03-18-2024  7:43 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

Like so many throughout the world, I am deeply saddened by the passing of Michael Joseph Jackson the "King of Pop." I cry not only because I will miss his music, his dancing, his giving and generous sprit, I cry because his death represents a very real and everyday tragedy among us - untreated mental illness. For the last few decades Michael appeared to be losing his mind right before our eyes ...


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This made me so angry: Since Michael Jackson died I have not watched the news. I have just been so disgusted at how the mainstream media has riddled this family with disrespect, and no matter what anyone, you or I included, might have thought of him, the truth of the matter is this - the man was still a human being and his kids and family deserve some privacy and space. . . .

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Last week President Obama spoke boldly about persistent racial discrimination and criticized the "structural inequality" that presents "the steepest barrier" to African American equality in the 21st century. Speaking before a crowd at the centennial convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he highlighted the need for government action to help tear down these barriers. . . .

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One-hundred years ago, on July 17, 1909, Sen. William E. Borah (R-ID) wrote the words, "The income tax is the fairest and most equitable of the taxes. It is the one tax which approaches us in the hour of prosperity and departs in the hour of adversity. Certainly, it will be conceded by all that the great expense of government is in the protection of property and wealth. There is no possible argument founded in law or in morals why these protected interests should not bear their proportionate burden of government." . . .


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None of the crises we face today -- whether it is the food crisis, the water crisis, the financial crisis or the crisis of climate change -- can be managed unless greater attention is paid to population issues. World Population Day is the right time to put the issue of population back on the radar screen. And it is not a moment too soon. By 2050 our current global population of 6.8 billion could grow to the United Nation's median projection of 9 billion, or even soar to 11 billion people. But what is not widely appreciated is that the projection of a 9 billion global population is premised on a substantial reduction in fertility in the least developed countries and this requires a dramatic expansion in access to voluntary family planning. . . .

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"You've come a long way, baby," was a 1970s advertising slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes, at least one of which featured a Black woman with an afro, African print tunic top and bell-bottom jeans. Considering, however, that Blacks were at one time forced, as slaves, to pick tobacco and bring great wealth to Caucasian-owned companies, some disagree that Blacks have come a long way when they are the group most devastated by the tobacco industry today. . . .


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Nowhere is Oregon's amazing diversity more in evidence than in our schools, where children of all colors and cultures, rich and poor, learn and play and grow up together. Unfortunately, schools in the U.S. — and Oregon is no exception — are struggling with an "achievement gap" that divides our children by race and ethnicity, by language, and by income. As a society, we must come together to close the achievement gap, and not just for the sake of those children who find themselves on the wrong side of that gap, but for our nation's future, as well. . . .

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I recently read an article about Bisphenol-A (BPA) that eerily reminded me of the movie, "Thank You for Smoking." In the movie, the "merchants of death" or MOD Squad, as they call themselves, are lobbyists for the alcohol, gun, and tobacco industries and meet for lunch while plotting to keep vital information about the harmful health effects of their products out of the hands of the public. And they do so with great success, not to mention, great profit. . . .


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While there's a good chance that Congress will enact some type of health care reform this year, all will be for naught if the new system leaves the cost of care out of reach for many Americans. If affordability is not adequately addressed, the prognosis for the nation will be poor. There's no great medical mystery as to why millions of Americans today lack health coverage. They can't afford it. . . .


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When you get right down to it, you can call it just plain psychological warfare.
It is pretty much what the maniacal propaganda minister for Adolph Hitler, Joseph Goebbels would say, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, then people will begin to believe it"...


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The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast