Is pride sinful? The sinful concept is more likely arrogance.

Some religious people think of pride as being a sin. I got to thinking that people get the concepts of pride and arrogance mixed up. Some of my conversations with AI indicate that other writers have similar thinking.

Arrogance, the thinking you're better than others, looking down on others is more the concept that is problematic.

Definitions of words can vary over time and when translated between languages, such as from ancient scriptural writings until today.

Self righteousness can be related to arrogance. Someone who refuses to consider another opinion often thinking they are always right is self righteous.

Humbleness is more a virtue. Scientists often admit that an old theory they had was wrong when tested against better evidence. There's the term "back to the drawing board."

As for the name of the pride parades, the word pride may seem "in your face" to some people, but it is different than arrogance.

Other words that relate to the concept are acceptance and gratitude. There is acceptance that one is okay and one's life has been okay.

Another concept that seems lacking in modern society is gratitude. Having gratitude for what we have and acceptance of who we are can bring peace of mind.

The Pride Parades are becoming about acceptance of a broad spectrum of lifestyles

I think that pride parades have evolved over the years. At the historic roots are in the LGBTAQ rights movements, but the concept of acceptance can be broad. It's called the Bellingham Pride Parade, or sometimes called Pride In Bellingham. Acceptance of a broad spectrum of lifestyles, sexual orientations, races, national origins, and so forth. Some people might feel that the original seed has been watered down, but it is turning into a nice message of acceptance. There are parts of the world where people fight over these things. Here we celebrate many flags of many colors.

When they hissed at Dixy Lee Ray and other memories from possibly more optomistic times, the 1976 Bicentennial.

USA's 250 year birthday seems fairly tarnished by worries about an overly powerful president and hotter weather cancelling some events back east. I bring up memories from the Bicentennial in 1976, my college years at WWU.

Back issues of our campus newspaper, The Western Front, have been digitized and are searchable on the Wilson Library website. The service is free.

Remembering that I had written something that was placed in a time capsule, I looked up the details of that Bicentennial capsule on campus.

I knew that I would not likely live, in this earthly form, to the 300 year birthday when that capsule was to be opened. Too bad it wasn't a 50 year capsule. 100 years is a too long to wait, however I can open the time capsule of the Western Front Newspaper Archive today.

By searching for the capsule, I came up with the October 1976 Edition of the Western Front, a bit after the Forth of July, but when the article, about the capsule, appeared.

Also, in that same edition was a treasure-trove of other things I remember, including one of my own letters to the editor.

Here are some selected screen captures from that paper.

I remember sitting in the back of that lecture hall when Dixy Lee Ray gave a speach. She was running for governor of Washington State as a Democrat. Her pro nuclear power stance got heckles from the audience.

At one point, I remember her talking about fossil fuels running out, "but we still have the atom."

The crowd started hissing loudly. When the room calmed down she said, "would someone please remove the snakes."

The hissing sound was associated with "atomic" back then.

About that time capsule now buried in the State Capitol Building.

President Ford was in the White House, Watergate had mostly been resolved and Carter was running for president.

People wrote, "Will Carter win?" They also drew lots of magic mushrooms on the paper as that was a big thing back then.

I wrote a comment wondering where the gay movement would be and also wondering how civilization would adjust to so many natural resources being depleated on earth.

Some people called Dixy Lee Ray, "Dixy Lee Radiation."

The writeup of her speach. Looking back, it was quite insightful.

Continued writeup.

A play about gay rights that was big in the local area, back then. Play by Rebecca Valrejean.
I knew her. She was one of the founders of the gay group on campus. She was a student just before my time.

One of the venues, besides campus and around the state for the play Lavender Troubador, was in this building.

Back then, someone was planning to develop it as a community center for many alternative things.

It later became an office supply store and is now other things.

Mural has been added recently.

Oh, ya. This letter was also in that issue of the Western Front as well. Coincidence.

