Obvious: Blazers bailout = political suicide

(Oddly, two consecutive posts indirectly related to sports -- which I have no interest in.) Who do the Blazers think they are? They are actually shopping for handouts from cash-strapped state and local governments. Paul Allen's company is begging for money from the governor, mayor, and even Metro (i.e. the garbage & convention center agency). During an election year (at least for the governor and some city council positions), politicians seem to be very careful to emphasize that they are NOT willing to subsidize an entertainment business that has a billionaire owner and bad-acting, over-paid millionaire players:

[City of Portland Mayor Tom Potter] said the financial condition of both the team and the city were discused. While the mayor indicated that the city could not afford to provide public support for the franchise, he added he was "looking at other options." -- KGW.com

Maybe some kind of Blazers arial tram?

"I think (a public-private partnership) is a nice way of asking for a subsidy," [Metro President David Bragdon] said. "I was pretty clear with them that would not be likely to be forthcoming from our agency." -- The Oregonian/OregonLive.com

In other words, 'Are you crazy? Taxpayers subsidize Paul Allen's bad investment?'.

[Pat Egan, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski's chief of staff]: "What would leave them with the impression that there are opportunities for public (financial) support at this moment in time -- I'm left at a loss." -- The Oregonian/OregonLive.com

In response to speculation that the Blazers are disclosing their bad finances in a desperate plea for the public's support. The Blazers are even begging Multnomah County Chairwoman Diane Linn who already regrets an earlier Blazers incident in which she received national attention for repeatedly mispronouning the coach's name. Maybe the Blazers can hit-up Portland Public Schools while they at it.

NBC ruins Winter Olympics

The last time I actually enjoyed watching an Olympic game was in 2000 when I visited Tammam in Montreal. The Canadian broadcast was relatively simple. No overly sappy Canadian athlete profiles and no talking heads who distracted from the actual Olympic events. The Canadian network (I don't remember what network it was) simply broadcasted the actual Olympic events -- even events in which no Canadian athletes were featured. Unfortunately, NBC execs think the Olympics is too boring for 'merican viewers, so they launch yammering Bob Costas, made-for-TV dramatic athlete profiles, and edit the competitions as if they were reality TV show highlights. I know I'm not alone in my criticism. Afterall, NBC's ratings are so poor that some network executives should lose their jobs. The Nation's website posted an article, The Olympics We Missed, by Dave Zirin which covered most of NBC's offenses which included jingoism, tape delay, idiotic sport choices, and the elevation of undeserving 'merican athletes like Bode Miller.

..Moldy Nationalism: It's amazing. America has never been a more dynamic, multicultural society and the world has never been more of a global village, but NBC still treats the games as if it were 1980 and the United States were taking on the Eastern Bloc. As Florida writer Pierre Tristam wrote in his blog, "NBC covers the Olympics the way American neocons do foreign policy: The world is 95 percent America, 3 percent water, and 2 percent everything else. America's projection onto the world is mostly as an emblem of force, preferably unrivaled....

If the Olympics had not sold itself to NBC, it would have been nice for viewers to have been able to select their own coverage of the Olympics.

"Booze Lands Gay Bishop In Rehab" - CNN.com

One of the top internet news headlines yesterday was about Episcopal bishop V. Gene Robinson's announcement that he has checked himself into an alcohol treatment center. During the day, it made the top ten national headlines of the news services I read (Yahoo!, CNN.com, etc.). CNN.com's headline was particularly harsh. Why was this big news? Afterall, alcoholism is, unfortunately, a fairly common condition. There has not been any reports of a significant scandal relating to Bishop Robinson's alcoholism. It's difficult to imagine such an announcement coming from any other religious leader in a similar position receiving as much attention. Of course, Robinson's story was big news because of his notoriety of being the first, openly gay Episcopal bishop. Anti-gay forces immediately used Robinson's admission as an additional reason why he is supposedly unfit to be bishop:

BUT THE BIG NEWS of the week was the announcement by New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson that he was an alcoholic and had checked himself into a rehab center. His acknowledgement stunned the church. No one knew, apparently, and it was never unearthed in statutory background checks when he was running for bishop. I suppose that must be in the category of "don't ask, don't tell." ... A homosexual, alcoholic bishop is lauded by his parishioners for his courageous example? Are there not some generally accepted 'above reproach' standards for church leaders?" . . .

