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Martin Luther King Day Celebration | City of Ashland

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:00:00 -0800

20th Annual Ashland Martin Luther King, Jr.
Holiday Celebration

The 20th annual Ashland Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration is scheduled for 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, January 18 at the Historic Ashland Armory in downtown Ashland. Produced by a group of community volunteers and sponsored by the Ashland School District, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the City of Ashland, Jefferson Public Radio and Southern Oregon University, the event is free and open to the public. People are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Rogue Valley food banks.

The theme for this 20th anniversary celebration year is commitment. This show is a community wide recommitment to the ideals of civil rights, inclusion and social justice through non-violence, compassion and courage.

This year, Bill Rauch, the new artistic director of Oregon Shakespeare Festival will provide the keynote speech. D.L Richardson, charismatic Southern Oregon University instructor will return as the Master of Ceremony. Keeping with the tradition of the community celebration, students from the Ashland School District, SOU, OSF actors and diverse community groups will contribute songs, dances and dramatic performances. Poet Claudia Alick and local hip hop artists, One Movement, will perform. Multimedia excerpts from Dr. Kings speeches and video archives will punctuate the program.

Dr. Kings volunteers signed a commitment card during the Birmingham Campaign, outlining the principles of the movement. In honor of his work, audience members will be given a commitment card and invited to carry his message into your every day life.

Come celebrate as a community! Seating is always limited and available on a first come basis. The doors will open at 11:30 a.m. Each year the event reaches standing room only by 12 noon. All ages are welcome and parents are urged to stay with their children during the event.

For further press information or questions, please contact Claudia Alick 482-2111 x435 or Michelle Zundel, 482-1611 x182. Thank You!

Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help | Huffington Post

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post Impact has put together a comprehensive list of links to donate and get involved in relief efforts for victims of Tuesday's devastating earthquake. You can also go to The Goods: Help Send Relief To Haiti, an online store by Causecast and HuffPost Impact, where you can purchase products for organizations that will be directly used on the ground in Haiti.

The U.S. State Department Operations Center has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747

