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ktkatekate's comments:

on High Speed Momentum

I am a resident of Milwaukie, and live right next to the tracks.  We will soon be adding MAX transit to the amount of train traffic past our house.  While I am quite fond of the sound of train activity and like the privacy that it affords us, I have to object to the argument that this is all about choking off traffic at important roadways.  Our tracks cross Harrison and 37th and frequently back up commuter traffic; not to mention stalling traffic at SE 12th St, Stark, Madison, and other junctions in inner SE Portland.  

I find it interesting that the dialog is not focusing on the audial and visual blight that many people think trains make in a town, and how neighborhood associations with much funding and participation, such as you would find in affluent Lake Oswego, have a louder say in this conversation than associations that are cash-strapped and struggle with low attendance.  It is the trend, not the exception, for mass transit to run through poorer neighborhoods because of this point, NOT because Lake Oswego's traffic concerns are more important than Milwaukie's.

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on The Meaning of Marriage

As a woman who has been "married" to another female for three years via a ceremony performed before our family, friends, and loved ones, I have an invested stake in the outcome of these sorts of conversations.  I have an intimate desire to see understanding, empathy, and change spring out of often heated and conflictual discussions, but that is often not what I see.  

What I see instead is intense fear from either side.  On the pro-marriage-for-all side, I see a deep seated fear of Other People deciding our fate, of further keeping us from equity, the pursuit of happiness, and the right to be self-determined.

What I see from marriage-between-a-man-and-woman folk, is a I see a deep seated fear of Other People deciding our fate, fundamentally changing the deepest core values of our community, exposing us to unfamiliar and often scary newness, and taking our right to be self-determined.

The very real fear that either side feels keeps us from listening.  It keeps us from understanding.  It keeps us from embracing change.  For both sides: if your goal is to have some resolution with this topic, the first task is to understand your own fear, and then to listen.  Perhaps even listen without judgment and without accusation.  You may find some commonality if you do so, which can move the discussion forward.

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Public Nudity

Nudity is highly linked to sexuality because of messages we have received from popular media.  This discussion cannot be had without at least mentioning the powerful messages that loosely regulated movies, sitcoms, magazines, and music give to our bodies.  Children and adults see and hear that our bodies are made for attracting people of the opposite sex, for giving sexual pleasure, or for humiliation every day, every minute.  Even popular kid's shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy show only one asinine and basal picture of what our bodies mean.  While I believe that nudity in itself is benign and simply a matter of not putting clothes on, we cannot ignore the loaded messages that the greater population has about our naked bodies.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Stun Guns

One major difference between being willingly exposed to electric shocks and being tased against your will is the psychological harm that occurs.  The gentleman speaking was prepared for an unpleasant experience.  People who are coming face to face with an armed policeperson will also experience fear, surprise, anger, and terror, which inflict ongoing harm on their psyche.  This is the damage that I have problems with, and which are unaddressed in your speaker's commentary.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Measure 67

It sounds like this measure stands to most greatly effect those businesses that employ people living the closest to poverty.  It worries me that this measure may close down small, locally owned businesses, while the larger corporate businesses dealing in millions of dollars will have more of a cushion.  Are we unwittingly compromising our business diversity?

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Reporting Abuse

I have had the misfortune to make many mandatory reports on youth that I work with.  My experience with DHS correspondents is always the same: there is not enough information to warrant an in-depth investigation, and the "information will be put on the child's record." I have several deep problems with this situation: first, the legal requirements for information that warrants reporting is intentionally vague: a bruise in an odd place, hoarding food, or distress at going home are all grounds for suspected abuse, but in and of themselves prove nothing.  The mandatory reporter is then left with the difficult choice of asking the child for more information and risking re-trauma or distress, or reporting with vague information, both of which have negative consequences.  Second, the reporting itself is often traumatic for a child, because they often feel that they have compromised their family.  Third, this system is set up to connect abuse with the child, not the perpetrator. Thus, if a child is abused by a step-parent, there is no way to protect any other children that have relationships with that adult, unless the child mentions them by name.  It is also extremely difficult to connect multiple instances of abuse with different children to one adult.  This system seems to punish the child, rather than the perpetrator.

