Strangely, I'm Still Torn About MLS ...

And it's not for lack of trying to make sense of the two advocacies for it.

First of all, I remember the NASL Timbers and the years of "Soccer City, USA". If any city can make that happen, it was PDX. And man, the NASL Timbers were hot.

In the corner of advocacy for, we have the argument that the nearby USL teams are going big league, leaving the Timbers as the only USL team for hundreds of miles in any direction, and the story that the Paulsen family are putting up enought money to make any potential loss to Portland taxpayers as near to zero as possible. There's also the prestige a major league team brings, the prospect of a new baseball stadium for the Beavers (something I thinkt they deserve after all these years) and, as Anna Griffin in The Oregonian pointed out, if you're waiting for a major league football or baseball team to come to town ... well, I wouldn't cross the street on those odds.

In the advocacy against, there's powerful arguments, mostly centering on the state of the economy, and the very real appearance that money that will go to the MLS team would have and should have gone to gapingly-open social needs, real needs, that this city has now and will have very soon. Also the prospect of using a new Urban Renewal district possibly to pay for it (they said it's off the table, but I don't entirely trust that assertion) and that Convention Center urban renewal funds will be used to pay for the new Beavers stadium. It's also a hell of a way for the old Memorial Coliseum to go out. All that, and the owner of the team is a man who, if his dad's any indication, feels that if he wants it he should get it no matter who pays for it.

I think we deserve a MLS level team. Portland's ready for it. But the way things are, it's an extravagance. Can we afford it at this time? Maybe not.

The claim of extra jobs–well, we've seen in other cities that that's a big bust usually.

But it would be cool to have MLS in town! And the Beavers in thier own house!

Maybe it seems a little juvenile, but as just J. Random PDX Citizen ... I just don't know.

PDX: Keeping Portland Normal

An employee at Powell's Books at PDX dyed her hair pink.

Some weeks later it had faded well under the pastel wavelength.

It was only then that some buzzkill complained.

And then PDX said "cap it, babe".

After some weeks?

WW proclaims the Port of Portland (who owns and runs PDX) the Rogue of the Week this week. We agree.

C'mon, people, its Powell's! If you want Suzy Brownshoe, go to Barnes & Noble. One of the reason to go to any Powell's is because you know attractive young women with candy-colored hair are going to be there.

I mean, I know some of you came to Portland hoping to sleep with one of the girls in the Lille or Gilt ads in the WW and PMerc, and just about now you realize it's not going to happen, so at least you can go to Powells and dream, amirite?

The Bike Tax: What He Said

I know a "me too" post shows a lack of creativity, but Patrick Emerson's writing out HB 3008, Wayne Krieger's Bike Tax, needs to be read and passed about:

Perhaps the stupidest public policy idea I have ever heard of is the
proposed bike tax. It is not worth talking about the proposal itself as
it is not going anywhere and is, as I think I mentioned, stupid. But
what is interesting to me is that, in fact, the appropriate public
policy is to subsidize bikes, not tax them.

Why? The negative externalities associated with bike riding:
virtually none. Minimal wear and tear on roads, sometimes a slight
slowdown in traffic and a extra line of paint for a bike lane. Positive
externalities associated with bike riding: lots.

Read all about it: http://oregonecon.blogspot.com/2009/03/pay-me-for-riding-my-bike.html

Free (at Least For Now) Podcasts of Mike Malloy Available

Remember how I said that Malloy was making his podcasts free for now?

You can find them at the White Rose Society. go to the White Rose homepage and go down to the The Mike Malloy Show - New Archives Being Posted link, which is the fourth item in the Table of Contents list.

On your way down, notice that Ben Burch has a donation drive on and donate what you can. He's been doing this for years and if it weren't for White Rose, some liberal talkers wouldn't be getting the word out at all.

Also, here's complete Malloy connection info if you are so inclined:

Streaming; http://server2.whiterosesociety.org:8000/truthseeker.m3u

Temporary Archives; http://www.whiterosesociety.org/Malloy.html

Temporary Podcast; pcast://www.whiterosesociety.org/malloy.xml

President Obama's Memo On Scientific Integrity: The Complete Text

Repeated verbatim w/o comment because ... well, who needs additional commentary about something this nifty?

SCIENCE IS BACK IN THE HOUSE! (Empahsis below is mine)

Date: Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 12:48 PM
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________
For Immediate Release March 9, 2009
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS
AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Scientific Integrity

Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, mitigation of the threat of climate change, and protection of national security.

