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Saturday, December 27, 2014

China gay dating app featured in Businessweek reminds me of HP China

Thomas Kraemer HP China visa paperwork

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer's visa paperwork, from the late 1980's, handwritten by Beijing, China officials during one of his visits to the Hewlett-Packard China research laboratory, which he founded at the personal request of the HP company cofounder Dave Packard who had previously served as the Assistant Defense Secretary under President Nixon and who was one of the businessmen that helped Nixon open up Communist China for trade with America. HP was one of the first America companies to do more than just exploit the low cost of labor for manufacturing in China. The research lab I set up initially employed researchers, many with Ph.D. degrees from American universities, who were paid the equivalent of $30 per month, which was the prevailing wages in China at the time, but when I mentioned these low wages to Dave Packard during a business plan review as being important to making a profit, he admonished me and reminded me that the reason HP was in China was not to exploit the low wages, but because he sincerely wanted HP to be a global business with an equal proportion of business, including manufacturing and R&D labs, in all countries. I still admire Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard's business ethics and I am not surprised that their company has survived so profitably and long after their deaths because of the ethics they instilled in the fabric of HP.

I was reminded of my time in China when I read the recent article by Christina Larson, "Technology: The Startup Winning Over China's Gays," BusinessWeek, Dec. 29, 2014 - Jan. 1, 2015, p. 31-33 posted online as "Technology: World's Largest Gay Dating App, Born in China, Now Attracts Global Investors," Dec. 10. 2014:

Ma Baoli worked as a cop in China's northern Hebei province for almost 20 years, until his colleagues heard about the gay online discussion forum he moderated in his spare time. Some of his work buddies "turned a cold shoulder" when they learned he was gay, Ma says. The police department forced him to make a choice: He could keep his job or keep running Danlan. org, one of the country's first gay-focused websites. When he abruptly resigned in March 2012, his confused parents showed up at the police station in search of answers: Ma hadn't come out to them.

The People's Republic has been slow to accept homosexuality. Consensual sex between two men or two women has been legal only since 1997. Until 2001, China's Ministry of Health classified homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder.

Gay dating apps Grindr, which originated in the U.S., and Jack'd, of Belgium, have signed up users in China, but they haven't kept pace with Blued. According to Ma, Blued has 15 million users, mostly in China, making it the world leader. (Grindr has about 10 million globally.)

. . .

China's smartphone revolution was in its infancy. Many Chinese without regular access to desktops or laptops were suddenly going online, and even longtime Web surfers found new possibilities in the privacy offered by handheld mobile devices. One 30-year-old civil servant in Beijing, who asked that his name not be printed because he isn't out to colleagues, says that he met his partner of 18 months on Blued: "When I was in my early 20s, I often went to gay bars to meet men. But now that I am a little older, I am more serious about my relationships." He says he likes Blued's timeline feature, where users can post daily messages and photos, because it provides a glimpse of the personalities of men he might meet.

Profiles on Blued include information on age, height, preferred sexual positions, and blood type (which is associated with compatibility in China), though most users use pseudonyms. The app has a geolocation feature that calculates the distance between two users' locations.

. . .

Ma says that after a year of agonizing over the direction of his life, he's "now much more at peace." He draws inspiration from Apple's (AAPL) Tim Cook. "As a successful CEO, he is changing the public's view of gay men in business," Ma says. Asked if he thinks China will ever legalize gay marriage, Ma says: "Definitely. It's a matter of time. Social change happens slowly."

(Quoted from Christina Larson, "Technology: The Startup Winning Over China's Gays," BusinessWeek, Dec. 29, 2014 - Jan. 1, 2015, p. 31-33 posted online as "Technology: World's Largest Gay Dating App, Born in China, Now Attracts Global Investors," Dec. 10. 2014)

I have been pleased watching the world open up to social justice and go from gay liberation activists of the early 1970's angrily criticizing Jack Baker's gay marriage activism as being contrary to the goals of sexual freedom and gay liberation, to a world with legal marriage in many places and an oppressive Communist state opening up to the idea of gay marriage, as well to see a gay CEO of Apple Computer Tim Cook. Likewise, it is heartening to see the work of American's work to remove homosexuality from the official American list of mental disorders be accepted internationally.

Year 2014 in review - nine years of blogging

Thomas Kraemer as Simpson cartoon character PHOTO: See previous post Thomas Kraemer as Simpson cartoon (8/7/07)

Thomas Kraemer 2014
PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer still alive and still merry at the end of 2014, but with more white hair and much blinder and weaker than he was last year!

Thomas Kraemer in front of snow covered Japanese garden Nov. 2010

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer, in November 2010, sitting in front of his snow covered Japanese garden. This was a record early snowfall for Corvallis, Oregon. He was still able to enjoy the snowfall, despite having suffered a few months before an ischemic stroke in the posterior cerebral artery territory of his right brain that worsened his low vision blindness,. (See my previous post Signs and symptoms due to stroke (9/18/10))

Bill Gates and Paul Allen using Model 33 Teletype

PHOTO: My favorite photo in the history of computer technology is of Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen using a Model 33 Teletype machine connected via a 110 bit per second telephone modem to a central timesharing computer system. I guess the photo was taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s based on the age of the boys and the vintage of the computer technology. This photo made me recall how the term "booting up" a computer originated from the old adage of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" in reference to how computers had to be started up in the days of Teletype machines. Early computers had little if any permanent memory and they required a small program entered manually in binary via the computer's front panel switches, or by using the punched paper tape reader of a Teletype machine, so that the computer's operating system could then be loaded from a magnetic tape drive or hard drive. This short piece of punched paper tape was commonly called the "bootstrap loader program" because it resembled a leather bootstrap and it was figuratively being used to pull up the computer by its own bootstraps. The Teletype used mechanical fingers and electrical contacts to sense the rows of up to eight punched holes in the paper tape as it was mechanically fed through its reader -- each punched hole representing a binary bit and each row a byte. See previous posts My first blog posting (4/15/06) and Windows XP R.I.P. and Bill Gates using Teletype circa 1970's (4/12/14)

I started my first blog in 2006 Thomas Kraemer Blog and wrote 1,554 Posts through 2011, before starting my current blog in 2012, Tom's OSU blog, where I've written another 200 posts, including this one. I have been slowed down considerably by multiple ischemic strokes over the last few years and therefore hope and pray that I can continue posting long enough to celebrate my tenth year of blogging next year. As I've said before, I blog largely because it provides a wonderful Google searchable memory of interesting things I've read instead of blogging as some people do just for ego gratification.