. . . So the question is; Why didn't this come up in a background check of VGR? He has gay sex and drinks too much? And that's not, at the very least, a problem? . . .

-- excerpt from a posting by David W. Vitrue, VirtrueOnline.org

Well looks like the world's first "openly gay bishop" has been drinking way too much of the communion wine. Bishop Vicky Gene Robinson of New Hampshire is being treated for alcoholism. . . . Maybe the pressure to be the gay christian poster boy proved too much. We can only hope that he will kick his drinking addiction and while he's at it make the change from his sinful homosexuality. . .

-- excerpt from DL Foster's blog

By simply being "the first", Bishop Robinson has subjected himself to enormous scrutiny, which probably contributed to drinking problem. I have to admit that I'm a little jaded whenever I hear about the courageousness of 'the firsts' (the first women, the first racial minority, the first openly gay, the first disabled, etc.). I sometimes forget that being "the first" is not just a statistically significant event, but a testimony to overcoming real obstacles. Yesterday's exploitation of Robinson's admission is truly evidence of this. Although we don't know all the details regarding Robinson's admission. I would argue that his ability to recognize his own unhealthy dependency and to openly seek treatment is a credit -- not a negative -- to his qualifications to be a religious leader. Although we would all like to believe religious leaders are Christ-like figures (or other perfect, supernatural beings), seeing how these people deal with real-life challenges is a more significant testimony to me.

handcuffs, Prozac, "ex-gay" ministry, State of Tennessee, ...

There is an interesting article by Ben Popper in the weekly newspaper, The Memphis Flyer, regarding the Love In Action controversies (see: Queer Action Coalition's blog). It follows up on the DJ Butler controversy. Apparently, Butler ranaway from home in Georgia so his parents handcuffed him and forced him into LIA. Butler also alleges that his father somehow obtained a Prozac prescription which LIA administered to him. Butler has since left LIA and may have been emancipated from his parents' legal authority. The article also mentions the litigation between the State of Tennessee and LIA. In response to a similar situation in which a young teen, "Zach", was forced into LIA, the Tennessee launched an investigation into the services LIA was providing. Since LIA has agreed not to treat mentally ill patients, TN stopped taking action against LIA. However, LIA believes its constitutional rights have been violated because it is a religious organization. What is really interesting to me, is that the TN vs LIA legal issues may finally force an 'ex-gay' ministry to define itself and the treatment it provides. If LIA is simply a religious group, then its 'ex-gay' program is a faith-based cure akin to faith healing. However, if LIA also poses as providing a type of conversion 'therapy', then it should be subject to the same guidelines as all other professional counseling services. Regardless, no child should be forced into religious indoctrinationor experimental therapy.

Bruce Bawer On Islamic Fundamentalists

In preparing for my weekend trip to Seattle with Scott this weekend, I found an article by Bruce Bawer in Seattle's weekly newspaper, The Stranger. I read Bawer's 1997 book, Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, about the same time I began to reconsider the Christianity I had been raised into. Stealing Jesus provided an excellent and very readable analysis of how American Christianity was overtaken by fundamentalism and consumerism during the twentieth century. Contrary to what many American churches would have us believe, their fundamentalist doctrines are not 'old time religion', but relatively new doctrines. Now it appears Bawer is taking on Islamic fundamentalism. In The Stranger article, "All The Rage: Islamic Fundamentalists Don't Just Have a Problem With Cartoons, They Have A Problem With Freedom", provides an alarming account how Islamic fundamentalists intend to take over Western culture and freedoms:

On the contrary, what’s happening here is that a gang of bullies—led by a country, Saudi Arabia, where Bibles are forbidden, Christians tortured, Jews routinely labeled “apes and pigs” in the state-controlled media, and apostasy from Islam punished by death—is trying to compel a tiny democracy to live by its own theocratic rules. To succumb to pressure from this gang would simply be to invite further pressure, and lead to further concessions—not just by Denmark but by all of democratic Europe. And when they’ve tamed Europe, they’ll come after America.

After all, the list of Western phenomena that offend the sensibilities of many Muslims is a long one—ranging from religious liberty, sexual equality, and the right of gay people not to have a wall dropped on them, to music, alcohol, dogs, and pork. After a few Danish cartoons, what’s next?

