Featured Stories
Featured Stories
TO: Dean of Extraterrestrial Studies, Galactic University
FROM: Undercover Agent, Planet Earth
SUBJECT: Native Customs and Rituals
Honored Superior:
The vast emptiness of space, coupled with technical difficulties and “sunspot” activity affecting dozens of stars between your system and the one I am occupying, have delayed by ten years (this system’s quaint designation for solar cycles) my response to your queries concerning this planet’s obsession with climate cycles.
It is my duty to inform you of a massive religious convocation that takes place on this planet every year. Perhaps the most notable event was almost exactly ten years ago in a principality known as Copen-Hagen, focusing on variations of the degree of molecular activity in the atmosphere of this place. Continue reading
Helen Maguire
Hobos, Source: Wikipedia
As many of our readers know, Frank (my 100% Irish husband) worked for over 40 years as a professional musician – working from coast-to-coast, and also in the Arizona desert. One of the ditties we’ve heard him sing over the years went something like this: “I’m a rambler, I’m a gambler, I’m a long way from home. If you don’t like me, then leave me alone. I’ll eat when I’m hungry, and I’ll drink when I’m dry. And, if moonshine don’t kill me, I’ll live ‘til I die.”
That reminded me of the article I’ve been writing for this month’s Northwest Connection about hobos.
“King of the Road” is another popular song Frank used to sing. It was written and originally recorded in November 1964 by country singer Roger Miller. The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a vagabond hobo who, despite being poor (a “man of means by no means”), revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously or possibly cynically as the “king of the road.”
With the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, many discharged veterans returning home began hopping freight trains. Others looking for work on the American frontier followed the railways west aboard freight trains in the late 19th century. Continue reading
Marlon Furtado
Telephone scams. A common one informs you that you’ve won a big prize. All you have to do to get it is to make a small payment on your credit card. After the person realizes they’ve been scammed, they admit, “I should never have fallen for it. I thought it sounded too good to be true.”
A friend told me of a different scam call that he recently received. The caller told him that his oldest grandson had been arrested for DUII while on a business trip. He needed $10,000 to bail him out of jail, and he didn’t want his wife to find out. This wasn’t too-good-to-be-true. It was too-bad-to-be-true. After a little investigation, my friend found out that his grandson had been home with his family the entire time. Continue reading
Masai giraffe Buttercup at the Oregon Zoo. © Oregon Zoo / photo by Michael Durham.
With big crowds expected, zoo urges visitors to take MAX and avoid parking hassle
Visitors are invited to enjoy a free day at the Oregon Zoo on Saturday, Nov. 16.
“Periodically, the zoo hosts a free day as a thank you to the community,” said Dr. Don Moore, zoo director. “This is a great time of year to see the animals. We have a full day of activities scheduled, and we hope everyone who comes through the gates on Saturday is inspired to help create a better future for wildlife.”
Zoo hours Saturday are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities taking place include the following: Continue reading
Bryan Fischer
In Donald Trump’s conversation with Ukraine’s president Zelensky on July 25, he asked Zelensky to look into corruption in Ukraine. The issue was corruption, not Hunter Biden. If the corruption had involved somebody named Natty Bumpo, and Trump asked Zelensky to look into it, nobody would have had a second thought about it.
Because it involved Hunter Biden, however, all of a sudden it became an instantaneous impeachable offense. But nobody gets a free corruption pass just because your dad is running for public office. If people discovered that running for office was a get-out-of-jail-free card in corruption cases, our nation would be awash in wholly unqualified crooks running for office.
The United States signed an anti-corruption treaty with Ukraine in 1998, meaning Bill Clinton’s signature is on it. Joe Biden voted for it. Let’s remember that according to Article VI, Clause 2 “all treaties…which shall be made, under the authority of the United Continue reading
Bald eagle Jack in the Eagle Canyon exhibit. © Oregon Zoo / photo by Michael Durham.
Active and retired military personnel and their families to be admitted free Nov. 11
The Oregon Zoo will mark Veterans Day by offering free admission for military veterans and active military personnel, as well as up to four family members who accompany them to the zoo, on Monday, Nov. 11. Families of deployed military personnel also will be given free admission.
“We’re grateful to everyone who has served our country and the families who support them,” said Dr. Don Moore, zoo director.
To receive free admission Nov. 11, visitors must show a military or veteran organization ID, discharge papers or other official military identification; families of deployed military personnel must show an active duty ID.
As part of the Metro family, the Oregon Zoo helps make greater Portland a great place to call home. Committed to conservation, the zoo is currently working to save endangered California condors, Oregon silverspot and Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies, western pond turtles and northern leopard frogs. Other projects focused on saving animals from extinction include studies on polar bears, orangutans and cheetahs. Continue reading
Steve Bates
On November 11, 1969, Operation Fulton Square in the Quang Tri Province was in full force with the 1st Marine Division, 101st Airborne Division and the 5th Infantry Division.
This was one of twenty operations active throughout Vietnam. There were over 500,000 United States Military personnel assigned to the Vietnam War Zone.
Yes, Veterans Day fifty years ago was very different than this year. While today we have troops assigned to operations in the Middle East, we must realize that in 1969, the Vietnam War was raging. 1969 was the second most deadly year of the Vietnam Era when 11,780 United States warriors were killed in action in 1969.
Over 58,000 of our troops died in Vietnam; 710 were from Oregon. Continue reading
Bryan Fischer
Mr. President, you and Jesus Christ have something in common. Politicians, lawyers, pundits, and cultural icons are out to destroy you just as they sought to destroy him.
Am I saying you are some kind of Christ-figure? Hardly. You are as fallen as any other man in America. Robert Jeffress and Franklin Graham count themselves among that number.
But there are some striking parallels between what you are experiencing right now and what Jesus went through on the way to being tried, convicted, and executed as a common criminal. For starters, the American people love you just as the ordinary people of Israel loved Jesus. In fact, the fierce loyalty of the people is what protected Jesus from the powerful and forced them to resort to wretched perfidy to go after him. Continue reading
“Sometimes I think the world is going crazy. The rest of the time I KNOW it.” – BT magazine
CHOOSING THE BEST NIHILIST QUOTATIONS OF ALL TIME ISN’T EASY, but here goes nothing:
“The era of big government is over.” — Wm. Jefferson Blythe Clinton
“No more deficits; no more debt.” — Nancy Pelosi (2006?)
“We have beaten the business cycle.” — WJBC
“We have to pass it so we can find out what’s in it.” — Nancy Pelosi (2009)
“Fox News is worse than al Qaeda. It’s as dangerous as the Ku Klux Klan.” — Keith Olbermann
“This is the moment the earth began to heal.” — Barack Obama Continue reading
Marlon Furtado
Some people enjoy going to the gym. I never have. In high school and college, I only went to the weight room because it was required for wrestling. However, the Apostle Paul used athletic lingo when he said, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). This passage teaches two very important truths.
ONE. The emphasis is not on us, but on the One who is in us. When you invited Christ to come into your life, His Holy Spirit took up residence in you. He began at that moment to change you from the inside out. Over time, we can fall into the trap of thinking it’s up to us to discipline ourselves to become more like Christ. It’s true that it involves our efforts, but we must never forget that it is, “God who works in you.” We are entirely dependent on Him to change us. Continue reading