The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. Political officials should not suppress or alter scientific or technological findings and conclusions. If scientific and technological information is developed and used by the Federal Government, it should ordinarily be made available to the public. To the extent permitted by law, there should be transparency in the preparation, identification, and use of scientific and technological information in policymaking. The selection of scientists and Technology professionals for positions in the executive branch should be based on their scientific and technological knowledge, credentials, experience, and integrity.

By this memorandum, I assign to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Director) the responsibility for ensuring the highest level of integrity in all aspects of the executive branch's involvement with scientific and technological processes. The Director shall confer, as appropriate, with the heads of executive departments and agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget and offices and agencies within the Executive Office of the President (collectively, the "agencies"), and recommend a plan to achieve that goal throughout the executive branch.

Specifically, I direct the following:

1. Within 120 days from the date of this memorandum, the Director shall develop recommendations for Presidential action designed to guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch, based on the following principles:
(a) The selection and retention of candidates for science and technology positions in the executive branch should be based on the candidate's knowledge, credentials, experience, and integrity;

(b) Each agency should have appropriate rules and procedures to ensure the integrity of the scientific process within the agency;

(c) When scientific or technological information is considered in policy decisions, the information should be subject to well-established scientific processes, including peer review where appropriate, and each agency should appropriately and accurately reflect that information in complying with and applying relevant statutory standards;

(d) Except for information that is properly restricted from disclosure under procedures established in accordance with statute, regulation, Executive Order, or Presidential Memorandum, each agency should make available to the public the scientific or technological findings or conclusions considered or relied on in policy decisions;

(e) Each agency should have in place procedures to identify and address instances in which the scientific process or the integrity of scientific and technological information may be compromised; and

(f) Each agency should adopt such additional procedures, including any appropriate whistleblower protections, as are necessary to ensure the integrity of scientific and technological information and processes on which the agency relies in its decisionmaking or otherwise uses or prepares.

2. Each agency shall make available any and all information deemed by the Director to be necessary to inform the Director in making recommendations to the President as requested by this memorandum. Each agency shall coordinate with the Director in the development of any interim procedures deemed necessary to ensure the integrity of scientific decisionmaking pending the Director's  recommendations called for by this memorandum.

3. (a) Executive departments and agencies shall carry out the provisions of this memorandum to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their statutory and regulatory authorities and their enforcement mechanisms.

(b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

4. The Director is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

EFCA: Yep, This Is Why I Voted For Senator Merkley

Senator Merkley tells it like it is for the working man and woman:

This is why we put Jeff in. This is why we needed two progressive Democrats in the Senate from Oregon.

Go, Jeff! Do us a favor, won't you, if you come by here: contact Jeff and tell him thanks for doing what it was that we sent him there to do.

(via Preemptive Karma)

How To Win Free Maher/Coulter Tix If You Were In Boston

NB: The contest is over, and the tix have already been awarded

Funny for the day: The Boston Phoenix just concluded a contest where the winner gets two tickets to an upcoming debate between Bill Maher and Ann Coulter. To enter, one had to correctly guess a list of three things the two actually had in common.

My favorite was from one Michael Denham, who wrote:

They both are belligerent, get surprisingly large media coverage, and are both men.

Well you can't please everyone, I suppose. For the record, the answers were:

1. They both attended Cornell.
2. They've both written New York Times Best Sellers.
3. Neither has ever been married.

The author of the post also pointed out that both dated New York Times best-selling authors; to be exact, Dinesh D'Souza and porn star Karrine Steffans, which I have trouble believing completely. After all, I can see Ann Coulter dating Karrine Steffans, but I just don't think Dinesh D'Sousa is Maher's type, seriously.

PS: You were'nt going to Boston anyway. Don't lie to me!

We Like The Timbers ... But We're Not So Sure About This

We've been following PDX's journey toward MLS as far as our easily-glazed eyes will let us go.

We'll admit, we're confused. And I definitely don't want to kill the buzz of any Timbers fan (who I am, kinda–I attend games as the budget and time will allow).

But the rush toward giving the Timber's owner what he wants and the way which it's all going down so swimmingly just make me think of deals made out of sight. And since the Portland New Town (you know, the condo district otherwise known by the name of SoWa) concept has worked out so well, there should just kind of be a lot more public cirucumspection, and there just doesn't seem to be.