This is my 200th post in this blog and in the event I am unable to blog throughout next year, I decided to list both my favorite posts of 2014 below, in addition to some links from previous posts made over the last 9 years:

Listed below are my previous annual reviews:

Some other posts from previous years:

Monday, December 15, 2014

All Social Security recipients received gay marriage benefits information for 2015

I lived to see Social Security recognize gay marriage!

Each year in December, every U.S. Social Security Administration beneficiary receives via the U.S. mail a single folded, custom printed page that states what is the automatic cost-of-living adjustment for the next year and what will be the new dollar amount for their Social Security payment, less deductions for Medicare insurance and other deductions, along with the date they should expect this dollar amount will be direct deposited into their bank account. (I am not sure if anybody receives an actual check in the mail anymore.) -- (At the bottom of the paper form that I received on Dec. 12, 2014 was the footer: "Social Security Administration Form SSA-4926-SM-DI (1-2015)")

I was surprised this year, given my low vision blindness, to see a prominent headline that read (Social Security) "Benefits for Same-Sex Couples," which stated underneath the headline, "We are now able to pay benefits to more same-sex couples. We encourage people to contact us to find out if they or their children are eligible for benefits or a different benefit amount. Learn more at www.socialsecurity.gov/same-sexcouples, which I noticed automatically redirects to the page, "Important Information for Same-Sex Couples," U.S. Social Security Administration socialsecurity.gov/people/same-sexcouples/ accessed Dec. 15, 2014:

"On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. Therefore, Social Security no longer is prevented from recognizing same-sex marriages to determine entitlement or payment amount." (Quoted from "Important Information for Same-Sex Couples," U.S. Social Security Administration socialsecurity.gov accessed Dec. 15, 2014)

More on the annual Social Security adjustment for inflation:

"Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 64 million Americans will increase 1.7 percent in 2015, the Social Security Administration announced today.

"The 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 58 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2015. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2014. The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $118,500 from $117,000. Of the estimated 168 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2015, about 10 million will pay higher taxes because of the increase in the taxable maximum. "

(Quoted from LaVenia J. LaVelle, Press Officer, "Press Release: Social Security Announces 1.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2015," press.office@ssa.gov Wednesday, October 22, 2014)

Also see "Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information for 2015," socialsecurity.gov/cola accessed Dec. 15, 2014.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

My new kitchen chairs finally match my Herman Miller table

My Eames kitchen chairs and Herman Miller Table TV HP Touchsmart

PHOTO: A rainy Oregon day can be seen outside my kitchen window beside my new Eames Aluminum Management Chairs that finally match my previously acquired Herman Miller table -- a Twentieth Century design I have always admired and that seems to remain in fashion with TV set designers today. Even though i have become color blind, I picked the slate (bluish) leather to pick up on the light blue kitchen cabinets I have. For me, the chairs and table work well next to a wall-mounted HDTV (which I can no longer see, but I can listen to the TV news) and an HP TouchSmart computer with a touch screen interface to Windows 7 OS and integrated HDTV. I bought the HDTV and computers shortly before I had a stroke that legally blinded me, but fortunately not enough to be unable to post this photo. Behind the wall on the left is my laundry room, which I mentioned in my previous post New laundry room attic vent installed for Speed Queen Washer Dryer plus future cooktop (12/6/14), where I explained, "It seems like everything in my house is going obsolete and needs to be repaired or replaced. . . . For example, my kitchen chairs are breaking up and unrepairable, therefore I just bought a couple of designer Eames Aluminum Management Chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, in Vicenza Leather with chrome legs (17171), which I hope to blog about after they arrive as promised next week." Done!

"When Charles and Ray Eames designed the Eames Aluminum Management Chair and Side Chair (1958), they created a revolution in seating that has lost none of its edge. These chairs were originally developed as a special project for a private residence being designed by Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard. Moving away from the Eameses' shell forms of the 1940s, the designers combined a newly affordable aluminum frame with a sling seat that subtly conforms to the body's shape." (Quoted from Eames chairs dwr.com product information)

Fortunately, my bad luck with damaged shipments and poorly built designer furniture appears to have been broken this time -- the chairs came in perfect shape, undamaged and appear to have been built with excellent materials and craftsmanship. Caution, your mileage may differ.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Oregonian book review of new gay marriage history book

ONE Magazine Aug. 1953 'Homosexual marriage?' cover headline PHOTO: ONE Magazine was ahead of its time when it mentioned the idea of "homosexual marriage" in 1953 long before "gay marriage" or same-sex marriage became a cause of some gay liberationists. Former Oregon State University Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture W. Dorr Legg was one of the major contributors to the ONE homophile magazine and he was a conservative who probably saw gay marriage as being a conservative value. (See previous posts Oregon same-sex marriage vote and Pope resigns hits front page (2/21/13), W. Dorr Legg OSU archives records 1935-1942 (7/31/10) and Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," printed to PDF from OutHistory.org in 2010 is permanently stored by the OSU Scholars Archives @ OSU)

Given my low vision blindness, it will take me a few more weeks to read more than just a book review of a new book on the history of gay marriage (See book review by Judith Barrington, Special to The Oregonian, "Surprising scenes behind the successful marriage war," The Oregonian, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014, p. 4 A&E Section, and posted online December 03, 2014 of the new book by Marc Solomon, "Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took on the Politicians and Pundits--And Won," Foreedge 2014)

The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) Sunday newspaper reviewer Judith Barrington said, "I was pretty sure I already knew most of what would be in this book when I opened it. But as it turned out, there were plenty of surprises in Marc Solomon's 'Winning Marriage.'"

I'm guessing that a book written by the national campaign director of Freedom to Marry will focus on the more recent history of the battle for gay marriage equality, however, on Sunday I asked "The Oregonian" newspaper editor to publish the following bit of "ancient history" (as most newspaper editors dismiss it):

I noticed the Dec. 7 book review of "Winning Marriage" ignored the contributions of the former Oregon State University Professor W. Dorr Legg (1904-1994) who in the 1950's published an academic research journal paper that predicted "homophile marriage" would be a natural consequence of gaining equal rights for gay people.

