Posted inDonald Trump International issues

Three disgusting things U.S. has done in Iran war

I'm no fan of Iran. I don't know anyone who is. For sure, Iran had to be prevented from building a nuclear weapon. But they were nowhere close to being able to do this. And eight months ago Trump said that the Iranian nuclear program had been obliterated by U.S. strikes, leaving them years away from being able to fashion a nuclear weapon, and about a decade away from having a ICBM capable of striking our country with a nuclear bomb. So clearly there was no imminent threat to the United States from Iran. But Trump attacked anyway, for reasons…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

In the Iran war, let’s not ignore the suffering of innocent Iranians

After three days of intense bombing of Iran by the Israeli and American military, I'm becoming increasingly worried that Iran is going to become the new Gaza: lots of civilian deaths even though those people had nothing to do with the purported reason for going to war, and large swaths of the country reduced to rubble even though destroyed areas had no military significance. I'm going to let tweets shared today by some of the people that I follow on X, formerly known as Twitter, do most of the speaking for me. The beauty of X, as with Blue Sky,…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

Trump is at war with Iran. It’ll probably end badly, like everything Trump does.

Last night I was enjoying a hot bath, about to read more of an entertaining thriller novel, when I noticed that a real-life "thriller" message had appeared on my iPhone. The New York Times was reporting that Israel had attacked Iran. Soon that was followed by additional news. The United States also was attacking Iran. My wife and I weren't about to trade watching more of the new season of Bridgerton for CNN or MSNBC, but by chance Trump's address to the nation about the Iran attack was on just before we headed off to bed. We wondered why Trump…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

Eight months ago Trump said the Iran nuclear program was obliterated. So how can Iran be a week away from a bomb?

Since I'm a big fan of Apple TV's terrific spy thriller, Tehran, from watching the third season of this Israeli production I know that the fanatical clerics who control Iran have been seeking a nuclear weapon. That's obvious from both the fictional plot of Tehran, and the reality of Iran's nuclear ambitions. Virtually nobody in the world wants to see the wacko Islamist fundamentalist rulers of Iran get a nuclear bomb. Back when Obama was president, a treaty was reached with Iran that prevented Iran from enriching uranium to the level needed for a bomb. Since the treaty was working…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

I just watched Trump give the longest State of the Union speech ever. I deserve a freaking medal.

It took a lot of strength and determination. I wanted to give up numerous times. But I persevered -- watching every damn minute of what turned out to be the longest State of the Union speech in our nation's history, 1 hour and 47 minutes. That broke the previous record, also set by Trump, which I think was 1 hour and 39 minutes. So I deserve a medal, especially since I was forced to sit through countless (almost) lies by Trump, along with his usual insults directed at Democrats like me. Commentators had been wondering which Trump would show up…
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Posted inCity Council Julie Hoy Oregon politics

Really irritating that Oregon legislature may weaken public meetings law that Mayor Hoy violated

I'm a proud Democrat, but I'm not shy about criticizing my political party when it does something stupid. Like, being on the verge of passing a bill in the current short session of the Oregon legislature that markedly weakens a prohibition on "serial communications" -- which basically means a governmental body, like the Salem city council, deliberating secretly rather than in a public meeting open to the citizenry. Salem Mayor Julie Hoy was the ringleader of a scheme to use serial communications (individual conversations with members of the city council) so Hoy could force Keith Stahley, the city manager back…
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Posted in2026 election Donald Trump National politics

Tariff decision by Supreme Court could have helped GOP in midterms, but Trump is doubling down on tariff tax

When I checked my iPhone for the latest news upon waking this morning, my mood instantly brightened. Yay! The Supreme Court has ruled that most of Trump's tariffs were illegal. And not by a narrow 5-4 margin, by a 6-3 margin, so three Trump-appointed justices ruled against him. Up until now the Supreme Court has mostly been allowing Trump to pursue his authoritarian dreams with minimal pushback. But this was a big rejection of unfettered presidential power. Even three conservative Supreme Court justices realized that the Constitution gives Congress the power of taxation, and tariffs are a tax paid by…
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Posted inCity of Salem Julie Hoy

