Watch for ice…or you’re under arrest

Utah is not exactly a state known to make rational legislative decisions. From proposing to honor gun manufacturers on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to considering the elimination of the 12th grade to cut back on education spending, they have now passed a law that would open women who’ve suffered a miscarriage to possible criminal prosecution and life imprisonment.

Freedom of degradation

Last year, ABC News reported that Portland tops the nation in the number of strip clubs where full nudity, alcohol and video gambling are allowed within a single establishment. And that number appears to still be growing.

Flying fat in America

Last weekend, film director Kevin Smith was ejected from a Southwest Airlines plane from Oakland to Burbank, Calif., because he was allegedly too large to get his armrest down.

Census makes sense

When you are filling out your 2010 Census form, you are not only making a statement about what resourses your community needs going forward, you are also acquiring accurate data that reflects changes in your community…

Use it to learn it

What do you look for in classes? Is it something you want to put on your résumé, or do you actually want to feel like you’ve learned something? Do you prefer lectures, or do you like hands-on classes? For different people, it is different things.

A younger generation steps in

It is not everyday I talk to someone who may be the next Commissioner Dan Saltzman, but better.’ One of the benefits of working as a journalist is you have an excuse to interview people who otherwise would not answer your questions. I recently had an opportunity to talk to Rudy Soto, the 24-year-old Portland State senior who is running for City Commissioner.

Exporting hatred

What do gay horses eat? Haaaaay! What do lesbian horses eat? HAY! Sound ridiculous, or just silly? Well recently, three evangelical Christians armed with just as ridiculous logic influenced Uganda into endorsing similar stereotypes-legally.

The dangerous pursuit of normal

As human beings, we are constantly seeking pleasure, whether that pleasure is food, love, music, clothes, drugs or whatever else. Many of these pleasures can escalate into addictions, and wanting those pleasures over and over again can oftentimes stay with us for many years.

Worth your while – and tuition

These days, networking is synonymous with having a successful career. No matter how big your office is, how good your marketing team does to create colorful and engaging advertisements, how creative your computer skills are or how many degrees you have, it is the quality of relationships you have established in your life with your family, friends, clients and—more than anything else—with everyone you don’t know, that determines the success of your personal and career life.

Profiting from addiction

First you lose your house and then your family, which includes the dogs. Then you get out of control and steal money from your church offering, and despite guilty feelings, you can’t stop yourself from “borrowing” money from anywhere and everywhere you can, with no means to pay it back. That is when you’ve really hit rock bottom and can’t get yourself out of this mess.