The American Red Cross is pledging an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by this earthquake. They expect to provide immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support. They are accepting donations through their International Response Fund.
UNICEF has issued a statement that "Children are always the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and UNICEF is there for them." UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF.
Donate through Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti. Text "Yele" to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects through the organization.
Operation USA is appealing for donations of funds from the public and corporate donations in bulk of health care materials, water purification supplies and food supplements which it will ship to the region from its base in the Port of Los Angeles. Donate online at www.opusa.org, by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232.
Save The Children has launched an emergency relief effort for Haiti. Donate to their fund to provide medical attention and clean water to children and families.
International Medical Corps is assembling a team of first responders and resources to provide lifesaving medical care and other emergency services to survivors of the earthquake. The IMC previously helped recovery efforts after September 2009's earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, and the massive 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Donate to the International Medical Corps through their 24-hour hotline at 800-481-4462
Ben Stiller's Stillerstrong campaign will be temporarily diverting all donations to support the Haiti relief effort.
Partners In Health reports its Port-au-Prince clinical director , Louise Ivers, has appealed for assistance: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us." Donate to their Haiti earthquake fund.
As a UN Special Envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton appeared on CNN on Wednesday to ask for further assistance in bringing relief to populations on the ground. You can donate through the Clinton Foundation or text HAITI to 20222 to donate $10.
Mercy Corps is sending a team of emergency responders to assess damage, and seek to fulfill immediate needs of quake survivors. The agency aided families after earthquakes in Peru in 2007, China and Pakistan in 2008, and Indonesia last year. Donate online, call 1-888-256-1900 or send checks to Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund; Dept NR; PO Box 2669; Portland, OR 97208.
Doctors Without Borders is on the ground and has set up clinics to treat injured in Haiti. Donate any amount so they can keep their efforts going.
Direct Relief is committing up to $1 million in aid for the response and is coordinating with its other in-country partners and colleague organizations. Their partners in Haiti include Partners in Health, St. Damien Children's Hospital, and the Visitation Hospital, which are particularly active in emergency response. Donate to Direct Relief online.
Oxfam is rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation to provide clean water, shelter, sanitation and help people recover. Donate to Oxfam America online.
The UN World Food Programme is gathering all available resources to deliver food to the recently homeless and impoverished in Haiti. Donate now to help bring food to those affected as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The Baptist Haiti Mission is operating an 82-bed hospital that is "overflowing with injured." Donate online to BHM and 100% of your donation will go to the relief effort.
International Medical Corps is assembling a team of first responders and resources to provide lifesaving medical care and other emergency services to survivors of the earthquake. Donate online.
Following the earthquake, Catholic Relief Services made an immediate commitment of $5 million for emergency supplies. They are distributing food and relief supplies, and importing plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and water purification tablets from the Domincan Republic. Donate to Catholic Relief Services to assist in these efforts.
Give to the American Jewish World Service's Earthquake Relief Fund.
CARE is deploying emergency team members to Port-au-Prince today to assist in recovery efforts. They're focusing their efforts on rescuing children who may still be trapped in schools that collapsed. Donate to CARE.
Orphans International America reports that they have been able to make contact with their program director in the town of Jacmel, a city about 20 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince that houses OI's hospitals and schools. Orphans International America is attempting to gather food, clean water and emergency medical supplies to Jacmel. You can contribute to them through PayPal.
The International Rescue Committee is deploying an emergency response team to Haiti to deliver urgent assistance to earthquake survivors and to help overwhelmed local aid groups struggling to meet the immense emergency needs. They will focus on critical medical, water and sanitation assistance. Donate to the IRC Haiti Crisis Fund.
NetHope is coordinating its response with its NGO member agencies and with the UN's Emergency Telecom Cluster to establish connectivity in Haiti. Seventeen of NetHope's members are already providing aid and deploying resources on the ground. Donate online.
The Haitian Health Foundation is still assessing the situation of their full-time facilities and staff in Haiti. They regularly provide health care, development and relief to rural mountain villages in Haiti. Donate to the Haitian Health Foundation.
World Vision has more 370 staff in the country. Staff members from less-affected regions of Haiti are mobilizing, and World Vision's global experts are expected to arrive in the disaster zone as soon as possible. Donate to World Vision.
The Jewish Federations of North America is partnering with the American Jewish Joint Distribution committee and have created a dedicated Haiti Relief page for online donations.
United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is the UN's humanitarian fund responding to emergencies like the earthquake in Haiti. Donate online.
Friends of the Orphans will use donations to meet the needs of first responders such as first aid supplies, shipping of necessary materials to assist in efforts, and treating the injured. Those interested in helping the relief effort can visit www.friendsoftheorphans.org, or call 888-201-8880 to make a donation.
World Concern's staff is almost entirely composed of Haitian nationals and will be tapping into private as well as U.S. government supplies to help in the relief effort it hopes will soon be supplemented by cargo ships. Donate to World Concern.
Merlin USA is sending an emergency response team out to the region and have subsequently launched an emergency appeal to bring urgent medical aid and assistance to those affected. Donate to Merlin USA.
The Salvation Army has staff on the ground and already the organization has set aside $50,000 in direct aid to the country but the organization is in need of additional donations. Donations can be made online or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
The American Refugee Committee is sending a response team to provide water, sanitation, and shelter for earthquake survivors. Donate online or read about their volunteer opportunities.
AmeriCares has pledged $5 million in aid in the wake of the catastrophe and is sending an emergency shipment with $3 million worth of medicines and supplies for earthquake survivors. Donate online or call 1-800-486-HELP.
Handicap International will provide care to those injured by the earthquake and its aftershocks, including support to hospitals for essential post-surgery and rehabilitation care, as well as emergency shelter, emergency basic needs and food distribution for at least 5,000 people initially. Donate online.
Episcopal Relief & Development has committed to providing Haiti both long and short-term support in the wake of the disaster. Donate to the Haiti Fund or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to Episcopal Relief & Development, PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.

HuffPost Impact is following relief organizations in Haiti and will be updating with their latest messages from the ground.

Source: Huffington Post

Ashlander proposes new theory on structure of galaxies | Daily Tidings

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:00:00 -0800

It's not often that a college dropout, self-taught in astrophysics, publishes an article in a prestigious scientific journal proposing a major new theory on the structure of spiral galaxies but that's what Erik Anderson of Ashland did.

In a new theory that may rewrite galactic dynamics, Anderson and his collaborator, Dr. Charles Francis, of Hastings, England, wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A that instead of being an orderly, four-armed affair, the Milky Way galaxy is really a tightly wound, two-armed system in which stars orbit in elliptical patterns, jumping from one giant arm to the next.

The theory, four years in the making and done mostly with computers and spreadsheets, rather than telescopes was peer-reviewed by three top astrophysicists. Two liked it but suggested some changes; the third dismissed it as "unrealistic," Anderson said.

Anderson and Francis theorize that the hundreds of billions of stars in a galaxy move in interweaving spirals, which "precess" (rotate backwards) against the rotation of the galaxy, Anderson said.

Instead of being mounted firmly on their galactic pinwheel, he added, the stars accelerate at their furthest point from galactic center, "pop out" of their place on a spiral arm, jump to more distant arms but end up in a different locale on their "native" spiral arm. As they lose momentum, they again jump arms toward the center.

The theory, he noted, replaces the "density wave theory" posited 40 years ago and maintaining that the heavily populated arms are "traffic jams" of stars, kind of like congestion that slows down to watch an accident on the highway, then very slowly speeds up again.

