By DON VOWELL Complete inability to play Tetris has helped me to understand that it is time to retire.  We recently re-installed a Paleolithic-era Nintendo game deck and everybody around here can still play the game.   But I can’t. When we first got this machine in 1948, I never rose to the skill level [...]

By NICK THOMAS When the disabled Triumph cruise ship finally limped into the Port of Mobile on Valentine’s Day, few of its 3,100 stranded passengers had much love for the Carnival Cruise Line. Many were fuming – with real fumes, after four days at sea without hot water for bathing. “This cruise stinks,” ranted one [...]

For reasons of association my thoughts from time to time turn to the former Soviet Union’s misadventure in the Ukraine, known as Chernobyl, and how its image inspires reflections on today’s U.S. Congress: They are both arguably huge disasters with current dire, as well as lasting, consequences.  What’s more, Chernobyl has been abandoned as has [...]

By TAMMY READY Once again, I am compelled to write a letter to Keizetimes, and possibly the Statesman Journal. This time it’s not to critique the Keizer Volunteer Coordinating Committee (VCC), the Keizer Parks and Recreation Board, or Keizer City Council. This letter is being written in response to an editorial written by Lyndon Zaitz, [...]

By DAVE BARTLETT In response to the Keizertimes article dated February 22, “Big concerns about little league.” My name is Dave Bartlett and I have been involved with my sons playing Little League baseball and Keizer Youth Sports Association (KYSA) baseball since 2000. Currently two of my boys are playing for KYSA. I have been [...]

By ART BOBROWITZ Finally, the outcry from the media, entertainment industry and elected officials regarding the banning of guns merits a reply. Whatever legislation is passed will be both significant and hopefully well thought out. The beauty of this issue is it will open the door for serious talks about cutting some potentially unnecessary jobs. [...]

By GENE H. MCINTYRE By what is not always apparent here in Oregon, we are beginning to resemble life for most of the populations of people south of the border.  It’s not the fault of the populations in those nations; it is the way the wealthy and elite have rigged things (luxury high-rises alongside slums) so that while the average person [...]

By GENE H. McINTYRE Anyone aware of what’s going on in the world knows that there are a number of nations that persecute their citizens.  Their reasons for doing so usually have to do with class, race, gender, culture and religion. Certain Oregonians have also become practitioners of persecution but for a different reason.  Here, [...]

By NICK THOMAS The older I get, the more anxious I become about personal illness. When I was in my twenties, I never gave much thought to every odd ache or pain—it was mostly just “a muscular thing.” But today when I experience a sudden twinge, I’m sure its major organ failure. So, if I [...]

By LAWRENCE KUDLOW  Last week’s report of a 0.1 percent gross domestic product decline for the fourth quarter came as a surprise to most forecasters. But it actually masks considerable strength in the private economy. Namely, housing investment in the fourth quarter jumped 15.3 percent annually, business equipment and software spiked 12.4 percent, and real [...]