I was a member of the gay liberation group behind the first U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage in 1972, which let stand Jack Baker's legally performed same-sex marriage because Minnesota marriage laws at that time did not specify gender and Baker's marriage was never legally ordered dissolved by any court.

Sadly, I witnessed the first national gay rights lobbyists in the 1970's angrily reject the conservative values and genius of Legg and Baker because, along with women liberation groups, they viewed marriage only as a tool used by men to oppress women.

Thomas Kraemer
Founder, Oregon State University Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund for research concerning humans or animals with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity

(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, The (Portland) Oregonian letters to the editor on My Oregon Public Blog, "Oregon gay marriage history," blog.oregonlive.com posted Dec. 8, 2014 3:16PM)

My physical hardback copy of the book is scheduled to arrive today and I hope to blog more after reading it, which as I said might take several weeks, especially now that OSU is out for Christmas break until after the new year starts. (This is a small college that literally empties out during college breaks, which is great for doing many things without any crowds!)

(UPDATE 12/12/12/14) My physical copy of the book arrived and between perusal of the index and the ability to search inside the digital copy of the book, I confirmed that the book doesn't make a connection to prior gay marriage activism in America, much less internationally --this would make a good Ph.D. thesis for somebody to write, hint, hint!

Oregon Obamacare versus Medicare comparison letter

My local newspaper printed my letter to the editor about my experience with the Oregon's new Obamacare website versus Medicare:

During the recent open enrollment for Oregon's Obamacare at healthcare.gov I compared what it costs for a Corvallis early retiree at age 64 versus a 65 years old Medicare recipient with President Bush's Part D drug coverage.

I found 69 Obamacare plans offered in Corvallis Zip code 97330 that ranged in price from $420 to $938 per month.

Most Medicare recipients in Corvallis pay monthly premiums of only $104.90 per month plus approximately $30 per month for Part D drug coverage, however, Medicare prominently discloses that the government pays most of the actual costs equal to $826.60 for Medicare Part A and B plus approximately $63.40 per month for Part D drug coverage, as calculated using Bush's delayed cost method also used by Obamacare.

Shockingly, this adds up to annually over $10,000 per Medicare recipient without including the additional dollars spent on co-payments, deductibles and other uncovered medical costs.

Younger Republicans are furthering their agenda, of cutting Social Security and Medicare to lower taxes, by stoking resentment in young voters with the above facts and the propaganda that the Baby Boom Generation will bankrupt the system and leave them nothing.

If Democrats fail to convince voters that capitalism and free market competition will not control medical costs, then eventually only the wealthy will be able to afford medical care.

(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: Soon, only the wealthy will be able to afford insurance," Gazette-Times, Dec. 8, 2014)

See the following links:

Saturday, December 6, 2014

New laundry room attic vent installed for Speed Queen Washer Dryer plus future cooktop

Vents in attic for laundry room dryer and kitchen stove top

PHOTO: Two new stainless steel vents are shown installed in the attic, one vent pipe (right) is from my laundry room for my new a new Speed Queen Washer and Dryer and the other vent pipe (left) was installed in preparation for a new downdraft cooktop I plan to buy as a replacement for my existing 20 years old Jenn-Air electric cooktop and down draft vent, which currently vents down and then back behind the kitchen wall before being routed up and over the laundry room to an outside porch built with a cathedral ceiling roof and open cedar rafters extending three feet above the laundry room wall and some existing holes cut for attic venting because the building code inspector would not allow the stovetop vent to exit underneath the floor and so close to the laundry room window as the installer planned to do. I'm glad the inspector insisted on the change, because it places the vent out of the way and it is protected from rain and the weather instead of having a hole cut into the concrete porch as my builder wanted to do. (See previous post Wheelchair accessible Speed Queen Washer Dryer replaces old Maytag stacker (7/7/14))

Speed Queen Washer Dryer and laundry room vent to attic installed 2014

PHOTO: My laundry room in 2014 after installing the new dryer vent (above and left) for my new Speed Queen - Speed Queen Model AFN51F Stainless Steel washer and Speed Queen Model ADE41F Stainless Steel electric dryer, which had to be custom ordered because they normally stock only the gas model that is demand most everywhere except places like where I live that have low cost hydroelectric power generators and a history of being all electric. (See previous post Wheelchair accessible Speed Queen Washer Dryer replaces old Maytag stacker (7/7/14))

Laundry room shelf above front load Speed Queen washer dryer

PHOTO: UPDATE 12/27/14: I added a laundry room shelf, with a clothes hanger rod, above my new Speed Queen front load washer dryer pair that is next to a laundry tub. See previous posts Wheelchair accessible Speed Queen Washer Dryer replaces old Maytag stacker (7/7/14) and New laundry room attic vent installed for Speed Queen Washer Dryer plus future cooktop (12/6/14).

I recently wrote about having to replace my 20 years old dishwasher (see previous post Dishwasher projects time remaining on kitchen floor tiles (10/2/14)) and my nearly thirty years old washing machine (see previous post Wheelchair accessible Speed Queen Washer Dryer replaces old Maytag stacker (7/7/14)).

It seems like everything in my house is going obsolete and needs to be repaired or replaced. For example, my kitchen chairs are breaking up and unrepairable, therefore I just bought a couple of designer Eames Aluminum Management Chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, in Vicenza Leather with chrome legs (17171), which I hope to blog about after they arrive as promised next week. I already own a matching 4-foot diameter Herman Miller office kitchen table that goes with these chairs, which I noticed have recently become popular with many set designers for anchor chairs on national TV shows. I have admired this chair's design for decades, but I have never been able to afford buying them until now. I've had bad luck before with designer furniture and I am very leery about the quality of these chairs' construction, even though I love the quality of their design.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Dissertate before you procreate advice given to striking grad students

Headline 'Ready to strike for benefits' Barometer, Dec. 2, 2014, p. 1

PHOTO: Oregon State University student newspaper headline story, about the University of Oregon graduate student teaching assistants strike, by Claire McMorris, "Ready to strike for benefits," Baarometer, Dec. 2, 2014, p. 1,4. Also see the sympathetic Staff, "Editorial: U of O grad students deserve fair wages," Barometer, p. 7.