After the big gay symposium, on campus, in 1976, I noticed that it seemed like apathy was setting in.

It was just a rumor, back in the 1980s.

When I worked for Pizza Haven, there was a rumor that the owner of the chain was Mormon. Turns out that long persisting rumor wasn't true. He was not LDS.

I did an AI search which I assume is accurate that explained how that rumor got started. Long story, but here is a shorter story about me.

That company did an anonymous survey of employees and I filled it out saying good things about the company. They treated employees quite well. The only negative thing I wrote was that it was too bad the owner had donated to an anti gay cause.

Turns out I was following false news, back in the 1980s.

The reason I'm thinking about this now is another controversy in today's news about Alaska Airlines. Apparently Alaska fired two employees after they shared concerns about the company's Equality Act in an internal employee forum. In this case, the company had an inclusive equality act that the employees were not as liberal about, I guess.

Turns out responses in that forum were not anonymous so company management could see who was writing what.

I'm on the side of gay rights, but I also understand that employees, within an organization, will have various personal opinions. Not everyone thinks like the company line.

When I filled out the survey, at my pizza company, I did feel, a bit, like I was biting the hand that fed me. Still, it was an anonymous survey. This many years later, I find out that the rumors, about the owner's politics, were false anyway.

Two conservative teams battled to a standoff in Seattle. The city, itself, won by calling it the Pride Match.

While both countries are culturally conservative about gay rights, Egypt and Iran's teams played to a tie score in the World Cup. This game took place in the US city of Seattle, noted for liberal attitudes on gay rights; the city calling that game "The Pride Match."

Some rainbow flags were flown in and around the stadium to the dislike of both Egyptian and Iranian officials. Meanwhile, back in the Middle East, war is still more deadly than a soccer game. Missiles fly between Iran and Gulf state Sunni nations more aligned with Egypt. The Sunni and Shiite split, in Islam, is one of many friction points among conservatives in the Middle East.

Ironically, the "elephant" in the Middle Eastern room is the United States with its ally Israel, each with the most powerful weapons of all. These countries are leading a sputtering war against Iran under the leadership of their conservative leaders Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Still, within the belly of the US elephant, rainbow flags fly peacefully in Seattle, in spite of more conservative leadership at the top of the US government. Freedom of speech is still alive in USA.

The soccer match between Egypt and Iran took place to a stalemate, as rainbow flags flew and crowds cheered more peacefully than the war that is now taking place in the Middle East itself.

Here in Bellingham, far out in the hinterlands of Seattle, some rainbow color projected on our Acid Ball Sculpture. Sculpture, a leftover from former Georgia Pacific Pulp Mill.

Today, there is the pronounds. When I was in college, the learning curve was to say woman instead of girl, or better yet, Womyn.

Today, there is the talk about pronouns. When I was in college, in the 1970s, I knew a few transgender people, though the pronoun issue wasn't evident. Back then, it seemed like the learning curve was about not calling women "girls." When someone called a person over 18 a girl, they would often be corrected. She's a woman. Feminism was evident back then.

There was also a new spelling for woman. It was better to write "Womyn."

Looking this up in AI, I just learned that there is both singular and plural for women. "Woman" is singular. "Women" is plural. I've never been good at spelling. For Womyn, AI says, "Womyn" (plural), "womyn" (singular).

As for other LGBTQ people, Western Washington University was quite progressive for its day. It had a "Gay People's Alliance" office in the Viking Union.

Before I graduated, they changed that name to the more inclusive "Sexual Minorities Center," but for first year of the change, it was called, "Union of Sexual Minorities Center." I think this was so the acronym could be "USMC," like the "US Marine Corps." It was for humor and folks joked that "we are looking for a few good men and women."

While being gay, I haven't had the desire for actual sexual intercourse, so I thought I was celibate back then. The organization included celibacy as a sexual minority. Today, these many things are talked about as spectrums. The concept of spectrums brings back sexuality me.

I was thinking about spectrums, even back then, as the Kinsey Scale is actually a "spectrum." The Kinsey Scale said that most people fall somewhere on the "gay to straight" spectrum, rather than being all "gay" or all "straight."

I also thought about other spectrums of personality on a graph making things more complex.

I remember thinking that the human personality is too complex for any label. It takes quite a bit of time to get to know someone.

I even think that starting meetings by giving one's name and pronouns is somewhat of a waste of time. In a discussion group, learning what someone thinks about the discussion topic seems more useful.

I'm pretty bad at even remembering names until I've had a chance to get to know someone over time. There seems to be no substitute for taking the time.

From a self published brochure I did in 1975.

Bathroom gender laws make little sense. Bad news from Idaho.

I think, instead of having men's and women's facilities, there should be public and private facilities. In the past, I think the male / female division of facilities was designed for modesty, assuming gender was totally binary, either male or female. It was also assuming that homosexuality did not exist. Public restrooms were also designed for efficiency in construction and maintenance.

Society has learned a lot since the early days. Public and private makes more sense for various facilities such as spas, saunas and restrooms. Some folks do like to socialize, especially in spas and saunas, so public makes sense in some cases.

Places designed for privacy have individual little rooms or floor to ceiling stalls while hand washing areas can remain public.

Old style restroom doors in a funky little restaurant I ate at during a bike tour. Trowback to another era.

My worst case pessimistic population scenario could be avoided.

Our world of over 8 billion people could embrace sustainable economics aided by alternative lifestyles and alternative energy. Instead there has been lots of mostly rightwing politics bringing us things like the anti gay laws in Senigal and Camaroon west Africa plus Donald Trump and more cutoff of forgien aid.

There are borders closing to refugees around the world as politics is affected by flows of refugees that have overwhelmed local infrastructures, housing and resources. Now we have war with blockades of the Straights of Hormuz leading to a worldwide fertilizer shortage among other things. Famine is likely on the increase around the world.

One of my senarios of the future is a significant increase in the deathrate possibly leading to a measurable decline in world population. This, stabalizing population versus choices for sustainable lifestyles and economics. Ironically rightwingers often talk about the sanctity of life when they focus only on abortion. Other killing and famine seems to matter less.

In the longrun, I have a senario where the world eventually recovers from the period of famine and comes to its sences; like learning the hard way. Eventually we could embrace more sustainable lifestyles, values and economics. Eventually there could be a period of population stability and rebuilding of economies, but in the meantime world famine could be so large as to overshadow any famine in recent times.

The third world would, as usual, is hit hardest by this partial dieoff of the human race.

Of course this is just one senario I think about. It's not inevitable. It's one somewhat bleak senario, but at least it's not the extinction of the human race or even the total collapse of modern, technological society. It's just what some might call a correction.

Just being allowed to fly a rainbow flag shouldn't be that difficult a thing for governments to provide.

It seems like just allowing people freedom of speech and allowing things like the flying of a rainbow flag shouldn't be that hard for governments to do. It's good news that Hungary has elected a less authoritarian leader.

Economic demands, that can come from constituents, are less easy to accommodate. For instance the cost of lowering fuel prices below world market prices with subsidies and tax cuts. In Ireland, protesters have been demanding that recently.

Conservative religious values and traditions could bring us back to a new Dark Ages.

This morning I woke up to some disgusting news that some countries in West Africa may be increasing the punishment for the crime of LGBTQ promotion and behavior. I ask, "do they want to force people into heterosexual lifestyles to increase population?" The world seems overpopulated as it is. Conservative religious tribalism.

I USA, we have conservative tribalism that takes the form of supporting Trump as he eliminates USAID. We also have conservative religion and tribalism that closes our borders. It's the return to old values and fighting over limited territory.

