Dr. Know
Is There a Legal No Man’s Land Above the Columbia River?
It’s certainly tempting to believe in bridges as a secret, hidden dimension where the position of a few signs can short-circuit the entire legal system.
Shouldn’t We Be Talking About Constructing a Tunnel Under the Columbia River?
Digging a tunnel that duplicates the span of the existing Interstate Bridge isn’t all that hard. The problem is that there’s a limit to how steep interstate highways can be.
Why Do Airlines Load Their Planes in a Mostly Random Fashion?
One way to make money is to get your planes back in the air quickly, but another way is just to torture your passengers until they give it to you directly.
Did the U.S. Supreme Court Change the Way We Get Our Ballots?
Oregon’s many other voting innovations won’t even be affected!
Why Would a City of Portland Work Vehicle Have California Plates?
It turns out the city gets away with not registering this car for a boring reason: They don’t own it.
Can You Just Take an Item From a Grocery Store if It’s Clearly Marked “Free”?
Any reasonable person knows that milk cartons don’t contain cheat codes for free stuff that only insufferable grammarians can decipher.
Why Are Oregon Incumbents Allowed a Head Start on Filing for Office?
Thanks to recent developments in Montana’s U.S. Senate primary, your bland query is suddenly crackling with the fierce urgency of tomorrow’s headlines.
Why Are Students Who Blaze Through Assignments Rewarded With Screen Time?
There is free time, but activities are generally chosen from a relatively wholesome menu—and, in any case, they’re more a classroom management tool than a reward for laxity.
Have Illegal Drug Prices Increased Since the Military Started Blowing Up Boats?
Even if U.S. drug policy weren’t being created by people with the analytical skills of a meth-addled raccoon, it probably still wouldn’t make much of a dent.
Why Don’t the Trail Blazers Allow Marriage Proposals on the Jumbotron?
It’s not hard to see why a forward-thinking organization might prefer to keep its head down and leave the jumbotron proposals to the Oklahoma City Thunders of the world.
Who First Called Portland the “Plumber’s Butt of America”?
If your brain-dead co-workers didn’t make it up, who did? For once, we actually know.
Do Warm Golf Balls Go Farther Than Cold Ones?
Golf science is like early Christianity, with competing sects all disagreeing on obscure points of doctrine and perennially accusing each other of heresy.










