I think that Biden has an even bigger problem than the fact that he keeps giving taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel to kill Palestinian kids: it's the recognition by many people that the reason for doing so is to appease the #oligarchy actually in charge of our country. That #billionaires , not city leadership, are directing police to suppress free speech. That's not #democracy. #Gaza
@greendesignek
I gasped when I got to: "Some members also offered to pay for private investigators to assist New York police in handling the protests, the chat log shows — an offer a member of the group reported in the chat that Adams accepted."
Ps. Don't take it from me: everything I learned about how we're living in an oligarchy - and the dangerous path we're on towards the end of the American experiment - I learned by reading Peter Turchin's book "End Times". Fascinating and scary stuff.
"Portland Cider Company’s Original Gold Cider received the best-in-class trophy at the International Brewing and Cider Awards yesterday in London. This is the first time in the competition’s 136-year history that a U.S. cidery has won."
Breaking news, cis white male Boomer is angry that not everyone thinks he's making great points so he takes his toys and goes home after being held accountable for his BS, playing into racist white nationalist talking points along the way. Good riddance. #npr
It is baffling that Democratic leadership has not yet gotten the message. Either Biden can go down in history as a 2-term President who was pro-union, fought #climatechange, & had record job growth... Or, he can be a 1-term Pres remembered for kowtowing to a murderous lunatic who runs a country with less than .03% of our population. #stopfundingisrael#gaza#Palestine
@RebelGeek99@EdCates@seachanger sometimes I wonder if they actually all want it to end. I mean obviously the Republicans want us to be taken over by Russia, that much is clear, but why do the Dems do it?
@greendesignek i hate that he or Rene are likely going to be our next mayor. I hate it so much. I'm not sure I could stomach 4 more years of them destroying this city.
It just never ceases to amaze me how bad drivers have gotten in the past few years. We have one car, which I drive as if I'm a grandma riding my bike - aka the speed limit & head on a swivel - because other drivers have gotten so terrible. Does #carbrain cause dementia? Is it all the California drivers? Did everyone just decide that rules don't apply to them anymore? Is it the fentanyl? What is going on? #carssuck
I love trees but this is some serious BS & I think I would sue the city. The article makes false equivalence between 1 large tree on private property while the "tree spokesperson" claims that trees save lives. Well sure some do but only in the public sphere & this one almost TOOK lives. A ridiculous policy. #pdx#portland#pdxtst
@greendesignek "the city is requiring them to ask for a retroactive removal permit for the tree that fell. Plus, the Bonds will have to plant a new tree in its place.
“I have to pay them for their approval to remove the stump of the tree that destroyed our house that they denied us a permit on"
That is just insane. They should be suing for the damages cause by the tree they wouldn't allow removed.
The last week has been eye-opening for many, many reasons, but another realization that's dawned on me is how anemic our local journalism scene is. I follow every outlet but admittedly don't watch local news, are the news stations covering the storms more than the publications? I know local papers are in bad shape everywhere, I guess I'm just surprised at the scope of this storm vs. coverage (or lack thereof) #pdx#portland#winterstormgerri#pdxicestorm2024
Not that my opinion counts for anything, but I think this past week should be "named" as a winter storm. Big damaging storms get names, right? Besides, how else will the NYTimes describe it in their next "pity Portland" article, if they don't know what to call it?
@greendesignek You'd think between the Portland Business Alliance, People for Portland, the PPB, Mayor Wheeler and the US Marshals SOMEBODY could figure out how to tear gas the ice away. I expected better.
When this is all over, out of all the calamities Portlanders have seen in the past few years, I think this week will still stand alone in terms of damage and injury. Everything I've seen, all of your posts, my neighbors in brief frigid conversations... We're a hardy people but this is too much. #pdxtst#portland
I'm so glad Carmen Rubio is running for Mayor of #Portland for two reasons: 1) the alternatives are terrible and 2) most importantly, it's time for a woman to be in charge of this city. Men have had their chance for the past 16 years (no offense to my dudes out there) & I don't think we can say we're better for it. #mayor#carmenrubio
@greendesignek@press1forjosh It's the voting method, that we have a choose-only-one primary where a disorganized majority splits their vote, and the election goes to the plurality winner. That also plays into campaign spending, endorsements, who decides to run or not, etc. I guess Rubio won 60% in the 2020 primary so the media is probably pleased to have a three-incumbent horse race. Maybe we can't get a farther left candidate but can we at least get Vadim in there to split the right wing.
@greendesignek@press1forjosh Yes we'll have "ranked choice" now but the IRV race for mayor will have worse splitting than our manual top-two runoff did, as it is plurality-based elemination. The district proportional STV results should be okay but similarly, I worry about more than 3 progressives running in one district, there will be some 2nd choice votes that don't get counted even when your 1st can't win. The moneyed interests all have a huddle about this and get on one page to start with.
15 deg F in Lair Hill with strong winds & snow all morning. Per my neighbor, a tree fell down across Naito Pkwy earlier & our lights flickered but we've still got power.
More pics. Folks approaching on Naito are going too fast! They take the diversion & then some don't realize they can go around the block & they get stuck trying to go up SW Whitaker, which is a bad idea. Slow down!
Today would not be a day that I would enjoy taking the Aerial Tram, but it's probably safer than trying to drive up Terwilliger to OHSU. Also, it's sleeting now 🥶