John McCain recently chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. On one level, Palin is a very honest person. She shares McCain’s interest in ethical reform, having won on a “sweep the bums out” platform in reaction to the ongoing corruption investigations of virtually all major Republican figures in Alaska. She’s the mother of five, has a history of making good on campaign promises, and belies gender stereotypes in a number of ways. How many other moms do you know who go moose hunting?

On the other hand, it’s a deeply cynical attempt to win over Hillary Clinton’s backers. Until less than two years ago, Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 9,000. Her foreign policy credentials make Obama’s look like Joe Biden’s. She does not generally support reproductive rights, opposing abortion even in cases of rape or incest. To her credit, she is consistent, having carried to term a son that she knew had Down’s, rather than opting for termination. She opposes access to family planning services both here and overseas. She is opposed to government sponsored universal health care, preferring a market-based approach. (And look how good the free market has been at providing universal health care!)

In short, while she appears to be a genuinely decent person, her nomination is a repudiation of much of what Hillary Clinton stands for. This includes the most important feminist principle of all - that a women should get the job when she is the best candidate for the job, not because of her gender.

A request from a bride-to-be has led an Oregon Indian tribe to legalize same-sex marriage, a move leaders say may be the first of its kind in the United States.
Kitzen and Jeni Branting plan to marry under the Coquille Indian Tribe’s law legalizing gay marriage.

The Coquille Indian Tribe now not only recognizes legal same-sex unions from state and federal governments, but it will soon be handing out its own marriage licenses not only to heterosexual couples, but to homosexual couples as well.

Lynn and Scottie are off on their international adventure!  I for one will miss seeing Lynn around at all of the Bus functions with her infectious enthusiasm and energy.  Since I joined the Lane Bus board, Lynn has been the driving force behind so many of our projects and a shining representative of our group within local politics. 

We owe her many thanks for all of the time spent facilitating our communication, setting agendas and tracking progress, when there are lazy board members like me who lack many of those skills!  I wish them the best on their journey and hope to see them rolling back into town before too long.  Have fun Lynn and Scottie!  Watch out for bot flies!

Last year, a man and his girlfriend got in an argument about him going out drinking with his friends instead of going trick or treating with the family. In the course of the argument, he pushes her. She decided to stay when he promised not to do it again. A few weeks later, he hung her cat in a noose, apparently to send her a signal. A month after that, he choked her in front of her six year old son.

In 10 years of criminal prosecution and defense, I can tell you that one thing will matter more than anything else to the jury – that he killed the cat. I have seen terrible cases of domestic and child abuse shrugged off by juries. “Well, she stayed with him!” “I wouldn’t do it, but a kid should be spanked every once in a while, even if it did leave scars.” But, if there’s an animal involved, it makes the news.
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I know that the Bus doesn’t usually comment on National Politics, but I after all of the coverage I have been getting for my candidacy for President, I have to let LaneBus.org followers in on this amazing effort of grass roots campaigning! If you are still undecided on election day, Vote McNeeley!

After seeing all of the fun GW was having in Beijing, the Olympic spirit has hit Vice President Cheney. To honor the Redeem Team’s efforts in Men’s Basketball, DC went down the the courts in NY to show that there was nothing Conservative about his game.

I try so hard to post relevant and serious content to lanebus.org, but obviously I have failed. Forgive me.

Finally! Something to be excited about! Perhaps the best reason not to simply vote “no” on all the measures is former Secretary of State Phil Keisling’s Measure 65, the “open primary” initiative. It would revamp Oregon’s elections to reduce the role of political parties in the process. Put simply, for most partisan elections, Measure 65 would allow candidates to register as a member of a political party and allow political parties to endorse a candidate or candidates as they saw fit. The two candidates receiving the most votes in the primary would go on to the general election. Of the two, the candidate receiving the most votes in the general election would win the election. The measure has only a nominal financial cost.
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Finally, the last of the conservative measures! Measure 64 shows that Bill Sizemore wants revenge on the unions that successfully identified him as a racketeer. Again using crowd-pleasing language, it purports to prohibit using a “public resource” for a “political purpose” and levies double damages for doing so. Now, who could oppose such a benign statement of government neutrality?
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I have heard legitimate rumors that CNN will be renaming itself to the Reality News Network, or RNN. Realizing the popularity of reality TV, CNN has finally jumped on the bandwagon and is changing their image. Conveniently, they have been working on changing the substance of their news to a full-time reality news network since the early 90’s. The OJ Simpson chase and trial, the Martha Stewart Who-Knitted-That-Sweater controversy, and one of today’s headline’s “Is that a Bigfoot carcass in the freezer?” that has a link to a t-shirt purchase — all those stories show that no changes will be necessary to the actual content of their news. There will be a few additions such as the Russian/Georgia Family Swap where they take families from both countries, swap them, and then document every minute like it were a finger in Wendy’s food. They will also be changing the name of their newly popular iReport to uReport to accurately reflect the work of journalism being too difficult to trust with simple journalists. With a camera and a natural disaster, ANYONE can be a journalist!

Their headline today of “Ticker: Obama plan called ‘economic disaster’” turns out that someone out there called Obama’s plan and economic disaster — specifically a McCain commercial. They do not provide fair and balanced news though, which would mean having a story about the Obama commercial in which “Obama plan called ‘absolute genius’”. Or a story from an economist. I have contacted CNN about adding a reality show about economists…but have yet to hear back.

Alan Grosso, another frequent conservative initiative pusher, sponsored Measure 63, which prohibits State and Local governments from requiring building permits for residential or farm projects under $35,000 (with annual increases for inflation). The $35,000 limit renews every calendar year, potentially allowing for “bridging” projects over two years to reach a $70,000 maximum. The Measure does require compliance with height and setback limitations, does not allow for the addition of a new story to a house, and requires the use of a licensed electrical contractor. The Measure would reduce local government revenue by $4 million to $8 million per year and $450,000 to $750,000 for state revenue, largely from lost permit fees. It would also require disclosure of unpermitted additions to the buyer upon a sale of the property.
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