Why do you think Americans care so much about an “issue” that ignites so little controversy in Europe?

Why do you think Americans care so much about an “issue” that ignites so little controversy in Europe? Why are we alone in the developed world in our intense distress about the fact that a minority of people are erotically attracted to members of their own sex rather than to the opposite sex?

Even as the Evangelical [J1] Lutherans were timidly saying that it was all right for a minister to be gay if he was in a monogamous [J2] long-term relationship, yet another gay-bashing right-wing Republican politician was caught in a compromising situation in a public restroom.

Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested in a sting operation in a bathroom at the Minneapolis Airport, and he says he pled guilty to disorderly conduct, without the advice of an attorney, in order to make the case “go away.” Then he held a press conference, with the obligatory stone-faced wife at his side, saying that he was not gay and had never been gay—that he only entered a guilty plea to keep the whole thing out of the media.

It made one queasy[J3] to hear Craig describes his “wide stance” in the bathroom as the explanation for his hands and feet having wandered under the barrier separating him from the cop in the next stall.

I would have felt deeply sorry for the blockheaded [J4] senator (how could he possibly have thought he could keep such an arrest out of the papers?) if he were not one of those moralizers who wants to police everyone else’s sex life. How terrible it must be to live an entirely life at odds with your deepest desires, and how terrible it must be for a woman to know that she has been living with such a man for years.

Significantly[J5] , Republican senators immediately called for Craig’s resignation. The rush to penalize someone suspected of being gay contrasts sharply with conservatives’ tolerance for colleagues involved in corruption scandals and, for that matter, in heterosexual misconduct. Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, for example, is back at work in the Senate after confessing to having had relations with prostitutes. Female prostitutes, that is. One can only imagine how swiftly Vitters Republican colleagues would have abandoned him if he had been fooling around with male prostitutes.

Is the power of fundamentalist religion, again unique in the developed world, the only explanation for the American fixation on gays as a threat to traditional values? Perhaps this also has something to do with traditional images of American masculinity—the Marlboro Man, the rugged cowboy who would never have dreamed of engaging in the kind of activities described in the movie “Brokeback Mountain.”

All I know is that we have heard more about Sen. Craig’s bathroom encounter during the past week than we have about the continued fighting and dying in Iraq. That scares me.

Replying to:

Significantly, Republican senators immediately called for Craig’s resignation. The rush to penalize someone suspected of being gay contrasts sharply with conservatives’ tolerance for colleagues involved in corruption scandals and, for that matter, in heterosexual misconduct. Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, for example, is back at work in the Senate after confessing to having had relations with prostitutes. Female prostitutes, that is. One can only imagine how swiftly Vitters Republican colleagues would have abandoned him if he had been fooling around with male prostitutes.

Posted by Susan_Jacoby

I'm sure it never crossed the minds of GOP Senators that if Craig resigns, a Republican governor will name his replacement while if Vitter resigns, a Democratic governor would name his replacement.

Funny how that works.

It just goes to show that the whole thing, the 'defense of marriage' acts (recently struck down in Iowa) the demonization of gays, the attempts to regulate private sex lives and personal morals of all citizens, is politically motivated.

In a world that is changing rapidly, there are a lot of people that stand to lose their privileged status. White, Christian males used to to be THE power block in this country. So many of their 'perks' are under attack. The population is increasingly non-white. Nonchristian religions (and also Catholicism) are on the rise. Spanish is heard more and more often on American streets. Women are actually demanding equality with men!

All of these things concern those who see their privileges slipping away - but none of them are particularly attractive as a rallying cry. The decreasing whiteness of America (even when wrapped in the shroud of 'illegal immigration') wreaks of racism. Complaining about women's rights and non-Christian religion is attractive to some, but it turns off many Americans who still think that America is a land of freedom and equality.

But demonizing the gays works.

Bigots can lie and say that being gay is a choice. They point to cherry picked bible verses, making points with the Christianist crowd. Anti-gay groups use the 'ick' factor to their advantage. They rely on people not knowing any gay people, ignorance making the demonization of a faceless 'other' that much easier.

It's all about the politics of 'us versus them.' The people in (tenuous) positions of power just picked the most opportune 'them.'

---

[J1]n.

(大寫)新教徒;福音派教徒

[J2]a.

一夫一妻的

[J3]a.

嘔吐的;催吐的;易於反胃的

[J4]笨蛋

[J5]值得注意地；意味深長地

Toyota aims to put robots to use early next decade

Chang-Ran Kim, Asia auto correspondent, Reuters

Published: Thursday, December 06, 2007

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it aims to put its humanoid and other advanced robots to practical use soon after 2010 to help people in factories, hospitals, homes and around town.