Someone once said they thought Israel was the most lethal country for it's size on earth. Yes, it is a very small country, but does pack a lethal punch. Before 1967 Israel had less than 8,000 square miles. Not much larger than Okanogan County, here in Washington State; our largest county at 5,266 square miles. We have another 38 counties in Washington State.

I sometimes think the so called holy land in the Middle East is called that due to the bullet holes and bomb craters.

Authoritarian religions reduce population through killing and starvation, but there are nicer alternatives.

Several years ago, I wrote that a worldwide turn toward authoritarian religious values could lead to a higher deathrate and possibly a large reduction in human population. A way to reduce overpopulation. This due, not to birth control or alternative lifestyles, but more wars and famine; an irony to the concept of valuing life.

It does seem like we are on the road toward that, but I still hold the hope that opinions can change and the world can change course. This "mass die-off" scenario can still be only one of many possible futures. We could still have a brighter future, depending on how things are managed. Even religious values don't have to be authoritarian. They can embrace innovation, open mindedness and diversity.

Might doesn't necessarily make right, but it usually wins when the conflict tuns violent.

I tend to favor incremental change within a system versus violence or revolution. Regimes like the rulers of Hamas or the regime in Iran are no friends to my ideas of incremental improvement toward openness to alternative lifestyles and freedom of speech. Violent attempts to bring change usually create victory for those with the most powerful weapons. In this case, the US and Israel have the biggest weapons so they are who tend to prevail. The long term outcome is unclear. In the short term, with violence, there is usually a victor who tends to be the one with the biggest weapons.

In the long term, incremental change can melt an oppressive iceberg. The progress that the LGBTQ movement has made in the US and some other nations is an example of incremental change that has been, for the most part, non violent in coming from the closet of repression to more acceptance. LGBTQ is only one example of alternative lifestyles. There are many alternative things such as alternative energy and alternative transportation as well as other lifestyles that bring diversity to mainstream thinking. We need alternatives as humanity faces natural limits to our traditional strivings toward prosperity. Climate change is creating a need to change many of our deep assumptions about what successful living means. Technological change and innovation can also be tools for incremental change.

I sometimes find myself envious of young people, but many folks have the opposite feeling as if the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

I sometimes find myself envious of young people as I think about society progressing over the years. I realize that lots of folks are more pessimistic about the future. Who knows for sure.

I envision continued social acceptance of alternative lifestyles. I envision technological progress as I look back to my childhood before smartphones and the internet.

I also envision social changes that reduce carbon footprint such as the proliferation of bike paths and transit that has arrived in Bellingham since my college days. I envision people becoming less materialistic and valuing more than just money. People valuing time with shorter and more flexible workweeks. I envision tiny homes and multi family living arrangements becoming more popular. The list goes on.

I realize that much of the world does not share this vision. Alternative lifestyles, especially gay rights, is still scorned in much of the third world. Here in the US and much of the world, there are attempts to return to the so called "traditional values."

I hear that lots of young people are struggling to still fulfil an old vision of the American Dream of owning a home, having a car, a well paying job and so forth. I realize that the cost of housing, alone, is a huge problem though I think, with better planning even that is solvable. We do need to reinvent the American Dream.

I often think of young people I have met who seem happy and optimistic, but I realize that I'm not seeing the folks who are troubled and more hidden. I read more about the negativity in the news. I also realize that happiness often fades when people start trying to raise a family, get into so called "real work world" and pay off student loans.

I sometimes feel like my own lifestyle is similar to the myth of Peter Pan, someone who never grows up. Bellingham does seem to have lots of Peter Pans of all ages. I did work as a custodian, but never had the aspirations to own a car or raise a family.

Poster I saved from trash now historic memory for WWU.

A replica of a poster I saved from my college days is now framed on the wall of a student lounge at WWU. Its in the corner of a small lounge in the LGBTQ+ space at Viking Union.

