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Category: Local Interest

Office Space inspires thief

Office Space inspires thief

A 28 year old worker from Tacoma who worked at Zulily was just busted by skimming shipping fees charged on the site. He claimed he was inspired by the movie Office Space (and Richard Pryor in 1983’s Superman III), and stole about $260,000 in shipping fees by redirecting the payments into his own account. He also manipulated prices using his developer permissions to buy $41,000 in merchandise on the website for pennies on the dollar.

He wasn’t subtle though and took ALL the shipping fees – so he was easily caught. I guess thieves in 1983 were at least smarter by taking fractions of a cent. Still, the idea of ‘salami slicing’ (as the skimming method has been known) has been around a long time.

Ghosts of Oregon’s Logging industry

Ghosts of Oregon’s Logging industry

Oregon was built on the logging industry – an industry that has almost completely collapsed to a shadow of it’s former self.

Here’s a map that a local guy was putting together in which you can still see some of those old remnants of bygone timber works.

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Mike Schmidt is quite possibly the next Chesa Boudin

Mike Schmidt is quite possibly the next Chesa Boudin

Mike Schmidt is the current Portland DA. He, much like San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, was elected on a platform of justice reform policies to reduce incarceration, bail, and alternatives to prosecution and sentencing. However, he was heavily criticized for mismanagement of the office, dramatic increases in crime, and insensitivity to victims (especially sexual assault victims his office dismissed). Ultimately voters chose to remove him from office by a recall.

So how has Schmidt done? Not so well. In fact, almost identically as bad.

First off, his office has been decimated with 13 lawyers leaving during the first nine months of 2022 when he took over. Most damning are seven of whom were women who wrote extremely pointed letters:

Just like other cities that banked heavily on reform candidates, Portland has experienced dramatic upticks in crime. Portland is no different; but is dramatically worse than national averages. Almost all crimes have doubled in just 2 years. Particularly bad is the fact murders, disproportionately of people of color, have doubled until Portland’s per-capita murder rate is higher than Boston or San Francisco. The increased deaths of minorities in 2020 and 2021 now outstrips those killed by police in total over the last decade each year with 2022 shaping up to be even worse.

Reform apologists try to explain this as simply the result of the pandemic, but most other countries have seen a decrease in crime during covid. The answer is not simple and there are probably multiple factors. Still, one has to wonder when your city increases at double the rate of the national averages.

That might be excusable except he has had almost no success on any of his reform efforts. Combine that with such disasters from his leadership like this, and there is solid reason for Schmidt to be concerned:

Articles:

Gerrymandering – Its something Oregon apparently does very well

Gerrymandering – Its something Oregon apparently does very well

Oregon has been one-party Democratically controlled for nearly 35 years. Princeton University’s non-partisan Gerrymander Project report on Oregon basically explains why our last governor election in 2022 resulted in a Democratic governor winner that didn’t even get half the votes.

Brian Smith, a Democratic campaign consultant and member of the Muscogee Nation who works to elect Democratic candidates of color, agrees with Schrader.

“I joked with some colleagues the day after the election that Oregon Democrats can’t even get their gerrymandering right,” he said.

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/11/democrats-fall-short-republicans-advance-in-first-test-of-new-oregon-congressional-map.html
Over-conservation and forest fires

Over-conservation and forest fires

Paul Hessburg gave this amazing TED talk in Oregon. Combined with Oregon’s increasingly hotter and drier summers (which will only increase), he says that our well-meaning efforts at forest conservation have actually led us to have very unhealthy forests that are ripe for megafires. He gave this talk years ago, but it has turned out to be even worse than he knew. The Pacific Northwest now has summers with massive forest fires – and air quality so bad that is now regularly off the chart and worst in the world. Most summers you can no longer have campfires in federal, state, or local forests. Unless we change our unhealthy forest management, we should expect bigger and bigger megafires as well as massive forest diseases.

It’s another example of unintended consequences of human actions. Sometimes, as we’re finding, over-conservation is turning out to be just as damaging as unmanaged forest destruction.

Haunted Houses evaluated by an Architect

Haunted Houses evaluated by an Architect

An architect reviews iconic houses in Psycho, Beetlejuice, House on Haunted Hill, and The Shining. I learned a lot of cool stuff!

Fun fact, the ‘dilapidated’ house he shows at 1:24 looked familiar – and it turns out to be located at 627 15th St, Astoria, OR 97103.

And of course, the Overlook hotel is actually Timberline Lodge – a place I’ve stayed and skied at over the years. I enjoyed the atmosphere so much that I attended a murder mystery party and one of their Halloween ‘Fright Night’ events.

RKC Sleep Shop – A Local Secret?

RKC Sleep Shop – A Local Secret?

Need a new mattress but don’t want to pay the highway robbery prices of mattress stores that are often about as honest as used car sales and mattress review websites that are basically paid ads?

I was going to try out RKC sleep for my next mattress as a local option (I heard good things about a the Beautyrest Black hybrid). I’ve been told they sell top brand mattresses at amazing discounts – often well below wholesale. If you don’t mind the no-frills shopping experience in search of top name mattresses for super-cheap – give them a shot.

The Tattooed Monk

The Tattooed Monk

If there is something that is unique about spiritual life – is that the inner hunger we all experience for meaning and love is universal.

Six years ago, Mount Angel Abbey’s serene hilltop campus shook, as leather-clad Bobby Love rolled in on his motorcycle. Love removed his helmet revealing pierced ears and a mop of dreadlocks. With tattoos on his hands, arms and neck, he looked like an extra on “Sons of Anarchy” not a someone attending a retreat for those who might become Catholic monks.

Learn more about his unique path here. Or, check out the recent movie that takes place partly at Mt Angel – Father Stu It is also a great example of how God calls even the most unlikely people.