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ideaman's comments:
on The Slow Path to Adulthood
Being independent is a decision by parents to gently, and sometimes firmly, encourage children to get out on their own and the children's desire for, and confidence in, self reliance. When young people complain that being out in the world isn't working and living at home is the only way to cope, I wonder whatever happened to activism. If society isn't providing young people with careers, education, or relationships, young people need to be out in the streets protesting and organizing for change. Moving in with parents doesn't cut it. I learned a lot about independence when I realized asking for a handout was a cop-out. Instead of seeking support from loved ones as an excuse for personal responsibility, there comes a time when it's more adult to work for change in society and reap much larger rewards.
I do understand there are times when people fall on hard luck. But a six month respite at home is much different from six years' couch surfing, which seems to be where we're heading.
posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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on Wage Woes
And as if on cue, I hadn't read my copy of The Oregonian yet when I wrote the intial posting. On the front page is an article about Multnomah County paying a consultant $138,000 for a report to find cost savings in operations and no one has read it. So not only is government not interested in improving efficiency, they actually spend money on studies about it that get thrown in the dustbin with no action taken.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Wage Woes
Government, often in partnership with business, views growth as the solution to funding problems. The speaker remarked that if Portland incomes were on par with Seattle, we'd have $85 million more for schools. But Washington currently has a $5 billion budget shortfall. The fallacy in that line of reasoning is that growth brings in more people who demand more services, and providing more services that are already inefficient makes the problem worse, not better.
Sustainable thinking requires that we consider growth in tandem with efficiency in order to balance funding with expenses. We don't need higher wages if our cost of living is low. But we seldom hear discussions by policymakers about how to lower the cost of living. It's much easier to cheerlead for growth, because improving efficiency requires analysis, introspection, and auditing of public services. If the public wants a better quality of life, the first place to look is in how public services are delivered and what can be done to improve their efficiency while still providing what we need as a society.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Warming Up to Climate Change
As the country with the largest per capita carbon emissions, we could easily reduce them and be an example to the rest of the world by reducing population growth. If the dependent child tax deduction were reduced by 1/18th each year starting with children born after the phaseout starts, families would experience no economic impact for the children they already have. In 18 years, having a child would be a decision that parents would consider much more seriously and carbon emissions from the US population would be dramatically reduced.
We don't need miracle technologies to reduce carbon emissions, and if we had a smaller population, the technologies we develop would have a much better chance of making a meaningful impact.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on A Mighty Wind in Union County
Great ideas, Tom. I would also like to see a "local solar" public utility that would fund solar installations on places such as schools, warehouses, shopping centers, gyms, and other large buildings that have roof space to spare with the electricity going into the grid locally so it benefits the community by providing cheap renewable power. The problem with a lot of buildings in urban areas is that the occupant has no interest in generating power if it doesn't affect their own bill. A school isn't occupied in the summer when the sun is brightest, and a health club that uses lots of hot water and heating is leased from someone else who doesn't pay the power bill. So many large buildings have no incentive to install solar capacity. Instead, we are putting up wind turbines because the benefit goes directly to a farmer. What a crazy system.
We need a big overall look at the incentives and barriers to renewable energy in all its forms and statewide and nationwide strategies to make sure the money isn't rushing into one place just because of poor policy, as it is today.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on A Mighty Wind in Union County
Wind power has a host of problems. Out-of-state interests export their hunger for power to places such as Oregon where the turbines destroy our resources, not theirs. While some of the money does go to landowners, much of it goes to out-of-state corporations. The wind farms create noise, health problems for people, kill or impact wildlife, and destroy views of pristine landscape we once took for granted. The rest of us have to look at these monstrosities and don't get any benefit at all.
If you think wind farms don't have impact, look at http://www.lensjoy.com/Blog/windmills_are_coming.htm and see what they are doing to the view from the eastern Columbia Gorge.
People have been fooled into thinking that renewable energy has no environmental impact. It does, and it must be regulated for the impacts it creates just as we do for coal and other power sources. The government funded buildout of these wind farms is being done as if there is no impact at all, in the name of "green jobs and energy." While I am in favor of renewable energy, I am not in favor of putting it in under the guise of it being so clean it doesn't need the same due diligence we would give a coal-fired plant in our state. There need to be limits, and the public needs to have a say in how it's installed.
Development of wind farms must be slowed so we can understand the true impacts of the turbines on people, wildlife, and our scenic views and improve the technology, siting, and designs so that they reduce those impacts before it's too late or too costly to retrofit the existing projects with lower impact technology.