More evidence that Mayor Julie Hoy wanted previous city manager gone for no good reason

Salem Mayor Julie Hoy is a habitual liar. In "Mayor Julie Hoy lied about not wanting City Manager Stahley gone. That's her third lie about Stahley.,"I wrote about three lies Hoy spouted on a single subject, how she orchestrated an illegal scheme to get rid of Keith Stahley, the city manager at the time, that got Hoy in trouble with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. I described Hoy's third lie. Lie #3: Hoy claimed that her motivation in talking with city councilors about Stahley’s employment status was his performance audit that showed some deficiencies in his management style. But this…
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Posted in2026 election Julie Hoy Vanessa Nordyke

Mayor Julie Hoy chickened out on debating Vanessa Nordyke at Salem Reporter forum

I apologize to all the chickens in Salem for lumping you in with Mayor Julie Hoy, but "chickened out" just seemed like the best way to describe Hoy failing to agree to debate city councilor Vanessa Nordyke at a Town Hall event sponsored by the Salem Reporter. As described in the email message below that Salem Reporter editor and owner Les Zaitz sent to subscribers yesterday (I'm a subscriber), every other candidate for the four city council seats and the mayor position that will be voted on in the May election has agreed to participate in the event. Julie Hoy…
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Posted inJulie Hoy Uncategorized

Mayor Hoy’s excuse for not signing a letter criticizing ICE is akin to “the dog ate my homework”

Back in the not-really-so-old days, students turned in homework assignments that were -- shock! -- written on paper, not a screen. (Maybe this still happens in our digital age; I'm clueless about modern homework practices.) The classic excuse for not turning in an assignment was "the dog ate my homework." "The dog ate my homework", or "my dog ate my homework", is an expression which carries the suggestion of being a common, poorly fabricated excuse made by children to explain why they have failed to turn in an assignment on time. The phrase is also referenced outside of an academic…
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Posted in2026 election Julie Hoy Vanessa Nordyke

Julie Hoy is acting like she doesn’t want to be reelected as Salem mayor

I'm beginning to think that Julie Hoy feels she would be happier if she wasn't the mayor of Salem, which entails putting in a lot of time for exactly zero money, the position being unpaid. I say this because while Hoy has filed for reelection, she's been making some dubious choices if she truly wanted to defeat Councilor Vanessa Nordyke in the May election. For example, (1) Hoy has declined to admit that she violated Oregon's public meetings law, even though the Oregon Government Ethics Commission determined that she was the instigator of prohibited private conversations with city councilors about…
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Posted inNational politics

Washington Post cuts a third of its staff. I’ve cancelled my subscription.

After Trump was elected president in 2016, one of the first things I did was sign up for digital subscriptions with the New York Times and Washington Post. I wanted to support high quality independent journalism that would serve as a factual counterweight to Trump's incessant lies. The Times has continued to do that. Under the pathetic so-called "leadership" of owner Jeff Bezos, the Amazon billionaire, the Post hasn't. In late 2024 I cancelled my subscription to the Post after the newspaper withdrew an endorsement of Kamala Harris after the editorial supporting her had been written and was ready to…
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Posted inCity of Salem Salem Police Department

Salem officials say police can’t help people being attacked by ICE. That isn’t true.

Last Thursday Maria, a citizen of the United States, was dragged from her car in NE Salem and assaulted by ICE agents. She did nothing wrong. Her "crime" appears to have been driving while brown. You can read her highly disturbing story in "Salem woman (a citizen) assaulted by ICE in traffic stop. There's a GoFundMe for her." Today the City Manager, Krishna Namburi (shown above), and the City Attorney, Dan Atchison, issued a statement about the use of force by federal agents that was mostly true, yet partly false. It was the false parts that rubbed me the wrong…
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Posted inNational politics Salem Police Department

Salem woman (a citizen) injured by ICE in traffic stop. There’s a GoFundMe for her.