Unveiling two new robots called the "mobility robot" and the "violin-playing robot," Japan's top automaker said it would step up research and development in the field, including by doubling the number of engineers to about 200 in around three years.

It will also build a research facility dedicated to robot technology on the site of one of its domestic factories next year, President Katsuaki Watanabe said.

Researchers in Japan, including from academia and companies such as rival Honda Motor Co., are racing to build robots smart enough to serve the needs of the elderly in a country where 40 percent of the population is expected to be over 65 by 2055.

"Over the next two to three years, we will put the robots to the test through trial applications and see what kind of business possibilities they present," Watanabe told a news conference.

Under its recently crafted long-term plan dubbed "Global Vision 2020," Toyota aims to make the robotics field one of its core businesses by 2020.

In a demonstration of the new achievements, Toyota brought out the 152 cm (5 ft), two-legged violin-playing robot, which gave a brief performance -- complete with vibrato sound -- from Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" Marches, popular at graduation ceremonies in Japan.

Toyota plans to further advance the robot's dexterity and flexibility to enable it to use tools and assist with domestic chores and nursing and medical care. The robot now has 17 joints in both of its hands and arms.

Its new "mobility robot," aimed at helping people with short-distance transport, is an intelligent wheelchair that can maneuver uneven ground and obstacles, and be remotely controlled to go to a person's bedside.

The robot, which looks like a bulky high-chair on wheels, can also follow a person at a measured pace, functioning as a porter, and has wheels that swivel at an angle to keep the seat level when going over bumps or up a hill.

Toyota envisages its "Partner Robot" initiative helping people in four fields -- domestic duties, nursing and medical care, manufacturing, and short-distance personal transport.

Watanabe said Toyota hoped to boost collaboration with academia and the government to achieve practical applications for the robots, while remaining open to cooperation with other companies in the field.

While R&D spending would rise from such efforts, Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada said technology gleaned from the robots such as stability control and visual recognition could be poured back into improving cars.

© Reuters 2007

China defends Three Gorges dam

By Tim Johnson - McClatchy Newspapers

November 28, 2007

Beijing — China’s Cabinet defended the showcase Three Gorges dam Tuesday, saying the huge reservoir behind the world’s largest hydropower project isn’t triggering earth tremors or landslides.

In a glowing report responding to a tide of negative foreign press coverage, officials said that the Three Gorges project has opened China’s interior to greater trade, provided the nation with a bountiful source of clean fuel and tamed the flood-prone Yangtze River.

“We are going to be able to weather the worst flooding of every 1,000 years,” said Wang Xiaofeng, the deputy director of the Cabinet-level office in charge of the dam.

At a nationally televised news conference, an engineer lashed out at foreign media and drew seemingly spontaneous applause from Chinese journalists.

“I want to speak to you from the bottom of my heart,” began Pan Jiazheng, a hydrologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Accusing foreign reporters of holding “a deep prejudice against China” and trying “to make issues out of nothing,” he read from foreign newspaper headlines that referred to “The Demon on the Yangtze River” and warned that “The Three Gorges project has become a time bomb of global warming.”

“Please don’t demonize what is happening in China,” Pan said.

The ruling Communist Party has backed the giant Three Gorges project for two decades, saying that while it inconveniences 1.3 million residents of some 100 cities and towns who were forced to relocate along the Yangtze, it’s benefiting vast downstream regions with flood control and abundant electricity.

The Wall Street Journal reported in late August that the dam has triggered landslides and worsened water pollution and silting in the reaches above the dam.

An Oct. 12 McClatchy Newspapers report also focused on landslides along the 410-mile reservoir behind the dam. Since then, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Economist and other publications have carried critical articles.

Towering 600 feet above the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges dam contains 19 turbines pumping out electricity for much of southern and western China.

The dam’s main span was finished in May 2006, and water levels have climbed 300 feet in the huge reservoir rising behind the dam since then, putting stress on slopes.

Li Yong’an, the general manager of the Three Gorges Project Development Corp., said landslides along the Yangtze’s steep slopes occurred frequently before the dam was built, including about 40 during the 1980s.

“There has been no major geological disasters because of the rise of the water levels,” Li said.

Last week, a landslide at the mouth of a tunnel crushed a bus in Badong County, near a tributary to the dam, killing 31 people. Other landslides in the past year have careened down the slopes of the gorge and killed more than a dozen people.