We’ve carved conscription out of our lives and then we wonder why people don’t do hard things. We know we can always quit.
Entries Tagged as 'Grand Jury 2005'
Veterans Shaped More by Duty Than Deed
November 15th, 2013 No Comments
Tags: duty · Lane County grand jury · Little League · Rand Paul · Sarah Palin · Veteran's Day
Veterans Shaped By Conscription More Than Combat
November 15th, 2013 No Comments
We’ve carved conscription out of our lives and then we wonder why people don’t do hard things. We know we can always quit.
Tags: duty · Lane County grand jury · Little League · Rand Paul · Sarah Palin · Veteran's Day
Gambling with Jail Beds
June 4th, 2009 1 Comment
Is a Big Mac really more dangerous than a repeat offender with a drinking problem who hit his girlfriend and then tore the phone off the wall when she tried to call for help?
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Matrix Drama Plays Out Daily at Jail
January 17th, 2006 No Comments
Do offenders with the most points get the corner cell with feng-shui-friendly lighting? Don’t be cynical. And no, they don’t get extra desserts either. Just desserts are in short supply these days.
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Grand Jury (Day 19) Good People
August 12th, 2005 No Comments
Back when we had to bring shopping carts back to the front door or risk another driver getting dinged by an errant cart in the lot, the good people were easy to spot. Now bad habits are either acknowledged and mainstreamed or hidden completely from view.
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Grand Jury (Day 18) Meth & Avon
August 11th, 2005 No Comments
Meth can be made in your kitchen, or it can be made in your neighbor’s kitchen. Anyone who’s ever baked cookies knows if you’re going to make a mess (in the case of meth, a toxic mess), it doesn’t make sense to stop at just a dozen or two. Better to make plenty and then share your bounty up and down the block.
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Grand Jury (Day 17) – And the winner is …
August 10th, 2005 No Comments
Sheriff deputies and cops played competitive sports until around 1973, then competed with other people who use guns for a few years, then ate hamburgers for prizes. But since 1980, our law enforcement personnel have nothing to show for their comraderie and competitive spirit. Or if they do, they no longer show it to the public. Twenty-five years without any display of public pride or without any cause for it — either way, a quarter century is a long time.
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Grand Jury (Day 16) – Public Space
August 9th, 2005 No Comments
A bit of grandeur would benefit everyone. Instead, we get low ceilings, hallways, dated colors, and a space far more utilitarian than most people have in their homes nowadays. It confirms the belief that government is (and should be!) the poor family down the block, trying to make ends meet, eating creamed corn every night with half a can of tuna for the protein.
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Grand Jury (Day 15) – Overflow
August 8th, 2005 No Comments
Numbers often numb the public, but only when the numbers are so large or so random or so abstract that the audience cannot attach meaning to them. But a daily accounting of the shortage of local holding cells would be none of those three.
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Grand Jury (Day 14 1/2) – Party
August 7th, 2005 No Comments
Diversity is not the true goal. Diversity is the net and the lines on the tennis court, making sure the game isn’t so easy that it’s not enjoyable to play and satisfying to win. The game is identity, common unity, community. But the more “seemingly” diverse the group, the better the surprise when you find yourselves pulling together for the common good.
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