December 7, 2007, 10:06 am 649 comments in the last 730 days.
Oregon Courts Have No Right to Force Circumcision.

I was extremely distressed to read a quote in a recent AP article by William McCall attributed to Oregon Supreme Court Justice W. Michael Gillette. It says he asked in a hearing, concerning the partial genital amputation desired by a boy's father for his twelve-year-old son, "what would happen if the noncustodial parent of a child objected to allowing participation in a risky sport, such as football", and then that he gave his own preposterous answer: "'The answer to that is that's preposterous,' Gillette said. 'In fact more people get hurt playing football than from having a circumcision - a lot more, and a lot more seriously.'"

February 8, 2007, 12:23 pm 590 comments in the last 730 days.
Northwest Photographer Remembers Fallen Heroes Day In And Day Out.

His mission is sincere, and exact. A one-man operation, Q Madp attends funerals and memorials for lost service members in the Northwest whenever possible to pay his respects to the fallen heroes. He photographs the services, then posts a limited amount of them on the hero’s Tribute Page, and provides the other photos at no cost to the immediate family member. No strings attached. It's a Thank You for the sacrifice that they have made.

July 22, 2009, 12:43 pm 290 comments in the last 730 days.
Two Adults Arrested in Salem on Multiple Counts of Child Abuse.

A mother and father accused of child abuse by their own kids, were arrested Sunday in Salem. Lt. Sheila Lorance with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, says it began with deputy response to a 9-1-1 call from Pet Smart on Lancaster Drive regarding a report of child abuse. Lorance said, "When Deputies arrived they made contact with three children ages 15, 14 and 13 who indicated their parents had been physically abusing them since they arrived in the United States from the Ukraine in 2003."

March 13, 2008, 5:38 am 289 comments in the last 730 days.
Woman Arrested During Raids in Salem, Aumsville.

Linn County Sheriff deputies executed several search warrants in Marion County near Aumsville and Salem yesterday. Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller says all items were seized in connection with an investigation of an alleged embezzlement that occurred at Jeff King Construction 30126 Santiam Hwy in Lebanon, by a former employee.

January 15, 2008, 2:10 pm 162 comments in the last 730 days.
Is Circumcision Another Form of Genital Mutilation?.

Circumcision is flying to the front of medical and political arguments as Americans face the idea that we as a society may be gravely in error in our choice to allow doctors to complete circumcisions of young boys, particularly those just born which is the common approach in most cases. Experts on both sides of the argument are esteemed researchers, but a closer look at what circumcision really brings us; campaigns for Viagra and a lack of sexual satisfaction in men, shows that it may be among our worst and most cruel cultural practices.

January 31, 2008, 11:00 am 150 comments in the last 730 days.
Discovery of a Three-Millenial Falsification: The 2nd Commandment Forbids Sexual Mutilation.

In ancient times, John the Baptist and Jesus, among the first, gave their lives for baptism by water rather than by the traumatism of the "original" punishment of the prime erection. For rebels, it leads straight off to that of the cross. Since then, numerous attempts of abolishing circumcision occurred. The most elaborated one was that of German Reform rabbis, in the middle of the 19th century, for socio-political and legal reasons: a criminal assault against the child, the custom isolates the Jews, and also religious ones.

August 23, 2008, 1:00 am 147 comments in the last 730 days.
Op Ed: Force of Facts Destroys Neo-con Myths and Fallacies.

Driven by their inscrutable and immovable reliance on what they conceive as “the direct Word of God”, the nation’s “neo-conservative” remnant has amassed the world’s worst record of UN-realistic action on massive problems caused by those very policies. Far Right-inclined religious partisans, “captured” in recent years, have only added their misplaced influence to that already-determined immutable characteristic for this hard-scrabble radical remnant. This bedraggled sorry remnant is now identified by continuing faith in force-applied anywhere in the world, for any purpose, in pursuit of their proven-perverted perception of honest and open U.S. “strategic interests.”

December 12, 2008, 1:10 am 136 comments in the last 730 days.
Marijuana Legalization Tops List of Questions for Obama in Online Poll.

I am not surprised that the number one thing Americans are asking President-elect Barack Obama is whether or not he is going to legalize marijuana. Generations are changing and evolving and the taboos around cannabis are slowly falling away. American industries can harness the power of this multi-billion dollar, still mostly black market business. The attitude of people in this country is in a mode of great anticipation and change. Barack Obama is already on the record saying he does not want to use the Justice Department to bust state operated medical marijuana dispensaries. People submitting questions in this Online event seem to identify the legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana overall, as a top priority.

April 28, 2008, 10:57 am 107 comments in the last 730 days.
Miley Cyrus Semi-Nude Photo Takes Internet by Storm.

15-year-old Miley Cyrus, teen idol and star of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana, was pictured half-nude and topless, with only a satin sheet or blanket protecting her modesty for the June issue of Vanity Fair. The photo was taken by famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. Cyrus said that she was happy with the shot, declaring it "really artsy". But she has had a change of heart now that the picture is in the public domain.

May 18, 2008, 10:55 am 102 comments in the last 730 days.
Obama Could Pull The Plug on Clinton Campaign Tuesday.

The Democratic race for the White House is getting just as hot as the temperatures in Oregon. In 90-plus degree heat, Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, stopped their Oregon campaign swing yesterday, for ice cream at Prince Puckler's Gourmet Ice Cream and Coffee a few blocks from the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. Obama has almost secured most of the state's 52 pledged delegates, and could pull the plug Tuesday on the Clinton Campaign, which most believe is on life-support.