ATTN: Mainers

[Iason Ouabache]

Apparently the reason that Portland is so trashy is because the Gays want to get homo-married.

http://mainefamilypolicycouncil.com/artman/publish/Maine_3/Downfall_of_a_Great_City.shtml

Mainers are by nature a good-hearted people, and they like to believe the best about others. That is why many of us will be shocked to learn that crime has increased steadily in Portland since 2002, and the rate of overall crime is now at a level higher than many other American cities, including Denver, Seattle, and (gulp) New York City.

Within the past several years, Portland has begun to show signs of urban blight. As late as 2002, graffiti was an unusual sight, and now every building and monument in the city is threatened by gang tags and other forms of urban 'art.'

Some graffiti is publicly sanctioned, as is the gigantic graffiti mural on Free Street.
In other cases, it is scrawled across works of modern art, erected at tax payer expense, as shown on the right.

One particularly horrific example was the graffiti on the monument to the veterans of the Spanish American War. The statue is in Edwards Park, and was recently cleaned. Other graffiti is scrawled on the columns which mark the entrance to Deering Oaks Park.

In Portland, the counter culture is an everyday way of life. At left is a photo of two self-proclaimed witches in full regalia, not visible in the photo. The jackets of both women read "Witch." .  

    Homosexuality and other forms of aberrant behavior are on proud display in Portland, home of Maine's "Gay Pride" parade, with its seven hundred foot long Rainbow Flag. The Rainbow Flag is everywhere in Portland. Certain bars cater exclusively to homosexuals, including the club called Styxx, shown at below right.

   Trash collectors are apparently overwhelmed in Portland. City streets were pristine in 2002, much cleaner than say, Manhattan or Chicago. Now litter and household trash is seen in every part of town, and when the wind blows, the garbage is simply blown down the streets. The photo at below left shows a common sight along lower Congress Street. Garbage is strewn throughout formerly beautiful Deering Oaks Park.

   Evidence of crime is often seen, as in the photo below, where a smash and run burglar has smashed out the windows of a parked Audi. The sad thing about this photo is that the theft happened in broad daylight, across from the Eastland Park Hotel, and nothing was done about it. The car sat in that condition for hours, an open invitation for other criminals to do the same.

   These photos taken on an average day in Portland are meant to illustrate the fact that the call for same sex marriage and other forms of sexual immorality is not happening in isolation. It is part and parcel of a society which calls itself progressive. But is it really progressive? Is it even Maine? These days, Portland looks like somebody put the city in reverse, and stepped on the gas.

[Cain]

Homo-crime is destroying Portland!

[AFK]

If I may respond to the Maine Family Council,

Mainers are by nature a good-hearted people, and they like to believe the best about others. That is why many of us will be shocked to learn that crime has increased steadily in Portland since 2002, and the rate of overall crime is now at a level higher than many other American cities, including Denver, Seattle, and (gulp) New York City.

Well, actually, the rate in 2007 is lower than the rate in 2002.  But, the over-all trend increase is being driven by assaults (including straight people assaulting gay people), and thefts (gee, maybe the economy sucks?).  Meanwhile rapes and arson have decreased and there has been no appreciable increase in murders.  This is a tepid point at best. 

Within the past several years, Portland has begun to show signs of urban blight. As late as 2002, graffiti was an unusual sight, and now every building and monument in the city is threatened by gang tags and other forms of urban 'art.'

Yeah, as late as 2002.  Which means, as I can attest as someone who is regularly in downtown Portland, that it has been curtailed since 2002.  You want to talk about urban blight let's talk about all of the eye-sore condos that are sprouting up everywhere. 

Some graffiti is publicly sanctioned, as is the gigantic graffiti mural on Free Street.
In other cases, it is scrawled across works of modern art, erected at tax payer expense, as shown on the right.

The mural on Free Street is fine and is pretty tasteful I think.  The grafiti on the modern art does suck.  But I'm not sure how you blame that on gay people wanting equal rights.  I have no proof, but based upon my own personal observations I'm going to hazard a guess that the people responsible for the graffiti are straight males in their early 20's trying to be edgy.   

