Measure 36 lawsuit

Basic Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of Oregon voters challenging the constitutionality of Measure 36, the ban on same-sex marriage approved by Oregon voters last November.

Apple #1

In the survey of almost 2,000 ad executives, brand managers and academics by online magazine Brandchannel, Apple ousted search engine Google from last year's top spot.

"You mean... that's NOT okay?"

The Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged Thursday that it paid a syndicated columnist at least $4,000 for work on behalf of the Bush administration's efforts to promote marriage.

The disclosure came a day after President Bush called for an end to paying commentators to promote his policies.

Conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher both had publicly backed Bush policies while being paid by the government without disclosing it.

Journalistic integrity anyone? And, is anyone REALLY suprised that Bush paid people off under the table to get his ideas out? Can anyone sell me on the idea that W has ANY redeeming qualities?

Gay marriage opponents target Kulongoski's gay rights bill

The group that led the effort to ban gay marriage in Oregon in last fall's election has a new target -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski's bid to extend anti-discrimination protections to homosexuals.

Oregon medical marijuana usage on the rise

The number of Oregonians with medical marijuana cards has doubled in less than two years, with nearly 10,000 residents now eligible to use the drug.

Opponents say the growth shows that medical marijuana cards can serve as a cover for recreational drug use. Defenders say it reflects growing acceptance of marijuana as an alternative to mainstream medicine.

$210,000 awarded in credit report case

A Portland man who says his credit report wasn't fixed after he had proven he was the victim of identity theft has won a $210,000 civil judgment against a credit reporting bureau.

Striking social workers at Parry Center reach tentative agreement

Workers at southeast Portland's Parry Center for mentally ill children reached a tentative contract agreement Wednesday to end a 59-day strike, union officials said.

The deal struck with Trillium Family Services, which operates the center.

While officials with the Service Employees Union International Local 503 did not reveal terms of the tentative agreement, executive director Leslie Frane called it "a huge victory" for the social workers at the facility.

The union was seeking a wage increase for Parry Center employees.

Kerry Battling Bush on Health Care Plan

AP - Sen. John Kerry took on President Bush's health care proposals Thursday in his first major speech since losing to Bush in November, saying the plans won't meet the needs of children and low-income families who don't have health coverage.

Bush Says Iraq Likely to Want U.S. Troops After Vote

Reuters - President Bush says Iraqi leaders chosen in next week's election will probably want U.S. troops to stay, but the forces will be pulled out if the new government asks, The New York Times reported today.

Kennedy Calls for a Phased Withdrawal From Iraq

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) called Thursday for a phased U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, becoming the most prominent member of Congress to advocate a troop pullout since American forces invaded the strife-torn Middle Eastern nation 22 months ago.

Suns coach to lead NBA All Stars?

Mike D'Antoni's shot at coaching the West All-Stars will be decided after the games played Feb. 6. The West leader at that time will coach the Feb. 20 game.

Mailmain delivering to Phoenix?

Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo told KTAR-AM that the Suns talked to Karl Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, last week. Manley told Colangelo and reporters that "The Mailman" is leaning toward retirement and will make a final decision in the next week or two.

Go Mini!

Apple has sweetened the pot for build-to-order (BTO) options on its new Mac mini, reducing prices on some options or improving the options themselves. Customers ordering Mac minis through Apple's online U.S. store can now get Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme wireless networking combined for $99 -- $30 less than before. Apple has also cut the price of a 1GB RAM installation by $150, from $475 to $325. An 80GB hard drive upgrade for the 1.25GHz model, previous available for $80, is now $50. Apple has also replaced the 4x SuperDrive upgrade previously offered with an 8x unit instead, at the same price -- $100.

FDA Approves Generic AIDS Drug Combo

AP - The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday tentatively approved a generic and less costly version of a widely used AIDS drug combination, an action that is expected to expand AIDS treatment in the developing world.