I first heard the story about University of Oregon graduate teaching assistants striking on a Eugene TV station located next to the U of O and my first thought was, WOW, are students becoming more leftist after a few decades of going more conservative and I wondered what has changed their direction.

Although the U of O tends to be more liberal than Oregon State University, I bet any unionization effort will fail because Oregonians have typically either not cared about unionization or they see unions as a problem. I believe unions can be good, even though the history of unions is checkered.

What made me laugh was the U of O student spokeswoman for unionization who told the TV news that she was upset by the advice from "around" the U of O to "dissertate before you procreate!" -- get your Ph.D. first before rocking the boat. She went on to talk about her concern that she could not get pregnant because it wasn't covered by the U of O health plan.

Although I've heard this type of advice before at all stages in my career -- put your head down and do your job before you rock the boat -- I hadn't heard this adage before about grad students procreating.

It made me recall that my own grandfather and father worked on their Ph.D. thesis while procreating and raising children. Thanks to my dad, I got to play at his knee while he worked on a chemical engineering program on the first computer at the University of Illinois in the 1950's.

I am sure the U of O student strikers will get a good education in the politics of unionization and I wish them the best of luck, but my advice to them would be to be prepared for a bare knuckled fight they might lose.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

My last supper is a Li'l Butterball Turkey and a Birthday Cake

Li'l Butterball Turkey 8.84 lbs. Nov. 27, 2014

PHOTO: A very hard to find and very small 8.84 pound Frozen Li'l Butterball Turkey brand (typical weight 6 to 11 lbs.) is shown on my kitchen cutting board ready to be thawed in the refrigerator, breast side up, for 4 days before Thanksgiving Day. I was able to find one 6 pounder in a previous year and this year every turkey below 10 lbs. in weight was sold out several months before Thanksgiving Day Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014. I love buying the smaller of these turkeys instead of the traditional turkeys, which are often more than 20 pounds and suitable only for a huge family gathering instead of for what the Butterball info page calls "more intimate gatherings." Sure, even with the smaller turkeys I have to freeze leftover turkey in vacuum sealed bags, but it is not so many leftovers that it fills up the freezer and gets freezer burned because it takes so long to consume it.

Reynolds cooking bag instructions

PHOTO: Cooking instructions provided inside of the Reynolds Kitchens Large Oven Bags reynoldskitchens.com (See Reynolds Large Oven Bags Cooking Chart (PDF)) that the manufacturer says is for, "Making tastier, juicier turkey and in less time -- Cooking moist and tender meats and vegetables -- Making a one-pan meal with easy clean-up." The instructions suggest a 350 degree F. oven and to distribute 1 Tablespoon of flour inside the cooking bag to prevent sticking, and after brushing the turkey with seasoning, then close the bag and cut a few slits in the top of the bag for venting while baking for about 2 hours for an 8 pound turkey. Using an oven meat thermometer placed in the thigh as directed until it read 180 degree F Fahrenheit (and the center of the stuffing read 160 degrees), it took about two hours of cooking time for this 8.84 pound turkey, which had been thawed for four days before cooking.

Birthday cake Ditto for 60th 2014

PHOTO: A traditional custom baked and decorated birthday cake with two candles to be put on top.

In an act of pure gluttony and pleasure, on Thanksgiving Day Nov. 27, 2014 I plan to cook and eat part of the above 8.84 lbs. Li'l Butterball Turkey along with a birthday cake for my "last supper" because I am not sure if I will live to see another Thanksgiving Day -- if this sounds too melodramatic and macabre, please note that as a child I set the goals for myself to grow up to be six feet tall, a millionaire and live to be the age of 100 years old. Ironically, I achieved the first goal to be six feet tall and I want to go on record stating that I still aspire to meet all of my childhood goals, however, I must note that being a millionaire today is even harder because it requires accumulating assets of more than $8 million given inflation.

I've written about cooking technology before (See previous post Sous-vide cooking method for steaks and eggs (4/24/13)) and perhaps my current interest in it is a form of psychic channeling from my late father who had a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and contributed to the invention of engineered food at General Mills in the middle Twentieth Century. Similarly, the plastic mesh bag surrounding this turkey was made from nylon, which is also channeling my Ph.D. grandfather Elmer O. Kraemer who led the invention of it at DuPont. (See previous post Elmer Kraemer, chemist, nylon, synthetic rubber pioneer (10/8/09) and Elmer Kraemer (Wikipedia wikipedia.org))

For example, the science of heat transfer and thermodynamics theory can be applied to the Web page calculator "How To Thaw," by Butterball, accessed Nov. 10, 2014 on the www.butterball.com site, which calculates that a 9 lb. turkey will take 2 days 6 hours in the refrigerator, but given my past experience, and the fact that my refrigerator is set colder than normal, it will probably take longer to thaw it and so I plan on starting the thawing process on Sunday Nov. 23, 2014 at 8am four days before I cook it. The manufacturer's safety instructions state a fully "thawed turkey may be kept in the refrigerator up to 4 days before cooking" and so I should safe from it spoiling on me.

For easy cooking and cleanup of the oven, I like using Reynolds Kitchens Large Oven Bags reynoldskitchens.com instead of their bags they also sell for cooking turkeys because the Large Bags are smaller and fit a smaller turkey better. Using a cooking bag also helps keeps more moisture in the turkey, which eliminates the need for constant basting during cooking, and allows faster cooking time because the cooking temperature can be set to Reynolds' recommendation of 350 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the 325 degrees F recommended by Butterball. The Reynolds Large Oven Bags Cooking Chart (PDF) also recommends coating the bag with flour before inserting the turkey so it will be less likely to stick and be easier to remove after cooking. Using this cooking bag method in a previous year for a 9.48 pound turkey took a little over 2 hours to cook to the thigh temperature of 180 degrees recommended by Butterball and a little less time to reach the 170 degrees F in the deepest part of the breast recommended by Reynolds' instructions. The temperature was confirmed with a digital temperature probe in the thigh (not drumstick) of the turkey making sure it didn't hit bone and also the stuffing where the temperature in the center of the stuffing was 160 degrees F when the thigh was at 180 degrees F. (See "How To Place A Meat Thermometer," butterball.com accessed Nov. 10, 2014)