One particularly horrific example was the graffiti on the monument to the veterans of the Spanish American War. The statue is in Edwards Park, and was recently cleaned. Other graffiti is scrawled on the columns which mark the entrance to Deering Oaks Park.

Yes, more asshattery.  Exception, not the rule.  The worst think about Deering Oaks Park is that we have so many homeless people in Portland that many of them sleep there.  But that has nothing to do with the gay-rights issue.  But, my guess is if Gov. Baldacci proposed spending to help out the homeless, you'd raise a stink about that too.  So just STFU already!

In Portland, the counter culture is an everyday way of life. At left is a photo of two self-proclaimed witches in full regalia, not visible in the photo. The jackets of both women read "Witch." .  

Translation:  "Can we nuke the blasphemous Arts District please?" 

Homosexuality and other forms of aberrant behavior are on proud display in Portland, home of Maine's "Gay Pride" parade, with its seven hundred foot long Rainbow Flag. The Rainbow Flag is everywhere in Portland. Certain bars cater exclusively to homosexuals, including the club called Styxx, shown at below right.

Yeah, and there are bars that cater to fisherman, bars that cater to bikers, bars that cater to Irish people, bars that cater to people who think they're Irish, bars that cater to lefty-yuppies, etc., etc.  By the way, I guarantee you 98% of those reading this, including me, were not aware of the existence of Styxx until you mentioned it.  It isn't exactly wielding a whole lot of influence tucked away in whatever corner it is located in. 

Trash collectors are apparently overwhelmed in Portland. City streets were pristine in 2002, much cleaner than say, Manhattan or Chicago. Now litter and household trash is seen in every part of town, and when the wind blows, the garbage is simply blown down the streets. The photo at below left shows a common sight along lower Congress Street. Garbage is strewn throughout formerly beautiful Deering Oaks Park.

That is complete and utter bullshit.  Now you're just making shit up.  Is Portland completely devoid of litter?  Of course not.  Is trash everywhere you look?  Hardly.  My wife and I were recently in Portland, on a Saturday night, in the Old Port, with lots of other people.  It was pretty damned clean.  The pier WAS pristine, and the sidewalks had no inordinate amounts of trash on them. 

Evidence of crime is often seen, as in the photo below, where a smash and run burglar has smashed out the windows of a parked Audi. The sad thing about this photo is that the theft happened in broad daylight, across from the Eastland Park Hotel, and nothing was done about it. The car sat in that condition for hours, an open invitation for other criminals to do the same.

[citation needed]  According to who? 

These photos taken on an average day in Portland are meant to illustrate the fact that the call for same sex marriage and other forms of sexual immorality is not happening in isolation. It is part and parcel of a society which calls itself progressive. But is it really progressive? Is it even Maine? These days, Portland looks like somebody put the city in reverse, and stepped on the gas.

No, it looks like you have an agenda, and so you went scouring the city to find examples of this supposed blight that is gripping Portland.  My guess is you had to do a lot of walking to find what you were looking for.  I lived in Portland in the late 90's early 00's.  I regularly work in downtown Portland and I'm there quite often.  Portland is a pretty damned good city to live and work in.  Like any city, it isn't completely devoid of issues that it needs to work on, but it has nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing to do with the call for equal rights for gays.  But this is just a bunch of overblown nonsense based upon some blurry photos.  There really isn't anything substantial there to support your agenda. 

[Cainad (dec.)]

Correlation ALWAYS equals causation when it's convenient for pushing a bigoted agenda.

[Requia ☣]

How the hell would homo-crime work anyway?

I'm envisioning biker gangs of hard gay men in tight leather, cruising around and looking to beat on anyone who disses martha stuart. 

[AFK]

You know, what this tells me is that those in the effort to repeal the Gay Marriage law are actually worried that their Citizen's initiative will fail.  Because basically, the voters in the Portland Metro area wield some hefty influence over how the overall State vote will go.  The Northern and Eastern parts of the State are fairly Conservative, and in many places the Citizen's initiative to repeal the Gay Marriage law will get over 50% support, maybe even into the 60's and 70's.  So their only hope is to use this "Oh, wasn't Portland great way back when..." approach to sway enough Portland area voters to tip the balance. 

