13 July 2007
More on Republican of the Day
I got so caught up in the schadenfreude of a publicly homophobic Republican getting busted for cruising the restroom at a public park the other day, that one might interpret me as supporting police entrapment of gay men cruising public spaces.
Sorry. I'm not for entrapment or police clampdowns on what is pretty much harmless behavior, personally and socially. It's been going on for years, and society hasn't fallen into the pits, regardless of what some on the right would like us to believe. I'm sorrier that Representative what's-his-name (I've already forgotten, and I like the phrasing better, anyway) would publicly condemn gay people while likely being a closet case than I am that he—or George Michael for that matter—was cruising a park.
The police report doesn't exactly bolster my confidence in the process. It's full of nearly-certain BS, like that the cop went into the bathroom to adjust his police radio instead of to bait someone into following him; and that there weren't any paper towels at the main sink so he had to go into the handicap stall to dry his hands; and that the cops were there doing surveillance regarding a burglary instead of because the spot's known for cruising. When the arrest report is full of likely obfuscations, a stronger benefit of the doubt goes to the alleged perp than usual, even when his gay-rights record is as lousy as whozit's.
Sorry. I'm not for entrapment or police clampdowns on what is pretty much harmless behavior, personally and socially. It's been going on for years, and society hasn't fallen into the pits, regardless of what some on the right would like us to believe. I'm sorrier that Representative what's-his-name (I've already forgotten, and I like the phrasing better, anyway) would publicly condemn gay people while likely being a closet case than I am that he—or George Michael for that matter—was cruising a park.
The police report doesn't exactly bolster my confidence in the process. It's full of nearly-certain BS, like that the cop went into the bathroom to adjust his police radio instead of to bait someone into following him; and that there weren't any paper towels at the main sink so he had to go into the handicap stall to dry his hands; and that the cops were there doing surveillance regarding a burglary instead of because the spot's known for cruising. When the arrest report is full of likely obfuscations, a stronger benefit of the doubt goes to the alleged perp than usual, even when his gay-rights record is as lousy as whozit's.
Labels: allen, case, closet, gay, gay rights, republican
11 July 2007
Republican of the Day
Yet another male Republican creep who can't keep his pants on. Around undercover male police officers. Story here.
State Rep. Bob Allen was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a local park after offering to perform a sex act on an undercover officer in exchange for $20, police said.Believe me, if this guy's a homo, I'm all for him. Well, except for the part where he votes or leads people to believe he's going to vote for measures that treat homos as second-class citizens.
Allen, R-Merritt Island, was booked into the Brevard County jail in Sharpes on a charge of solicitation to commit prostitution, a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in the county jail and a $500 fine.
He was released a few hours later after posting $500 bail, according to a jail spokesman. The legislator, who was first elected in 2000, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Titusville police were at Veteran's Memorial Park on East Broad Street on a burglary detail when they noticed an unshaven man acting suspicious, going in and out of the restroom three times, said Lt. Todd Hutchinson.
An undercover officer decided to go into one of the bathroom stalls, Hutchinson said. Moments later, Allen knocked on the stall door and offered to perform oral sex on the officer for $20, according to the police spokesman.
The officer identified himself and took Allen into custody. Hutchinson said the officers had no idea the suspect was a state lawmaker.
"After he was arrested, he (Allen) mentioned he was a state legislator," he said.
Allen told a television reporter that what happened was a "misunderstanding." But Hutchinson said the representative did not dispute the undercover officer's version of what happened in the park.
Allen, 48, who chairs the House Committee on Energy, is married and has one child. He also is a former Little League volunteer and has donated time to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.
Labels: allen, case, closet, gay, republican
10 March 2007
Why I <Heart> Covey's Seven Habits?
Over on my MySpace page, Jimmi Swift asked me why I was a fan of Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Actually, when I listed the book on my favorites, I said it had changed my life, and Jimmi asked how.
When I read Seven Habits, I had been out of grad school and teaching for a few years, and we had recently bought our first home. I was always behind: I just had a hard time keeping up with what I had to do for home, for work. I was overwhelmed by life.
Seven Habits helped me imagine that my life didn't have to be like that. That I could successfully identify what I wanted to get done and prioritize when I would do them. Until then, I just used a Day Runner with appointments in it. The idea of weekly planning–which is still a regular activity for me almost ten years later–may have been the key. Just setting some time aside to scope out what the week would be like, to at least make an attempt at arranging it, instead of letting things come as they may.
I also liked the larger framework of the seven habits themselves: (1) Be proactive; (2) Start with the end in mind; (3) Put first things first; (4) Think win-win; (5) Seek to understand, then to be understood; (6) Synergize; and (7) Sharpen the saw (physical, mental, social, spiritual). To be honest, I had never imagined these concepts previously. It helps me be as a college professor, someone who's supposed to have a positive impact on the lives of younger people, to be more directed along those lines. Honestly, I had never heard the word "proactive" at the time.
