MetaFilter posts tagged with Oregon

(his holinesss) The Dalai Lama is in Oregon, live webcasts...and rocking

jdaura — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:36:53 -0800

The Dalai Lama is hanging out in Oregon, catching a Red Hot Chili Peppers show, describing his environmental awakening, and making his lectures available both live and on demand. I was worried for a bit that it was the 'His Holiness the Dalai Lama brought to you by Nike', but I was wrong, he's just trying to be nice.

The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment

Weebot — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:49:59 -0800

The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, an outgrowth of Oregon's 2008 lottery to allocate Medicaid slots to eligible residents, has released their second year of results (Previous discussions on the lottery and the experiment). The gist of the results are that they found statisitically significant reductions in catastrophic health care expenditures, improvements in the incidences of depression, and increased use of health care services. They found minimal (and not statistically significant) improvements in the rates of physical health indicators (diabetes and hypertension) they tracked. Because of ethical concerns, there are no other randomized controlled tests on this scale that study the effects of Medicaid and few on the effects of health insurance in general (the only significant one being a RAND study released 30 years ago). Because of the small amount of information available on the topic and the impending Medicaid expansion offered by Affordable Care Act, this study has drawn a lot of attention from political commentators. This will presumably be the last year these results will be published, as the state of Oregon was able to find extra money in 2010 in order cover the rest of its Medicaid-eligible population. Opinions from around the web: Josh Barro for Bloomberg (and a follow-up), Aaron Carroll and Austin Frakt for the Incidental Economist, Jonathan Chait for New York Magazine, Jonathan Cohn for the New Republic, Tyler Cowen for Marginal Revolution, Kevin Drum for Mother Jones, Ezra Klein for the Washington Post, Philip Klein for the Washington Examiner, Paul Krugman for the New York Times, Annie Lowry for the New York Times, Megan McArdle for the Daily Beast, Avik Roy for Forbes, Peter Suderman for Reason, David Whelan for Forbes, and Matthew Yglesias for Slate (and a follow-up).

The mural in Oregon the Chinese government wants destroyed

Phyllis Harmonic — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:18:12 -0800

A colorful mural adorns Chao Tsung-song / Tibet House in Corvallis, Oregon. Commissioned by Corvallis businessman, David Lin, the 100 foot long mural depicts at one end, a cheerful Taiwanese countryside scene, and at the other, police beating Tibetan protesters and a Tibetan monk in the process of self-immolation. The Chinese government has requested that the mural be destroyed. Mr. Lin and Corvallis city mayor, Julie Manning, say, "no."

A Portland Time-Lapse

OverlappingElvis — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:04:52 -0800

Weathering Spring

a tale of two cities

LeLiLo — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:35:03 -0800

Officially Dull and Boring.

This is Oregon

OverlappingElvis — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:18:55 -0800

This is Oregon [video] showcases the natural beauty found within 90 minutes of Portland.

Die Oregon, Die

holdkris99 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:01:48 -0800

Matt Groening reveals that the Simpsons live in Springfield, Oregon

"I gotta tell you something — this is a lot better than the movie."

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:25:52 -0800

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber reads The Lorax (SLYT)

Finding Oregon

OverlappingElvis — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:05:58 -0800

Finding Oregon is the compilation of six months of timelapse photography across the state of Oregon, punctuated by a 1600 mile road trip in September. Related: how to lose $2400 in 24 seconds.

"...compromised and inequitable..."

OverlappingElvis — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:15:30 -0800

Governor John Kitzhaber halts all executions in Oregon With the execution of Gary Haugen planned for December 6th, Kitzhaber has announced that he will not allow the death penalty to be used on his watch, calling it a "compromised and inequitable system". Two executions have been carried out in Oregon in the last 49 years — both during Kitzhaber's first term as governor. A history of capital punishment in Oregon. Full statement from Governor Kitzhaber (pdf).

Love > Fear

OverlappingElvis — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:47:56 -0800

What We Want is "a montage of 'Voices' from people around Oregon sharing what they want for the future - set to the music of Storm Large".

I knew I should have taken that off after 25 mintues.

Lutoslawski — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:47:56 -0800

SheBop, a "female friendly sex toy boutique," in Portland, Ore., has a great blog where they post comprehensive guides, among other things, on less-often addressed sex and sex-toy issues like the sex toy cleaning guide, Lube 101, how to use a cock ring, and the lowdown on Kegel exercises. Probably NSFW.

What happens when you give poor people health insurance?

OmieWise — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:50:13 -0800

The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year (or, What Happens When You Give Poor People Health Insurance?) "We find that in this first year, the treatment group had substantively and statistically significantly higher health care utilization (including primary and preventive care as well as hospitalizations), lower out-of-pocket medical expenditures and medical debt (including fewer bills sent to collection), and better self-reported physical and mental health than the control group." See also: The Doctor Might See You Now: The Supply Side Effects of Public Health Insurance Expansions. "This study finds that following the implementation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, physicians decreased the number of hours spent with patients, but increased their participation in the expanded program. Suggestive evidence is found that this decrease in hours was a result of shorter office visits." Lots of other interesting papers at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Took a fish wheel out to see a movie / Didn't have to pay to get it in