"But that had a fundamental problem, because stars have gravity, so in a dense region, they should speed up, not slow down," Anderson said.

Anderson had Ashland artist Melaina Mace execute a new rendering of the Milky Way Galaxy, 100,000 light years wide, as seen from above, with our sun at 12 o'clock about halfway out. Sporting its theoretical double arms, it's at www.astrostudio.org/milkyway.html.

Anderson, 41, built telescopes as a child, then threw himself enthusiastically into computers in the early 1980s.

With friends in Gazelle (near Yreka, Calif.), he was soon writing gaming and other software and operating a company out of their home. He graduated from Shasta Community College and took a year in marketing at Chico State University, in order to better sell his software.

With the explosion of the Internet in 1996, Anderson began designing Web sites, something he still does for income. He also became a photojournalist and published many photos in Hot Boat Magazine over a decade.

Without advanced degrees and a prestigious position in astrophysics, Anderson may encounter resistance from experts.

"Some people might be stuck up about it, but I'm always about the issues, not whether someone disrespects me for being self-taught," Anderson said. "It's about the data."

Anderson met Francis four years ago on the Internet and readily acknowledges him to be the genius of the collaboration. Francis' genius is in physics, while Anderson has mastery of computer technology and databases.

"He's taken me to places I never thought I could go in making an entirely new theory of the workings of galaxies," Anderson said.

Quoting German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, Anderson noted that "a man of talent (himself) hits a target no one else can hit. Genius (Francis) hits a target no one else can see."

"Anderson compiled data from existing sky surveys on more than 20,000 Milky Way stars with accurately known positions and velocities," said the pair's news release. "By treating orbits as precessing ellipses, Francis found that mutual gravitation naturally leads to orbital alignments that generate spiral patterns."

Anderson describes himself as a man who saves money, lives simply and is looking for grants and grant writers to support his research and to help produce a documentary film explaining the new vision of space.

Scientists trying to unravel the mysteries of the Milky Way lack data on the speed and distance of stars surrounding us, something to be cleared up in the next seven years as the European Space Agency's Gaia astrometric mission accurately maps the near universe.

"In 2017, we'll have a catalog of the whole galaxy, then we'll be able to tell who's right and who's wrong," Anderson said.

To read Anderson and Francis' article, go to http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/465/2111/3425.

John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.

Source: Daily Tidings

Beyond Copenhagen: sub-national solutions are now key | Reuters

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Editor's Note: Julian Hunt is visiting professor at Delft University and formerly director general of the UK meteorological office. Charles Kennel is distinguished professor of atmospheric science, emeritus and senior advisor to the sustainability solutions institute, UCSD. The opinions expressed are their own.

The non-legally binding deal agreed at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen among the U.S., China, Brazil, South Africa and India, has brought to a conclusion what has proved an extraordinarily complex set of negotiations.

The outcome has been criticised on numerous grounds and, in U.S. President Barack Obamas own words, We have much further to go.

In effect, the agreement may ultimately amount to no more than a long-term climate change dialogue between Washington and Beijing. While global action to tackle emissions of carbon dioxide must remain a priority, the fact remains that we may be heading towards a future in which no long-term, comprehensive successor to the Kyoto regime is politically possible.

One of the chief flaws in the Copenhagen negotiations was the fact that the overly-ambitious political deals being discussed were not realistic, nor framed to inspire people to act and collaborate with each other across the world on both a local and regional level. Going forwards, national governments will need to be more honest about future likely emissions and also of future temperature changes. In this crucial debate, scientists must be free to state their estimates without political bias.

In the absence of a new global deal, it is now crucial that the centre of gravity of decision-making on how we respond to climate change moves towards the sub-national level. This may also have the effect of re-energising future global climate change talks as environment diplomacy could certainly be furthered by policies decided at the local and regional level.

The need for such a paradigm shift from a top-down to a bottom-up approach is becoming clearer by the day.

Over the last decade, records of weather and climate trends have revealed larger and more unusual regional and local variations some unprecedented since the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago. Among such warning signs are the disappearing ice fields around the poles and on all mountain ranges, more frequent droughts in Africa and now in wet regions (such as the 2006 drought in Assam India, previously one of the wettest places in the world), floods in dry regions (as recently, the worst floods in 50 years in northwest India), and ice storms in sub-tropical China in 2008 (for the first time in 150 years).

Such extreme events threaten sustainable development around the world, natural environments are destroyed irreversibly, and economic growth is slowed.

One of the most compelling advocates this month at Copenhagen for sub-national solutions for tackling climate change was California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the state of California, and legislators in Globe and city governments are putting into practice, adaptation needs to build on existing knowledge and infrastructures in local settings.

Forming loose collaborative networks will enable regional facilitation centres, their experts and decision makers to learn from one another and also draw upon the resources of existing national and international databases and programmes, such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) and the growing number of consortia linking major cities, local governments, and the private sector.

Experience shows that this bottom-up approach works very effectively as it is only generally when sub-national areas learn how they will be specifically affected by climate change that widespread, grassroots political action can be aroused.

Although regional variations in climate change are approximately predicted by IPCC global climate models, more local measurements and studies are needed for sub-national governments, industry and agriculture to better understand their local climatic situation and develop reliable and effective strategies to deal with all the ways that climate change affects their activities and well being.

Hence, the increasing numbers of regional monitoring centres which, by communicating and interpreting these predictions and uncertainties, are contributing towards local adaptation plans:

   In China, where provinces require targets for power station construction, regional environmental and climate change centres are now well developed.
   In the United States, a recent report has highlighted the value of non-official centres, such as a severe storm centre in Oklahoma, which gives independent advice to communities and businesses, while relying on government programmes for much of the data.
   In Brazil, a regional data centre is providing data and predictions about agriculture and deforestation and informs legislation about policy options.

What this activity points to is the need for a global network of such centres to support national climate initiatives, and to facilitate international funding and technical cooperation in delivering the right information to the right place, at the right time.

Local actions can only be effective if measurements of climate and environment are made regularly and are publicised as well as information about targets, and projections of emissions. Experience shows that full exposure is needed about what is happening, what is planned, and how every individual can be involved (as the Danes show by their community investment in wind power).

Historically, it is cities that have helped lead the vanguard towards tackling major environmental challenges.

It is therefore unsurprising that it is individual cities that are seeking to adopt some of the most innovative ways of adapting to worsening climate hazards, including showing how to integrate these measures with considerable savings in costs such as putting windmills on dykes as in Rotterdam.

For instance, a recent civic exchange meeting in Hong Kong considered solutions for how major cities in China will strive to reach targets for reductions in emissions as stringent as those in developed countries. This is a very ambitious objective, since in China the carbon emission per person per year is 6 tons, compared with 10 tons in the EU, and 25 tons in the United States.

Taken overall, the cumulative effect of such sub-national actions may well determine the speed and effectiveness of global responses to climate change. The message is clear. Localisation of action and data must be the post-Copenhagen priority if we are to tackle the global warming menace.

Source: Environment Forum

**********

"It is a matter of enormous satisfaction to many people that this juggernaut of dubious science, commercial interest and politics has hit a stumbling block. As a scientist and the owner of a scientific software company I have been appalled by the grandiosity of the 'colleagues' who have used every dirty trick known to bad science to promote themselves, damage their opponents and pull the wool over the eyes of the public. The world has gigantic problems which need to be addressed directly: the population explosion, general pollution, the shortage of clean water, grinding poverty, lack of medical care etc. Money needs to be spent on these and not channelled into the pockets of the carbon kleptocrats."

-Posted by John Lamble

Happy Solstice & Light is Returning | Mosaic

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Editor's Note: At the Ashland Resource Center we want to pause and thank you for whatever you have given to our world, for giving your attention to young people, for whatever you give to those less fortunate, for the work you do in your community, and for the light-life gift your soul presents to the world. May the darkness season you, may your soul find some warmth and comfort as the light gathers itself to renew the days again.

The Solstice

The time of the Solstice has come round as it does each year when the days seem to be swallowed by darkness. Despite the rush against time, be it last minute gift shopping, making time for friends and family, or passing supposed health legislation, the essence of the solstice involves stopping, even if only for a moment.

Solstice means sun standing still; the sun stopping amidst the growing darkness and against the rapid pulse of relentless time. The sun stops imperceptibly, the way ones heart can stop at a crucial moment and begin life in a new way. The sun stands still in the tracks of darkness before beginning to grow the days back to light.

All the history of holidays, the songs of silent night, holy night, the pleas for peace on earth as well as the instinct to celebrate in the face of winter refer to the hidden moment when the sun stops just in time, before the darkness becomes too great to recover from. The holidays were once the holy days, a time separate from the traps of calendrical time, a time set aside for helping to make things whole so that the world could renew and the light return again.

Most ancient cultures imagined that the sun needed conscious help from people in order to avoid being swallowed by the great darkness that nips at the edges of life. So, people fashioned festivals of light in the depths of winter and sang and danced in order to assist the turning of the world. In the ways of instinctive, sympathetic magic everything from a single candle to a huge fire could be offered to assist the return of the light from the far reaches of the dark.

Even now, albeit mostly unwittingly, people wrap houses in displays of light, bring trees inside and decorate them and as if trying to assist Nature to become bright again. Even the repetitious drama of bowl games unconsciously reflects a supposed battle between the forces of light and of darkness. The old year cant die off or the new year offer renewal unless the opposition/correlation between darkness and light be enacted in culture as it replays in nature.

The solstice presents an archetypal condition that reflects an inner capacity to assist in the renewal of life despite and because of the darkness all around us. Even amidst the commercialized exchange of gifts, people enact a secret remembrance of the gift of life which itself is a light burning within each soul. Gift-giving once intended to encourage the inner gifts that each soul brings to the world. For, each soul harbors an inner sun, a deep and giving self that is also a light inside the dark.

These are increasingly dark times for everyone as a collective hard turn involves uncertainty for both culture and nature. Yet, the instinct for warmth and cheer, for love and generosity at the end of the year arises from the souls capacity to touch the holiness and stillness of life. Its a good time to stand still with the hidden sun, even for a moment. Its a good time to share the gift of life and add some warmth and love to the soul of the world as it pivots again in the darkness deep around us.

- Michael Meade

Source: Facebook

Skiing in Southern Oregon | 541 Live

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Did you happen to hear the good news? Mt Ashland is set for opening day this Thursday December 17, 2009! Click here for the latest opening day info, snow report and live web cam with real time mountain conditions.

You know the saying If you can ski Mt Ashland you can ski anywhere. Southern Oregon skiers are so lucky to have world class (yep, I like our mountain that much) skiing in our backyard. But can you guess how many locals dont take advantage of it? Too many to mention here it breaks my heart!

Here are a few helpful hints to get you on your way up the mountain:

Driving to Mt Ashland? Youll need a 4-wheel drive or chains. Find directions here. If you arent up for the drive, Ashland Mountain Adventures runs a shuttle up the mountain (up to 5 shuttles/day) Save your gas and nerves jump in the van.

Tickets: Mt Ashland is affordable and has a very flexible schedule for the budget skier. A full day, all mountain, adult weekend lift ticket is $43 buy a twilight ticket (3-9) and your ticket is $23 or ski on a weekday for $36. All tickets come with a money back guarantee. If youre not completely satisfied after skiing Mt Ashland for 45 minutes, you get a full-refund voucher to use another day.

Need Gear? Best to be prepared and gear up before you head up the mountain. A few of our favorites are Rogue Ski Shop in Medford. They have a huge selection of all the top brands, specializing in downhill skiing and snowboarding they ski the same runs you do, they get it and understand what you need. The Ashland Outdoor Store specializes in backcountry skiing and snowshoeing gear. They have a small gear selection, but only carry products they love. They also carry my favorite ski socks along with hats and layers for all outdoor activities. Theres a new ski shop in town, Shasta Base Camp just opened a new store on the south side of town (on Siskiyou, south of SOU) and carries everything you need for an outdoor mountain adventure. Their rental equipment is well priced at $20/day for a full ski adult package (thats $5 less than renting on the mountain!)

Food: You will need some! You can always pack your meals and snacks and enjoy in the lodge. If you would like to buy instead, the lodge has a few choices: The Mountain Café is on the first floor and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks (hot & cold) and treats. The Balcony Bistro is on the 2^nd floor and open for breakfast and lunch serving sandwiches, soups, pizza, drinks and coffee. The T-Bar Lounge serves regional micro-brews, wine and cocktails. No matter the food choice, the lodge is the perfect place to warm up (fire place that fits many to boot!) after a day on the slopes.

With 4 lifts, 23 runs, 200 skiable acres, and the legendary summit bowl its worth every minute and penny!

If you *must* try a new place to ski, Mt Shasta is 70 miles south and Willamette Pass is 80 miles north. But give Mt Ashland a try before you travel you wont be sorry.

Source: 541 Live

Immunization H1N1 Vaccine Update | Ashland High School

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0800

Commentary:

Be aware the H1N1 swine flu is being touted by government and health agencies worldwide as the next pandemic and are selling millions of vaccines. In our opinion the fear of pandemic is being intentionally created without considering the side effects and possible health consequences of this and other vaccines which remain controversial at best. Additionally, the nasal mist introducing a live virus which may make the receiver contagious if they breath or sneeze near others. Become informed!

You can view a few selected videos here and download a State of Oregon brochure and find out more about personal, religious or medical exemptions. Nobody can force you or your child to take a vaccine!

Here's the news release from the school district:

Ashland School District has received a limited number of vaccines for H1N1 from Jackson County Health Department.
Because there are a limited number of vaccines, they will be made available to the following groups first:

School age children
Staff with secondary health conditions

Vaccinations are available in two forms:

Nasal Mist recommended for individuals up to age 49 who DO NOT have secondary health risks.
Injection recommended for individuals with secondary health conditions at this time. Secondary health conditions include asthma, diabetes, lung or cardiac issues, or compromised immunity.

Vaccines will be offered free of charge to the above groups.