I'm just sayin'.

Newspaper Death Row: The 10 Most Likely To Be Next

In passing, and with an eye cast toward the struggles of not just the the Post-Intelligencer and The Oregonian, here's a much-linked artcile from the site 24/7 Wall Street that takes a guess at the next ten major dailies that may go dark or go digital.

The list reads:

1. The Philadelphia Daily News
2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune
3. The Miami Herald
4. The Detroit News
5. The Boston Globe
6. The San Francisco Chronicle
7. The Chicago Sun-Times
8. The New York Daily News
9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram
10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Some of those I think we can do without–the NY Daily News gave us the famous "Whose-going-to-write-the-stimulus-bill-now-we-killed-a-rabid-monkey-but-we-certainly-arent-using-a-racially-charged-symbol-to-refer-to-President-Obama" cartoon and is the closest thing I can think of to a craniorectal inversion in print.

But the SFChron? The Sun-Times (who gave us the greatest movie reviewer ever–Roger Ebert, the only movie reviewer ever to win the Pulitzer)?

If the Plain Dealer goes down, where are we going to get our newspaper prop the next time we see Rocky Horror over at the Clinton?

It's dark times, my friends.

TriMet: Providing Stimulus To Bike Park & Riders

Announced today via TriMet:

At the Bicycle Transportation Alliance annual awards dinner on
Saturday, TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen announced that the agency
is dedicating $1 million of stimulus funding to expand and improve bike
parking facilities throughout the transit system. The stimulus funds
will create a pilot project for bike Park & Ride facilities as well
as upgrade older lockers.

TriMet's bike initiative has always been admirable to me, but could be more.

This is more.

Oh, Go Galt Yourself

Just caught whiff of this. Us Orygonian bumpkins and bumpkinettes may not have heard of this, but this sounds like the silliest, selfishest, most self-indugingest thing since the other week when that risible "teabagging" party trend (link rated R for adult situation) that happened because Santelli belched something resembling a thought (It would be helpful to note that CNBC's Rick Santellin not only Hates You (tm) but is a buffoon as well, though unlike Jim Cramer, he's not even funny).

It's called going Galt.

As someone once said, assume I'm an Objectivist, and assume I'm a dunce ... but I repeat myself. Now, we all know (even if we don't Rand around) that John Galt is the pivotal character in Atlas Shrugged. He is the ubermensch upon whom withdrawing the creative contribution causes the entire Earth to spin into the sun (or cause another Thin Man movie to be made, or something like that). If you buy into Objectivism, the "men of ability" (not you) are the people who actually make the world go round, and if they decide to stop contributing, then the whole fabric of society unravels and the whole place starts to look like sections of Detroit we've heard about recently.

Now that the rabble (if you're reading this and you wonder who the rabble might be, it's you, Sparky) have begun to actually demand that government work for them instead of on them, the Masters of the Universe (if you wonder if you are one, then it's a dead sure thing you aren't) have decided that they're just going to take their ball and go home.

Balloon Juice has a pretty good summary here:

Much html code has been spilled about the wingnut obsession with “going Galt” in order to avoid paying a 39% marginal rate on income over 250K a year. Matt Yglesias points out that we’d probably be better off if a lot of wealthy Americans went Galt, the Washington Independent has a nice run-down of the whole movement (oh, it resembles a certain sort of movement, if you follow me–ed), if it can be called that, and commenters all over point out that John Galt would never have worked as a dentist, represented people from Bakersfield, or slept with Glenn Reynolds.

Take that lese majeste, you little people. Once you all pipe down, we're getting you a shorter chain.

Problem is, those self-styled Galters don't really resemble John Galt much at all. Once again, if you buy into such Random philosophy and you think that the world won't go unless a creative elite does anything, most of the those who want to go Galting around don't really produce anything that society can't do with out. Conservative bloggers? Investment managers? Commentators? Michelle freaking Malkin?

We'll, they'll show us, you see. They'll go off to the gulch and hope we all Galt ourselves off a cliff.

I hope their little feelings won't get too hurt when they find out the world kind of works better without them.

I kind of hope they Galt off along with the horse they rode in on. We'll all be better off.

Mom always said there'd be people like that there, too, also.