cortex — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:34:33 -0800

Right around 1879, the fishwheel (historical images, McCord replica) came to the Columbia River. A clever application of mill-like thinking to traditional net fishing techniques, the fishwheel's river-powered automation of upstream harvesting revolutionized canning in Oregon and Washington, drawing both commercial attention and critical concern [NYT 1881, PDF]. Two men, Thornton Williams and William Rankin McCord, each filed patents for fishwheel designs in 1881 (#245251) and 1882 (#257960) respectively; Williams brought an infringement suit against McCord which was dismissed on the grounds that the invention was not new, being based directly on the publicly documented work of one Samuel Wilson in 1879. Fishwheels were fair game. By 1908, with tensions running high between the high-yield upriver fishwheel operators such as Seufert Brothers Cannery and the larger cohort of downriver gillnet operators, the gillnetters successfully put an initiative on the Oregon ballot to effectively ban fishwheels on the Columbia; the fishwheelers responded by putting their own bill, designed to prohibit gillnet operation, onto the ballot as well. Both measures passed, throwing the local fishing industry temporarily into disarray; enforcement of the law was impractical and made more complicated by issues of jurisdiction between Oregon and Washington fisherman on the same river. A federal injunction put the laws out of action, and fishing operation resumed, but as a result of the confusion the Columbia River Compact was established in 1918 to formally address river rights issues between the two states. In 1926, with the Columbia's fish population already grossly reduced by decades of aggressive commercial fishing, a Oregon voters approved the latest proposed ban of fishwheels on the river. Washington followed suit in 1934). Frank Seufert reportedly responded to the Oregon ban in 1927 by painting the roof of a barn near his cannery with a complaint: "TO BUILD THIS BUSINESS IT TOOK 47 YEARS. THE INITIATIVE LAW OF OREGON DESTROYED IT IN ONE DAY"

I am not a Rajneesh

wcfields — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:38:12 -0800

"The tale is stranger than fiction." begins the opening line of The Oregonians retrospective "Rajneeshees in Oregon The Untold Story." The cult, began by sex guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh came to a self-rule a rural part of Oregon that battled with the native residents of the area. The conflict lead to a bio-terror attack on the residents of The Dalles to sway the outcome of a local election, global manhunts, and jail. The Oregonian also made available the hour long documentary "Rajneeshpuram - An Experiment to Provoke God"

Finally, politicians who understand popular culture

Bulgaroktonos — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:41:17 -0800

Oregon lawmakers Rickroll the legislature

The Cycle of Beer

zamboni — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:24:06 -0800

Bend, Oregon is known for cycling. And world class microbreweries. Cycle Pub gives you an opportunity to enjoy these two passions, and create an experience you and your fellow riders will never forget. It's a non-tradtional bike, where you sit and pedal in a non-traditional way, and enjoy non-traditonal features and beverages. For lack of a better description, it's a rolling pub on wheels, that you pedal.

"We watched the Sandy River take down countless 50 foot tall trees, ripping them off its banks and swallowing them up."

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:06:02 -0800

Gorgeous HD video of the Sandy River flooding (SLVimeo).

Child trafficking in Portland, Oregon

bluedaisy — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:36:05 -0800

Last night Dan Rather reports presented on child sex trafficking in Portland, Oregon. The Oregonian newspaper briefly covered the Dan Rather report and also had a longer article in January about the same issue. Dan Rather wrote a short piece in the Huffington Post yesterday, saying that Portland is second in the nation for child prostitution. The organization ECTAP-USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) published this 2005 (PDF) report about child prostitution in the US, linking it, in part, to the strip club industry.

Over prescribe much?

mathowie — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:13:13 -0800

Oregon is set to become the third state in the US to allow psychologists (with no medical training) to write prescriptions. Senate Bill 1046 (PDF version on Google Docs) will become law by next July unless the Governor vetoes it. One funny twist: during public hearings on the bill, it was revealed that an out-of-state expert (who was temporarily licensed in Oregon so he could give recommendations on the panel) happened to run a school that trained psychologists to prescribe meds, which would directly benefit from the bill's passage.

"This is Bob taking care of us."

ericb — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:45:20 -0800

"In his 81 years, Bob Moore has built a mini empire with his health food company, Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods. During his recent birthday celebration, he told his dedicated employees that he's passing the torch and ownership of his multimillion dollar business to them." "[H]is 209 employees now own the place and its 400 offerings of stone-ground flours, cereals and bread mixes." "Moore said he's gotten countless buy-out offers over the years, but he couldn't envision selling the business to a stranger....'I don't think there's anybody worthy to run this company but the people who built it. I have employees with me right now that have been with me for 30 years. They just were committed to staying with me now and they're going to own the company.'"

Class Warfare?

OverlappingElvis — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:06:25 -0800

Today, Oregon voters will decide whether or not to increase taxes on businesses and the rich. Ballots for Measures 66 and 67 are due today at 8pm, polling is extremely tight, and at this point the election will be decided by turnout. With the opposing sides having collected a combined $10.1 million in donations, Oregonians have spent the last month deluged by political ads, canvassers, and phone calls. Whatever the outcome, this election has at least had the effect of making "spadea" into a household word. If you're an Oregon voter and haven't yet cast your ballot, you can find the nearest official ballot drop box at the Secretary of State's website. Online Voter's Guide (Oregon Secretary of State) Vote YES for Oregon (Yes Campaign) Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (No Campaign)

Double tall mocha and a vaporizer bowl, no whip cream

Burhanistan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:07:11 -0800

America’s First Cannabis Cafe Opens (at 4:20). [Via]

It's a metaphor!

dylanjames — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:03:01 -0800

8-miles wide: I just saw Storm Large's autobiographical show, "Crazy Enough." It was a great show, and this song concludes a key epiphany she had. The video was just released yesterday, which she said was also the 50th anniversary of the famous ruling about Lady Chatterly's Lover. The video is SFW, but the lyrics probably aren't.

PortlandFilter

dersins — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:18:18 -0800

PDX History is a veritable treasure trove of information about (and pictures and postcards of) the history of Portland (Oregon). Department stores, streetcars, long-dead amusement parks (yes, Jantzen Beach was once much more than a dying mall surrounded by big-box stores) and more. The web design leaves a bit to be desired, but the site is wonderful nonetheless.