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First, this from scathing "Market Place Morning Report" right here on OPB which accuses MLS of "overinflating" David Beckham's "salary"

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=marketplace/morning_report/2009/02/16/marketplace_morning_report0550_20090216_64&starttime=00:04:17.5&endtime=00:07:03.92

The same report also gives us an insiders peek into the dysfunction and false hype coming out of MLS.

David Beckham, IS MLS. He is the insider's insider.

He wants to leave MLS.

Why?

Listen to the report.

Basically Beckham is calling MLS small potatoes.

Beckham is using pretty strong language and sending us a very clear message ... don't trust Major League Soccer.

That said, "Soccer City U.S.A." is a misnomer created by former members of the Bush/Paulson multi-million dollar marketing team.

Need proof?

Google "soccer city usa" and look carefully at the dates listed on your search results.

Hmmmm, 2008 and 2009.

Just about when the Henry Paulson and Merritt Paulson plan was hatched.

In fact, on some result sites ... like the one at the top of the page ... you'll see no dates at all.

Why is it the first result?

Page hits.

Page hits can be generated with software programs designed to "hit" that page (like robo-calling) over and over to move it to the top of Google search results.

Need more proof?

Portland does not have a professional soccer team.

It's curious then that we're "soccer city usa"?

That's like claiming that Portland is "baseball city usa" because we have the Beavers.

Let's talk about "job creation".

Laws prohibit Portland from protectionism.

The city council can not guarantee that ANY jobs created by construction be given to Portlanders, or even Oregonians.

The same thing goes for the minimum wage, part time, summer jobs that will be "created".

This means, for example, that someone from Vancouver can compete and apply for any job and offer to do that job at a smaller salary.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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sam scanda;
Pete Colt here and I'm LMAO & ROTFL.

When I was 17+ I NEVER went out with anyone who wasn't at least 5, 10, 15, 20 years older than me.

I didn't want to waste my time ? or my charms ? on immature guys my age.

Now that I'm the "older man" I'm FINALLY part of the age group that I've found attractive most of my life. Whoo Hoo!

C?mon people, there will always be younger attracted to older just like there will be older attracted to younger.

Good for Breedlove and good for Adams.

They probably had wild monkey sex and isn't that what most people want when they monkey around?

I've yet to hear anyone say, "Man! It was the most boring sex I've ever had and I fell asleep in the middle of it and now I can't wait to see him again!"

Speaking of older with younger, and the pot calling the kettle, ?Queen,? there's multi-millionaire Bob Ball, who when last heard from had a live-in lover who was an 18 year old Starbucks barista.

Like Adams and Breedlove, I hope Coffee Boi and Ball are having a ball. Literally. And I hope they?re finally buying Stumptown or World Cup coffee.

A few more thoughts.

There's no drama like gay drama. It's, if you'll pardon the expression, "easy to get sucked into."

We write Hollywood. We write TV.

We develop the talent for hearsay, innuendo, and gossip when we hang out with our straight girl friends in Junior High and long after these girls become women and moms we gay men become "doggie daddies" and that means that we can hone our hearsay, innuendo, and gossip skills without fear of intelligent life calling us on our behavior ... or our sagging butts.

And my observation is that the more closely knit the gay community the more drama we breed. (see ... we DO breed after all) This happens in bars, in community centers, and in politics.

There?s a reason that there?s a sarcastic old gay expression. ?Love you like family. Mean it.?

The bottom line is that we gay men are just like you straight men AND you straight women. We?re a combo platter.

We have the same human failings, reach the same human heights, and, when backed into a corner and at risk of losing everything we?ve worked hard to build, we have the same propensity to protect what we built.

Hey. Don?t hate us cause we?re like you.

And Commissioner Amanda Fritz, my respect for your compassion, pragmatism, insight, and calm grows deeper every day.

In this situation, you have been the city council's voice of understanding, measure, and reason.

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
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You're the type of person that this conversation is about.

You know the law.

You break the law.

You rationalize and justify your illegal and potentially dangerous behavior.

Maybe you see your dog as a person? As equal to women and men?

Always remember that dogs, including yours, are PRIVATE PROPERTY.

They can be bought, sold, given away, and euthanized.

Just as there is no public responsibility to change your car's oil, inflate your car's tires, or repair your roof, there is no entitlement to public responsibility to care for your private property.

This includes providing parks or places to run your private property off-leash.

Off-leash parks are a courtesy, not a right.

Tennis players ARE the public.

One tennis player has more value than any and every dog on this planet.

If you can't see that, then I'm afraid of you.

If you don't own a piece of property big enough to let your dog run free on it, maybe it's time to either buy some land, follow the laws, or not own dogs.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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HAHAHAHAHAHA! OMG! Sooooooo Funny!

Thanks for the belly laugh!

Pete

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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Philosophy and ethics are relative.

They really boil down to one's opinion.

I disagree with Zack.