Make no mistake, this is no isolated incident. It’s one step in a long-term effort by extreme Muslim forces to erode Western liberties and turn free, affluent countries into mirror images of their own dysfunctional dictatorships. “Muslims have a dream of living in an Islamic society,” declared a Danish Muslim leader in 2000. “This dream will surely be fulfilled in Denmark…. We will eventually be a majority.” (Or as a T-shirt popular among young Muslims in Stockholm puts it: “2030—then we take over.”)...

The article comes off as alarmist, but I think there are valid points. Afterall, some Islamic protesters have even demanded that Western countries outlaw all criticisms of Muhammad.

"NBC Abandons Plan to Attack Christians With Spears"

Possibly intentional, outrageous headline from the religious Right-wing, anti-gay, "news" site, AgapePress.

struggling "ex-gay"?

I read this post the other day on the Yahoo! Group, exgaymensministry, which is a group for 'ex-gay' men:

I was just chatting to a 22 yo male student, on teaching practice in my school. I'm his mentor and I check how his day has gone after school each day.

Today I was checking on his well-being, tiredness, pace, leisure/wind down activities. I brought the conversation around to sharing, caring and trusting, because he'd had no lunch and didn't tell anyone. Then asked the question "Are you a Christian ? " He said "YES ! Are you a believer, too, Tone? I had my suspicions as you're often whistling hymns and choruses".

He is such a handsome, manly, sporty guy with bulging muscles and my height - so huggable. Praise the LORD. We hugged tightly and prayed, seated, heads bowed, holding hands in my classroom just before we left.

Tone <><

PS: On a different note, I'm going to see 'Brokeback Mountain', with a friend who's a pastor, tonight.

Maybe it's just me, but the tone of this posting creeps me out. This 42-year-old man (according to his Yahoo! profile) who apparently struggles with same-sex attractions is mentoring and tightly hugging a 22 year-old student who he describes as "a handsome, manly, sporty guy with bulging muscles and my height - so huggable. Praise the LORD.".

It's been some time since I was in the ex-gay lifestyle, but I remember there was a big deal about developing boundaries such as having "A-frame hugs" and being careful about friendships with same-sex people who you may be attracted to. However, there was also a simulataneous emphasis on developing non-sexual relationships with straight men -- preferable straight Christian men. So this ex-gay man seems to be providing a praise report that he has befriended a straight Christian man.

On the other hand, I'm not sure why it was so important for Tone to provide a physical description of the younger man. Nor, do I think very many ex-gay leaders would consider this an ideal relationship. Afterall, this is hardly a relationship of equals. This mentor has befriended a younger student who seems to have some vulnerabilities. I wonder if Tone told the student about his own "struggle". I also wonder if Tone's true motive was to seek input from other ex-gay members'.

I'm still debating whether to respond to this guy's post on exgaymensministry. As a member with an opposing viewpoint, I'm probably on the verge of being banned. I'm just surprised no other members have questioned this guy's post.

UPDATES: As noted in the comments, I did post a reply to Tone noting several of my concerns.

Tone defended his relationship stating, "EVERYTHING we have done is above board." and that "cwtching" (a Welsh word for masculine hugs?) is "NORMal in my country". He used a silly word play with my name and accused me of not having "mormal male friendships". He did not respond to my concerns that he was attracted to his friend and that he did not disclose his sexual orientation to his friend. He did clarify that his friend was a fellow teacher -- not a subordinate student.

So I thanked him for his clarification, specifically qouted his "handsome...bulging muscles..." description, noted my surprise that the other members did not hold his comments accountable, and again apologized if I offended him.

Tone further clarified that the misunderstanding was due to differences in British and American English. He stated that his 22-year-old friend was a "student-teacher" and that he would never have conducted such a relationship with a "PUPIL" (which is apparently a minor student). Although his new friend is a co-worker and not a subordinate student or illegal minor, it still seems he has some authority as the student-teacher's older mentor. He again avoided specifically responding to questions I and others had about whether he was attracted to this younger man.

Our exchanges seemed to have sparked other interesting conversations, so I don't feel the need to press the issues with Tone.

Lewis & Clark Bicentennial zzzzzzz.....

