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@Tom D Ford

I'm not being naive about women. Palin is nutters as you suggest. It's hard to imagine Palin having a platform in 1970; we wouldn't have understood how somebody so ill equipped for leadership would have been given so much attention.

Over the past last 2,000 years mostly men have run things. Therefore most of the problems were caused by men. Sure there have been women evil doers, but not to the extent that men have mucked things up. Hitler or Palin? Pol Pot or Thatcher? Bush Jr. or Wicked Witch of the West?

Of course there will be women who are poor and ineffective leaders but I generally think women are more likely to find solutions that don't require fists and bombs than men.

Men in the U.S. are concerned about appearing strong and being on the right team. They will say stupidly say "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" when one has no access to boots.

A few rich and privileged men largely control everything. These rich men get the rest of us to fight for scraps amongst ourselves. I'm disappointed that white men and women don't call out those who claim to be on their side. I don't hear whites complain about their leaders who have failed them. Bush Jr. and Reagan are lauded for their values and actions but why aren't we holding them accountable for:

• high unemployment
• jobs and manufacturing outsourced overseas
• fewer people doing more work for declining wages
• gutted social safety nets
• gutted financial regulations
• environmental pollution caused by natural gas fracking, oil drilling, and mountain top removal
• mega farms providing poisoned/poisoning food
• clean drinking water rapidly vanishing
• denuded and destroyed wilderness

Is it wise to destroy or defecate on what we eat and drink? If there were no government to provide feeble regulation where would we be? Many of these problems were caused by men.

We point fingers at corporations or governments instead of the people who actually harm us with their self-serving agendas. Check out yesterday's Fresh Air episode:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129425186

Can we remove radical ideologues from power whether they be men or women? A middle path eschews extreme behavior which leads to failure in general.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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Question:

I live in NE Portland near MLK. Why do police who pull over cars park their patrol car far from the curb blocking a good portion of the driving lane?

Commentary:

On narrow streets like Fremont or Alberta this causes a traffic jam, rubber necking, and confusion for drivers who might become mesmerized by looking at the police car's blinking lights. This  tactic seems heavy handed.

Recently police arrested someone who lives close to me. Again their were two squad cars who half blocked the street with their squad cars making it difficult for passersby to get around. I asked the backup officer what was going on and got a terse response. This seemed logical because the backup officer was trying to pay attention to the ongoing situation. Not exactly the time for public relations.

Earlier in 2010 I was pulled over by an officer while riding my bike in St Johns. The officer was polite and explained why I was pulled over thoroughly. But I was surprised why the officer asked me where I was going. He wondered whether the air pump sticking out of my back pack was a weapon. Logical questions I suppose, but chilling too. 

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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Women will wrestle the right to control their bodies and minds from oppressors and religion. Here religion is a system of mind and behavior control and not the spiritual pursuit of harmony with life.

Women will break glass ceilings and successfully lead corporations and governments in a just, compassionate, nurturing, successful, and cooperative manner.

Women will be paid the same as men for the same work.

Women will evolve beyond making the stupid, destructive and short-sighted thinking and actions that have plagued much of modern humanity.

Women will stop raising babies to be killed or maimed in useless wars. Allowing babies to grow up and die stupidly is not pro life.

Women will guide humanity from negative and destructive habits into positive and constructive ones.

Obviously, men have done good things, but men must evolve beyond being mono-eyebrowed knuckle-dragging, violent brutes. Men will consciously make it easier for women to live in the world.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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I've donated money locally and internationally, but more internationally even though I know there is plenty of need in Portland.

Donated money to employees of a Sri Lanka company after tsunami in 2004. Sri Lankans produced goods for my employer's company. Donate money to Mercy Corps for Haiti earthquake and other crises.

Occasionally donate small amounts to individuals on Portland's streets. Talk to street people and hear what they have to say.

Occasionally donate larger amounts to small organizations that provide beneficial community services.  Donated idle money to this Portland cyclist's family:

http://bikeportland.org/2010/07/02/karl-moritz-clings-to-life-following-crash-on-se-ladd-36026

Even though I've been unemployed a long time I donate money to help others, and to be mindful and thankful for my blessings and opportunties. When I fear I don't have enough for myself I donate something to others. My fear is illusory.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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I'm surprised by the construction on surface streets and freeways in Portland and Oregon this summer. Seems like everywhere I go there is roadway construction or rehabilitation occuring. Lots of detours this year.