The man who ran 2 blocks to hand Beth the bag of dog feces she left in his driveway is absolutely in the right.

Beth was breaking the law.

Beth was breaking the social contract.

Zack made excuses for Beth's illegal and anti-social behavior by making Beth, the person who desecrated the man's private space, the "victim" of an imaginary assault.

In addition to making excuses for Beth's illegal and anti-social behavior, Zack provided Beth with the "rapist's defense" in which the perpetrator tries to blame the victim by saying, "If she hadn't been wearing that tight dress I never would have raped her."

Beth, like many other dog owners, should never own a dog. A dog is not a human.

Never will be.

Dog owners like Beth anthromorphosize and then blame their dog(s) for the bad behavior that they, as the dog(s) owner are responsible for.

This makes the dog owner feel no responsibility or guilt for THEIR actions by blaming the dog.

Witness Beth's dog "deciding" to go on private property. I've owned dogs all my life and when I the HUMAN, tug on the leash, the dog follows me and can't poop.

The ironic twist is that the permissive dog owner(s) is seen, by his or her own dog(s), as the pack's second-class beta-male or beta-female.

This then means that the permissive dog owner's dog (not plural because in the pack there is only one alpha) instinctively sees itself as the pack's alpha male or female .... the boss.

It's at once amusing, sad, yet frightening to think that a fellow human being would unravel the social contract and value himself or herself so little that he or she would surrender his or her humanity to an animal from the order, carnivora, which, by the way, gives us the name of the teeth, canines, used to cut and tear flesh.

As hysterically funny as it is to see dog owners in public bent over day after day ... after day ... after day ... after night ... after night ... after night picking up feces, bagging it like groceries, and then carrying it like a treasured relique or expensive clutch purse it has to be done.

Dog feces is toxic. It is raw sewage. It contains E-coli, Leptospira, round worms, hookworm, tapeworm, and other disease that easily infect humans.

Dogs off-leash in human play ares are dangerous. They dig holes in the sod that lead to twisted ankles and broken bones, and if there's an open cut, possible infection.

Dogs off-leash degrade the environment. They disrupt mating, attack wild life (and people) and their feces percolates directly into our region's groundwater.

http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=45207

http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=39526&a=151190

http://www.portlandonline.com/index.cfm?mode=search&search_action=SearchResults

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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Hello Ms. Harris. Hello Mr. Miller.

I hope this finds all well in your worlds.

Thank you for this conversation about the Portland mayoral race.

To open, let's not do what some others have done which is unfair and compare Sho Dozono to George Bush or Mitt Romney simply because each claims that because he ran a business, he can run a government.

Let's talk about apples and oranges instead.

We have two professionals: One experienced in government and the other in business.

Sam Adams states he has years of experience in government as a result of being both an unelected then elected official.

Sho Dozono states he has years of experience in business as a result of running a travel agency.

Now, let's compare two more professionals, one an eye surgeon and the other a heart surgeon.

Just as one would not want a heart surgeon performing delicate eye surgery ... one would not want an eye surgeon performing delicate heart surgery.

Why then would Mr. Dozono be qualified to run a government any more than Mr. Adams would be qualified to run a travel agency?

The correct answer is that because of years of turning mistakes into learning experiences and moving up the ladder in the travel industry Mr. Dozono is qualified to run travel agencies ... and ... because of years of turning mistakes into learning experiences and moving up the ladder in city government, Mr. Adams is qualified to run cities.

Mr. Adams is NOT qualified to run a travel agency any more than Mr. Dozono is qualified to run a city.

In closing.

Sam Adams has put himself under the public microscope for years.

We all already know what Sam Adams brings to the table.

This means that we have the luxury to look more closely at what Mr. Dozono brings to the table.

Here?s what Mr. Dozono is asking us to judge him on.

Integrity: http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/03/dozonos-off-bea.html

http://www.localnewsdaily.com/news/story.php?story_id=120329061073574900

And these questions:

Does Mr. Dozono favor Wal-Mart and multi-national big business over small and mid-size local businesses? http://news.opb.org/article/candidates-mayor-portland-face/

Does Mr. Dozono favor the Oregon Petroleum Industry over Eco-Transportation? http://wweek.com/editorial/3408/10180/

Is Mr. Dozono divisive, pitting one side of the river against the other side of the river as in the Sauvie Island Bridge move? Is Mr. Dozono not interested in uniting us for our common good? Is Mr. Dozono playing the us vs. them income/class card by saying the Sauvie Island Bridge move is: ?... special interest to cater to the people of Northwest Portland and the Pearl District,? that would be good for only a ?handful of people.? http://bikeportland.org/2008/04/21/adams-dozono-trade-views-on-sauvie-span-at-city-club-debate/
Mr. Dozono's words lead us to believe that protecting the lives of about 2,000 children who live in or use the area where the Sauvie Island Bridge will be installed is not an issue.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1208820321312020.xml&coll=7
And if the safety of those 2,000 children is no concern to Mr. Dozono, one has to ask, whose children do matter to Mr. Dozono?

