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Being healthy is great, Americans vote with thier money - I think a superbowl ad costs more than a commercial during a dance recital on Public Access.

Football is part of our culture, that won't be changing anytime soon.  I contend kids are better off playing football than reading or playing XBOX all day.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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Oddly enough I may agree with Scottmil a little here, reminds me of a saying in my family

"It does matter if you win or lose, it doesn't matter how hard you try, thats just a measurement of your skills"

true, Ideally winning while putting in as little energy as possible is alot better than working really really hard and losing.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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High school sports are just one thing that makes America great, It doesn't seem fair that small town Football Stars may never have a recruiter from a college / pro leauge see them play. Frankly life isn't fair, many who have been successful were assited by luck, or connections, or family ties. 

I suppose the bottom line is, if your school football team sucks, and you lose before the state championship, then you should have practiced more or been better

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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That was very good reading, I feel strongly that public funded education should not be all inclusive, No one is owed a college degree.

My motivations are partly selfish, I have almost finished my degree after 12 years of attending classes in my free time, and it has always played second fiddle to work and family.  If we handed out degrees it just diminishes the value of my education, and soon a BA would be required to work anywhere.

I think, just like in business, a high barrier to entry is necesarry to add value to anything. 

College is availible to anyone through a multitude of resources, the GI Bill has funded the lion share of my education and the rest has been paid out of pocket. 

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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There is a very good book out there called "On Killing" by LTC (ret) Dave Grossman,   It is good reading regarding all of the emotions, mechanics, and training that go into shooting other humans.

You need to shoot them center mass, it provides the best odds of hitting the target, and it provides a backstop for the bullet.  I don't want someone going for a leg shot, missing and killing my wife 2 blocks away walking the dog.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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James Chasse was schizo, are you saying that mentally ill people are incapable of posing a threat to others?

Or a 160lb criminal can't harm people during a fight?

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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I didn't mean to leave you with the impression that the police are always, right after re-reading the post I could see how it can be taken that way.

 I suppose to put it more bluntly He shot her with a bean bag shot gun - so what, she is not seriously hurt and it diffused a situation where others may have been seriously injured.

My concern is the common practice of assuming everything is excessive force, Police, like all others are fallable, and investigations following any officer involved escalation of force case are done to see if the officer performed within the left and right limits availble to them. In this case a police officer used a bean bad shot gun to diffuse a situation, age, gender, and smarts really don't matter.

 We could what if this all day, so here goes, -lets say this 12 y/o had aids, the resisting arrest on the concrete drew blood from both the officer and the criminal. Now my tax dollars have to pay for lifelong treatment of a Cop who will ultimatley die?? - Now is it better to use a bean bag gun?

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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I am glad that police officers carry shotguns with bean bags, if he didn't have it less than lethal means availbile, this could be a case of an Officer involved shooting rather than an escalation of force.

The Current Portland Police Policy puts the bean bag shotgun in the same force category as a baton. Batons offer no stand off distance, whereas the Bean bag gun can be used from point blank to 50 ft.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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It is entirely too easy to sit back and second guess an Officers judgement after the fact.

Very few people listening to the show have ever been in the position to decide wether or not to pull the trigger, and it's not one taken lightly.

There is no way to be in the Officers head at the time of pulling the trigger, no one else saw what he saw, heard what he heard, and felt the feelings he felt.  That split second decision was his to make, and thats why we pay him, and what we trained him to do.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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Just like ardens said, Coffee and a newspaper go hand in hand, for me the computer is the only way to get my hands on a copy before it is 3 weeks old.

Even with news available electronically, print has alot of advantages, I always print articles and news worthy events for later use.

Nothing is quite as nice as reading a 8.5 X 11 black and white copy of the St. Johns Review on a porta pottie just after a desert sunrise.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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First, this is an awesome topic. I was born and raised in North Portland, I always had more newspaper choices than I new what to do with, sadly many have dwindled and faded.  I think the new landscape will not be a strictly digital media involving computers.

Recently in the Oregonian there was an article about the man who started a commnity paper in North Plains, OR.

Over the years I have seen these papers come and go, I am currently in Iraq, and I love to read the St. Johns review, they offer the entire paper in PDF format, and I print off copies for my Soldiers and myself. I still read the oregonian online, but it is just like any other online news outlet now, and the same stories are availible on TV channel websites.

The bigger Portland gets the more we will see a need for nieghborhood papers, and news outlets.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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If we weren't talking about sex ed, isn't it ok for a school to teach Morals? 

For example, most of us would agree that wasting energy and over consumption is a legal personal decision made from one's morals.

Does that make it inappropriate for a teacher to encourage people to carpool do reduce thier footprint? 

Lets use some common sense (thats my thing), a responsibile sex education program  NEEDS to tell middle and high school children that it is in fact not a morally sound decision to bang everything that walks by.  This does not need to be framed in religion, this needs to be framed in fact.

In a nutshell, it would be irresponsible to tie the hands of the educational system by not allowing them to teach something responsible that a person may interpert as a moral.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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Bikes and cars both operate fine on paved roads, No one will dispute that there is more inherent risk in not being surrounded by 2 tons of steel.

That being said, I don't think it was the majority of  Portlanders goal to be the best bike city.  It seems almost myopic to put forth energy and money into something that DIRECTLY benefits few people in a city (we all benefit from cleaner air, healthier people, and a boosted economy).

My fear is striving for a goal of being the best bike city is a great secondary wish for a city, I think all of the statistics will show our city as a whole is more interested in safe nieghborhoods, good schools, living wage jobs, and a transit system that benefits all of us, not just the select few that can ride to work during Portlands many days of Liquid Sunshine.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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I think that would be a tragic waste of resources, I just happened to read an Oregonian Article and pulled out these statistics.

"Only 50 percent rated neighborhood roads as good or very good on smoothness, down from 53 percent last year and 59 percent in 2005. And only 39 percent rated street maintenance as good or very good, down from 44 percent in 2005."

The majority of Portlanders would rather the roads were fit for cars, since 2005 the population we are less satasfied with the roads.

"In the area of transportation, auditors were surprised to find that despite public investment in transit and bike paths, two-thirds of Portlanders who work outside their homes still drive solo to work."

I think the government needs to meet the needs of a majority of it's citzens and stop social engineering.

here is the link to the article

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/11/portlanders_find_housing_a_bit.html

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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Understood, You didn't get it.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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"A lot of backlash, veterans may feel, is because of the disingenuous way in which the army is marketed initially."

First, it may just be the way I read your comments- barring that many of your posts, this one especially leave me with an impression that you think you are better, smarter, or more enlightened than others.  You have no idea what kind of backlash Vets feel, you simply could not have a frame of reference and still post comments like the one below.

"They repeat the same rhetoric over and over, don the same yellow ribbons and ask for our blessings"

I do not know any Vets who have ever asked you for a anything, I don't care how you feel when you say things like:

"Everyone should know, that at this point in time, in this country, there are better and more efficient ways to serve humanity then by joining our armies"

If you don't understand why I think you have no clue now, it only lends creedance to my assumption.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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I think we both know what I meant. If not I am sorry you didn't get the cultural referance, You may be a little too old to be privvy.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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scottmil, You never cease to astonish me.

Please do us all a favor and never discuss veterans or the military again.

 You have no clue.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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I attended PSU folowing my initial military service,  Your fellow professors are one reason that I have no interest in working in acadamia.

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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Some veterans do recieve disability, compensation, vocational rehab, and the VA does the best it can do with what it has.

There is alot of misunderstanding about benefits, Uncle Sam doesn't guarantee your success following your service, the VA Home loan program is good, but no handout...

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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