Strange Up Salem

10/13/2026

Write-in Mai Vang to be the Ward 6 city councilor if you live in that East Salem area. Vote for Micki Varney to be the Ward 8 city councilor if you live in that West Salem area. My blog post offers reasons why this is the wise move in the November 3 election.

Salem voters, soon you’ll be getting your ballot for the November 3 election. Two city council races remain to be decided. If you live in Ward 6, be sure to write-in Mai Vang to be your councilor. If you live in Ward 8, be sure to vote for Micki Varney to be your councilor. Mai Vang is the incumbe...

10/12/2026

Important pre-election No Kings rally and march this coming Saturday, October 17, at the Capitol Mall here in Salem.

10/11/2026

"The Opposite of Happiness" is exactly how I felt after watching Oregon lose 17-15 to UCLA in a pathetic football fashion today. Fortunately, Oregon State raised my spirits a few hours later with their resounding 66-14 victory over San Diego State.

Today it was a pleasure to watch a college football team located here in Oregon play a game with skill, excitement, poise, energy, teamwork, and great coaching. That was the Oregon State University team, which crushed San Diego State 66-14, making their record 4-2. The University of Oregon, on the o...

10/09/2026

It's easy to be anxious about the upcoming midterm election, given Trump's attempts to meddle in state election procedures. But our Secretary of State says Oregon is prepared for any dirty tricks -- the central message of his talk to the Salem City Club today.

Oregon is fortunate to have Democrats in all statewide elected offices. Keep that in mind if you’re thinking of voting for Republican Christine Drazan to be governor rather than incumbent Tina Kotek. Because today our Democratic Secretary of State, Tobias Read, assured attendees at his Salem City ...

10/07/2026

Every two years the Silvertongue Mt. Angle Apple-Peal emerges from the satirical mind of Gus Frederick, a Silverton resident who delights in creative parody. Check out the 2026 election issue. The price is right: absolutely free.

It’s a publication that only appears every two years. Sort of like a locust swarm. But much funnier. The Silvertongue Mt. Angle Apple-Peal emerges from the twisted mind of Gus Frederick in election years, of which this is one. Obviously — why else would I be in an almost constant state of bi-pol...

10/05/2026

JaMarcus Shephard was a great hire as the new Oregon State football coach. He's brought much-needed energy, positivity, and enthusiasm with him from Alabama, plus a terrific offensive coordinator. OSU looks like it can challenge Boise State for the Pac-12 championship, a huge improvement from last year's lackluster team.

What a difference a year makes. And a new head coach makes. I’ve enjoyed watching all five games Oregon State has played this football season. Even the two games they narrowly lost at first. And especially the three games they’ve won since, including their Pac-12 conference opener yesterday agai...

10/03/2026

I expect inflation. But a 76% price increase in one year was shocking. That's how much more State Farm wants us to pay for our Personal Liability Umbrella Policy. Our agent explained to me why the cost went up so much. Google AI said that as high as the cost is, it is pretty much in line with what other insurers are charging.

Inflation is a problem. Prices are rising. I know this. Still, it was a big shock when I opened up a renewal certificate from State Farm insurance recently and saw that our Personal Liability Umbrella Policy would cost 76% more than last year. Wow. That didn’t seem like inflation to me. It seemed ...

10/01/2026

Today a OPB poll had Republican Christine Drazan leading incumbent Tina Kotek 47-46 in the Oregon governor's race. But Kotek is still given a 89% chance of winning by election prognosticator Nate Silver. The reason is that Kotek's personal weaknesses are offset by Oregon being a solidly blue state in a national political climate that is very favorable for Democrats.

Being an avid Democrat, this wasn’t what I wanted to see in my X/Twitter feed soon after I woke up today. Taniel is a respected election analyst who I follow. It would indeed be a major flip if Republican Christine Drazan were to unseat incumbent Governor Tina Kotek in Oregon, a decidedly blue sta...

09/29/2026

Last night was the first time I'd seen an Oregon C***ects pro-data center ad on the KGW 11 pm news. Who knew?! Data centers are wonderful; they lower costs for Oregonians, not raise them. Well, that goes against the facts as I understand them, but we need to hear from both AI optimists and pessimists -- since the truth about AI likely lies somewhere in the middle.

Maybe it’s because my wife and I don’t watch much regular TV, aside from sports and news, but last night was the first time I’d seen the Oregon C***ects pro-data center 30 second ad on the KGW (Portland) 11 pm news. I say this because the Oregon Capital Chronicle had a story about Oregon C***e...

09/27/2026

Me and Claude AI, we're a team! Together, we solved a Migration Assistant problem that real people at Apple were clueless about. In this post I share what Claude thinks about the current state of technical support and how much can be put In the hands of AIs.

A few days ago a new M5 powered MacBook Pro arrived from Apple. I bought it because my 2019 Intel powered MacBook Pro couldn’t handle the new Golden Gate operating system, also known as Mac 27 OS, I believe. I hooked the two laptops together with a Thunderbolt 5 cable, then expectantly fired up Mi...