briandoleary.com Blog

I submitted a couple pithy letters to The Oregonian this week.  Perhaps we’ll see one or both in the future, but for now, here they are: (more…)

Most people want somebody to blame for their shortcomings.  In our age it is George W. Bush, lately of the 27% approval rating.  Blame him for the poor economy, the unforeseen Iraqi insurgency, global warming, his accent and so forth.  Because he is a Republican and says he is a conservative, I guess those groups are bad, too.

These logicians reaching such astounding and concrete conclusions tend not to be bright.  H.L. Mencken did not have it wrong when he wrote “that the average citizen is half-witted, and hence not to be trusted to either his own devices or his own thoughts.”

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[Ed. -- Also found here .]

Reference: Portland will spend $500 million to stimulate local economy

What, Portland mayor Sam Adams can’t do any better than to ape President-elect Obama and the United States Congress with his “stimulus” plan? He and the other bumps on the 4th Avenue log choose to “stimulate” our local economy by allotting a half-billion dollars in some manner yet-to-be-determined. Interesting that other than the $500 million said to be in play, they claim that this reality is not really true. This is not an amusing paradox, it is falsehood and more than hints toward graft. They say the money is not “sitting in some bank account waiting to be doled out.” Huh? Something is rotten in the City of Portland. Eh, Horatio?

Does Sam not learn from history or current events? Going deeper in debt, especially by implementing hair-brained government spending programs, run by career bureaucrats without a clue, is unwise. Nothing is so simple, however, for these gatekeepers than spending money that is not really theirs to begin with. I’d imagine these do-gooding dimwits get a decent rise out of it as well. (more…)

Now that Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice have been elected to the Hall of Fame, the discussions begin in earnest once more.  Did they deserve it?  Who is going in next year?  Which player not in deserves it the most?  Murph or Hawk or neither?

Rickey was a lock.  Period.

Rice was a great player and, in my opinion, a Hall of Famer.  He led MLB in hits, runs, and RBIs from 1975-1986.  Enough said. (more…)

I chose to comment on an article that a friend sent me about the potential rise of “prarie populism,” et cetera.  I link to Pat Buchanan and his take on what Obama’s decisions might be with regard to our economy.

Non-linked stuff:  I am still shellshocked from the goings-on in Chestnut Hill.  Coach Jags is out a week ago, and at the time I write this, his replacement is yet to be named.  The Dentist’s boys took it to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, then lost to the mighty Crimson and were subsequently ruined by the Hurricanes.  On the heels (pun?) of this, Coach York’s squad is scuffling.  Gene “Old Navy” DeFilippo needs to pull the right strings… and quick.

Rod Dreher — A Populist Prarie Fire from the Right?

Isn’t the “Palinism” Dreher writes about really just electoral politics by another name?  Co-opting and deflecting “legitimate populist anger by allowing its adherents to hate elites without really challenging the system” sounds not only like Palinism, but Bidenism just as well. (more…)

Since I have been Oscar Mike for much of the Holiday season and still am, a links post is about all I can muster until I return to the wintry confines of the Rose City. I ushered in the New Year in San Francisco after watching the Ducks of the University of Oregon emerge triumphant over the Cowboys from Oklahoma State University in San Diego the previous night. I saw my Eagles get thumped over a Black & Tan and a couple Firestone Union Jack IPAs at Buffalo’s in San Luis Obispo’s downtown where we also saw the barnburning Sun Bowl come to a conclusion, Beavers mincing-up the Panthers 3-0.

Interesting stories to consider: (more…)