Scott and I went to Lewis & Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition at the Oregon Historical Society yesterday. The exhibit displayed many artifacts, documents, and maps from the Corps of Discovery. It seemed that most of the exhibit focused on the expedition's planning and early days while the Oregon portion seemed to be tacked-on. The bias may be due to the exhibit being organized by the Missouri Historical Society. I also thought the exhibit spent a too much time focusing on the Native American culture even though it admitted that Native Americans, at that time, did not consider the expedition to be a signficant event. Although the audio commentaries that were available through the provided headsets were interesting, I didn't find the exhibit as interesting as some of the documentaries I seen or heard on about the expedition such as PBS' Ken Burns television documentary, Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery; the OPB radio series, Unfinished Journey: The Lewis and Clark Expedition; and the National Geographic IMAX film, Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West. Maybe my expectations are too high. Afterall, the exhibit did what it was suppose to do: displayed inanimate objects. I suppose I was expecting more of a celebration. Afterall, Portland hosted a world's fair for the expedition's centennial, Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair. Now that it's 2006, it seems Oregon has allowed the bicentennial to pass without using it to showcase Oregon's history or tourism. Other than Fort Clatsop and some Oregon/Washington state parks being made into a scattered national park, the bicentennial seems without any major event. It seems Oregon and Washington could have at least built a new Columbia river bridge to replace the inadequate Interstate Bridge. Afterall, St. Louis built an arch.

Israel's "Who Knew?" ad campaign

On Saturday, I noticed the banner ads on My Yahoo page for Israel's "Who Knew" tourism campaign. The ads downplayed the idea that Israel was a controversial destination. I guess the "Iraq: Why Not Visit?" ads are not far behind. What was even more pathetic were the ads' blantant pandering to Evangelical Christians: I don't know how I would feel is someone gave me the "gift" of visiting a disputed and possibly dangerous region of the world. However, there are probably some Christian fundamentalists who believe Israel/Palestine lands have been promised to Israeli Jews. In fact, some Christians probably hope to just happen to be in the neighborhood when Jesus returns. Of course, I can't imagine too many Israeli Jews would really be that thrilled to see Jesus return.

Oregon legislators' pay vs. minimum wage

(WARNING: 'way things should be' rant)

I've always thought elected officials' pay rates and benefits should be linked to the average worker wage and benefits. Afterall, why should elected officials get to set their own pay and benefits? Shouldn't elected representatives' compensation and benefits reflect the conditions of all workers? Certainly, such a compensation system would give political leaders a built-in incentive to improve their constituents' minimum wage rates, health insurance, and social services. For example:

Governor Salary: 2 times average citizen* annual wage State Senator Salary: 2 times annual minimum wage State Representative Salary: annual minimum wage benefits: average citizen* paid holiday, paid vacation, retirement, and health insurance

* "Citizen" wage and benefits -- not "worker". The elected leaders' compensation would be adjusted to reflect current unemployment rates and social service benefits. Imagine the attention the state's healthcare "system" would get if lawmakers' healthcare benefits equaled the benefits the State provides its beneficiaries. I could go on and on in "world according to me" mode, but at least I know I'm not alone in this thought. A letter in today's edition of The Oregonian about Rep. Doyle's personal-use-of-campaign-funds scandal contrasted legislators' pay and the minimum wage:

Did anybody else pick up on the irony [when] former Rep. Dan Doyle's attorney Marc Blackman explained his client's predicament by stating "everyone knows you can't live on that, let alone support a family," referring to Doyle's legislative salary of $1,248 a month?

This from a legislator and his party that have consistently voted to reduce or restrict the minimum-wage laws in this state, which currently provide $1,257 a month for a full 40-hour workweek. Evidently, that extra $9 a month makes all the difference in acting honorably in our society.

STEVE R. YATES, Southeast Portland

I have heard some comments that the Doyle scandal highlights that the need for Oregon to have a full-time legislator system instead of the part-time legislator system we currently have. I believe one of the purposes of having is part-time legislator system is to maintain a representative body in which lawmakers maintain real jobs instead of full-time politicians.

Switching to a full-time legislator system would be a real challenge. I think basing legislators' compensation (including benefits) on actual average citizen compensation would be one way to sell such an unpopular switch to voters.

Of course, crowning me Supreme Ruler of the World is a great idea too.