$427 Billion

AP - The White House will project that this year's federal deficit will hit $427 billion, a senior administration official has just said, a record partly driven by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Google to Branch Into Television

Google Inc. is using its popular Internet search technology to find information and images broadcast on television, continuing a recent effort to extend its reach beyond the Web.

The Mountain View-based company planned to introduce the new video search service Tuesday in an index that will be operated separately from the market-leading search engine offered on its home page. The feature pinpoints content previously aired on a variety of television networks by scanning through the closed caption text that many programmers offer.

Google's index, which began storing information last month, includes programming from ABC, PBS, Fox News and C-SPAN.

Complaints air over Oregon's child protection system

In her remarks to the legsislative panel that began Monday, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Human Services Ramona Foley said that while people involved in the state's child protection effort at times feel "overwhelmed", they are searching for ways to improve the program. She noted she has asked a team of national child protection experts to review Oregon's program for assessing abuse complaints.
State caseworkers have seen reports of child abuse and neglect climb by 60 percent in the past decade.

Army Plans To Keep Iraq Troop Level Through '06

Buckle up... The U.S. Army expects to keep its troop strength in Iraq at the current level of about 120,000 for at least two more years, according to the Army's top operations officer.
Gen. James J. Lovelace Jr. told reporters yesterday the Army expects to continue rotating active-duty units in and out of Iraq in year-long deployments and is looking for ways to dip even deeper into reserve forces -- even as leaders of the reserves have warned that the Pentagon could be running out of such units.
In a related development, Senate and House aides said yesterday that the White House will announce today plans to request an additional $80 billion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would come on top of $25 billion already appropriated for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Final Cut Pro Takes Gold

The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics were watched by a global TV audience of over four billion. Both events incorporated innovative graphics, video and audio — all created with Apple hardware and software.

Former Teammates

Former teammates, Nash (foreground) and Kidd (background) went head-to-head Sunday night (pictured left). Amare Stoudemire scored 33 points and Steve Nash added a season-high 30 as the Suns snapped a season-high six-game losing streak with a 113-105 victory over the Nets.
"He is probably, right now, the best point guard in the game because of what he can do," the Nets' Kidd said of Nash. "It is good to see somebody play the game the right way, and he does that. He never complains and just goes out there and plays hard, and I am happy for him," Kidd said in an interview with the Arizona Republic recently. Nash was a rookie when the two played together in the Phoenix backcourt (pictured right)

Passing of a legend

Talk show host David Letterman (R) with Johnny Carson during a May 13, 1994 taping of Letterman's 'Late Show' in Los Angeles, California. Comedian Johnny Carson, the king of U.S. late-night television as host of NBC's 'The Tonight Show' for nearly 30 years, died on Sunday at age 79 after a long battle with emphysema. Carson did his final show on May 22, 1992. (CBS via Reuters)

In this undated photo provided by NBC, David Letterman appears as a guest with Johnny Carson, on the 'Tonight Show.' (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)

Fiery Gorilla Dunk

The Suns have arguably the best mascot in sports.

My NBA All Stars

You can vote for your picks until 11:59PM Eastern Time Sunday night by clicking here.

Four More Years of Bush Makes the World Anxious

Reuters - The rest of the world will be watching with anxiety when President Bush is inaugurated Thursday for a second time, fearing the most powerful man on the planet may do more harm than good.

Pets on Parade

**Update**
Sadly, the website hosting this media is no more.

A/V Blog
by Userplane

1 in 6 Oregonians lack health coverage

The ranks of uninsured, the most since 1992, exceed the national rate, and reflect a smaller Oregon Health Plan, the economy and rising costs for all according to a new survey by the Oregon Progress Board.

Bloggers are "People of the Year"

The latest issue of PC Magazine has named the founders of Blogger (Evan Williams, Meg Hourihan, and Paul Bausch) together with the founders of Six Apart (Mena G. Trott and Ben Trott) as People of the Year.