We can also do things that generate power without the dark side of wind through programs such as energy conservation and rooftop solar, which put the power right where it's used on buildings that already exist and don't impact views or wildlife.
Oregon ought to have an export tax on wind power to keep more of the power in our state, subsidize rooftop solar, and make others pay for the true cost of fixing the environmental damage of these projects.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Candidate Conversation: Chris Dudley
Mr. Dudley:
Can you please clarify your position on building a tribal casino in the Columbia Gorge town of Cascade Locks?
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Equal Protection for Sexual Minorities?
There is powerful cultural pressure in our society for gays to keep quiet. For all of you arguing that being out in the workplace qualifies as "special rights," Think about how often you talk about your family with coworkers during the day and with students if you're a teacher. It it OK to have photos of your spouse and kids on your desk? Why not your same-sex partner?
What's notable here is that the students in Mr. Stambaugh's class learned a valuable lesson from the experience: If you tell the truth, you could be fired from your job. Also, some people can tell the truth, while others are not allowed to. The "rules" behind who gets to be truthful and who must lie are difficult to ascertain, and often cloaked in secrecy. That is how our society really functions, and not how it should function. In his final act with his students Mr. Stambaugh did a lot of teaching, indeed.
Fourth graders in the 21st century are intelligent enough to understand the basics about what being gay means. Marriage is a topic they are capable of understanding, and discussion about it should not be off limits. They also can understand the idea that there is a debate in society about the rights of gay people, and it is not settled yet. If fourth graders are able to bully and tease about being gay, they are also ready to learn what's wrong with doing that through measured inquiry. Heterosexualist parents don't like to hear that because it means they can't as easily indoctrinate their kids with their own values, which the parents don't want to question. But part of being a good parent is letting your kids make their own decisions about the values they want to have, and to make the decision through examining a topic from many perspectives, not just the parents' one.
The recent spate of youth suicides leaves us with the responsibility to come together and challenge bigotry in every corner of life, not chastise those who speak out against it as Mr. Stambaugh did. When we deflect or cover up the inquiry, as some suggest, it does everyone a disservice and hampers the progress gay people are desperately seeking, and rightfully deserve.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Stories of Adoption and Adaptation
When asking, "What's the one thing you'd change about adoption?" the elephant in the room is increasing the number of potential adoptive parents through allowing adoption by same-sex couples. There are at least seven states where this is not allowed, and in most where it is it's still very difficult to do. There are additional areas where same-sex couple adoption is prohibited on a countywide basis.
I think a segment of this program devoted to exploring same-sex adoption would be interesting, for sure.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Candidate Conversation: Metro President
For both candidates:
What will you do to stop unincorporated areas from:
a) Being a dumping ground for density within the UGB without cities doing their part, and
b) Stopping the inequity of existing residents with larger, more expensive properties with higher taxes subsidizing services for new, denser construction with lower property value per resident?
An example to clarify the latter point is that a three-bedroom home at 1900 square feet on a 1/4 acre lot pays far more in school property taxes and other fees than a new three-bedroom row house at 1500 square feet on a lot barely larger than the home itself. Yet both houses have the same number of children using local schools, and place similar burdens on emergency services, traffic, and water.
If the candidates can add answers in writing to our posts, that will help others who can't hear the broadcast with their voting decision. Thanks!
posted 2 years, 8 months ago
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on Measure 75: Wood Village Casino
I plan to vote "yes" on the initiative. Why? A casino in Wood Village would be far better than the tribal casino proposed for Cascade Locks. The Wood Village casino would likely stop the Cascade Locks idea for good.
Wood Village has mass transit, so people wouldn't burn as much fuel or create as much congestion compared to driving to Cascade Locks. Wood Village is in the Portland metro area, so it won't create the kinds of environmental impact that a casino in the heart of the Columbia Gorge would. It won't clog I-84 with pollution and traffic, it wouldn't create fire danger in the windy and forested Gorge, and it won't put salmon and other wildlife at risk. Being in an urban area, it will be much easier to monitor crime and gambling addiction and keep those negative impacts under control compared to a casino in a small town far away from the city. I also like the idea that tax revenue will flow to the state compared to it only going to tribal coffers.
The Warm Springs tribe had plenty of time to do their project right and propose a site in Portland with revenue sharing for education and other state programs. They refused. They should not be rewarded for poor planning.
posted 2 years, 8 months ago
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on Making Economics from Lemonade
The reason this story resonates nationwide (it's on msn.com this morning) is that it highlights in a clear and simple way how government has intruded into areas where it clearly doesn't belong. Government doesn't have a clue about common sense.
