Oregon (pronounced The pronunciation /oɹɪgɑn/, while common, is seen as incorrect by Oregonians.) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean, California, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Its northern border lies along the Columbia River and the eastern border lies along the Snake River. Two north-south mountain ranges—the Pacific Coast Range and the Cascade Mountain Range—form the two boundaries of the Willamette Valley, one of the most fertile and agriculturally productive regions in the world.

Oregon has one of the most diverse landscapes in the nation. It is well known for its tall, dense forests and its accessible, scenic Pacific coastline. Other areas include the semiarid scrublands, prairies, and deserts that cover approximately half the state in eastern and north-central Oregon. It is one of the few places in the Northern Hemisphere where lift-serviced alpine skiing is available year round.

Oregon's population in 2000 was 3,421,399, a 20.4% increase over 1990. The Census Bureau estimated Oregon's population to have reached 3,594,586 by 2004.

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USATODAY.com Nation - Top Stories

Detroit mayor jailed after bond violation
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:32:03 -0000
A federal judge ordered Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail Thursday for violating the terms of his bond in his perjury case, a decision ...
Texas executes immigrant after winning court fight
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:36 -0000
An illegal immigrant who claimed his treaty rights were violated when he was arrested for a robbery and murder has been executed ...
Mom: Walkie-talkie picks up trashy trucker talk
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:11:18 -0000
A West Virginia mother is seeking the recall of a popular walkie-talkie after her 3-year-old's toy apparently intercepted a conversation ...
Families with children from China embracing Games
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:00:55 -0000
For 11-year-old Nicole Stevens, the Olympics in Beijing are more than a showcase of the world's best athletes. They're a portal ...
Demographic landscape shifts across United States
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:17:25 -0000
White populations have fallen in more than 50% of counties since 2000, making minorities the majority in more communities.
At least 9 killed in Ariz. SUV rollover
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:47:53 -0000
A sport-utility vehicle packed with suspected illegal immigrants flipped over on a rural highway southwest of Phoenix, killing ...

The Economist: United States

Lexington: Obama fatigue
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0000
Is America beginning to weary of "Yes we can"?THE most politically potent emotion of the past 18 months has been Obamamania. This condition allowed a neophyte senator from Illinois to seize his party's nomination from the jaws of the formidable Clinton machine. The big question now hanging over American politics is whether Obamamania is giving way to Obama fatigue. Mr Obama has everything going for him in the race for the White House. Almost 80% of Americans think that the country is heading in the wrong direction. People are disgruntled with George Bush's Republicans and worried sick about the economy. Mr Obama is also running a far better campaign than his rival--smooth and professional where the McCain campaign is slapdash and amateurish. ...
Bioterrorism: A mystery unravelled
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0000
The facts behind America's first anthrax attackA MONTH after the attacks of September 11th 2001, a letter arrived in the office of Patrick Leahy, a senator from Vermont. It read: "You cannot stop us. We have this anthrax. You die now. Are you afraid? Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is great." Accompanying the note--one of at least five such letters sent to government and news offices--was a cache of the deadly powder that shut down Capitol Hill, killed five people and terrified an already shell-shocked country. Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein topped the list of suspects shortly after the attack. They were easy villains. But nearly seven years later federal authorities believe the real perpetrator was Bruce Ivins, a long-time anthrax researcher at Fort Detrick in Maryland, who apparently committed suicide on July 29th, just as investigators were preparing to file charges against him. ...
Denver: Beer and snowballs
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0000
Preparing to welcome the Democrats, at a priceTHE last time Denver played host to the Democratic convention, it pulled out all the stops. A new auditorium was built. Brass bands greeted weary delegates as they arrived at the railway station. Snow was hauled in from the Rocky Mountains so that delegates could cool down with a summer snowball fight. That was in 1908. This year will be even better--and greener. Delegates can cruise around on 1,000 bicycles. A fleet of convention cars will run on "waste-beer" ethanol provided by a local brewery. And the city centre will be covered with recycling bins and reusable water bottles. Organisers promise "an historic event". ...
The swing states: Colorado: Suburban cowboys
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0000
How a reliably red state ended up in the purple campIN ONE episode of "South Park", a potty-mouthed cartoon set in Colorado, a film festival comes to town. At first the locals are delighted. The visitors boost the economy and the films, which feature gay cowboys eating pudding, are better than expected. But the festival turns out to be a dastardly scheme, devised by Californians, to ruin pretty mountain towns and turn them into versions of Los Angeles. The natives must fight back.This is pretty much how Coloradoans view their state. Not so long ago, the natives will tell you, it was a beautiful place filled with hardy individualists--"a leave-me-alone kind of state", according to Jon Caldara of the conservative Independence Institute. It was also solidly Republican. Since the 1960s Colorado has voted for a Democratic president only once, in 1992, when Ross Perot and George Bush senior split the Republican vote. Then the Californians and other newcomers arrived, sprinkling their monstrous houses over the hills and upending the state's politics. ...
A House race in Texas: The sweet spot
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0000
Republicans are looking for redemption in Tom DeLay's old districtLAST month George Bush flew to Houston to raise money for a little-known congressional candidate. It was a private event, but a rogue attendee recorded his remarks. First the president analysed the trouble on Wall Street. "It got drunk and now it's got a hangover," he explained. Then he kidded around about foreclosures: "And then we got a housing issue, not in Houston, and evidently, not in Dallas, because Laura was over there trying to buy a house today."The political headwinds favour Democrats this year, and they will probably increase their narrow majority in the House of Representatives. But Republicans have hopes for a handful of spots around the country. Chief among them is the 22nd District of Texas, a sprawling tangle of strip malls and subdivisions round Sugar Land, south of Houston. It is a conservative place; Mr Bush won almost two-thirds of its vote in 2004. Jokes about the housing crisis could kill a campaign in some parts of the country, but the regional economy is rollicking along in these fast-growing suburbs. So the Republican challenger, Pete Olson, is insulated from certain national trends. He even had a fund-raiser with the vice-president, Dick Cheney, in June. ...
One great brain v many small ones: The trouble with Friedman
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0000
A doughty free-marketeer sparks controversy from the graveEVERY big university has a scholar whose legacy lingers in hallways and classrooms, auditoriums and leafy quadrangles. At the University of Chicago no man looms larger than Milton Friedman, the Nobel laureate who led the "Chicago school" of economics and who died in 2006. When the university announced plans for a $200m economics institute in May, it seemed fitting that the centre should be named after him. But a small war broke out. On June 6th more than 100 faculty members wrote to the university's president to protest against the institute. Armed with academia's common weapons, indignation and verbosity, they said they were all "disturbed by the ideological and disciplinary preference implied by the university's massive support for the economic and political doctrines that have extended from Friedman's work", and pleaded for time for discussion. The university has ploughed ahead. The institute was launched in July, though the search for a director continues. ...

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