I learned about outrageous behavior by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents here in Salem from a January 31 Salem Reporter story by Madeleine Moore, "U.S. citizen injured by federal agents who demanded to see 'papers,' union says." Excerpt: A woman who’s a U.S. citizen needed medical help Thursday, Jan. 29, after federal agents pulled her from her car after demanding to see her “papers,” one of the state’s largest unions said Saturday. Service Employees International Union Local 503 said the woman, a union member, was driving to run errands when four agents stopped her on a Salem street. The…
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Posted in2026 election City Council

Once again, city council and mayor candidates in May election are divided into progressive and conservative tribes

In an ideal world, which for sure we don't have, political candidates would be judged on the basis of their unique individual qualifications and not on which political tribe they belong to. Maybe because they don't belong to any tribe, having foresworn membership in the Democratic, Republican, or some other party. But we live in polarizing times. And unlike a parliamentary system, our country has two enduring dominant political parties. So even though nationally unaffiliated voters are 47% of the electorate, with Republicans and Democrats at about 27% each, there's a strong impetus for candidates to identify as progressive or…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump administration is blatantly lying about the murder of Alex Pretti by federal agents

Lies, lies, and more lies. We're all accustomed to being subjected to this by Trump and his cronies. They hate truth. They love lies. But when they lie about the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal agents, this is especially despicable, because those lies attack the honor of a wonderful man who did absolutely nothing to deserve being shot ten times. Pretti's parents are appropriately outraged. In "The Trump Administration is Lying to Our Faces. Congress Must Act," the New York Times editorial board describes some of the lies being spread by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and…
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Posted inJulie Hoy Salem Reporter Vanessa Nordyke

Julie Hoy shows her fear of Vanessa Nordyke by refusing a mayoral debate

Mayor Julie Hoy is breaking new ground in Salem politics. Unfortunately for Hoy, that fresh dirt isn't making her look good. As noted in "Salem Mayor Julie Hoy is guilty of orchestrating an ethics violation, but has the delusion she did nothing wrong," Hoy refuses to admit what is plainly visible: that she was the ringleader of prohibited private conversations with city councilors regarding the city manager's employment status that ran afoul of Oregon's public meetings law. Usually local elected officials apologize for ethics violations, vowing they have learned from their mistake and won't do it again. But Hoy persists…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Vanessa Nordyke

Creation of REACH makes Vanessa Nordyke’s dream of a Salem mental health crisis team a reality

For quite a few years Councilor Vanessa Nordyke has been working to bring a mental health crisis team to Salem. I've written about her ups and downs in various blog posts: "Setback for Salem mental health crisis response team" (September 24, 2021) Led by Vanessa Nordyke, last June the Salem City Council appropriated $135,000 for a mental health crisis response team similar to the CAHOOTS program that has been a big success in Eugene — where a medic and crisis worker handle about 17% of the police department's call volume, saving about $12 million a year at a cost of…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

Trump wants to own Greenland for amazingly stupid reasons

When it comes to Trump demanding that the United States own Greenland, trying to figure out why our Authoritarian-in-Chief is so obsessed with this reminds me of Carrie's evidence wall in Homeland -- where Claire Danes' bipolar CIA agent character would pin oodles of photos, clippings, post-it notes, and such, sometimes connected with strings, in an attempt to figure out who lay behind a terrorist plot. Fortunately, Trump isn't nearly as sophisticated as the evildoers in Homeland. While it can be really tough to figure out what Trump will do, because he changes his mind so often he doesn't even…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump Injustice Department wants to investigate Renee Good’s widow rather than the ICE goon who killed Good

This would be unbelievable in any other presidential administration, Republican or Democrat: threatening to conduct a criminal investigation into the grieving widow of a person killed by a federal agent under highly questionable circumstances, rather than investigating whether that killing was justified. But Trump has destroyed so many norms and precedents that have previously guided the federal government to do the right thing for the citizens of the United States, it isn't surprising that when it comes to the tragic killing of Renee Good, which plenty of evidence shows was unnecessary, the Trump administration would be doing the absolute wrong…
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