If you have a student at Ashland High School, there will be a clinic on Tuesday, November 24. Please call Carol at 482-8771 ext 226. An appointment is required. We have 50 doses of the nasal mist and 100 doses of the injectable vaccine. After our initial supply is exhausted, we will continue to receive vaccine based on request.

If you have a student at another Ashland school, please email Belinda Brown, RN, at Nurse@ashland.k12.or.us for an appointment. You will be notified when your child can receive a vaccine. In grades K 8, we have 100 doses of the nasal mist and 100 doses of the injectable vaccine. After our initial supply is exhausted, we will continue to receive vaccine based on request.

Parents, non school-age children and other community members can access the H1N1 vaccine through the local county health offices.

Source: Ashland High School & Jackson County

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare | Wall Street Journal

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:00:00 -0700

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out
of other people's money."

Margaret Thatcher

With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people's money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite directiontoward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:

Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems. For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees' Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness. Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan's costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.
Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.
Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.
Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.
Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.
Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor's visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?
Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.
Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health careto equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals. While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America

Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments.

Although Canada has a population smaller than California, 830,000 Canadians are currently waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment, according to a report last month in Investor's Business Daily. In England, the waiting list is 1.8 million.

At Whole Foods we allow our team members to vote on what benefits they most want the company to fund. Our Canadian and British employees express their benefit preferences very clearlythey want supplemental health-care dollars that they can control and spend themselves without permission from their governments. Why would they want such additional health-care benefit dollars if they already have an "intrinsic right to health care"? The answer is clearno such right truly exists in either Canada or the U.K.or in any other country.

Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.

Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spendingheart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesityare mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.

Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.

Health-care reform is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible, and that we have the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.

Mr. Mackey is co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

City to look at helping builders | Daily Tidings

vlaldous@yahoo.com (Vickie Aldous) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:00:00 -0700

With the recession putting a damper on construction, the Ashland City Council will consider whether to give 18-month extensions to all development approvals in town.

That could help keep approvals on projects from expiring before projects can be built. The projects have already gone through the regular planning process.

The council meets at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Ashland Civic Center, 1175 E. Main St.

Only You. And You. And You. | Newsweek

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Terisa Greenan and her boyfriend, Matt, are enjoying a rare day of Seattle sun, sharing a beet carpaccio on the patio of a local restaurant. Matt holds Terisa's hand, as his 6-year-old son squeezes in between the couple to give Terisa a kiss. His mother, Vera, looks over and smiles; she's there with her boyfriend, Larry. Suddenly it starts to rain, and the group must move inside. In the process, they rearrange themselves: Matt's hand touches Vera's leg. Terisa gives Larry a kiss. The child, seemingly unconcerned, puts his arms around his mother and digs into his meal.

Terisa and Matt and Vera and Larry-along with Scott, who's also at this dinner-are not swingers, per se; they aren't pursuing casual sex. Nor are they polygamists of the sort portrayed on HBO's Big Love; they aren't religious, and they don't have multiple wives. But they do believe in "ethical nonmonogamy," or engaging in loving, intimate relationships with more than one person-based upon the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. They are polyamorous, to use the term of art applied to multiple-partner families like theirs, and they wouldn't want to live any other way.

erisa, 41, is at the center of this particular polyamorous cluster. A filmmaker and actress, she is well-spoken, slender and attractive, with dark, shoulder-length hair, porcelain skin-and a powerful need for attention. Twelve years ago, she started datingScott, a writer and classical-album merchant. A couple years later, Scott introduced her to Larry, a software developer at Microsoft, and the two quickly fell in love, with Scott's assent. The three have been living together for a decade now, but continue to date others casually on the side. Recently, Terisa decided to add Matt, a London transplant to Seattle, to the mix. Matt's wife, Vera, was OK with that; soon, she was dating Terisa's husband, Larry. If Scott starts feeling neglected, he can call the woman he's been dating casually on the side. Everyone in this group is heterosexual, and they insist they never sleep with more than one person at a time.

It's enough to make any monogamist's head spin. But the traditionalists had better get used to it.
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Researchers are just beginning to study the phenomenon, but the few who do estimate that openly polyamorous families in the United States number more than half a million, with thriving contingents in nearly every major city. Over the past year, books like Open, by journalist Jenny Block; Opening Up, by sex columnist Tristan Taormino; and an updated version of The Ethical Slut-widely considered the modern "poly" Bible-have helped publicize the concept. Today there are poly blogs and podcasts, local get-togethers, and an online polyamory magazine called Loving More with 15,000 regular readers. Celebrities like actress Tilda Swinton and Carla Bruni, the first lady of France, have voiced support for nonmonogamy, while Greenan herself has become somewhat of an unofficial spokesperson, as the creator of a comic Web series about the practice-called "Family"-that's loosely based on her life. "There have always been some loud-mouthed ironclads talking about the labors of monogamy and multiple-partner relationships," says Ken Haslam, a retired anesthesiologist who curates a polyamory library at the Indiana University-based Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. "But finally, with the Internet, the thing has really come about."