Someone else did the poster art, back in 1975 for a dance called A Gala Ball. Posters are normally thought of as temporary, but I kept a bunch of the posters, from back then, that are now part of a collection at WWU's Center For Pacific Northwest Studies. A few posters, I even got out of wastebaskets.

As was at that dance soon after I turned 20. It was held in the cafeteria of Fairhaven Dorms on campus.

The reverse side of the original poster has a bunch of colored lines as, I think, back in the 1980s, I used it to test a bunch of pens to see if they'd still write. I was going through a box of old pens. Fortunately, I didn't damage the front side of that poster.

Going to war for the Christians while starving the people.

A recent editorial in New York Times discusses Trump's possible plan to use military force in Nigeria for protecting Christians from attacks in religious fighting. Muslims are attacking Christians, but Christians are also attacking Muslims. The editorial says that far more Nigerians are dying from Trump and Republican cuts to USAID; than in the rivalry. Also USAID costs less than another military intervention.

It is also said that some of the rivalry, in Nigeria, relates to Muslim Fulani herders who have conflicts with settled Christian farmers. Makes me think of the old tune from the movie Oklahoma about how the farmer and the cowman should be friends. In my own thinking, not found in the editorial, is the issue of population growth. Nigeria's population is among the fastest growing of world nations. Nigeria has far less land than USA so conflict over land use is likely. We even have that here.

I also think about the US churches, such as a branch of the Anglican Church, that has broken away from the western Anglican church due to the western church being more accepting of gay people. Religious prejudice against alternative lifestyles that are less apt to engage in procreation is one of the things that causes more death and suffering around the world.

Missed opportunities for meaningful dialog at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle.

In the news I read about an event and two protests in Seattle that went totally different directions than my thinking. The event was at Cal Anderson Park on Capital Hill. It was a religious rally related to the pro life movement, so I hear.

Counter protesters were pro transsexual and LGBTQ. My response to so called "pro life" is to point out the irony of pro lifers who support Republican policies of sending migrants back to dangerous countries and possibly kicking people off Medicaid. Wouldn't those policies be a threat to life?

The religious group is also, I'd guess, not friendly to us LGBTQ folks.

The religious folks sponsoring that event later held a protest at Seattle City Hall as they were upset with a message from the liberal mayor and the way the city handled the whole thing. There were arrests at both protests.

Disruptive and angry protests from either side are counterproductive. It's just people shouting past one another. Much of the protests were likely peaceful, but disruptive behavior soured the whole deal.

I still keep seeing the irony of folks saying they believe in the sanctity of life while livelihoods and healthcare are threatened for many.

Supporting LGBTQ rights and other human rights might be the best way to boost your country's population. Talented workers will be seeking refuge in your country.

So many folks have been trying to get into Europe, Canada and USA that it's overwhelmed the borders.

On the otherhand, many countries, such as Russia, are trying to raise their birth rates. Who wants to live there? Not me, for sure. Talented people, who think outside the box, are trying to flee that country.

Some folks, like Elon Musk and Puin worry about low birthrates. They worry that there may not be enough young workers, being born, to pay for the social security and drive economic growth as world populations age.

My solution, to the so called problem of underpopulation, is to make one's country a place where people want to immigrate to.

There are certain countries, such as USA (before Trump) Canada, Australia and many European countries that have been overwhelmed by millions of folks trying to immigrate there. People don't want to immigrate to places like Russia in search of personal dignaty and human rights. It can be said that USA might never have a shortage of young workers because all it would have to do is open the borders and they will come. There is the phrase, "vote with your feet."

Ironically, many of the most desirable countries, to live in, are closing their borders, or at least they are restricting immigration. Are too many young folks wanting to live in these desirable countries? It's true, so many have been coming that it's overwhelmed the infrastructure and the affordable housing.

Rather than promoting births, I would rather see the nations of the world strive to become places where people want to live. Ironically, supporting LGBTQ rights might be the best way to increase one's population. Persecuted people are likely to be seeking refugee status in those countries.