Although blogs have been around for awhile, PC Mag sees them as now being accepted into the mainstream:

Select bloggers were allowed the same access as traditional journalists at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, among them Patrick Belton at Oxblog.com and Jeralyn Merritt at TalkLeft.com, powered by blog tools Blogger and Movable Type, respectively.

One interesting tidbit in the article from Technorati: a new blog is created every 5.8 seconds, some 15,000 per day.

Protesters plan to turn their backs on Bush

usatoday.com - Disaffected voters can protest President Bush's second inauguration Thursday from the comfort of their own homes. Anger at Bush has inspired national calls to fast, pray, skip work, buy nothing and wear black.

Some workers get MLK holiday off; most don't

Though about two decades have passed since Martin Luther King Jr. Day became an official holiday at the national and state levels, most major employers still do not count it among their recognized holidays -- including eight of the Oregon's top 10 employers.

Wow...

Traci Sandford of Florida and her 2-year-old daughter, Summer, were watching television Saturday when Sandford heard the roar of a plane overhead. She scooped up her daughter and ran out of the house, just as the plane smashed into the roof.

Burning debris sailed across Sandford's yard and that of her next door neighbor. A piece of the burning plane became lodged in the roof. A series of explosions followed as the plane continued to burn. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire.

Sandford, who said she is a devout Christian, said it was divine intervention that saved her and her daughter.

She said she heard a voice in her head telling her the plane was about to hit her house.

''I feel I've been touched by God,'' said Sandford, an advertising representative at The Sun-Sentinel. "I feel very blessed.''

Golden Apple

For the three months ended Dec. 25, Apple cited strong sales of its computers and the wildly popular iPod digital music player for helping quadruple profits. (AP Graphic)

New Stars

In this image released by NASA Wednesday, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered for the first time a population of embryonic stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy of our Milky Way. The stars have not yet ignited their hydrogen fuel to sustain nuclear fusion. The smallest of these infant stars is only half the mass of our Sun. (AP Photo/NASA)

Celebrate MLK

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day the Portland Art Museum offers free admission on Monday. Exhibits include "Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West," "Lucian Freud: Etchings From the USB Art Collection" and "The Mauritshuis Project: An Introduction to Dutch 17th Century Painting." Hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, 1219 S.W. Park Ave. The museum is not normally open Mondays. Details: 503-226-2811.

Jump hug

Phoenix Suns players Quentin Richardson, left, and Joe Johnson, right, leap to bump chests during a timeout against the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter Tuesday, in Phoenix. The Suns defeated the Heat 122-107 for their seventh straight win. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Do the Shuffle

Tuesday, Apple unveiled a slick new music player called the iPod Shuffle" that is smaller and more affordable than its predecessors. (AP Photo/Apple Computers)

Apples both big and small

Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up Apple's new Mini Mac computer which he introduced at the Macworld Conference in San Francisco Tuesday. The Mini Mac is a very small $499 computer that aims to make inroads against the traditionally more affordable PC market. Around Jobs' neck is Apple's new iPod Shuffle, a digital music player which will retail for $99. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The "wonderful" world of Windows

Not even Microsoft chief Bill Gates is immune to technical glitches.

Gates gave his seventh annual keynote speech at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday night.

While touting what he calls the "digital lifestyle," Gates inadvertently showed how vulnerable all Windows users can be.

During a digital photography demonstration, a Windows Media Center PC froze and wouldn't respond to Gates' pushing of the remote control.

Later, while demonstrating a new game, the computer monitor displayed the dreaded "blue screen of death" and warned, "out of system memory."

The glitches prompted celebrity host Conan O'Brien to quip, "Who's in charge of Microsoft, anyway?"

Foggy Mountains

Mountains are shrouded with fog as dawn breaks in South Korea's central Chunchong province. (AFP/Kim Jae-Hwan)

Northwest New Year

The Space Needle is illuminated by fireworks in Seattle to celebrate the New Year, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005. (AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey)

"Mommy... can we go swimming in Butthead?"

