COVID-19 is in retreat, for now

Have you noticed that COVID-19 hasn’t been in the news as much over the past few weeks? Friends, draw close so I may whisper to you that which is verboten in polite company: that’s because the disease is in retreat.

ICE ICE Baby

On Wednesday, agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (aka, ICE) detained two men, apparently immigrants, in Bend.

Reality bites

Reality bites Increasingly, Americans hold a view of reality that comports with their political leanings. Polls consistently show that members of the president’s party think the economy and country are doing better than members of the other party. When a president of the other party is elected, the sides flip, even though the economy has…

The dream of the ’70s is alive in Portland

The dream of the ’70s is alive in Portland If I were to ask you to describe the Portland City Council in relation to an historical figure, “Nixonian” probably wouldn’t leap immediately to mind, but it should. In the early 1970s, Nixon instituted price and wage controls throughout the economy in an effort to combat…

Football and Father Luke

Football and Father Luke Good intentions, when acted upon rashly, often lead to bad outcomes. Those who intend to purge racism from America’s institutions should not drive from view or from acceptable public discourse instances in our history in which racism was beaten back, just because those instances necessarily require the depiction of racists who lost….

What keeps me and maybe Kate Brown up at night

What keeps me and maybe Kate Brown up at night In my free time lately, when my mind is not occupied with the immediate needs of a wife, two young boys, an elderly male cat named Baxter, two businesses, one weekly(ish) email newsletter and one or perhaps two blue jays (one of whom the boys…