With polyamorists' higher profile has come some growing pains. The majority of them don't seem particularly interested in pressing a political agenda; the joke in the community is that the complexities of their relationships leave little time for activism. But they are beginning to show up on the radar screen of the religious right, some of whose leaders have publicly condemned polyamory as one of a host of deviant behaviors sure to become normalized if gay marriage wins federal sanction. "This group is really rising up from the underground, emboldened by the success of the gay-marriage movement," says Glenn Stanton, the director of family studies for Focus on the Family, an evangelical Christian group. "And while there's part of me that says, 'Oh, my goodness, I don't think I could see them make grounds,' there's another part of me that says, 'Well, just watch them.' "

Conservatives are not alone in watching warily. Gay-marriage advocates have become leery of public association with the poly cause-lest it give their enemies ammunition. As Andrew Sullivan, the Atlantic columnist, wrote recently, "I believe that someone's sexual orientation is a deeper issue than the number of people they want to express that orientation with." In other words, polyamory is a choice; homosexuality is not. It's these dynamics that have made polyamory, as longtime poly advocate Anita Wagner puts it, "the political football in the culture war as it relates to same-sex marriage."

Polys themselves are not visibly crusading for their civil rights. But there is one policy issue rousing concern: legal precedents concerning their ability to parent. Custody battles among poly parents are not uncommon; the most public of them was a 1999 case in which a 22-year-old Tennessee woman lost rights to parent her daughter after outing herself on an MTV documentary. Anecdotally, research shows that children can do well in poly families-as long as they're in a stable home with loving parents, says Elisabeth Sheff, a sociologist at Georgia State University, who is conducting the first large-scale study of children of poly parents, which has been ongoing for a decade. But because academia is only beginning to study the phenomenon-Sheff's study is too recent to have drawn conclusions about the children's well-being over time-there is little data to support that notion in court. Today, the nonprofit Polyamory Society posts a warning to parents on its Web site: If your PolyFamily has children, please do not put your children and family at risk by coming out to the public or by being interviewed [by] the press!

The notion of multiple-partner relationships is as old as the human race itself. But polyamorists trace the foundation of their movement to the utopian Oneida commune of upstate New York, founded in 1848 by Yale theologian John Humphrey Noyes. Noyes believed in a kind of communalism he hoped would fix relations between men and women; both genders had equal voice in community governance, and every man was considered to be married to every woman. But it wasn't until the late-1960s and 1970s "free love" movement that polyamory truly came into vogue; when books like Open Marriage topped best-seller lists and groups like the North American Swingers Club began experimenting with the concept. The term "polyamory," coined in the 1990s, popped up in both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford English dictionaries in 2006.

Polyamory might sound like heaven to some: a variety of partners, adding spice and a respite from the familiarity and boredom that's doomed many a traditional couple. But humans are hard-wired to be jealous, and though it may be possible to overcome it, polyamorous couples are "fighting Mother Nature" when they try, says biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, a professor at Rutgers University who has long studied the chemistry of love. Polys say they aren't so much denying their biological instincts as insisting they can work around them-through open communication, patience, and honesty. Polys call this process "compersion"-or learning to find personal fulfillment in the emotional and sexual satisfaction of your partner, even if you're not the one doing the satisfying. "It's about making sure that everybody's needs are met, including your own," says Terisa. "And that's not always easy, but it's part of the fun."

It's complicated, to say the least: tending to the needs of multiple partners, figuring out what to tell the kids, making sure that nobody's feelings are hurt. "I like to call it polyagony," jokes Haslam, the Kinsey researcher, who is himself polyamorous. "It works for some perfectly, and for others it's a f--king disaster."

Some polyamorists are married with multiple love interests, while others practice informal group marriage. Some have group sex-and many are bisexual-while those like Greenan have a series of heterosexual, one-on-one relationships. Still others don't identify as poly but live a recognizably poly lifestyle. Terisa describes her particular cluster as a "triad," for the number of people involved, and a "vee" for its organization, with Terisa at the center (the point of the V) and her two primary partners, Scott and Larry (who are not intimate with each other) as the tips of each arm. Other poly vocabulary exists, too: "spice" is the plural of "spouse"; "polygeometry" is how a polyamorous group describes their connections; "polyfidelitous" refers to folks who don't date outside their menage; and a "quad" is a four-member poly group.
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It's easy to dismiss polyamory as a kind of frat-house fantasy gone wild. But in truth, the community has a decidedly feminist bent: women have been central to its creation, and "gender equality" is a publicly recognized tenet of the practice. Terisa herself is proof of that proposition, as the center of her cluster. She, Scott, and Larry have all been polyamorous since meeting in the Bay Area in the '90s, where they were all involved with the same theater community.

