Month: August 2013

  • Building a Domestic Military?

    Building a Domestic Military?

    Our local county Sheriff Department is seeking funding from civic organizations to buy Kevlar vests for its staff. I like our Sheriff and I have a great deal of respect for local law enforcement. But here’s the thing — we live in rural Oregon. During[..]
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  • How Profitable is Panhandling?

    How Profitable is Panhandling?

    Over the past few days there has been a panhandler on the corner where Highway 395 intersects with McDonald's. As far as panhandlers goes, this guy is younger, and fitter than most. The cardboard sign that he holds up says he's a war veteran. If[..]
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  • Chickens in my future

    Chickens in my future

      The always beautiful and forever talented and always delightfully entertaining Sarah Thebarge came for a visit during Umatilla County Fair week. So, of course, I had to take her to the fair. Our first stop was the exhibition hall, where we marveled over the handiwork of[..]
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  • When Law Enforcement Gets it Right

    When Law Enforcement Gets it Right

    Can  we sit still for a moment and give thanks? Just be still And consider All the ways in which Law Enforcement from California Oregon Idaho Worked together Toward one common goal? Can we sit for a moment and give thanks For the ways in[..]
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  • The Civil Wars: Unhinged

    The Civil Wars: Unhinged

      I hate it when a cherished friend up and quits me. Thankfully it hasn’t happened but a couple of times in my life, but boy, oh boy have those break-ups hurt. I’m not talking about romances. I’m talking about the kind of friend I[..]
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  • God’s Rembrandt

    God’s Rembrandt

      Amsterdam is God’s Rembrandt, a piece of stunningly horrific beauty. Built in 1956, the year I was born, this World War II memorial represents the suffering inflicted upon this region. This, after all, is the place where dozens of youngsters like Anne Frank, like Corrie Ten[..]
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  • The duty of a journalist

    The duty of a journalist

      I have been in France for the past week, and in Germany the week before that, so I’ve had little time for paying attention to the news. It’s not that I have purposely avoided the news. It’s just that with so much beauty and[..]
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