I still think the environment would be in better shape if there were less people on the planet, but there is a legitimate worry that there may not be enough young workers, to pay for social security as populations age.

Making your country a desirable place to live is the solution. This should be the strategy for each nation on the national scale. On the global scale, the environment would still be easier to protet with less people on the planet as a whole.

The world would be better if, rather than a race to the bottom, countries competed with one another in creating desirable places to live. If there was ever a shortage of people, the most desirable countries would win in terms of attracting taleted workers to their economies.

Democracies would have an advantage if there was ever a shortage of people because they would have less shortage of people when people choose where they would prefer to live. Betty Pages article.

Fun time at a dance.

Saturday night was a fun dance at the Hotel Leo for Bellingham Queer Collective. Music was full of energy from a real good DJ named Westwood.

I'm posing with some friends, Mark Allyn and Michelle, outside the dance in the hotel lobby holding a red blinker from my bicycle. Dancing the night away.

Dance organized by Bellingham Queer Collective.

DEI acronym has become a punching bag.

It's unclear what effects, threats of cutoff in Federal funding programs will have on diversity programs in colleges of Washington State.

Here in Bellingham, WWU has some programs aimed at folks that could be considered on the margins of mainstream society, for instance myself as a gay person. Most funding is from state or other sources, but some federal funds are in question, I'd guess.

I think many of these programs are useful though I tend to be fairly critical of much of the anger, seen in the news, related to lack of total fairness in society; especially through history.

Society has had a history of discrimination, but things do improve. Meanwhile there is quite a bit of debate over this leading to push back from some folks who would like to turn back the clock to the way things were in past decades.

I still think most of these diversity programs are useful, going forward.

DEI gets criticism, but it's basically seems like just a more recent acronym for things that society has been progressing toward all along. Slowing down the rhetoric, DEI stands for diversity equity and inclusion.

I remember (actually Google AI helped me here). This was in the news years ago.

In a 1978 case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges could consider race as one of several factors in admissions, but not as a quota. The ruling legalized affirmative action, but prohibited racial quotas.

Arab Americans for Trump changed name to Arab Americans for Peace. Why did they support the Republicans to begin with? Then I remember the Log Cabin Republicans.

Arab Americans for Trump has changed it's name to Arab Americans for Peace. This, after plans were discussed to turn Gaza into a resort during a meeting between Trump and the Israeli prime minister.

Odd that there would even be an Arab group for Trump, but I do remember that there has been a gay rights political group called the Log Cabin Republicans. Log Cabin Republicans support many of the principals of Republican economics; such as smaller government, low taxes and pro business interests. Mostly Libertarian in philosophy.

From article: In a press release issued Wednesday by Arab Americans for Peace, the group said its members “appreciate the president’s offer to clean and rebuild Gaza” but “take issue with the president’s suggestion of taking over Gaza and removing its Palestinian inhabitants.”

I say, people of various interests don't necessarily march, in lockstep, with any political party. I've heard of a book called What's the Matter with Kansas. It's about many poor and rural people still voting against policies that could help them; such as government spending on rural infrastructure or government programs that benefit folks in red states.

There is also a large segment of people who are just angry at the world, almost. They were dissatisfied with incumbent politicians, such as Biden was, who were not necessarily doing enough to improve the situation. This anger and disappointment often keeps folks away from the polls swinging, an election farther away from the goals of people sitting out the vote.

I think anger tends to be a counter productive emotion in politics.

Remembering a lot from the news over the years (if my memory serves me correctly). Log Cabin Republicans backed the Republican Party, but did not endorse Trump for 2016. They did not endorse any presidential candidate for 2016.

I also remember, from the news of years ago, when Log Cabin Republicans sent a donation check to (I think) Bob Dole who was running for President on the Republican ticket. The Dole Campaign refused to accept the check from a gay organization.

I haven't been paying that much attention to the news about that organization in recent years; such as 2020 and so forth.