An Upside To A Down Economy: Fewer Traffic Jams

The dicey economy means people are driving less. Now we know how much less:

Northwest cities fared about average: congestion declined by 28 percent in Seattle, and 34 percent in Portland.

Hell, I'll get and stay on my bike–if the silly people don't get their way.

Hey, KPOJ! Speaking of iTunes Streaming ...

... why ain't you there?

The POJ and iTunes seems a natural match.

So why ain't you there, ladies and gents? Hmm? Someone over on SW Macadam Avenue want to get on that?

There are many liberal streams, most inferior to The POJ.

Please rectify this.

Thank You, Blue Oregon! And Preemptive Karma Too! (updated)

I notice that I've been tipped more than once by the mighty Blue Oregon, in my mind the cream of the progressive blogs around here.

It's flattering to be on the BlueO radar, and to Kari, Carla, and all there that I admire, thanks! You've brightened my day!

Updated: I just found out that Preemptive Karma has extended an link of friendship. Must reciprocate if I havent already!

Quite a day!

Post-Nova M: Mike Malloy Still Broadcasting, Podcasts To Be Free (For A Little While Anyway)

Commenter "fellixe" left me this information on the previous posting regarding the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I'm moving it up to a posting because there's exciting news strongly suggesting that we won't be going without Mike Malloy anytime soon:

Hi again. On the Rhodes Scholars board it was passed along that Ben Burch, all around tech guru and web master of the former Nova M among other progressive media concerns, has posted on Mike Malloy's message board that he would be moving podcasts from the Nova M and On Second Thought to http://headonradionetwork.com/.

Ben's message was as follows:

Hey guys!

Yeah, had my machine crash at the worst time.

Quality will improve tomorrow as we plan to stream directly rather than repeating an affiliate stream with FOUR re-encodings in the chain!

As I said in another thread, podcasts will no longer be via OST, they will be on White Rose, and I am moving gigabytes of audio around as fast as I can to make that happen.

There will eventually be a subscription service. Sooner rather than later, but when it starts it will be temporarily free.

-Ben

I don't know if this effects all the material formerly available to
Founders' Club members of Nova M or not, but I guess it's the best
place to start looking.

I feel somewhat visionary; I wanted for so long to join Nova M Founders Club so I could get me premium Malloy content and podcasts but money has indeed been that tight, and I always felt so guilty about listening to him for free.

That said, I have the utmost sympathy for Founders Club members. After all, they had the gumption to step up and support Mike and Nova M when things were better (If I could just up my income, when it happens again, I'd like to be one of them, of course) and all they have is stress to show for it now. That's not a good prize!

So we'll have our stream back (1190 Nova M's iTunes stream has indeed gone silent) and for a while we'll get some free podcasts! The Drobny's loss appears to be our gain.

I'm thinking of taking up praying again if it will make Mike's self-synidication plan work out. But, oh, it could be so much worse!

I Wondered Why A "D" Would Sponsor That Bike Registration Bill

... with three Republicans. Loaded Orygun explains:

I honestly am not sure whether Rep. Schaufler just does this kind of thing to be a dick, but if I asked you for one Democrat in the House who might be expected to sign onto something like this, it's Schaufler or nobody. This is the guy who threatened Merkley with a nay vote on any Measure 37 bill that didn't get a GOP vote, no matter what the bill said.

Oh. He's a jerk.

Thanks for the expl, LO.

Nova M ... On Second Thought ... 1190 KNUV ... Going, Going ...

This photo, nicked from the Phoenix New Times newspaper, shows the last known status of the station that was the flagship of the defunct Nova M Radio, then the flagship of the chimeral On Second Thought Radio, the successor to 1480 KPHX, Phoenix's 1190 KNUV:

Those are indeed the doors of KNUV, 1190 AM, Phoenix AZ, chained and locked. Read the Phoenix New Times article on the current state of affairs here. Eerily, though, despite the blank page that the OnSecondThought.net site (formerly NovaMRadio.com) and the 1190NovaM.com sites have become, the 1190 Nova M stream via iTunes is still available and eerily broadcasting as though nothing's changed.

No word on the status of Dr. Mike Newcomb and the others.

Mike Malloy is on self-syndication. At least we still get to hear him.

Ben Burch's The White Rose Society website maintains a Sphinx-like fundraising front page.

Randi Rhodes's website still displaying the brief message that was mounted when everything started to FDGB.

The POJ seems to be going as strong as ever.

