A good chunk of voters will be really pissed. The Republicans have NO alternative.

Denial of benefits due to pre-existing conditions. Kids 26 and under kicked off their parents' health care insurance. Small businesses don't get their tax credits for insuring their employees.

Single payer is back on the table, folks. Democrats, IF they seize on this, can make some serious political hay out of this.

Am I wrong? Aren't we better off in the long run here? We might just get single payer out of this?!

That is all, fellow Earthlings.

(Son Of) Man arrested on I-5 near Roseburg after disrupting traffic wearing only his underwear and socks

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/06/man_arrested_on_interstate_5_n.html

<snip>

State police say a 26-year-old Texas man, who identified himself as Jesus Christ, has been arrested after he was discovered disrupting traffic near Roseburg wearing only his underwear and socks. A state trooper found the man, who is believed to have a history of mental illness, after 12 p.m. moving towards passing vehicles near the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near milepost 124.

The man, whose name has not been released, was able to evade arrest from the trooper for disorderly conduct, even after the trooper used a baton and pepper spray to try and subdue him.

A vacationing, off-duty Virginia police officer who was in the area and an officer from Roseburg soon joined the fray to help apprehend the man.

The Roseburg officer used a Taser on the man as the state trooper and Virginia officer put him in handcuffs.

</snip>

Unfortunately, there is no photographic evidence other than what the cops might have. Kind of like the Resurrection.

Hood strawberries from Oregon and black cherries from Washington.

Damn, these are good. And my baked salmon. Sure hope it's not Fukushima'd.

http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/19/12286631-what-credit-card-firm-attracts-the-most-complaints-new-consumer-agency-launches-tell-all-website?lite

<snip>

The nation's new consumer protection agency is about to start naming names, albeit in baby steps.

Despite vocal opposition from the financial industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday launched a website that allows consumers to browse through complaints filed against large financial companies.

Website users can see the name of the company targeted by each complaint, the nature of the issue, the company response -- including timeliness -- and the zip code of the complainer. Users can also generate charts showing which banks attract the most complaints, which issues are hardest to resolve and which regions of the country seem most irritating by bank practices.

“(This) is a major milestone for consumers and all those who are interested in knowing more about their day-to-day experiences,” said Richard Cordray, the bureau's first director. “We believe this is the first time that the general public has been able to see such individual-level consumer complaint data for financial products and services. … Anyone with access to the web will be able to review and analyze the information, and draw their own conclusions.”

<snip>

The actual site is here: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaintdatabase/

You can sort it out by region, which banks get the most complaints, et cetera. A little sunlight, thanks to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

I have a daughter, 32, and a son, 24. Different moms, same dad (me).

They're nice to me and indulge me when I tell old stories. Three days straight on the road. They are close, too.

It might not seem like such a big deal at first. But, I am getting older and my only sibling died recently, and my wife is very understanding so we made a roadie just for the hell of it. What do you learn?

I learned how good they are and how much they care. Reliving old stuff and having fun for the sake of having fun. Having roadside food and having them drive for you.

Because, they can. And, you taught them how.

I am the luckiest man in the world.

Source: The Oregonian

An Oregon Supreme Court decision Thursday to release 20,000 pages of files about volunteers who molested Boy Scouts likely will have two effects: First, it will continue to embarrass the 102-year-old Boy Scouts of America, which has worked vigorously to distance itself from a dark chapter in its past.

Second -- because the files outline a widespread problem of child sex abuse and the organization's attempts to cover it up -- the ruling could open the floodgates of litigation. Attorneys of men who were abused as Scouts will have precisely the evidence they need to sue the Texas-based youth organization for many millions of dollars in punitive damages, legal experts say.

Within weeks, a Portland law firm plans to post the 1,247 files on its website for all to see -- with the names of alleged child victims and the people who reported the suspected abuse removed.

"No company wants to have its personnel files made public like this," said Patrick Boyle, a freelance journalist who has written extensively about sex abuse in the Scouts and is one of the country's most prominent authorities on the subject. "This is a nightmare for (the Boy Scouts of America). ...Kids may be less likely to join. Parents may be more fearful. People could be less likely to volunteer."

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/06/boy_scout_sex_abuse_files_--_w.html

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Source: The Oregonian

WASHINGTON – Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Monday blocked quick passage of controversial intelligence bill amid concerns that it gives the government too much power to secretly collect data on U.S. citizens.

Wyden’s decision to place a “hold” on a bill that would extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for five years is just the latest installment in his long-running skirmish with the White House over the rules and practices for collecting and analyzing massive amounts of digital data.

Wyden has sought details for months on the number of Americans whose data has been collected as part of surveillance of foreign citizens who are or interest to intelligence officials. The government has yet to provide an answer that satisfies Wyden.

The second concern is that a U.S. citizen could have his or her personal information and communication analyzed as a by-product of an operation directed at a foreign citizen. Wyden is demanding that the government first obtain a warrant to review the information about the U.S citizen. Current law considers that additional information to be covered by the original warrant giving permission to monitor a foreign citizen, a practice Wyden condemns as a “backdoor” search.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/wyden_blocks_intelligence_bill.html

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More at link.

?w=620 Alberta Premier Alison Redford, second from left, speaks to reporters in front of the Gleniffer reservoir, with an oil retaining boom across it, about an oil spill from a pipeline leak near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012

<snip>

DICKSON, Alta. — People downstream of an oil pipeline breach in west central Alberta are worried but hopeful the spill won’t seriously damage the Red Deer River they depend on for water and recreation.

Andrew Van Oosten and his friends were hoping to go fishing Saturday but were told by Alberta Environment officials to stay away from the water.

“I was going to go fishing but they said, ’No, you’re not allowed,”’ he said as huddled with his friends underneath a tarp at his campsite near the Gleniffer reservoir.

Booms set up to contain Alberta pipeline spill after up to 3,000 barrels of oil spew into Red Deer River
“You are not allowed to go near the water because it [oil] is washing up on shore. I hope it just passes by in a week or two.”

</snip>

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So, let's see if I have this right. The XL Pipeline proposed through the heart of North America, from north of Edmonton, Alberta to Houston Texas, crossing multiple watersheds and aquifers, hasn't even made it from Edmonton to Red Deer yet, and there is already fresh water being trucked in because <rant> THEY CAN'T CONTAIN THE BLEEPING SPILLS in the Red Deer River AND THE OILY COMPANY BUZZILLIONAIRES WANT TO EXTEND THE DAMN PIPELINE ALL THE WAY TO HOUSTON. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?? TO GIVE IT UP AT PROFIT ON THE WORLD BLEEPING MARKET! THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE IN PRISON. <takes a few deep breaths, ends rant </rant>

Whew, I feel slightly better, my pulse rate is slightly down, BREATHE Steve. Don't have a stroke.....

I wanted to think Canada was above this, but they are being purchased, at least the Alberta government, by oil companies just like the USA and Europe. The Harper government is just as willing to line their pockets with dirty oil money as the US is.