While I am deeply dissatisfied with the child protection system, I also know that it is not helpful to point fingers solely at the people working within it.  They do work with an extremely stressful population, are overworked, underfunded, and must, for their own survival, adopt some level of callousness.  I personally feel that this is one situation where the "village" must step in: family members must become more involved, neighbors must make an effort to know their neighbors, and above all, good, kind, well-rounded adults must consider becoming foster parents.  If indeed a child makes it through the 7-10 reports it requires to get a home visit by DHS and are put in foster care, their well-being deeply depends on the quality of care they will receive there.  If you are listening to this show, I highly encourage you to give the ultimate gift and become a foster parent.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Guiding the Willamette

I've always dreamed of having an outrigger or kayak to commute with!  As a dragonboater on the Willamette in the spring and summer, I love being connected to the water life.  However, I do notice that any time i have a scratch that gets in the water repeatedly, it takes months to heal!  There's something fishy about that water...

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on Fishery or Laboratory?

As you talk of sports fishing versus science, you leave out one crucial player in this discussion: wildlife.  The lake is slowly coming back to life.  I'm not aware if anyone knows if it is fully recovered in all of its diversity, down to the algae and minute insects that make a lake a fully functioning ecosystem, but prematurely taxing a larger predator in the food chain (the rainbow trout) may have long lasting effects on the health of this lake that we cannot forsee.  All too often humans frame any debate in terms that are agreeable to humans, and forget that our actions have devastating repercussions for the rest of life.  Perhaps we can be a bit more conscientious with this special case.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on As We Are: Addicted

This has been a fascinating show to listen to, and I appreciate you speaking with people who struggle with these addictions.  I would love to have a follow-up thinkoutloud program on natural highs: about people who use everyday activities to get that rush of dopamine.  Natural highs, like dancing, performing, laughing, and hiking, used to be a part of life; now I believe that they have been trumped and diminished by our sensationalized world of fast-action media and over-the-top experiences.  Perhaps more people need to recognize the value of small simple highs.  

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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on Toying with Safety

The sad side effect of building in a waiver for small businesses making under 5000 toys is that it creates a glass ceiling for those companies. Say a toy company wanted to expand its business to 6000 toys to meet demand. All of a sudden, they are required to pay much more money and invest time into meeting new standards; I assume most companies would not want to do this.

The fact of the matter is that the largest toy conglomerates, in a true sense of capitalism, have made this mess by seeing the dollar and not the child. They are a symptom of our overall economic system, and it is the system that must change. Perhaps if Christmas became less materialistic, if children didn't acquire 15 new toys every birthday, if parents learned how to play make-believe with their kids rather than distract them with shiny new things, then the demand for fast, accessible, and cheap toys would diminish--and the need to make them out of dangerous materials would diminish as well--and the small toy companies would thrive again.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on Fishing Families

Michelle, I applaud your courage to face your loss and to move through it to healing. Ben was my classmate and friend, and his brilliant and shining presence is still missed.

I'm curious if the insularity of our small community in Newport was a help or a hinderance to your moving through grief?

Kate Kauffman

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on Fishing Families

Michelle, I applaud your courage to face your loss and to move through it to healing. Ben was my classmate and friend, and his brilliant and shining presence is still missed.

I'm curious if the insularity of our small community in Newport was a help or a hinderance to your moving through grief?

Kate Kauffman

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on How We Vote

One side effect of having mail-in ballots is that people are less secretive about their votes. People are more open about endorsing their candidates and arguing their position on a measure. In a way, this becomes a kind of advertising. This may be a curse or a blessing, in that a person can be swayed at the last minute by someone's fervent argument; however, it also educates and improves discussion so that people are less likely to vote out of naivete.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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on Political Ads

My idea of a good leader is someone who is rational, thoughtful, considering of all sides, and above smear attacks. It's someone who is confident in their own abilities and doesn't need to succumb to slinging mud with an opponent. I was completely smitten with Obama when I heard him speak at the Waterfront Park: I think he embodies all of the above characteristics. However, my approval of him is waning as I see him playing the same games that every politician becomes enmeshed in, and that goes for Merkley and Smith as well. I suspect that citizens are driving the smear craze, either unconsciously or purposefully, but I so hope that our politicians hear the few of us who say, "enough already, I just want you to be you, to tell me about your own policies, and to leave the other guy alone." Ads and biased claims do nothing to sway me one way or another, it just disheartens me.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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on Clinton and the Generational Gender Divide

As a strong, independent woman, it irritates me that women are still singled out as anomalies for achieving statuses such as Hillary Clinton's. Every time that the media or the public comments that it is unusual for a woman to be president or a CEO, it is sending a message that this is not the status quo. I would like to see gender become a non-issue, and that women of all characteristics exist as the norm in our society.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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