Terisa and Scott started dating first. Both were getting out of long-term monogamous relationships-Terisa had been married for six years-and knew they wanted something different. They fell in love, and though they were committed, they began dating around. Two years in, Scott introduced her to Larry, a pit violinist and mutual acquaintance. When Larry was offered the Microsoft job in Seattle, he asked Terisa and Scott to go with him. "We were like, 'Wow, are we really going to do this?' " Terisa remembers. "And we sort of just said, 'Well let's jump in!' "

It wasn't long before they realized there was a thriving community of Seattleites living the same way. There were local outings, monthly poly potlucks, and a Sea-Poly e-mail list that served to keep everyone informed. Larry even found a poly club for Microsoft employees-listed openly on the company's internal Web site. (Microsoft declined to comment on the message board, or whether it still exists.) The trio has been together ever since, and they share a lakeside home in Seattle's Mt. Baker neighborhood, where they have a vegetable garden and three dogs. They often go on walks along the lake, hand in hand in hand. "I think if we were all given a choice, everyone would choose some form of open relationship," Scott explains, sitting in the family's hillside gazebo overlooking Lake Washington. "And I just like variety," Terisa chimes in, laughing. "I get bored!"The trio have had emotional moments. Scott had a hard time the first time he heard Larry called Terisa "sweetie" nine years ago. Larry was nervous when Terisa began semiseriously dating somebody outside the group. There are times when Scott has had to put up with hearing his girlfriend have sex with someone else in the home they share. And there have been moments when each of them have felt neglected in their own way. But they agreed early on that they weren't going to be sexually monogamous, and they are open about their affairs. "So it's not as if anybody is betraying anybody else's trust," says Larry.

There are, of course, some things that are personal. "Terisa doesn't tell me a lot of the private stuff between her and Matt, and I respect that," says Scott. When there are twinges of jealousy, they talk them out-by getting to the root of what's causing the feeling. "It's one of those things that sounds really basic, but I think a lot of people in conventional relationships don't take the time to actually tell their partner when they're feeling dissatisfied in some way," says Terisa. "And sometimes it's as simple as saying, 'Hey, Larry,' or 'Hey, Scott, I really want to have dinner alone with you tonight-I'm feeling neglected.' We really don't let anything go unsaid." As Haslam puts it: "It's all very straight forward if everybody is just honest about what's going on in their brains-and between their legs."

Larry and Terisa married last year-with Scott's permission-in part for tax purposes. Larry owns the house they all live in, and Scott pays rent. Household expenses require a complicated spreadsheet. Terisa, Larry, and Scott all have their own bedrooms, but sleeping arrangements must be discussed. Larry snores, so Terisa spends most nights with Scott-which means she must be mindful of making up for lost time with Larry. Terisa and Larry only recently began dating Matt and Vera, after meeting on Facebook, and now every Friday, the couple bring their son over to the house and the three of them stay all weekend. Matt will usually sleep with Terisa, and Vera with Larry, or they'll switch it up, depending on how everyone feels.

The child, meanwhile, has his own room. And he's clearly the most delicate part of the equation. Matt and Vera have asked NEWSWEEK not to use their last names-or the name of their child-for fear, even in liberal Seattle, they might draw unwanted attention. Though Terisa doesn't have children-and doesn't want them-she adores Matt and Vera's son, who calls her Auntie. Recently, the child asked his father who he loved more: Mommy or Terisa. "I said, 'Of course I love momma more,' because that's the answer he needed to hear," Matt says. He and Vera say they are honest with him, in an age-appropriate way. "We don't do anything any regular parents of a 6-year-old wouldn't do," he says. For the moment, it seems to be working. The child is happy, and there are two extra people to help him with his homework, or to pick him up or drop him off at school. They expect the questions to increase with age, but in the long run, "what's healthy for children is stability," says Fischer, the anthropologist.
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It's a new paradigm, certainly-and it does break some rules. "Polyamory scares people-it shakes up their world view," says Allena Gabosch, the director of the Seattle-based Center for Sex Positive Culture. But perhaps the practice is more natural than we think: a response to the challenges of monogamous relationships, whose shortcomings-in a culture where divorce has become a commonplace-are clear. Everyone in a relationship wrestles at some point with an eternal question: can one person really satisfy every need? Polyamorists think the answer is obvious-and that it's only a matter of time before the monogamous world sees there's more than one way to live and love. "The people I feel sorry for are the ones who don't ever realize they have any other choices beyond the traditional options society presents," says Scott. "To look at an option like polyamory and say 'That's not for me' is fine. To look at it and not realize you can choose it is just sad."