Summer is almost over and the sun just came out!

School starts soon and I'm excited to get busy again, though the summer has been a nice break! Tomorrow is the WINGS conference and I will be there to capture some photo's and film. The Bandit will be on the web this year, with video's of important of events...WINGS being the first.
I'm also excited about an opportunity that has come my way....Americans For Prosperity (AFP) is hosting it's 2nd annual Defending The American Dream Summit in Washington D.C. and I am blessed to be one of a hand full of people who will be flown out by the Oregon AFP! Flying across the country to stay in a nice hotel and tour the Capitol is not something I thought I'd be doing anytime soon, though I have done some wishing.
Yet another thing I'm looking forward to is writing in the HIPFISH! My writing skills are rusty as I have been ridiculously lazy this summer, but thats what going back to school is for!
Clatsop Community College is one of my favorite places to be and learning is one of my favorite things to do!
oh and blogging...

Liberating Art & Skate Camp Sr. Project Video's!

If you go to www.youtube.com
and type 2LoveLiberty in the search engine you can see a few videos of local events!
~See what all the fuss is about at the Liberating Art show at the Astoria PAC,
~See 5 young skaters give a Pacifica Project Presentation at the Seaside Convention Center

Liberating Art & ANOTHER COLLEGE BOND

At the most recent Clatsop Community College Board meeting, Karen Mellin resigned. Her letter of resignation can be viewed at
www.northcoastoregon.com
I have not yet spoke in depth with Ms. Mellin (she is visiting her grandkids) but I know from her letter that we share many of the same concerns. Though a great deal of attention is given to the Bond issue, and the rude comments Board Member Larry Sparks made about the Liberating Art event, I believe that the morale of the college employees is equally, if not more, important!
I watched as the Board dealt with the Classified Employees and I did my nest to shed light on the issue through The Bandit, however, I do not believe that the contract finally agreed upon was sufficient enough!
As for Larry Sparks and the Bond Measure....
anyone who read the June Issue of The Bandit knows how I feel about Mr. Sparks, and you can look forward to the November issue for information on the "it's only" $5 million Bond Measure!!!! ha ha!
To read The Bandit online go to www.clatsopcollege.com and click on Student Newspaper!

Clatsop County Politics!

I always say, "If you can't laugh at life, it will drive you crazy!"

Here in my home town, politics are a joke! Though, I guess thats how politics everywhere are though....making a joke of Democracy! I mean really, all the he-said, she-said crap is so reminiscent of high school! And don't get me started on that North/South County divide....the locals have simply never left the sidelines of the Clatsop Clash Football Game! (where the hell is the popcorn?)
Anyhow....a good example of our "Democracy in Action" is the Seaside Urban Renewal Agency Budget Committee!
You see, a couple years ago (when I was the whopping age of 22) I applied for a position on the Seaside Budget Committee....and obviously I didn't get it, I was the only applicant without a degree and/or a successful business, and by FAR the youngest (and the only one from the working class.) Instead, however, they gave me a seat on the Urban Renewal Agency Budget Committee...I heard someone call it the consolation prize!
So, I was very excited, and I spent months researching and studying the budget process and learning about tax dollars and government bonds and all of this fun stuff. I get all dressed up for our annual meeting, and had been going over the budget for weeks in advance....when I got there I realized I was over-dressed and probably the most prepared. (still the youngest and least educated)
Then our City Manager, who also acts as City Accountant (seems like a shady concentration of powers to me) said, "alright now lets all sit down and vote yes so we can go home quick!'
He started to go over the Budget and about half-way through, one of the City Councilors turns around and whispers to me..."I know this is all like Greek to you, but we just have to have a certain number of people to get through this, we'll be done soon!'
Did the Councilor just call me stupid?
Well, either way......I explained to the Councilor that I fully understood what was being discussed and simply wished it were taken more seriously.
I mean....we're voting on MILLIONS of tax dollars...and no one had any questions, no concerns, no nothing....just a group of mindless drones saying "Aye" when they are told! and the questions I had were such an annoyance!
Well, for this years meeting I wore jeans!
....I can't even figure out what to do about the joke of a Democracy in my own home county...how will I ever know what to do about the lack of true Democracy in our Country???
Advice from any elders would be much appreciated....as of now, all I can do is laugh.....
if I didn't laugh.....the joke of a Republic that we are supposed to live under would drive me crazy!