2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session 2013 special election arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration international internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes technology television terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

Tom Potter's concern about compliance with Oregon law by local members of the JTTF is not without basis.  I am an attorney and represented a person who was subjected to surveillance conducted by a local Oregon detective, who was assigned to a DEA narcotics task force.  The type of surveillance he used -- attachment of a GPS tracking device to the suspect's vehicle -- was lawful under federal law (at least according to the Ninth Circuit), but unlawful under the Oregon Constitution.

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
view in context

Todd Simmons mentioned on the show that polling shows widespread support for SSM.  The only polling with any significance is the polling done during elections.  The results are in, and so far it is something like 30 to nothing in favor of maintaining the traditional conception of marriage.  The institution of marriage is something that society has created, and our society should be permitted to maintain it as is, or change it, as it sees fit, through the democratic process.

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
view in context

OK then, what happens when science can "grow" a feritlized egg from the point of gestation, outside of the womb?  Under Roe v. Wade, that would mean that "viability" occurs upon conception.

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
view in context

If that's the case, why should the state become involved at all?  People engage in contracts with one another all the time, for a variety of reasons.

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
view in context

For the supporters of SSM marriage:  Is a sexual relationship required?  If so, why?  If not, does that mean I could marry a close friend, with whom I have a "committed" relationship, or my brother, or son?

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
view in context

The mistake most people make is underestimating the STRENGTH and SUPPORT of the Jihadist faction within Islam, as compared to any similar faction within Judaism, Christianity, or Hinduism.  There is nothing comparable in other religions to the Muslim Brotherhood, or Hamas, or the tens of thousands of Imams in Pakistan, Iran, and other countries who DO preach militant Jihad.  There simply is a much, much stronger strain of triumphalism and militarism in Islam, than there is in other religions, and, as Mr. Trigoboff suggested, it is more like a "phobia" to IGNORE that thread, in today's climate of repeated, violent attacks, than it is to look clear-eyed at the truth.

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
view in context

Soggy:  Yes, there is no hierarchal structure in Islam.  But there are symptoms; for example, a few years ago, the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca gave a sermon during the Haj.  Thus, this was a speech to the faithful, delivered by the spiritual leader of one of the most holy, if not most holy mosques in all of Islam, during its most holy time.  The Imam concluded his sermon by asking Allah to "glorify the Muslims, and destroy the Jews.'  A similar remark during similar circumstances in a Jewish or Christian setting would have been met with widespread condemnation and outrage.  Do you think that is how this sermon in Mecca was received?

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
view in context

I am angry at, and resentful of mainstream Islam, because I think it has reacted inadequately, and not forcefully enough, against the Jihadist element within it.  I am also resentful of today's guest, because by comparing the Jihadist element within Islam to a Christian fundamentalist who murders an abortionist, he minimizes the strength of the Jihadist element.  He treats it as if it is a fringe element, but in fact it is a strong one, that in fact controls an entire nation -- Iran -- exerts a strong influence in another -- Saudi Arabia -- and exerts strong influence in many other Islamic nations through the Muslim Brotherhood.

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
view in context