Category Archives: Education

Roughing It in Lake ‘No Negro’

Diego Stolz would have loved to trade places with Mya Gordon, a young black teenager who made a documentary about the racism she encountered in Lake Oswego, Ore. – also known as Lake ‘No Negro.’ That’s the title she gave her documentary, “Lake ‘No Negro.’” It could be a slur in the hands of a […]

Nikole Hannah-Jones’ White Lies

Some good news from the pandemic: “The 1619 Project” pushed by The New York Times has not turned into a drumbeat for slave reparations. Americans can no longer afford reparations. Even a Pulitzer Prize awarded this month for “The 1619 Project” was muted by COVID-19. The New York Times’ attempt to rewrite history is no […]

Nextdoor’s ‘Cancel Culture’

Will Darden and his posse are keeping Southwest Portland neighborhoods safe from hurtful and unhelpful thoughts. As a “lead” on Nextdoor.com, a social website where neighbors share information, Darden is doing his part to rid the world of people he considers homophobes. With more than 10 million members, registered in more than 116,000 neighborhoods in […]

In Pursuit of Assholes

It says something about our times that a book called “Happiness: A Very Short Introduction” includes an index entry for “assholes.” “Happiness” is among the slender paperbacks of Very Short Introductions published by Oxford University Press that focus on specific topics – Theology, Drugs, Computer Science, the Harlem Renaissance, Law, Fungi, the Great Depression – […]

Garrison Keillor’s History Project

On this day in history something awful happened, and nobody remembers it anymore – except Garrison Keillor. And on this day in history something significant happened that changed lives, and nobody remembers it anymore – except Garrison Keillor. Also on this day, a poet, a novelist, a scientist, a musician, a politician was born. No […]

Secrets of the Urban Forest

Donald Trump wants to build a wall. I’d like to get rid of some rats. What we want has something in common, but one is much easier to condemn than the other. To most people, rats are disgusting and unwanted; they are disease carriers. The illegal immigrants that Trump wants to keep out are human beings. […]

Dr. Carson’s Remedy

What a shame Ben Carson doesn’t have the street cred of rapper Young Thug. The media might have treated the retired neurosurgeon and presidential candidate with more respect when he suggested that crime victims should fight back. Carson was portrayed as another loony tune Republican when he made his suggestion after a mass shooting earlier […]

Lounging in the Life of the Mind

An alleged rape victim recently made headines when she won $800,000 in a settlement against the University of Oregon, but other news in the same backyard was barely noticed: Lane County District Attorney Alex Gardner, who declined to prosecute the alleged rape, resigned to become a state police captain. As one of the state’s workhorse […]

Charlie and the Cagers

Poor Charlie Hales. He once was anointed by the media as the prime mover behind Portland City Council’s embrace of the streetcar. He reveled in the naming of BridgePort Brewery’s Streetcar Ale. “Whoever named a beer after a bus?” he crowed. (See “A Streetcar to Admire,”The Columbian, Sept. 14, 2003.) Back then, Charlie called streetcars […]

Rutting Season Never Ends

Before the University of Oregon blows a half million dollars to fight “sexual violence,” it might want to figure out what exactly sexual violence is. It’s unfortunate that the school has already embraced as fact a belief that 20 students per week are the victims of “unwanted sexual contact” or “sexual assault” or “sexual violence.” […]