AP - Census Lists Renamed Lake As 'Butthead'
Someone in the Census Bureau may be watching a little too much MTV. Bevis Lake, a 5.7-acre body of water in a forested area about 25 miles northeast of Seattle, is now appearing in Bureau records with a different name: Butthead Lake.
Someone at the Census Bureau must have gotten bored and made a joke out of naming the lake, said Ken Brown, a land surveyor with the state Department of Natural Resources.

Remember the McDonalds "Hot Coffee Cup" Case?

AP - A viewer is suing NBC for $2.5 million, contending that he threw up because of a "Fear Factor" episode in which contestants ate rats mixed in a blender.
Aitken's handwritten lawsuit contends the rat-eating made his blood pressure rise, resulting in being dizzy and lightheaded — and vomiting. Because he was disoriented he ran into a doorway, "causing suffering, injury and great pain."
Asked why he didn't shut off his television before the rat-eating segment, Aitken said he couldn't do it quick enough.
Only in America.

Its all about the mini-hoops and Spidey

AP - A prisoner who escaped last June was recaptured this week and accused of robbery after surviving for months by hiding out in a vacant electronics store and eating stolen baby food, police said.

Authorities said Jeffrey Allen Manchester lived in a 4-by-10-foot closet decorated with posters and model toys, played hoops with a mini-basketball net and watched "Spider-Man 2" on a DVD player. He also routed water from an adjacent Toys "R" Us and even installed a smoke detector, they said.

Minimum Wage Increase

OPB News - Oregonians on minimum wage can expect a larger paycheck starting this month.
The state's minimum wage increases this year by 20 cents an hour--from $7.05 to $7.25. By law, the wage is adjusted to keep up with the consumer price index and it will now be the second highest rate in the nation.
Oregon is one of three states around the nation that has linked its minimum wage to a consumer index, meaning it can rise each year, without needing state or congressional action.

'Simpsons' Web Page Helps Tsunami Survivor Search

(Reuters) - An Internet site set up by an Italian schoolboy, and previously dedicated to "The Simpsons," is helping people track down loved ones missing since the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
Valerio Natale, a 14-year-old high school student, says two missing people have already been found thanks to postings on his web page:
www.tuttosimpsons.altervista.org

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

NewsFactor - Microsoft Ends Year with Security Flaws
A number of serious security threats have been reported in Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, including a Trojan horse that can infect Windows XP and allow an attacker to remotely control a user's system.
The vulnerabilities, detailed by security firms Symantec and Secunia, can be exploited to launch denial-of-service attacks, take over a victim's system, or infect unprotected computers.
Denmark-based Secunia has labeled the flaws as "highly critical."

iMac price drop?

Reuters - Apple Computer Inc. could decide to sell a lower-priced iMac computer to attract consumers already enamored with the iPod music player and annoyed by security problems with Windows PCs, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said last week.

TiVo Unveils Portable Transfer Service

AP - TiVo Inc. pioneered digital video recording as a new way of watching television — when you want it. Now it could be TV where you want it, too. The long-awaited service feature called TiVoToGo, set to launch Monday, will give users their first taste of TiVo untethered.
No longer confined to TiVo digital video recorders in the living room or bedroom, subscribers will be able to transfer their recorded shows to PCs or laptops and take them on the road.

50

Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion (31) congratulates teammate Amare Stoudemire after Stoudemire scored a career-high 50 points against the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday, in Phoenix. The Suns won 117-98.

From the "Why didn't you think of this before?" file

Medicare to Screen for Alcoholism
latimes.com - Problem drinking among the elderly may cost Medicare more than $230 million a year to treat liver disease and other ailments, but only now will the huge healthcare program start covering routine screening for alcoholism.

Beginning this week, newly enrolled Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for an introductory physical that emphasizes prevention of conditions including alcoholism, depression, high blood pressure and diabetes.