I cast my vote for Barack Obama today.  Oregon's ballots started to be mailed out on Friday, May 2nd and mine arrived on Saturday (3rd).  Though the official primary day is May 20th, we can begin voting as soon as we receive the ballot.  I decided to use a stamp to return mine (might as well use it before the postal rates go up), but there are drop boxes at various places around town (e.g. banks, libraries, etc.).  I think that's a good option for people who are uneasy about sending it by mail. Want to know more about this system and how it came to be?  How does it affect the Obama vs. Hillary primary? More after the fold.

Between his stops in Portland, OR and Eugene, OR, Barack Obama stopped in Salem for a town hall meeting.  Unlike the rallies at the other two locales, Barack spent about 25 minutes answering questions from the audience.  I took my camera along and decided to attend the event.  Though not the greatest due to some grain caused by low-light correction, I figured I would share them with the community and also some observations from the day.

I scanned looking for any diaries about the Greensburg, KS Tornado on the night of May 4, 2007 and didn't see any, so here goes a first diary.  This is one of those stories that will probably be in the news for a day and move on from most people's memories, but the massive tornado that hit Greensburg, KS on May 4th hits a little closer to home for me. Around 9:45 p.m. a tornado that was at least a mile wide tried to remove that town from the map. One of my aunts lives there, though reports are that she came through it physically ok.

(more below the fold)