May 14th, 2008
Vote, Vote, Vote, Vote.0 comments
May 7th, 2008
Where We Gather Each Week To See How We Live.6 comments
April 30th, 2008
More revealing than Miley Cyrus in Vanity Fair.0 comments
April 23rd, 2008
Candidates aren’t the only thing going wild2 comments
April 16th, 2008
We give stuff meaning every week.2 comments
April 9th, 2008
News ripped from our cold dead hands.7 comments
April 2nd, 2008
Spring Cleaning for the Week2 comments
March 26th, 2008
For those of us not away on spring break0 comments
March 19th, 2008
Un-happy Anniversary9 comments
March 12th, 2008
What do John Lennon and Eliot spitzer have in common? Number 9, Number 9.9 comments
 Ralph Nader |
[February 27th, 2008]
»Last week, the Oregon State Bar for the second time dismissed a complaint alleging Gov. Ted Kulongoski lied when he denied knowing about Neil Goldschmidt’s sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl. Bar General Counsel Sylvia Stevens justified that dismissal by citing the claim from longtime Kulongoski chum Steve Schneider that Goldschmidt speechwriter Fred Leonhardt never told him about Goldschmidt. Stevens did not interview any of the other 10 or so people Leonhardt says he told about his conversations with Kulongoski before 2003. Those people include a number of high-ranking execs, public officials and Leonhardt’s best friend, Dr. Duane Ochs . “Fred told me everything about his conversations with Kulongoski from the beginning in the early ’90s,” says Ochs. “He didn’t make this up afterward.” Stevens says even if 10 others repeated Ochs’ claims, it would not prove Kulongoski lied .
»Portland lawyer and inveterate Ralph Nader supporter Greg Kafoury says he’ll again back the man accused of spoiling Al Gore’s 2000 presidential run. Nader, who announced his latest White House bid on Feb. 24, may run under a different party in each state, says Kafoury, a close Nader friend and adviser. In Oregon, Kafoury says Nader’s best bet may be running with the Green Party, on whose ticket Nader got 5 percent in Oregon in 2000. He didn’t make Oregon’s ballot in 2004.
»The Skanner reported “buzz” last week that a “group of business leaders” is pushing State Sen. Margaret Carter of Northeast Portland to run for City Council. Presumably, one of those business leaders wanting Carter to run for Sam Adams’ council seat is Skanner publisher Bernie Foster. Neither Foster nor Carter returned Murmurs’ calls. Fred Stewart , a candidate for a different Council seat, calls Foster and Carter part of the local black community’s “old guard.” “Margaret’s a nice person,” says Stewart, who’s also black. “But politically, she’s not been effective…and everybody knows that.”
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»Accused arsonist Tre Arrow on Monday sent his first update to supporters in a couple of moons. Arrow’s email, dictated from a Victoria, B.C., prison to a supporter, focused on matters cosmological instead of on his case. “The sun bursts through the clouds,” Arrow wrote Feb. 25 in his first written contact in more than two months. “The mountains sing with radiance throughout the afternoon.” He then links the Big Dipper, the North Star, the Underground Railroad that led slaves to Canada, and Barack Obama. Back on earth, Arrow remains in jail fighting extradition. Arrow, who insists he is innocent, is wanted to stand trial in Oregon for two 2001 attacks on logging equipment.
»Self-promotion alert: The political season’s perennially coolest event, Candidates Gone Wild, will be April 28 at the Roseland Theater. On the guest list for the bash that blends beer, brass (host Storm Large) and battling candidates: mayoral hopefuls Sho Dozono and Sam Adams, plus City Council contenders. Aching to learn more about what WW and the Bus Project are cooking up? Go to candidatesgonewild.com.
A vote for Nader is not a vote for McCain, it is a vote for Nader.
The Democrats, (the lesser of two evils), are the ones who are disillusioned with democracy and wish to turn our multi-party democracy into a two-party system. If you guys hate McCain more than W, why not try to run the greatest of all Presidential campaigns this election instead of whining about scapegoats causing your loss?
DDave, sometimes a white light experience can be nothing more than your head popping out of your ass... A multi-party system (at least in this country) will always mean that, occasionally some low-level often insignificant local position might get filled by some "I'm unique heed my opposition to the status quo" hayseed from the Independent or Green Party. You hacks will never win a significant seat in US politics, so get it straight that you're leading perfectly good Democrat-wannabe's away from sound decision making. Free thinking isn't always smart thinking... How's the Granola?
Nader says he's running because there's no real difference between the two major parties. It follows that he believes Al Gore would have taken us to war in Iraq, since the difference between "war" and "peace" is just the biggest difference there is. But to believe Al Gore to be a hawk is to be out of contact with reality, so Nader has no business in any position of power.
Next time I read about a politician in Willamette Week I�ll assume that publisher Richard H. Meeker dictated the story to editorial staff. That's certainly the assumption WW's Rumours column made when writing about The Skanner's report that a group of business leaders has asked state Sen. Margaret Carter to consider running for City Hall.
It's true The Skanner does not usually run stories based on anonymous sources. But then we do not aspire to the journalistic heights exemplified by Willamette Week and The New York Times. This story seemed significant enough to warrant it.
The group of business leaders referred to in the story are, in fact, a bunch of white guys. Last time I looked, Skanner publisher Bernie Foster was black.
I talked to Bernie about your story and he said he did, in fact, attempt to return your call. He also says he would like to see some diversity at City Hall— whether it is Sen. Carter, Fred Stewart, John Branam or another candidate of color. The point, he said, is to elect people who can do a good job for Portland.
Helen Silvis News Editor, The Skanner.
Will God please smote Ralph Nader? Please. This guy has been drinking way too much of the Kool-Aid. Hey Nader we still have some other problems, like seat-belts that rip peoples heads off, wouldja mind workin on that while we hold an election. Seriously, what is up this guy's ass? Fucking run-aholic, he just can't say no. Okay Ralph you had your fifteen minutes maybe you and Gore Vidal can take a nice vacation in the Caymin Islands and drink Mai Tais and chase pretty girls around Club Med in a golf cart with a Walter Mondale bobble-head on the dashboard. For Godsake get off your soapbox and on to the high horse you rode in on.
Thanks
James
I will either vote for Nader or McCain...so all of you left liberal Dems can just get over it. Run a good campaign and get your candidate elected and quit whining about how my vote would go to the Dem candidate if I didn't vote for Nader...simply not true.
a vote for Nader is a vote for McCain. Green party folks eschew that they offer a candidate who is the choice of those who are disillusioned with the two-party system that fails to listen to their concerns. But their votes could ensure that the lesser of two evils prevails (though I choose to see hope in Obama). Nader will never win, and certainly not until the Green party members poke their heads out of their yurts and formulate some type of platform (anything?!?!) that helps improve the lives of those who don't shop at REI and New Season's...