

We accept advertising through Blogads. If you're interested, click the "Advertise here" link above, or go here to place your ad through Blogads. For assistance, e-mail me here; I'd be glad to help. Reach lots of viewers -- we're up to about 3,800 unique visits a day, and more than 61,000 page views a week (as of November 4). Our rates are dirt cheap for the exposure you'll get! If you'd like to advertise without going through the Blogads system, that's do-able, too. Just e-mail us here for more information.
As a lawyer/blogger, I get
to be a member of:
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Miles run year to date: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (17)
In contrast, Portland, OR is run like a methadone clinic where the doctors, Oregon Congressmen and Senators, are passing out methadone (federal funds for light rail and pet projects) for drug riddled patients that happen to include the City Council and the Mayor.
Throw in a few wealthy enablers (Paulson family included) along with a street source for the habit (TIF and URDs), what remains is a city addicted so long as it can make the minimum payments.
Here is to hoping that Portland, OR never hits bottom. If so, then the lethal combination of high taxes, a voting public that is in many respects hateful towards any private sector entity that is not a non-profit, and user fees business will really sober Portland up. If not, then Portland, OR can continue with this utopian vision where pet projects are funded off the backs of those in East Multnomah County via TIF, URDs, and whatever matching funds our congressional delegation sends our way.
Then again, Portland, OR hitting rock bottom that would be for the better.
Posted by YoungOregonMoonbat | April 5, 2009 2:02 PM
and here's a statistic you won't often hear repeated by a Portland City Council member or the state Governor:
Oregon has the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation: 10.8%. Only South Carolina and Michigan are higher.
and lest readers think that Multnomah County, mythical bastion of the Creative Class, is safe from such gloom, the county's unemployment rate is about 10.2%--one of the worst in the nation.
and Portland/Multnomah's rate is *rising*.
and, for those unfamiliar with conventional wisdom about unemployment rates, this means that the actual number of people without a job is maybe as much as twice the official figure.
Posted by ecohuman | April 5, 2009 6:14 PM
A real mayor that believes that they should have started sooner with public transportation projects, I note (5:08 into the video).
Posted by john rettig | April 5, 2009 6:21 PM
I think you're missing the point, John.
hazel would only pay for those public transportation projects with cash from the public treasury, not debt.
When you are paying cash, you don't get to have the shiny toys until you can pay for them.
Posted by Mister Tee | April 5, 2009 6:56 PM
ecohuman is right on the money. People are no longer counted when they fall off the radar . . . no longer qualify for unemployment, have given up looking for work because they can't find anything, or become completely homeless. There are few more unemployed than the city and State are documenting and they consistently underreport the actual number of citizens on the street.
The number is actually less alarming than the composition of the unemployed and the presence of more angry and mentally unstable street people.
Posted by NW Portlander | April 5, 2009 7:37 PM
Oops, I meant to say, "there are far more unemployed than the city and State are documenting . . .
Posted by NW Portlander | April 5, 2009 7:38 PM
But is she openly gay?
Posted by Allan L. | April 5, 2009 8:09 PM
This video should be required viewing for all politicians - but be sure to include the illuminating comments from John and Mister Tee above - you don't want someone like mayor creepy to get the wrong idea.
Posted by davidg | April 5, 2009 8:14 PM
At her age, I think the euphemism is "never played mixed doubles"...
Posted by Mister Tee | April 5, 2009 8:15 PM
Looks like our own Jackson County is getting it right.
HT to Steve Duin
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/base/news/1238808326132600.xml&coll=7
Posted by Ben | April 5, 2009 8:25 PM
I think you're missing the point, John.
She said that they should have started sooner with public transportation. And now that they are apparently going ahead with it anyway, how much more expensive will it be?
I'm all for fiscal restraint, but employing a knee-jerk "cash only-no debt" response to each and every proposed expenditure may not always be the best course of action.
But in the case of Sam Adams, I would agree that it probably would be.
Posted by john rettig | April 5, 2009 10:00 PM
Well, actually, Mayor Hazel may have missed the point. Here we are in the year 2009 and she is finally coming around to thinking that maybe she was a little late in starting on public transportation. Maybe she should look at all the cities in the USA that have been pouring money into public transportation for over a century. Universally, they all say they should have put more into it because their problems seem insoluble. Would more $ really have made anything better?
Maybe the wiser thing all along was not to have put anything into it. She, who has not put money into public transportation, is just now discovering a problem. Those who have always put money into it have always had problems. There may be a lesson in there that even she hasn't learned yet.
Posted by davidg | April 5, 2009 11:03 PM
She, who has not put money into public transportation, is just now discovering a problem. Those who have always put money into it have always had problems. There may be a lesson in there that even she hasn't learned yet.
Exactly. Any community effort to address community issues is inevitably just going to lead to community problems. Leave the issues alone, and individual residents get to cope with the problems on their own, as best they can. The same principle can be applied with similar results to police and fire departments, health care, education, zoning, building codes, etc.
Posted by Allan L. | April 6, 2009 7:55 AM
This from Wiki:
"McCallion has been easily elected for the last twenty years, with no serious challengers coming close to unseating her as mayor of the city. Due to her popularity, she does not campaign during elections and refuses to accept political donations, instead asking her supporters to donate the money to charity. She is currently beginning her eleventh consecutive term as mayor."
No public or private interest election money. Everything paid in full and a $700 Million reserve. She'd never make it here.
Posted by Tom | April 6, 2009 4:52 PM
I'm all for fiscal restraint, but employing a knee-jerk "cash only-no debt" response to each and every proposed expenditure may not always be the best course of action.
I'm not sure why "cash only" is a bad idea when it comes to government land development. the only possible reason it can be called "bad" is this: it would mean several a much, much slower pace, and perhaps many projects would never get done.
and imagine the impact on growth and environmental destruction that might have.
Posted by ecohuman | April 6, 2009 5:21 PM
Note how helpful it is for local governments not to have crippling health care costs, thanks to truly universal health care financing. Low overhead, better health, no uninsured, and more competitive companies and better local government budgets.
Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | April 6, 2009 6:20 PM
Hazel! She's as awesome as she appears. I grew up in a town just west of Mississauga and she's quite the legend. Don't worry everyone, they actually have public transit there, just not the extent that Toronto does with the TTC.
Posted by canucken | April 6, 2009 7:40 PM