Pacific NW Portal

Refreshed at 11:03 AM Pacific on Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

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  • Welcome to Pacific NW Portal, an NPI project that simplifies the task of staying up to date with news that matters to you. Pacific NW Portal does the hard work of keeping tabs on hundreds of different media sources at once, giving you a bird's eye view of what's going on. To see more of the front page, just scroll down. Use the links above to narrow your focus to a particular state, check weather and traffic, or simply see what's breaking now.
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In Brief

Photo

Photo from In Brief

A snapshot of the Oregon coast as seen just off U.S. 101 near Newport (Photo by Larry Eiring)

# (Thursday, May 23, 2013)

Quotation

Our tax code is purposefully complex, so that corporations with resources are the only ones who can find the goodies their lobbyists have buried in the labyrinth.

— The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, noting that major U.S. corporations like Apple benefit from a crazy, complicated and loophole-ridden tax code that even accountants and tax lawyers don’t fully understand. (Apple CEO Tim Cook urged a Senate committee this week to simplify America’s tax code).

# (Thursday, May 23, 2013)

Quotation

I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate. I hope we did you proud.

— Tesla CEO and cofounder Elon Musk, commenting on the news that the company has repaid its loan from the Department of Energy nine years early.

# (Wednesday, May 22, 2013)

Recommended Link

Adrian Dix on election loss: "I take full responsibility. No ifs, ands or buts."

The leader of British Columbia’s New Democratic Party has released a statement commenting on the party’s defeat in last Tuesday’s provincial elections, in which the NDP was expected to win, but lost badly. Dix is promising a comprehensive internal review as the party seeks to pinpoint what went wrong.

# (Wednesday, May 22, 2013)

Recommended Link

Lines in the sand: Obama’s Keystone decision

Elizabeth Kolbert makes the case for why President Barack Obama should reject TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

# (Tuesday, May 21, 2013)

Video

Launch Video

Incredible, stunning footage of today’s tornado in Moore, Oklahoma (Courtesy of Basehunters)

# (Monday, May 20, 2013)

Quotation

We can’t give up. In fact, now’s the time to work harder and faster. The environmental movement is bigger and stronger than it’s ever been, and the planet just lit a fire under us

— Greenpeace’s Cassady Sharp: Despite four hundred parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere, renewables are steaming ahead

# (Monday, May 20, 2013)

Recommended Link

The women of Congress, in fabulous watercolor infographics

Fast Company: “The sitting Congress has the most women of any in history. Artist Emily Nemens is capturing each of them in paint, and using their likenesses in graphics to show how far we still have to go to bring gender equality to Washington.”

# (Monday, May 20, 2013)

Photo

Photo from In Brief

A gorgeous view down river from above the Grotto in Zion National Park. Photo: Tom Morris/U.S. Department of the Interior (via America’s Great Outdoors)

# (Monday, May 20, 2013)

Federal, State, and Local Levels

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Progressive Thought

The latest analysis and policy briefs from progressive think tanks focused on both regional and national politics.

  • 'Pre-distribution' and the living standards...
    (Policy Network) — Policy Network and the Institute for Government will host an event with US academic and political commentator Jacob Hacker of Yale University. Jacob Hacker...
  • Proposals to Bring Student Loan Interest Ra...
    (Center for American Progress) — SOURCE: AP/Susan Walsh In this June 2012 picture, President Barack Obama looks back at students as he calls on Congress to stop interest rates on student ...
  • A Woman’s Agenda for the 21st Century
    (Center for American Progress) — SOURCE: AP/Richard Drew Marjorie Hill, second on the left, CEO of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, addresses the Women for Paid Sick Days rally on the steps o...
  • Remembering the ‘Feminine Mystique’
    (Center for American Progress) — SOURCE: AP/Gail Burton Feminist author Betty Friedan, left, is seen with former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) at the...
  • Pre-distribution and the crisis in living s...
    (Policy Network) — Policy Network will shortly welcome Yale University Professor and renowned U.S. political commentator Jacob Hacker to London on 12 June for a series of mee...
  • The Travel Channel
    (Center for American Progress) — See also: Memorial Day Driving by the Numbers  by Jackie Weidman and Daniel J. Weiss Big Oil will be making huge profits off Americans’ travel expenditure...
  • The Affordable Care Act and LGBT Families: ...
    (Center for American Progress) — SOURCE: AP/J. Scott Applewhite President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 23, 2010. E...
  • Americans Will Face High Gas Prices on Memo...
    (Center for American Progress) — Nearly  35 million Americans  are expected to travel 50 miles or more this Memorial Day weekend to visit family and friends and enjoy the outdoors, accord...
  • Daily Digest - May 23: Fearing the Future
    () — Click here to receive the Daily Digest via email. What’s in millennials’ wallets? Fewer credit cards ( LA Times ) Emily Alpert talks to Pipeline Fellow No...
  • Real time political engagement
    (Policy Network) — The lessons from Italy are that rigid and ageing parties need to build new coalitions and start to speak and interact directly with citizens and members in...
  • A solution to Toronto's $2.5 billion public...
    (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ...) — A new report by CCPA-Ontario economist Hugh Mackenzie lays out a range of revenue generating options that could readily fund plans to expand public transi...
  • Less Driving + More Ethanol = Less Energy
    (Sightline Daily) — There's been quite a bit in the news of late about the nationwide declines in driving and gasoline consumption. Take, for example, last week's PIRG/Fronti...
  • Questions About Apple’s Tax Strategy Highli...
    (Off the Charts Blog | Center on...) — U.S. corporations have lobbied aggressively in recent years for both a temporary tax holiday under which they would bring their foreign profits back to th...
Occupy Radar

Occupy Radar tracks the latest dispatches from the Occupy Movement in cities across the Pacific Northwest. We are the 99%!

