humour on the Left. Just watch Comedy Central. John Stewart's humour? Say rude things about people better than you. What a laugh.

Lol.

Science Versus Environmental Myth

One of the early issues "dealt with" by the environmental movement in Oregon was the establishment of riparian zones. As a classic example of post hoc, ergo propter hoc riparian zones were created to protect everything and everything. Fish, wildlife, drinking water, man, fowl, bugs and newts. The devil in the deal is that everything about riparian zones seemed reasonable. But, just as in the seeming reasonability (to some) about the source of Man Made Global Warming, there is cause to re-examine the precepts of riparian zones.

This, from the latest news release (Steep slopes and rain make landslides common in Coast Range, December 13, 2007) from the Oregon Department of Forestry:

"We don't know if the previous harvesting affected the stability of the two initial sites," said Jason Hinkle, an ODF geotechnical specialist investigating the slide. "There are a lot of unknowns. The whole hill is one big slide that's been happening for eons – things are going to move with or without timber harvesting."

I'm not sure how this honest assessment of the facts in the field made it past the filter of politically accepted policy prescription, but there it is. Lots of stuff that we're dealing with today is stuff that has had to be dealt with for most of time, here on Planet Earth. If we could only dodge that weird brand of ego-centric environmentalism which drives weird--and useless--policy prescriptions, maybe Oregon would be a better place to live.

A Brief Note On LNG

The Neo-Agrarians are pushing a return to the Dark Ages. You've heard their trope. We need to reduce the human footprint on Mother Earth. These superstitious louts, like the poor, will always be with us. Hopefully, we can build housing for these loons, so, like the poor, they can live in federal enclaves known as The Projects, something along the model of Johnson's Great Society. Then, in true federal fashion, we can ignore them. The loons in Portland are already voluntarily building ramparts around that once great city, shunning the automobile and truck for bicycle and rail transport. I just wish their lunacy wouldn't impact the rest of this once great state.



Locally, the Neo-Agrarians are fighting plans for two LNG terminals proposed for the county. As I noted here even this county's democrats have taken up the looney urge to purge productive capacity from the system. The crux of their attempt to populism is based in part on LNG flowing to California (gasp!) and part, and I heard this yesterday from a poor, deluded acolyte, that we are supporting fascism in Iran by importing LNG!



Amazing.



But what's in store for Oregon if we do build LNG terminals? The story is hidden in this press release from BPA.



"BPA uses aluminum shunts to increase power line capacity and save money

"Portland, Ore. - The Bonneville Power Administration is using a new method that allows transmission lines to carry more electricity capacity while also meeting more stringent outage standards. Thanks to a nontraditional approach, BPA was able to increase the amperage on one of its major 230kV lines at far less cost than rebuilding and replacing existing equipment.
The new practice is an important industry achievement at a time when utilities and grid managers nationwide are working to use transmission resources even more efficiently to address growing electricity demands and avoid costly new line projects when possible, all the while maintaining grid reliability.


"BPA installed aluminum shunts, which are strands of aluminum added to a transmission line that provide another path for current to travel through to relieve strain on key line components, on its 230kV power line to allow it to handle a peak capacity of 1,500 amps, up from an existing capacity of 1,070 amps. The shunts allowed BPA to take full advantage of the existing conductor, helping save money and time that would have been required had BPA elected to replace the line.

"The modifications arose out of a need to accommodate the output from the Mint Farm natural gas-fired power plant in Longview, Wash., into the Northwest electricity grid, which will require more current to be pushed through the line. "We are entering a period where we will need to find creative solutions like this one to ensure that we continue to provide reliable transmission of power to the region," said Vickie VanZandt, BPA's senior vice president of Transmission Services. "Challenges like complying with strict reliability standards and integrating new resources into our power grid continue to put upward pressure on BPA's costs associated with doing business."

"When BPA realized conditions would require the additional amperage to be transmitted through the line, it originally considered completely rebuilding and replacing the existing conductor. Testing showed that the existing line could handle the increased temperature associated with the additional amperage. However, the conventional compression connectors, which join sections of conductor together, would age quickly and create the risk of short-term failure if the line temperature were increased from 212 degrees Farenheit to 347 degrees.

"Using aluminum shunts on the line alleviated the problem. Shunting involves, among other things, wrapping preformed aluminum wires over sections of a power line adjacent to compression connectors. The shunt provides a parallel path for line current in addition to the path through the compression connector. The shunt conducts most of the current around the connector, so only a fraction of the current flows through the compression connector. Since the shunt reduces the amount of current traveling through the connector, the connector operates at a cooler temperature and is protected from premature aging and failure.

"While many traditional "non-wires" solutions to reducing the strain on transmission systems focus on demand response or distributed generation projects, this non-traditional approach could hold promise in future applications.

"'Any time we can modify an existing line and increase the capacity of our power grid in the process, it is a significant step in the right direction,' said Brian Silverstein, BPA vice president of Planning and Asset Management. 'Non-wires solution or not, this is a great example of using innovation to save money while avoiding new construction, ultimately benefiting electricity consumers in the Northwest.'


"BPA is a not-for-profit federal electric utility that markets more than a third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest. The power is produced at 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant in the Northwest and is sold to more than 140 Northwest utilities. BPA operates a high-voltage transmission grid comprising more than 15,000 miles of lines and associated substations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. "

You did find it, didn't you? Longview built an LNG power plant and is providing power to our local grid. Links to the Neo-Agrarian view here and here.



Why don't Democrats want the ordinary working man to have a decent job? Why do they want to destroy our state's productive capacity? Why are they victims of their own superstitious beliefs?

Coast Storm

Digging out.

Lots of stuff to do. Hope to be back soon.

American Red Cross - Oregon Trail Chapter: Quick stats from the Red Cross:
Shelter overnight stays (last night) -- 43
Shelter overnight stays (to date) -- 1421
Meals served (yesterday) -- 3250
Meals served (to date) -- 9096
Kitchens -- 3
Emergency response vehicles -- 10