I remember Reagan's Recession in the early 1980s in which unemployment jumped over 9%. Inflation was followed by stagflation and then recession after the 1970s oil crisis. Remember the blocks-long gas lines in the 1970s? Good times. Not really.

Returned to 2nd semester of university in 1980 and all students had to re-register because budget cuts had reduced or eliminated many students' academic aid. Apparently changes to financial aid crashed the student-class registration system.

Thousands of students wrapped in a continuous line around the gymnasium cursed the financial aid cuts and Reagan. Many students left school because they had no means to continue or complete their educations.

Money was tight. My parents raised an eyebrow when they learned that I'd sold my meal card so one of my friends could continue school. I lost a lot of weight that semester. I remember with grim pride how the guys in my dorm, normally an obstreperous and contentious group,  stopped battling each other in order to keep each other fed.

We cursed Reagan, drank and sang. Good times in the crucible of crunch. Not really.

A lot of talented youngsters, many of whom were the first generation in their family to attend college, weren't able to directly continue their rise from poverty. They encountered yet another detour along the highways of American life. We have the right to pursue happiness but....

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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In your opinion what is the most important thing the U.S.A. should do to help Afghanistan?

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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What is the best food cart in Portland? Why?

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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I decide how I'll vote on measures by talking to family, friends, and doing research. I don't know if input from the panel will be helpful, but I hope it will. Ballot measures are complex and there's usually too much spin and a paucity of facts provided by ballot measure supporters.

I will be curious to read CIR opinions and weigh them with other information sources. This thought from the HDO web page (see link above) concerns me as well.

“With as much information as we’ve been getting (on Measure 73), it makes me feel that I’m not getting enough information on everything else that comes up on the ballot,” said Gresham, 66.

Ballot measures can be complex enough that voters don't understand all the proposed details and nuances.

Reading the FAQ on HDO's website caused me concern. I mean this as constructive criticism. There are several typographical errors in the first few paragraphs that create incomplete/unclear sentences. I had to infer the author's intent. This is not good for an organization that wants to provide clarity for voters. HDO should edit their FAQ page carefully. For example:

"Each person in the pool is assigned a number (to protect their privacy, and prevent ) and then in a public meeting, a panel of 24 voters is assembled to match the demographics of state electorate."

And prevent what?

I like the idea of the CIR process: more eyeballs looking at and analyzing initiatives might help voters make more informed decisions. I hope that citizens participating on the review panels will receive instruction and encouragment to remain impartial as they consider the facts concerning ballot measures.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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The TOL web site is eating our papers, Tom. Last week two or three of my comments were bludgeoned by a "server glitch".

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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I'm experiencing a "fast food backlash" and am eating at home more often. I perceive eating out is expensive and less healthy than food I prepare myself.

Food carts spring up because people seek ways to make money in an environment of high unemployment.  

I like beef, chicken or pork meat skewers with onion on rice from Phil's Meat Market located in the 23 Northwest Mall. Simple, filling, tasty and I don't have to fire up the barbie often.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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I haven't read any of Mrs. Hammond's books but I'm intrigued. Does Mrs. Hammond enjoy living in Newport today? Has she overcome feeling isolated or lonely?

I want to live in Newport so what advice would Mrs. Hammond offer to someone who has lived many places and is somewhat broadminded?

Does Mrs. Hammond feel that Newport has "depression"? Metaphorically speaking, Newport denizens walk with their heads up, but their shoulders are slumped, and the young ones mumble shyly instead of enunciate confidently.

The locals work and live hard, but reductions in logging and fishing have made them resilient, pragmatic and a little cranky due to pervasive pessimism. Newporters don't complain to foreigners but I perceive a palpable ennui that socks Newport in emotional fog. Is my perception correct or does it need refinement?

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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I have never belonged to either a business interest group or a union. The common ground is that these two groups should work together transparently to do what is best for the survival of their company and themselves. Unions were created because the "business association" element took unfair advantage of workers. In recent times unions have gotten fat, expensive and lazy causing their companies to falter. The recent turmoil of the U.S. auto industry serves as an example. No one in the business association element should make hundreds of times the compensation of the lowest-paid employee. Wealth has to be redistributed in this country or we will continue our descent into mediocrity.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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The CRC bridge should be tunneled under the river. A see-through bike path under the river would be neat, but probably too murky to see anything interesting except fish carcasses, the occassional corpse, and scuttled shopping carts.