The quality, taste and size of the L'l Butterball Turkey brand has pleased me for years as a customer eating one has always felt to me like it was a guilty and pleasurable diversion from my normally healthy diet of low fat, high fiber foods, which has caused me before to pause and look at the Frozen Li'l Butterball nutrition label, which states the serving size is 4 oz. (as standardized by food labeling laws meant to allow easy comparisons), which is comically less than the typical serving size most people eat for Thanksgiving Dinners. Nonetheless, the standard 4 ounce serving has: "Calories 170 with Calories from Fat 70, Protein 21g, Total Fat 8g and 250mg of Sodium." The turkey meat contains no "Dietary Fiber" and the package ingredients label lists: "Whole Young Turkey. Contains up to 8% of a solution of Water, contains 2% or less of Salt, Natural Flavors, Modified Food Starch, Sodium Phosphate to enhance tenderness and juiciness." This so-called "solution" injected in this turkey evidently to make it easier to cook and also to taste better than the typical organic turkey, which I've bought before, proving that engineered food can taste much better than organic or natural food, but it comes with the lingering fear in the back of your mind there might be something harmful about it. Of course, there are also many food safety issues with non-engineered food, which likes to call itself organic or natural, but the risks are little better understood than some of the yet to be determined health issues with genetically modified organisms, etc.!

See the following links:

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Oregon sodomy law invoked in sugar daddy lover spat

Sunday Oregonian headline 'Terry Bean's ex-boyfriend helped police find alleged 15-year old victim in sex abuse . . .

PHOTO: Front page story about Terry Bean, 66, and his former boyfriend, Kiah L. Lawson, 25, who are accused of having sex with a 15 year old boy at a Eugene hotel on Sept. 27, 2013 according to the newspaper story by Maxine Bernstein, "Bean's ex-boyfriend helped police find teenager, former lawyer says," Sunday Oregonian, Nov. 23, 2014, p. A14. Also see "WATCH: Obama Bundler, HRC Founder Terry Bean Arrested on Sex Crimes Charges," advocate.com posted Nov. 23, 2014 for more background on Terry Bean, who was a founder of the Washington, D.C. Human Rights Campaign, along with Steven Endean, and who recently visited Obama with his former boyfriend.

What is noteworthy about this case is that the age of consent in Oregon was raised in 1971 as a compromise to legalize sodomy between consenting adults for all Oregonians, including gay men. The Oregon sodomy law was usually used to target adult gay men, but because it also applied to oral sex between heterosexuals, straight Oregon legislators were motivated to change it and raised the age of consent as a compromise.

Today the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) -- Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 163.385 Sodomy in the third degree, which Terry Bean is charged with violating, says, "A person commits the crime of sodomy in the third degree if the person engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another person under 16 years of age or causes that person to engage in deviate sexual intercourse." As used in chapter 743, Oregon Laws revised in 1971 say, "Deviate sexual intercourse means sexual conduct between persons consisting of contact between the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another."

This case is really more about intergenerational sex and a case of ephebebophilia instead of pedophilia, because it is about two adults that are sexually attracted to a boy who is sexually mature and past puberty, but under the age of consent according to current laws, instead of an adult being sexually attracted to a pre-pubescent boy. The difference is significant because until recently sex with post-puberty persons over the age of 10 or 11 was considered legal in many places and cultures. Many of these volatile and emotional issues that have real legal consequences are discussed in the book by Theo Sandfort, Edward Brongersma, A. X. van Naerssen, "MALE INTERGENERATIONAL INTIMACY: Historical, Socio-Psychological, and Legal Perspectives," Harrington Park Press, 1990 , simultaneously printed in "Journal of Homosexuality," Haworth Press, ol. 20, No. 1/2, 1990.

The research done by Stephen Robertson, "Age of Consent Laws," Children and Youth in History, Item #49 (accessed January 22 2009, 3:22 pm) Children and Youth in History, Center for History and New Media at George Mason University says the age of consent in Oregon was 10 years old in 1880, 16 in 1920 and 18 today.

George Painter, "The Sensibilities of Our Forefathers, The History of Sodomy Laws in the United States," Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, Last edited: August 10, 2004 says the age of consent was raised to 18 by the state legislature in 1971. A law review article by Edward N. Fadeley, "Sex Crime in the New Code," 51 Ore.L.Rev. 515 (Spring 1972) was critical of the fact that the new code raised the age of consent from 16 to 18, especially since the reason for the action "is not at all clear." Some participants I've talked to recall that raising the age of consent was a compromise for legalizing homosexual sodomy.

Source: Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) -- Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 163.385 Sodomy in the third degree - "A person commits the crime of sodomy in the third degree if the person engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another person under 16 years of age or causes that person to engage in deviate sexual intercourse. . . Deviate sexual intercourse means sexual conduct between persons consisting of contact between the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another."

Also see previous posts:

Friday, November 21, 2014

OSU trans awareness week does drag again

Please accept my apologies in advance for the double meaning title to this post, but I've blogged before about queer and transgender. (See previous post OSU students discuss ethics of blackface, drag and definition of trans-asterisk (5/24/13))

Therefore, I will only briefly list the following items, without much comment, just for my own notes:

Rural electric co-op history provides lesson on net neutrality

MAP: 1555 NW Monroe Street Corvallis Oregon (Google Maps) across the street from the Oregon State University campus in 1948 was the headquarters of Consumers Power Inc. (CPI is a rural electric power utility and Pioneer phone company headquartered in Philomath, Oregon, which is also the ISP peak.org run by PEAK Internet Services that was spun off from OSU where it was started as a "Public Education And Access to Knowledge" (PEAK) service to the university in the early days of the internet). In the small world department, CPI's headquarters were bought in 1948 by the local daily Gazette-Times newspaper and today is now the office of a professional engineer, who works on OSU projects, Sam Graves, P.E. 1555 NW Monroe St. a Glumac Associate Principal and a Senior Mechanical Engineer with 27 years of hands-on industry experience. Another former address of the G-T newspaper was later occupied by the restaurant Headline Cafe 300 SW Jefferson Ave, Near SW 3rd Str. Corvallis, which closed several years ago.