And Mr. Dozono has said time and time again during this campaign that he favors the top-down CEO business model because he doesn't need to know policy since, as Mr. Dozono says, he'll hire all the policy wonks he needs to run a city.

While Mr. Adams has said time and time again during this campaign that he takes great pleasure in being a policy wonk.

We all know that people who love what they do do it better ... and the reward is in the doing and giving.

The Oregonian reports that Mr Adams has declined $7,452.00 in pay raises.

Right now our wonderful Portland is at a crossroad.

Some reasons are The Portland Plan, Central City Plan, and Comprehensive Plan are in the process of being updated.

In effect, this mayoral race guides Portland?s Road Map for the next 20 years.

Which candidate has the integrity, youthful energy, values detail, understands city, state, and federal government policy and budgeting;
http://www.masstransitmag.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=2478
and has earned, progressively more hands-on experience in the intricacies of Portland city government while brining new jobs to Portland?


That's the man who should be mayor.

posted 5 years ago
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Voter Owned Elections is a Success!

Look!

Emily Boyle ? BUSTED!
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=bbicib&c=djfeg
For violations of spending guidelines by prepaying for a one-year lease. Boyles was also cited on April 26 for additional penalties for paying too much for the services of her daughter and Vladimir Golovan, as well using public funds to pay for a telephone in her residence and to repay debts to campaign consultants. Boyles must repay the $144,905 she received in public financing and $14,000 in penalties, plus 12 percent interest.
Currently===============Balance remaining: $70,000


Vladimir Golovan ? BUSTED!
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/07/golovan_guilty_of_10_crimes.html
For exploiting loopholes in the city's fledging public financing system to enrich himself. He went on trial June 25 on 12 felony charges, including aggravated theft, forgery and identity theft, in connection with the 2006 campaign. Golovan forged the signatures and stole the identities of possibly several hundred Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.
Currently=====9 months in prison and then possible deportation.


Sho Dozono ? BUSTED!
http://news.opb.org/article/no-public-funds-dozono/
For violating Voter Owned Elections? campaign limit of $12,000 from a single party by accepting a poll worth $27,295.
The technical problem boils down to the question of whether conducting a poll makes you a candidate. The city auditor said ?no,? but the administrative judge overruled and said 'yes.' The judge?s decision means Dozono will lose public funding.
But Dozono doesn?t blame the auditor for a bad decision, or his supporters behind the poll, or the election rules.
Currently================Sho Dozono blames his loss of public financing on commissioner and rival-for-mayor, Sam Adams. Dozono will decide this upcoming week if he?ll break his pledge to not run for office if he didn?t qualify for public financing.

THE VOTER OWNED ELECTIONS SYSTEM WORKS!

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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Thank you, Mr. Miller, for making the time to reply to every post here.

And thanks to you, Ms. Harris, for bringing your considerable skills back to Oregon and for sharing them with us.

I believe that a conversation that's slipped through the cracks is one concerning my/our actions that have both immediate and long term implications in terms of my/our dependence on foreign oil, dependence on LNG , global warming, pollution, sustainability, food costs, poverty, starving children, developing economies, health care, and very limited natural resources.

It's a topic that's difficult and uncomfortable for me to discuss and it's difficult for me to admit to my own contributions to the problem and it's difficult to come to terms with the fact that I need to change my "lifestyle", which I'll do with great reluctance.

The problem is pet ownership ... and my "carbon paw-print"

I stumbled upon this article: http://www.nysun.com/article/57294?page_no=1
I consider myself a "liberal", and after much thought and soul searching I have to disagree with Elizabeth Powers when she calls me, a liberal, a "hypocrite".

A hypocrite is someone who knows better, acts in opposition to that knowledge, and then denies his or her actions.

Although I disagree with Elizabeth Powers' labeling, I do agree with her facts.

All my life I've owned very large dogs: Great Danes, Doberman Pinschers, and at one point, three German Shepherds at the same time.

I've owned and loved many cats, too, and for almost a year I also fed 39 feral cats on a daily basis.

And I was in the Veterinary Corp when I was in the military.

However, now that I've been educated about my carbon paw-print and now that I know better, I can't, with a clear conscience, continue to own pets.

When my sweet Kramer, now 13, passes away, I won't own another pet.

The ramifications of my actions will not be in some distant, or even near, future ... the ramifications of my actions will be immediate.

At this point in time, we can't afford to not act individually because we know the consequences of our actions or inactions both here in the Northwest and globally.

I hope you'll consider tackling this difficult subject which has slipped through the cracks.

In closing, Mother Teresa said, "It is a poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

I can't help but think that by feeding Kramer, I'm driving up the cost of food for some poor mother in some developing country because I'll pay more for a corn, wheat, or other crop to feed my dog, and I'll pay more for the meat to feed my dog than she can afford to pay to feed her child.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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