  • Tent City Tacoma Kick-Off: First Public In... (Occupy Tacoma) — Thanks to Vince Hart for writing the original draft that you're now reading, and thanks to Patricia for proofreading the leaflet based on Vince's draft.—...
  • General Assembly Minutes May 13, 2013 (Occupy Tacoma) — PRESENT: Vince, Mike ( TM or TruthMerchant ), Patricia, Marilyn, Alan TENT CITY TACOMA: We hope that Neal, or Neal and Woody can do the presentation at t...
  • Swarm Monsanto (Occupy Eugene) — Occupy Eugene will gather for coffee and donuts at the Old Federal Building Saturday May 25th at 10:00 AM to prepare for the March Against Monsanto. Occu...
  • 3 Year Memorial For Keaton Otis (Occupy Portland) — Sunday, May 12th 5pm – 7pm The Miracles Club 4200 Northeast Martin Luther King Junior Blvd. Portland, Or 97211
  • Benefit For Occupy Eugene (Occupy Eugene) — You are invited! Save the date!   What: Celebration of Art, Poetry, and Music: a benefit for Occupy Eugene   Where: Tsunami Books,  2585 Willamette Stree...
  • The Occupy Eugene General Assembly (Occupy Eugene) — The Occupy Eugene General Assembly continues to hold  GAs inside at Growers Market on Fridays only, until we decide otherwise. The “ Quorum GA ....
  • Occupy Eugene'S Activities To Protect Our ... (Occupy Eugene) — Watch this great update on what Occupy Eugene and the Civil Liberties Defense Center have been doing to keep our constitutional rights alive! http://yout...
  • Take To The Streets! (Occupy Portland) —
  • Ga Minutes 4/30/13 (Occupy Salem Oregon) — Present Nancy B-K and Bobbie Due to the very few numbers who have shown in recent weeks, the room for GA will no longer be reserved at the IKE Box. &nbsp...
  • May Day Celebration (Occupy Eugene) — May Day Celebration Whose Streets? Our Streets! People of Eugene, RALLY for your Rights! Make your voice heard in the fight for Economic and Social Justi...
  • Tug Of War At Eweb Earth Day Celebration: ... (Occupy Eugene) — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Fife at  iconoclasmo.scott@gmail.com ,  541-232-2868 Occupy Eugene Earth Day Event Asks, “Is EWEB's Green Imag...
  • Occupy Love (Occupy Portland) — Occupy Portland invites you to the Portland premier of a film by award winning director Velcrow Ripper, “OCCUPY LOVE” Friday April 19th OCCUP...
  • Fund Human Needs Not War (Occupy Eugene) — A coalition of peace, justice and labor activists, including Occupy Eugene have organized several actions on Tax Day, Monday April 15th. The coalition's ...
PNW Topic Hotlist

The PNW Topic Hotlist curates blog posts from local blogs based on current events. Posts categorized under the top three topics of the moment are shown below.

  • Climate Change
    • NPI Advocate: The Tyee: British Columbia’s New Democratic Party poised for a landslide victory tonight - British Columbia’s New Democratic Party (NDP) is on the cusp of a historic victory tonight over the not-so liberal B.C. Liberals, according to The Tyee, the province’s best-known online-only publication. The Tyee’s final electoral prediction breaks down as follows: NDP: Fifty-seven seats Liberals: ... May 14 at 19:44 Pacific Time
    • Sightline Daily: Do I Need Another Drink? - [Image] maistora, flickr Of the 100 medical opinions I’ve gotten, 97 of them say that my liver damage is a result of binge drinking. Two of them weren’t sure if it was caused by the booze, and one actually disputed the idea. My friends aren’t so sure though. I’ve asked ten of them, and only four ... May 17 at 11:42 Pacific Time
  • Keystone Pipeline
    • NPI Advocate: B.C. Journal: Liberals hold telephone town hall to connect supporters to leader Clark - With less than one hundred hours to go until the polls close in British Columbia’s 2013 provincial elections, party leaders Christy Clark and Adrian Dix are keeping busy schedules. As I reported earlier today, Adrian is spending most of his Saturday in the Vancouver suburbs. He was in Coquitlam this morning for the ... May 14 at 5:48 Pacific Time
    • PERRspectives Blog: Republicans May Abort Debt Ceiling Hike, U.S. Economic Recovery - [Image] Until Republicans captured their House majority in January 2011, no political party ever had both the intent and the votes to block an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling. While figures in both parties have cast symbolic votes against raising Uncle Sam's borrowing authority (Senator Barack Obama among them), until ... May 16 at 19:9 Pacific Time
    • The Rambling Taoist: More on [Not So] Free Markets - Trey Smith Here is how we are told that the free market works: It is survival of the fittest! Companies, not burdened nor assisted by the government, duke it out amongst themselves. Those enterprises which attract the most customers and realize the greatest profits survive. The rest die. I suppose one could say that this ... May 22 at 14:0 Pacific Time
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