It gives me a little hope that they actually won't succeed as I've feared they would. 

[East Coast Hustle]

I remember living in the Portland area as a kid in the mid to late 80's.

there were parts of town you didn't walk through at night unless you were pretty tough. Getting beat nearly to death (or all the way to death) by a pack of drunken skinheads wasn't terribly uncommon. And there wasn't much to be proud of, aesthetics-wise.

20+ years later, Portland has become an attractive, affordable, progressive, tolerant city with a vibrant cultural scene that attracts foreign and domestic immigrants alike. Personally, I dislike the climate in Maine too much to make any part of it a serious permanent home, but there are alot more things going for Portland than most other American cities have going for them, even cities that are 10x the size of Portland.

[Cain]

How the hell would homo-crime work anyway?

I'm envisioning biker gangs of hard gay men in tight leather, cruising around and looking to beat on anyone who disses martha stuart. 

They do graffiti....and it looks fabulous.

[AFK]

At one point, there were a few "fnords" around downtown Portland.  There was even one on the statue of Longfellow.  I think they've all been removed since. 

[Kai]

How the hell would homo-crime work anyway?

I'm envisioning biker gangs of hard gay men in tight leather, cruising around and looking to beat on anyone who disses martha stuart. 

They do graffiti....and it looks fabulous.

[Iason Ouabache]

Slight follow up:

http://www.sunjournal.com/node/35940/

The group hoping to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law has out-raised the measure's proponents by more than two to one, according to state campaign reports filed Wednesday.

Stand for Maine Marriage, the group leading the effort for repeal, raised a total of about $343,000 from nine donors as of July 5, the end of the reporting period.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland contributed $100,000, the Knights of Columbus of Washington, D.C., chipped in $50,000 and Focus on the Family, a Christian group based in Colorado Springs, Colo., donated $31,000 to the political action committee seeking to repeal the gay marriage law.

Nearly half of the group's fundraising, $160,000, came from the National Organization for Marriage, a New Jersey-based group established in 2007 "in response to the growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures," according to its Web site.

The campaign finance report also shows four Maine citizens contributed a total of $400 to the cause.

Damn interlopers!!!

Maine Freedom to Marry, the group campaigning to maintain the law, raised a total of about $138,000 from more than 350 donors during the same period, according to a release.

Donations from Mainers totaled about $80,000, with the remaining $58,000 coming from out of state, the release said.

[Kai]

heh, so basically, the only reason they have any money is because private corporations funded their ignorance. typical.

also, I am bewildered and shocked at how stupid their reasoning for for repeal is. WHEN WILL ALL THESE IDIOTS JUST DIE OF CANCER AND OLD AGE??

[Template]

heh, so basically, the only reason they have any money is because private corporations funded their ignorance. typical.

also, I am bewildered and shocked at how stupid their reasoning for for repeal is. WHEN WILL ALL THESE IDIOTS JUST DIE OF CANCER AND OLD AGE??

It would be easier than you think to propagate healthy (or unhealthy) memes through the population.

Example:  many exercise machines look sexual, and put the body in unnatural positions.  The apostles didn't use a stair-climber, they climbed the mountain.

[Iason Ouabache]

It would be easier than you think to propagate healthy (or unhealthy) memes through the population.

Example:  many exercise machines look sexual, and put the body in unnatural positions.  The apostles didn't use a stair-climber, they climbed the mountain.

This was actually one of the arguments used for a very long time on why women shouldn't exercise or play sports. There were also old wives' tales about it messing up their reproductive organs.

[Triple Zero]

heh, so basically, the only reason they have any money is because private corporations funded their ignorance. typical.

also, I am bewildered and shocked at how stupid their reasoning for for repeal is. WHEN WILL ALL THESE IDIOTS JUST DIE OF CANCER AND OLD AGE??

i think you are looking at it the wrong way. see, these are people who had a great crazy fuck idea, sold it to a lot of idiots, and made a lot of money with it.

regardless of whether the law goes through or not