I did one of the Franklin-Covey training sessions a few years after that. At that time, what they taught was a mixed-marriage from the Franklin-Covey merger. Not only did you get Covey weekly planning and attitudes (and platitudes) that focus on one's roles in life and one's mission statement, you also got the Franklin Quest daily planning and daily prioritizing (PDTL: Prioritized Daily Task List) built on one's values and goals. There's a tension between the two frameworks, between Covey and Smith, and while I really liked the F-C software I used on my Palm at the time, I think I played it to the limit without going to another one of their N-hundred-dollar seminars. Hey, I like activities like that, but wasn't sure that was what I needed. I read several of Covey and team's other books in the meantime.
When I upgraded to the Treo 650 for my PDA, the F-C planning software I'd been using on my Palm wouldn't make the transition, so I went without planning software for close to a year. It was disastrous. Not only did I make less progress towards longer-term and bigger goals, I lost touch with lots of day-to-day responsibilities. I eneded up kloodging together F-C system behavior with memos on my Treo, but it never really worked.
Most recently, I've been trying to do the Getting Things Done system by David Allen. It's much more focused on taking care of things at the lowest level, with the idea that the higher-level things will sort themselves out better when you're not constantly trying to keep details from falling through the cracks. So far, it's working. My inbox stays empty, I stay pretty much on top of my ToDo list items, and I still take time to think about what it is I'm trying to do on a weekly basis. Unlike, the Covey system, Allen says do it on Friday afternoon, since nothing else is getting done at work then. That's cool, because I use time that might not get used as productively at work, and I get back the hour or so of weekly planning I used to give up on Sunday mornings for other things. Like blogging.
And as far as task management systems, I'm using Llamagraphic's Life Balance for my PDA based tasks. I also keep a ToDo folder in my mail.
Covey's systems and framework have lots to offer in the larger areas of how to be a good person, and that's not something to sniff at. But for now, I'm using other tools and another framework for time-management. But I don't think I'd've ever gotten here
–in terms of accomplishment, but more importantly in terms of taking care of myself and others and just being somewhat responsible–without having read Covey's book.
When I read Seven Habits, I had been out of grad school and teaching for a few years, and we had recently bought our first home. I was always behind: I just had a hard time keeping up with what I had to do for home, for work. I was overwhelmed by life.
Seven Habits helped me imagine that my life didn't have to be like that. That I could successfully identify what I wanted to get done and prioritize when I would do them. Until then, I just used a Day Runner with appointments in it. The idea of weekly planning–which is still a regular activity for me almost ten years later–may have been the key. Just setting some time aside to scope out what the week would be like, to at least make an attempt at arranging it, instead of letting things come as they may.
I also liked the larger framework of the seven habits themselves: (1) Be proactive; (2) Start with the end in mind; (3) Put first things first; (4) Think win-win; (5) Seek to understand, then to be understood; (6) Synergize; and (7) Sharpen the saw (physical, mental, social, spiritual). To be honest, I had never imagined these concepts previously. It helps me be as a college professor, someone who's supposed to have a positive impact on the lives of younger people, to be more directed along those lines. Honestly, I had never heard the word "proactive" at the time.
I did one of the Franklin-Covey training sessions a few years after that. At that time, what they taught was a mixed-marriage from the Franklin-Covey merger. Not only did you get Covey weekly planning and attitudes (and platitudes) that focus on one's roles in life and one's mission statement, you also got the Franklin Quest daily planning and daily prioritizing (PDTL: Prioritized Daily Task List) built on one's values and goals. There's a tension between the two frameworks, between Covey and Smith, and while I really liked the F-C software I used on my Palm at the time, I think I played it to the limit without going to another one of their N-hundred-dollar seminars. Hey, I like activities like that, but wasn't sure that was what I needed. I read several of Covey and team's other books in the meantime.
When I upgraded to the Treo 650 for my PDA, the F-C planning software I'd been using on my Palm wouldn't make the transition, so I went without planning software for close to a year. It was disastrous. Not only did I make less progress towards longer-term and bigger goals, I lost touch with lots of day-to-day responsibilities. I eneded up kloodging together F-C system behavior with memos on my Treo, but it never really worked.
Most recently, I've been trying to do the Getting Things Done system by David Allen. It's much more focused on taking care of things at the lowest level, with the idea that the higher-level things will sort themselves out better when you're not constantly trying to keep details from falling through the cracks. So far, it's working. My inbox stays empty, I stay pretty much on top of my ToDo list items, and I still take time to think about what it is I'm trying to do on a weekly basis. Unlike, the Covey system, Allen says do it on Friday afternoon, since nothing else is getting done at work then. That's cool, because I use time that might not get used as productively at work, and I get back the hour or so of weekly planning I used to give up on Sunday mornings for other things. Like blogging.
And as far as task management systems, I'm using Llamagraphic's Life Balance for my PDA based tasks. I also keep a ToDo folder in my mail.
Covey's systems and framework have lots to offer in the larger areas of how to be a good person, and that's not something to sniff at. But for now, I'm using other tools and another framework for time-management. But I don't think I'd've ever gotten here
–in terms of accomplishment, but more importantly in terms of taking care of myself and others and just being somewhat responsible–without having read Covey's book.
Labels: allen, covey, getting things done, gtd, seven-habits, time-management