My local co-op electric power provider Consumers Power Incorporated, commonly known as CPI, which was created by a 1930's President's Executive Order, recently printed a limited number of copies of a book on their history by Pat Swinger, "Shedding Light on the Willamette Valley: The History of Consumers Power Inc.," published 2014 by Consumers Power Inc. cpi.coop (PDF) 75 pages.

I first noticed a mention of this history in my local electric power co-op provider's monthly magazine on the back cover piece by Roman Gillen, President and CEO of Consumers Power Incorporated Inc., "President's Report," Ruralite, Oct. 2014, p. 32. He mentioned they had printed a limited number of copies of a book they produced on CPI history since it was founded 75 years ago. (Also see in the same issue another mention of the 75th anniversary bySusan Decker, "A mutually Beneficial Relationship," Ruralite, Oct. 2014, p. 8)

"Seventy-five years have passed since the men and women of rural Oregon began envisioning a better life for themselves and their neighbors and organized the Benton-Lincoln Electric Cooperative. In the years since, so much has changed that the current operation of Consumers Power Inc. bears little resemblance to the earliest days of the cooperative. Bucket trucks and digger trucks have made new construction much easier and safer than it was when a lineman's day often meant eight hours of climbing and working on poles. In the office, automation and computers have replaced the clunky and clumsy equipment of years past. So, too, have the members' lives changed since those early days.

"The backbreaking and often dangerous labor of everyday life in rural America has been exchanged, in large part, for a life of greater ease, albeit one of much greater complexity. And while the service Consumers Power Inc. supplies has become almost as necessary to our existence as the air we breathe, the irony is that we too often take it for granted. The truth is the people of Consumers Power Inc. work with the same dedication as did the people who organized and worked the cooperative in its earliest days. They are committed, now as much as ever, to serving their communities . . . their friends, their families, their neighbors, and this is their story." (Quoted from "75 Years of Cooperative History," cpi.coop accessed Nov. 11, 2014)

When I first arrived at Oregon State University over 40 years ago, one of the first lectures I attended on electric power engineering was by an OSU professor who had helped design and engineer long-distance electrical power distribution networks used by CPI. At the time, I did not fully understand the significance of his contribution, nor the politics surrounding it.

The history of CPI is interesting to read because it reflects the political shifts in America between conservative country voters and liberal city dwellers. Here is letter to the editor I wrote that occurred to me after reading the CPI history book:

The current political debate over President Obama's net neutrality proposal has many parallels to the history of a Depression-era Executive Order signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on May 11, 1935 to establish the Rural Electrification Administration.

Republicans criticized Roosevelt's REA as being socialism and attempted to undermine it late as President Nixon's administration, but were overruled by rural constituents who had been denied good service by commercial utility companies.

Similar political disagreement exists today between Democrats who want to defend the common good via net neutrality utility regulations, versus Republicans who want to defend capitalism by letting the marketplace decide how Americans are connected to the world's internet information superhighway, even if many citizens are left behind.

Hopefully, America's national security will not have to be threatened by cyber-world wars before Republicans will support internet laws for the common good, similar to how the Republican President Eisenhower finally supported the Interstate Highway System under the guise of national defense.

These political parallels occurred to me while reading the local history of May Grant (1893-1969) who was elected in 1946 to the Board of Directors of the Corvallis Consumers Power rural electric co-op, which CPI posted for free online http://bit.ly/1zZNKmE and also printed in a limited number of copies to celebrate their 75th anniversary.

(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: Battle over net neutrality recalls events of 1930s," Gazette-Times, Nov. 21, 2014, p. A9

Ironically, after I had submitted my letter, but before mine was published, a letter on a related topic was printed talking about "the collective good":

"In the past, eminent domain was used for real exigencies. During World War II, a segment of what is now our farm was taken by the federal government for a water treatment plant, a well and several pipelines for Camp Adair -- all needed for the collective good of the entire populace. Later, during the Eisenhower administration, eminent domain was applied for acquisition of land for the interstate highway system -- also deemed necessary for the good of the nation. . . ." (Quoted from Louise Snyder, Albany, "Letter: Development of bike path on farm land an unnecessary 'slippery slope,'" gazettetimes.com posted Nov. 20, 2014)

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Cost of OSU outpaced inflation letter to the editor

Thomas Kraemer letter Ed Ray's salary Barometer Nov. 3, 2014, p. 7 PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) letter to the editor as printed by Thomas Kraemer, OSU Class of 1977, Founder OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund, "President Ray, Salary Increase," OSU Barometer, Nov. 3, 2014, p. 7. I read with the interest the OSU student newspaper opinion pieces by Staff, "Editorial: Measure 86 could combat tuition crisis," OSU Barometer, Oct. 30, 2014, p. 7 dailybarometer.com posted Oct. 29, 2014, Claire McMorris, "Ray's salary increases," OSU Barometer, Oct. 29, 2014, p. 1, 4 dailybarometer.com Posted: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 8:59 pm Updated: 11:21 pm, Wed Oct 29, 2014 and Staff, "Board of trustees discusses increased reporting of sexual misconduct, approves salary increase for Ray," OSU Barometer, Oct. 29, 2014, p. 1. 4 dailybarometer.com posted Oct. 21, 2014, which prompted me to write the following letter to the editor:

In 1976, I knew many Oregon State University resident students who were able to pay for college with only the cash they earned while working summers as a choker setter for a logging crew or on the green-chain in a lumber mill, but doing this today is impossible.

The reason is because, while student wages have kept up with inflation over the last 40 years, the cost of going to OSU has risen at a rate of more than twice inflation because Oregon Legislators have reduced the taxpayer's funding of OSU to pay for more tax cuts, expecting it would be made up with more charitable donations, scholarships, student loans, and family wealth.

Anybody trained in the mathematics of finance can verify my calculations are based on the U.S. government's bls.gov "CPI inflation calculator," which says something costing $1 in 1976 costs more than $4 today, and the facts that OSU tuition and fees in 1976 dollars were $720 for a 9-month school year compared to $9,123 for 2014-2015, plus the actual room and board cost of Weatherford Hall in 1976 was $1,140 versus approximately $10,000 for the equivalent today.