If anyone can diagnose the situation, you're way ahead of me.

Three Republicans and a Democrat Want To Tax You Again To Ride Your Bike

In these days of fluctuating energy prices, global climate change, and decreasing incomes, the last thing the Oregon Legislature should be thinking about doing is making ecologically-friendly alternatives more expensive, but that's just what Reps Sal Esquivel (R-Medford), Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach), Bill Garrard (R-Klamath Falls) and Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley) want to do.

A liberal complaining about a new fee or tax may be odd, but really, only if you're a conservative who thinks using talking points instead of a brain. It's a matter of fairness.

The bill in question, HB 3008, sponsored by the four State Representatives, asks bicyclists–many of whom either own at least one car and is therefore already paying vehicle-registration fees, DEQ fees (if you live in the metros), gas taxes and insurance just to maintain the privilege of using an automobile to pay even more–$54 dollars every two years, to register a vehicle which delivers little or no wear on your neighborhood roads, makes you more fit, and pumps zero hydrocarbon emissions into the road.

Of course, I suppose there are many who use bicycles because they don't have or can't afford a car. Now it will cost them more. Many such people presumably ride a bike because they don't have that much of an income. Now they'd have to pony up $54 just to avoid getting a $25 ticket every time they get gigged for it (viewing the breeziness of the way the newsreaders on KATU simply dished off the cost as No Big Deal shows just how out-of-touch some people can get)

This can only lead to fewer people getting on two-wheelers to improve thier health, the health of the environment, and thier own economies. What we need to do is encourage people to get on bikes, not discourage.

As a person who owns two cars (and pays into the commonweal commensurate to that posessiveness) I am certainly not for being taxed again for doing the right thing. Bikes are not the problem, and making it more expensive to ride them will not solve any problems either.

If you feel as I do, you might want to contact these representatives and explain to them that this is not innovative, but rather a lack of vision:

Contact Rep Esquivel here.
Contact Rep Kreiger here.
Contact Rep Garrard here.
Contact Rep Schaufler here.
Go here to find out who your state representative is and tell them too.

And if you want a PDF with the complete text of HB 3008, click here for the download.

This is an official Bad Idea™. It needs to die.

Also, the BTA, who has the right of it, clues you in on Rep Krieger, the chief sponsor, who just seems to hate you if you ride a bike.

Ding, Dong, The Witch is Dead. Kinda.

Well, the word's out: Wild Bill Sizemore can't actually work for, or collect money from, a charity to live on.

Sounds good. But that guy's got more lives than 9 cats. He should have FDGB* a long time ago.

In as much as we hear he's moving to Redmond, we understand he'll have to go looking for honest work. I won't be completely happy until he's asking me do you want fries with that burger. Of course, with Wild Bill the word "honest" is more a concept than anything else, so we'll see how that goes.

* FGDB=Fall Down Go Boom. Strictly an abstraction.

Commission Cogen Agrees With Me About The TriMet Line 33

A little while ago I opined about how TriMet's proposal to discontinue the 33-Fremont line is a pretty penny-wise, pound-foolish thing to do (I called it stupid, to be exact), and that corner of Portland, where adequate bus service is pretty much a joke anyway as you get out toward NE 82nd Avenue, is about to become very very underserved.

It would seem that me and County Commissioner Jeff Cogen are on the same page:

We've heard concerns from several of our neighbors about the termination of the #33 bus line and I've sent a letter to Fred Hansen and the TriMet Board of Directors urging them to reexamine the proposed closure of the line. We disagree with the notion that other Northeast Portland TriMet routes adequately serve public needs in these
neighborhoods.

Thousands of riders use the #33 bus line for trips that don’t begin, end or pass through downtown Portland. Many of these trips are on the east-west portion of the route on NE Freemont St. NE Broadway and NE Killingsworth are the next nearest east-west routes, both of which are about a one mile walk from NE Freemont. Of further concern to me are
the hundreds of students attending one of the eight schools on or near the #33 route.

The idea that that route is somehow optional to effective mobility in NE Portland is strange to me. And I don't plan transit. All I did was look at the map.

So, good on Commissioner Cogen. Damn shame I can't vote for you (I'm not in your district) but then they don't plan on ending any routes in SE Portland, we we're the lucky ones I suppose. But the voters made a good choice with you.

Just one thing, Commish: it's Fremont, not Freemont. Just one E.