Portland should have subways instead of traffic snarling surface rail. Portland has shown mad skillz tunneling under stuff with the big pipes sewer project.

The push for the CRC bridge is more for businesses to transport goods than relieving the bottleneck caused by Vancouverties working in Oregon and versa vice. If a larger bridge or tunnel is built, more traffic will occupy it. The CRC doesn't address the need to diminish individual-occupied car traffic.

Are we using too many trucks and not enough trains to transport goods through Portland and Vancouver? Perhaps the rail infrastructure needs improvement in addition to a new CRC.

Will I-5 be widened to handle increased traffic flow or will the rush hour bottleneck remain? Seems stupid to build the CRC if the bottleneck issue is not resolved.

Nothing as complex as the CRC can be built without adequate funding. Oregon and Washington need to make the Federal government pay for the CRC since it will enhance the Fed's bottom line with more taxation.

If there is a toll bridge I will stop traveling to Vancouver twice a week to consume goods and services. I don't need to go to Vancouver, especially with Washington's sales tax.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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Elisia's story is heartbreaking but her courage to pull her life together is inspiring.

What is the relationship between sex trafficking, prostitution and internet pornography?

Has prostitution increased or decreased in Portland over the last 20 years?

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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Hawaii sending trash to Washington feels similar to receiving bottled water from Fiji. It shouldn't happen. But Hawaii's case is different - there are only so many square miles of island so landfill space is a premium.

I prefer that Hawaii send its trash to the mainland rather than dump it in the ocean, but there are concerns with unintended environmental consequences. How is Hawaii doing with its efforts to recycle, reuse and never use in the first place?

One of my favorite places to visit is the Metro Transfer Station on Highway 30. I've thrown away a lot yard debris over the last decade and I'm always amazed by the amount of useful material I see there. MTS constantly reinforces my belief to consume more thoughtfully.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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Jacob,

I'm not talking about a Frappachino, I'm talking about an individual's freedom. They're two very different things. I did not know that there was such a thing as uncertainty. Thank you for the illumination. 

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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I'm in the same boat as Scottmill. I can imagine how many balls you people keep in the air (and occasionally drop) as you produce TOL daily. I've been to a few of the live broadcasts and, as an observer, the show appears to run so smoothly. I'm impressed by the civility of the TOL community's conversation compared with the comments I see posted elsewhere on the Interweb. Whether guests and participants say anything meaningful is always a challenge and intriguing. Keep doing what you're doing, TOL, I'm still listening.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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Worked in Hood River in a sports shop that accepted River Hours currency. I love the idea too. At the time, from a business standpoint, it was challenging to account for the local currency in the financials and tax reporting. There was recently a show on OPB talking about German communities using microcurrency. Oregon will continue to explore opportunities to keep Oregon dollars working in Oregon. Microcurrency is innovative and makes us conscious of doing business locally.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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Attended the launch of Barge 455-9 at Gunderson Marine on July 17th. Senator Ron Wyden was there bullet listing recent successes and saying he would do everything in his ability to help Gunderson remain successful. Clan McCleay played bagpipes. About 20 minutes of speechifying. Kids (and adults) watched with glee as the barge descend the ramp and splashed into the river. 

I was relieved that 400-plus people have work in Portland. I felt a twinge of guilt when I learned that barges like 455-9 are often used to transport oil drilling rig platform modules. I think sadly about Deep Water Horizon disaster.

http://www.gbrx.com/page.php?view=GUNDERSON_MARINE

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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Society should expend the effort to increase the accuracy and fairness of our legal system. Currently, it is too easy to be convicted of a crime without 100% certainty. Our society must focus on reducing and eliminating incarceration. Better home up-bringing, better education, more opportunity for people at the bottom of the well to climb out.

A society which says it's okay to allow a percentage of its people to lose their freedom wrongly is broken and scary. If you are a member of a privileged class the fear of illegal incarceration does not shadow your existence. Put yourself in the shoes of the under-privileged who don't have the resources, education or luck to extract themselves from the tentacles of the legal system when they are innocent.

The goal should be 100% certainty when it comes to an individual's freedom. Like your guest said; improperly convicting people is extremely corrosive to the validity of the legal system and to an individual's perspective that they live in a just society.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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