President Ed Ray has done an excellent job restructuring OSU finances given this new reality and he deserves every penny of his salary, which would be paltry if he were a company CEO with equivalent responsibilities.

(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, OSU Class of 1977, Founder OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund, "President Ray, Salary Increase," OSU Barometer, Nov. 3, 2014, p. 7)

On the same day and on the same page my letter was printed there was also printed a student editorial by Staff, "Ray's salary increase poorly communicated," Daily Barometer, Oct. 3, 2014, p. 7 dailybarometer.com posted Nov. 2, 2014

My first draft of the letter was more opinionated than the one I submitted, which I hoped could be read and understood by both conservative and liberal students -- my first draft spelled out these budget cuts for public colleges were led by Republicans and if students wanted a more democratic (with a lower case 'd') access to higher education, then they are going to have to elect representatives to the state legislature who will raise OSU funding instead of lowering it because Republicans "hate those liberal university types" who are educated enough to stand up to greedy plutocratic politicians and theocrats. I realized that the limited space of a letter would not permit me to explore this idea in a way too easily dismissed by conservative students who are the ones who must grow up and undo the anti-intellectualism agenda started by President Nixon and President Reagan along with other Republicans over the last few decades -- you don't have to be stupid or greedy to be a conservative.

I had previously sent a similar letter to my local daily newspaper -- See previous post OSU costs outpace inflation due to Republican tax cuts (4/18/11)

Some related links of interest:

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Apple CEO apes Ellen's 'Yep, I'm Gay' Time magazine coming out

Ellen DeGeneres 'Yep, I'm Gay' Time Magazine cover April 14, 1997
PHOTO: In 1997, the famous comedian Ellen DeGeneres came out on the cover of the national "Time" magazine with the caption, "Yep, I'm Gay." (See "The Best TIME Covers: Yep, I'm Gay," Time Magazine cover April 14, 1997 at time.com )

The Apple computer company CEO Tim Cook has been widely known to be gay , but he had never publically come out until BusinessWeek magazine published his opinion piece: Tim Cook, "Opening Remarks: Tim Cook Speaks Up," BusinessWeek, Nov. 3-9, 2014, p. 12-13 businessweek.com posted Oct. 30, 2014, in which Tim Cook starts off by excusing his silence by saying, "Throughout my professional life, I've tried to maintain a basic level of privacy," which is a statement I find eerie to read because one of the key insights recognized by Stonewall activists in 1969 was that the historical demand by society to "keep homosexuality private" was a method society used to oppress gay people. Likewise, Cook eerily wrote, "I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy," which I suspect he wrote to counter the common homophobic accusation that the act of someone "coming out" makes you a political activist unworthy of respect. Of course, in 1969, it took bravery for Stonewall era activists to come out and they did view it as a political act, however, today coming out has become so normal it is no longer a political act. Cook also gently addressed the common racist assumption that the gay rights movement is not comparable to the black civil rights movement by saying, "When I arrive in my office each morning, I'm greeted by framed photos of Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy. I don't pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I'm doing my part, however small, to help others."

Also see newspaper story by Mae Anderson, AP, "Apple CEO publicly acknowledges that he's gay," Gazette-Times, Oct. 31, 2014, p. A6 and "Tim Cook" wikipedia.org accessed Oct. 31, 2014 -- Cook was born November 1, 1960 and joined Apple in March 1998 -- B.S. degree in industrial engineering in 1982 before working 12 years in IBM's personal computer business, VP for Corporate Materials at Compaq for six months until 1998 when Steve Jobs hired him to work at Apple.

Although I view Time Cook's coming out as a positive event that he should be thanked for doing, I also find it sad how Tim Cook's background represents the quintessential closeted gay person who becomes successful by marrying his job at the expense of being able to also have a husband and a family to share his life. I hope the next Fortune 500 Company CEO who is gay will be able to better balance their professional and family life.

From a business perspective, I find Tim Cook's background of being an industrial engineer and MBA (Masters of Business Administration) to be a perfect fit for Apple -- I saw people with his type of background excel in hi-tech Silicon Valley companies where I worked because it provided them with a perfect balance between the engineering nerds who start these companies and their technical genius that often lacks the business and human side of things necessary to be a broadly successful company, not just a niche supplier of components for computers or software.

Just as Tim Cook was handpicked by Steve Jobs, John Young, an Oregon State University electrical engineering graduate from the Class of 1954, was similarly handpicked by Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett to be the first non-founder CEO of Hewlett-Packard where he lasted in the job for 20 years and built it into to a large company. It will be interesting to see if Tim Cook will also be able to the same for Apple Computer over the next two decades.

Friday, October 24, 2014

OSU Pride Center activism 'Queering the Archive'

It occurred to me in a dream last night that "queer theory" is like research on Einstein's unified general theory of relativity, because it is embraced by theoretical physicists and mathematicians, but ignored as being only an intellectual curiosity by mainstream scientists and engineers who are usually focused on making discoveries or inventions that real people can understand, feel, or touch. In my dream I also saw the two academic camps of "social constructionists" vs. "biological essentialists" as being similarly split between those who want the equivalent of a mathematical theory, even if they don't express it that way, vs. those who seek a research methodology of using a scientifically testable experimental hypothesis that can observed, for example, finding a genetic modification or change in the development process of an animal, that measurably changes its minority sexual orientation or gender identity. (NOTE: I am NOT making this observation as a condemnation of either point of view, but rather as an observation of the different types of intellectual learning methods used over time.)

What made me think about this was probably the following event in Corvallis that I wish my health enabled me to attend. Here is a quote from a local alternative newspaper:

QueerHistory Queer History Month ContinuesOregon State University's Pride Center continues its Queer History Month festivities this week with "Sexy Talk About Safe Sex." The Pride Center is the hub for LGBTQQIA activities at OSU and a staple for queer programming and progressive thinking in Corvallis.

A steady stream of Pride Center-sponsored fall events have included a community BBQ and an event with free coffee in the quad. These get-togethers are intended to build conversation for a new thrust in Pride Center activism: "Queering the Archive."