It also eloquently shows that Oregon counties don't understand how to encourage small business.
posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Entrepreneurs
Oregon's job creation for small business is hobbled by the business property tax. If you run a small capital-intensive business that requires costly equipment, you'll be taxed on the value of the equipment with no regard to your profits. This skews the population of businesses out there toward ones that don't require much in the way of equipment. Restaurants, photographers, and tour operators who own their own vehicles are particularly hurt by the current tax system.
What would stimulate a wider variety of business creation is a means test on the business property tax so that you don't pay property taxes (or defer them) until there are sufficient profits to pay them.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Surviving the Quarter-Life Crisis
Some advice from a 50-year-old:
You can do anything, but there will be a price for doing anything, especially if you're not a virtuoso at it. Calculate the price and be willing to pay it. If you don't want to pay, find something else.
In the meantime, save five percent of your income every month. No excuses allowed. You will find that by making a small financial sacrifice when young, it will get easier later in life to do what you want. Don't expect a dream job when you're 22.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Suggest a Show
An interesting show topic is the sage grouse population decline. It turns out that in Oregon sage grouse can be legally hunted, and 900 birds per year on average are killed. You could invite representatives from Oregon Fish & Wildlife, Audubon, the Sierra Club, biologists, and others to talk about the issues facing the decline of this species. Recently the Obama administration refused to list the bird as endangered so the hunting continues. Should hunting be stopped? Can more habitat be protected? What new threats, such as wind power development, does the species face? There are lots of excellent discussion topics here.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Suggest a Show
This is a website design comment. When entering a comment to respond to an active show, there is a large blue button saying "Add your comment>>" above the editing window. Below is it a smaller gray button saying "submit comment."
More than once I've typed in a comment and clicked the blue button to try to enter it because I didn't notice the smaller "submit comment" button. If I do this, the comment is lost. I'll bet a lot of user comments are lost in this way.
It would be better design to disable or remove the big blue button when the editing window is active for comment entry, or to change its function so that when clicked it submits the comment. The gray "submit comment" button actually isn't needed in that case.
I'm sure frequent posters have this behavior down pat, but for occasional visitors, it would make the site far more usable and bring a larger group of contributors as well.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Mental Health and Homelessness
This is a situation crying out for philanthropy. Imagine if Phil Knight and others gave their millions to Cascadia and other crisis intervention and counseling services to create a national model for improving community mental health. That would do far more public good than college football.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Religious Clothing in the Classroom
In some ways, religious garb is speech, and in our country we have a right to free speech. There are restrictions on speech in the classroom, and those are based on the concept that the teacher is an authority figure. That's why political speech by a teacher is not allowed. It is OK for teachers to talk about candidates or issues in the classroom, but not to advocate a position. I think the same things apply for religious garb. Wearing a cross or a head scarf isn't imposing authority on students, but trying to convert them is.
In the end, I think we need to examine closely what free speech means in the classroom setting, and how religious speech and religious expression fit. When a student asks a teacher about clothing and the teacher must refuse to comment, that sounds to me that it is a restriction of the right to free speech.
I'm glad we live in a country where this teacher could at least share these realities on the air and that her students, hopefully, will hear what she said on the topic. There is clearly a disconnect in the law, and I hope that our government will eventually remedy that.
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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on The End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?
Two comments:
For those who said they were uncomfortable showering with gay people, I have news for them: In high school PE class, college PE, the community pool, and at the health club you've already been doing this. In the 40 years I've been in these situations, not once has something "strange" happened to me. Entertain the notion that this discomfort has nothing to do with gay people, and more about the person's insecurity with their own self. The military and civilian sectors have sexual harassment policies already in place that address any indiscretions in this situation quite well.
It makes no sense to bar participation from gay people in the military just because a person happens to be insecure. Try learning some tolerance and see just how much that will improve your own military performance.
For those who wonder why gays would want to be in the military, the answers are the same as they are for civilians who want to be in it: They are out of work and need the money. They need the discipline of the military at a tough time in their lives. They want to learn management skills. They have a unique skill and want to use it to serve their country. They need a way to pay for their education. They want to see the world. Those seem good enough to me.
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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on Inspired Solutions
There is a charity called "Dinner and a Movie" that provides just that to at-risk and homless youth in Portland. It fits the bill perfectly. http://www.dinnerandamoviepdx.com/
posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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