Salem-News.com Government articles

President Obama Awards Nation`s Highest Honors for Scientific and Technological Achievements

Remarks by the President at the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation Ceremony. East Room, 1:52 EDT. HERE IS THE ENTIRE SPEECH:

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - THE PRESIDENT:

...So this nation owes all of you an enormous debt of gratitude far greater than any medal can bestow. And we recognize your contributions, but we also celebrate the incredible contributions of the scientific endeavor itself.

We see the promise -- not just for our economy but for our health and well-being -- in the human capacity for creativity and ingenuity.

Salem Tourism Group Adopts New Moniker and Sets Bar for Visitor Information

Travel Salem makes biggest move in its 25-year history.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Reinvention is the name of the game for the Salem Convention and Visitors Association (SCVA). The Association changed its name, has secured a new downtown location for its headquarters, and is expanding visitor information to two locations on Interstate 5.

The Association, formerly known as SCVA, will now be Travel Salem. The new name is more concise, a call to action, and is in line with recent name changes within the industry such as Travel Oregon and Travel Portland.

Travel Salem coined their new downtown destination visitors center the “Salem Travel Café.” This state-of-the-art destination visitors center will be designed to showcase the region’s amenities and economic development opportunities, and will serve as the hub for driving visitation and economic impact to the region.

An Iraq War Veterans` Welcome Home to Remember (SLIDESHOW)

Salem-News.com photojournalist Tim King has returned from Iraq, where he spent several weeks embedded with an Oregon Guard unit. Along the way he witnessed a hero's welcome at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport for soldiers and Marines returning home from Iraq.

(DALLAS, Tx.) - It isn't often that a legacy can change.

The sound of clapping hands is an unexpected greeting for soldiers and Marines returning home from the war in Iraq. Too many stories about mistreated Vietnam vets leave an expectation of something totally different.

In fact, it takes a moment for these troops returning home on the military R&R flights to even comprehend the idea of dozens and dozens of people gathered there to simply welcome them home, but that is what happens almost every day at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in Texas.

TODAY is Last Day to Register to VOTE in Oregon

Voting is a right, and a privilege. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this historical election, registration ENDS TODAY in Oregon.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Have you registered to vote? If you've moved recently, you might want to make sure, as Tuesday, October 14th is the last day to register.

Oregon is a vote-by-mail state, and because Oregon is considered to be 'in play', it would be wrong to not properly be represented, and to have the fate of the state/country/world determined by hardcore minority on either side.

FORMS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT:

www.sos.state.or.us/elections

YOU MAY REGISTER TO VOTE IN OREGON, IF:
1. You are a resident of Oregon.
2. You are a citizen of the United States of America.
3. You are at least 17 years of age.

US Drug Czar Mis-Used Marijuana Statistics as Scare Tactics While Arrests Soar, Reports Reveal

The US House of Representatives celebrates the end of alcohol prohibition, while marijuana users are still considered criminals.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The major U.S. government study of drug use shows that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has badly failed to meet its own goals for reducing use of marijuana and other illegal drugs, according to a pair of new reports by George Mason University senior fellow Jon Gettman, Ph.D.

In addition, ONDCP and its chief, "Drug Czar" John Walters, have misused treatment statistics to suggest that marijuana is dangerously addictive when the government's own data suggest that arrest-driven treatment admissions have wasted tax dollars by treating thousands who were not truly drug-dependent. All while the FBI's new tally is the highest marijuana arrest total ever-reported in law enforcement history.

Oregon Army National Guard Soldier Killed By IED In Afghanistan

According to the DOD, as of September 23, 2008, there have been 601 total Enduring Freedom US Casualties*.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The DoD has announced that 32-year old Captain Bruno Giancarlo de Solenni, of the Oregon Army National Guard died of wounds sustained when an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) detonated near his vehicle near Kandahar, Afghanistan on September 20th.

Two Afghan interpreters were also killed and two soldiers were wounded in the explosion.

Capt. de Solenni and the Counter Narcotics Infantry Kandak Embedded Training Team were enroute from a Forward Operating Base to the Kandahar Air Field when an IED detonated destroying their vehicle.

PTSD: VA Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics

Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician Pharmacologist and Toxicologist. After surviving WWII, he went on to treat veterans for years who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I’m getting so I’m not surprised at anything adverse about the VA, The Army, George Bush.

A recent email from Paul Sullivan Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense brought the following information:
(1) Bush sent 1.7 million to Iraq, etc
(2) 860,000 are eligible for VA assistance
(3) 347, 750 have been diagnosed and treated
(4) 147,744 diagnosed with mental problems
(5) 75,719 diagnosed with PTSD

I stand corrected. It is much worse than I ever imagined.

Gas Prices Decline but Crude Oil Rallies With Largest One-Day Gain Ever

What does all of this mean for prices at the pumps in the coming weeks?

(SALEM, Ore.) - Gas prices show another hefty drop this week, with the national average plummeting 13 cents, and the Oregon average for regular unleaded losing eight cents.

Oregonians are still enjoying prices below the national average, but the price of crude skyrocketed yesterday, posting its largest one-day gain ever. And many areas are still facing tight supplies as refineries slowly come back online in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

DC Heist - Wall Street Gang Hijacks Washington

On the evening of September 18th 2008, the American democratic system was replaced by a financial dictatorship.

(RHINEBECK, NY) - What was billed as a "Federal Bailout" was nothing less than a bloodless coup. The Wall Street Gang had taken over the White House and control of Washington. Congress promised not to resist, and pledged to pass legislation as demanded.

Warning that America's financial system was perilously close to collapse unless immediate action was taken, economic martial law was declared.

The American people were told that from this day forward, they would be responsible for paying off the bad debt from any failing private financial enterprise deemed "too big to fail."

Op Ed: `Miracle of Markets` Myth
Manipulates U.S. Money System

“Greed is GOOD!” Proves Fatal Economic Nostrum

(EUGENE, Ore.) - Remember that messianic line: “Greed is good!”? It came from Ronald Reagan Himself, the “It’s Morning Again in America” actor, playing his now-notorious role as our American President.

Don’t forget the rest of the routine. He never did: “Government IS the problem. It NEVER does anything right.”

His other major pitch was “the miracle of markets” declaring “free trade”-markets “make automatic always-right decisions” on every issue imaginable.

John McCain echoes the Bush II neocon cabal in every respect, on the same now-collapsed economic mythology.

We are now learning --the very-hard, extremely costly, painfully-punishing way-- how wrong Reagan was on those mythical mind-messages.