"We've been working all summer to have a list of events that meets the common theme of 'queering the archives,'" said Pride Center leadership liaison Stina Goetter. The theme reflects an ongoing attempt by the Pride Center to reach into both the future and the past and document the lives and stories of queer people in Oregon.

Students at OSU have long celebrated the right and ability to publicly choose alternative relationships. Despite its origins as a conservative ag school surrounded by small town culture, the university began offering classes exploring homosexual love as early as 1975. The university's first gay student group was founded in 1976. The Pride Center, which opened in 2001, functions as a safe space for LGBTQQIA students, and an active voice for inclusiveness at OSU.

The Pride Center has already had a significant interest in helping queer narratives take root on campus. Professors can request storytellers to come and present queer narratives to the class, a service called pride panels. This month's activities are intended to expand that effort.

Outside campus, queer narratives are being brought to light through literature published by groups like the Gay and Lesbian Archive of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN) and the Corvallis Queer Film Festival.

The Pride Center hopes to expand the conversation by eventually creating an online archive of queer stories from the university. The archive will attempt to maintain a public record of the stories of queer OSU students-past, present, and future.

Goetter hopes that the Pride Center can help OSU envision its queer narratives of both the future and the past. "It's all about keeping a record of queer stories now, and also going out and finding queer narratives under the surface of recorded histories."

A number of the Pride Center's Queer History Month events are open to the public, including the upcoming annual drag show, held on Friday, Oct. 24 at LaSells Stewart Center. The Pride Center is located at 1553 SW A Avenue, just north of Western Boulevard.

(Quoted from Joel DeVyldere, "Queer History Month Continues," corvallisadvocate.com posted Oct. 16, 2014)

It amuses me that the only thing constant since ancient Greece is the theatrical art of drag!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

OSU lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Allied communities, as well as those who identify as Same Gender Loving, Two Spirit, Asexual, Pansexual, and Poly-Amorous

screen shot OSU LGBTQ web page Oct. 2014

PHOTO: UPDATE 10/14/14 the above screen capture of the Oregon State University LGBTQ@OSU oregonstate.edu/lgbtqqia/ was added to the post by John Aravosis, "We are now LGBTQ (depending who you ask)," americablog.com posted Oct. 9, 2014 -- John told me in a personal communication that as experienced as he is, he had to look up the term same gender loving to find out how it is defined.

Content warning: People, such as right-wingers who hate gays, can cherish this post and will probably misuse it as an example of university liberals being too "politically correct," but more mature individuals I hope will find it simply amusing.

"Just when Americans were starting to understand what the term "LGBT" meant -- it's the new term for the gay community -- the organization formerly known as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) has now changed its name to 'The National LGBTQ Task Force,'" (Quoted from John Aravosis, "We are now LGBTQ (depending who you ask)," americablog.com posted Oct. 9, 2014, which Aravosis wrote in response to the explanation of the name change by Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, "Op-ed: Why This Major Organization Is Changing Its Name. Being your authentic self is a revolutionary act for millions of LBGTQ people. Here's why one major organization is going to do the same." advocate.com [psted Oct. 8, 2014)

I'm old enough to recall when the word "gay" was embraced after the 1969 Stonewall riot by both men and women as being a unifying theme meant to be positive while rejecting the old terms of "queer" and homosexual. Previous word changes had failed, such as the term "homophile" that was supported for years by the former OSU Professor W. Dorr Legg who promoted it probably because he was an intellectual purist who hated the mix-up of Greek and Latin words -- and others like using the word "homophile" because they hated the overemphasis on sex in the word "homosexual." (Note that the word "gay" had been a slang term used well before Stonewall often used by men wanting to meet other men.)

I also recall how when women liberationists in the 1970's started to complain about the misogyny of gay men, who I agree were misogynists just like their heterosexual fathers, and as a result many lesbian women demanded the classical word lesbian be added, which led directly to choosing the name the "National Gay and Lesbian Task Force" (NGLTF) and a man decided to put the "G" first.

I recall when gay men were beaten down by the AIDS crisis in the 1980's and how heroic lesbians nurse them -- this was when the letter "L" started being put in front -- perhaps gay men were being grateful and respectful -- or were they too sick to care? In any case, the etymology of gay would make a good Ph.D. thesis, which I will leave for some energetic student to do.

Even today, the "LGBTQ@OSU" webpage at Oregon State says,

"Welcome, our office serves to meet the needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Allied communities, as well as those who identify as Same Gender Loving, Two Spirit, Asexual, Pansexual, and Poly-Amorous." (Quoted from Quoted from oregonstate.edu/lgbtqqia/ accessed Oct. 9, 2014 at Oregon State University)

The above official OSU administrator's page includes a link to the page of Jeff Kenney, Coordinator of LGBT Outreach & Services who notes that his "Office of LGBT Outreach & Services is the professional office that advises and supports student groups, clubs, and organizations."

I suspect that the word "professional" was carefully chosen, given OSU President Ed Ray's recent public comments about being surprised he had been at OSU for 10 years before he realized that none of his cultural center staff were "professionals." (When I ask about this politically incorrect subject, every OSU staff person gets that deer-in-the-headlights look and refuses to talk about it!)

Of course, the real dreamers of all eras want to see the day when gay people are totally assimilated by the culture and they do not need to identify as such. I have dreamed of gender identity being this way someday because gender non-conformity is usually at the core of gay discrimination.

I've given speeches about this before and have also written on this issue -- as I get older, I get less interested in talking about it, but I can't resist. For example: a meeting announcement at OSU written by women in 1976 said only gay people: "November 18, 1976 Gay people - 7 PM - Center for Women's Studies. Meet to plan social and educational activities." Also, I wrote in "November 1999 Oregon State University "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Alliance" (LGBTA) votes (10-8) to change its name to the "Rainbow Continuum" in order to be more inclusive of all sexual and gender identities. Many group members preferred the name "Queers and Allies" (Q & A) as a way of taking back the word "queer" from people who use it as an insult. Some thought it would be confused with Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow group. The Rainbow Continuum student group name was still in use as of 2010 perhaps because gay students like its "on the down low" profile" (Quoted from a copy of Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1964-2002," printed to PDF from OutHistory.org in 2010 is permanently stored by the OSU Scholars Archives@OSU)