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queer person who has been hurt by PGE’s high
rates, like so many citizens have. It hurts the
queer community to stay with private power.
The employees also claimed they were loyal
to PGE and not Enron. While I’m sure this is a
sincere sentiment, Enron owns 100 percent of
PGE stock, so they are being loyal to President
Bush’s dishonest criminal cronies whether they
want to he or not— until we vote yes and they
start working for the PUD instead, of course.
About 14 percent of PGE income now goes to
shareholders, so we’ll have another 14 percent
savings right there when there aren’t any.
1 don’t know why these employees are being
so loyal to a company that probably paid less
than any of them in taxes for 2002. (PGE paid
$ 10 .)
Contrary to the ad’s claim, putting the utili
ty in the hands of a locally elected hoard will not
result in the loss of “ ‘family’ wage jobs.” In fact,
who can deny that public employers treat their
employees better than private employers these
days? And there won’t he huge executive
salaries (like Ken Lay’s) with public power,
which will save us money. The propaganda-
spewing Peggy Fowler had a salary of $979,000
last year. The public utility board will also sup
port queer rights, hut for a lot less money.
Unlike Fowler, they will also care about the
rights of us queer people who don’t happen to
have high incomes.
PGE employee Suni Miani says, “We want
our company back.” But power belongs to all of
us, so the power source should belong to our
community, including Miani, not Enron or any
other huge, right-wing corporation. Rates were
lower before Enron took over PGE with a false
promise to lower rates, and I, like so many queer
and nonqueer citizens of this region, want my
utility back.
T om S oppe
Portland
United we stand
To the E ditor :
ongratulations to Timothy Krause on the
excellent coverage of “Beyond the Veil”
(“Lifting the Veil,” Oct. 17]. The article,
although succinct, stated the event in a concise,
direct manner.
As a white male 1 like to believe I would
have fought for the right of all citizens to vote. 1
like to think 1 would have stood side by side
with Dorothy Day in 1917 as the 40 women
protested outside the White House demanding
their basic civil right to vote.
In 1963 I was in Washington, D.C., partic
C
Hawthorne
15 y ears
In 'The
Hawthorne
i re
M
PPOftUCtS--
r H ^ T T T n ^ Sensory Perceptions wraps tip another
i
memorable queer film festival, what do you feel
were the best and worst of this year's selections? Why?
ipping the Velvet is definitely the best of
the best, and it rocks in every way that it
can! (W ink.) Too bad that there wasn’t any
closed-captioning available for the film.
Wouldn’t mind to rent this film on D V D if it
T
shelves
fencine,
mats
S o *« «
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je w e l rv I
G ary J. S parks
Metropolitan Community Church of Portland
Believe it or not
a completely screen company
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Portland
To the E ditor :
A
s a skeptic, I read with interest your article
on psychics Don Clarkson and Suzanne
Deakins in the Oct. 17 issue of Just Out (“Color
Me Read”].
Skeptics are by definition open to all sorts of
ideas, provided they can move from the realm of
what we want to be true to something that is
true. Conversely, nonskeptics accept some
things as true and others as false no matter what
the evidence might show.
Right now the U .S. economy is in a slump,
and I’m sure like most of us Clarkson and
Deakins could use a hit of spare change. Fortu
nately for them, the James Randi Foundation is
willing to give them $1 million if they can
demonstrate, even once, their psychic powers
(www.randi.org/research). Any and all paranor
mal, spiritual or miraculous claims are candi
dates for the prize. Every issue of Just Out has
page after page of potential winners, from the
orthodox to the alternative religions to the spir
itual advisers to the natural healers to the psy
chic consultants, etc. The applicants for the
prize are the ones who define the test, so Randi
won’t he able to pull a fast one at the end if the
Hawthorne
Hawthorne
supernatural event occurs.
One million dollars isn’t chicken feed. One
could invest it, donate it to charity or throw a
fine party. Surely if billions of people will spend
trillions of dollars around the world on religion
and superstition, there must he something to it.
So I invite any believer in the miraculous or
supernatural to benefit from this remarkable
opportunity.
T revor B lake
Portland
Step by step
To the E ditor :
I
am writing in response to the Just Out article
of Oct. 17 titled “The Monster Among Us”
about meth use in “Portland’s gay community."
As a queer, former longtime junkie and street
prostitute, I have two issues to comment on.
First is the cover picture o f someone’s hands
holding a lighter under a spoon. When I first
saw it I said, “Oh, an article about heroin,”
because heroin and pills are the only drugs I
Hawthorne
Hawthorne
“Shockingly affordable... Makes the point that fine dining is
nothing if you don't get a good dinner out of the deal... A good
dinner and a good deal - that's comfort.”
- Willamette Week , May '03
“Yununmm!” - guy in the fir s t booth , September '03
Ken's Place
1852 SE Hawthorne
503.236.9520
Weds - Sat Dinner
¿ « ¡ S
E lizabeth “B oots ” D avis
r r r i
y °u f e d d \e re c e n t violent attacks on queers
W W * ■
L indicate the start of a violent backlash to our
escalating fight for equality, or are these ju st examples of everyday prejudice?
(Please see related item s on Page 1 9.) Respond at www.justout.com .
(D on't forget to include your nam e, city and daytime telephone num ber.)
funmtuRe j
i> € C O R
was closed-captioned! Maybe closed-caption
ing for next year?
liiTlft i m
“Great taste, less frilly.” - The Oregonian , June ’03
/ *Cot ACi
‘
B
a
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b
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o
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flo o R in q
T S BAmB° 0
ipating in the tremendously stirring address by
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he insisted on
equal, not separate, rights for the entire black
community. I was moved, along with the
200,000 people attending, to truly believe we
are indeed brothers and sisters in the inclusive
unity o f G o d ’s people. Yes, this white male, by
the chances o f birth, was called to a life of
privilege. Nevertheless, I must believe, as a
moral person, that 1 stand with my brothers
and sisters and demand all civil justices on an
equal basis tor all people whether or not I per
sonally benefit.
1 continually grow in my admiration and pro
found respect for pastor Glenna Shepherd of
Metropolitan Community Church of Portland
as she courageously voices the demand for civil
rights in all marriages. Her excellent speaking
ability, coupled with her native intelligence and
seemingly inexhaustible energy, allows her lead
ership to champion the demand for equal civil
rights in marriage.
Listening to the well-prepared message by
the Rev. Tara Wilkins o f Ainsworth United
Church of Christ on discrimination and the true
calling of the church inspired all of us.
Krause indeed caught the main messages of
this symposium. Thank you for the accurate and
fine coverage.
Great Food.
Good Prices.
Cool Place.
know of that are heated before injection. 1 have
never heard of heating meth (or powder
cocaine, which was my drug of choice), which
should dissolve fully in the sptxm when mixed
with cold water. The stuff that doesn’t dissolve is
cut.
Second is the strong emphasis throughout
the article on 12-step treatment programs as the
only possible solution to drug addiction. I sup
port anyone’s right to be a part of 12-step and
am happy for those who are helped, hut 1 do not
agree that it is the only way.
I used cocaine off and on for 20 years, includ
ing many long periods of daily use. During that
time I experienced police brutality and was
jailed and court-ordered into 12-step treatment
programs many times. It never worked. In fact, I
was harmed. For example, one drug treatment
counselor drove me to a lake and had sex with
me, and another threatened to “take me over his
knee” during a “support group.”
There were many requirements I didn’t agree
with in 12-step— for example, giving up my
Continued on Page 9
Hawthorne
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