Dohiyi Mir

Bam!

KGW:

Tens of thousands of people lined up on a sunny Sunday for a chance to see Sen. Barack Obama speak at Waterfront Park during his final day of campaigning in Oregon before the state's primary.

A huge crowd listens as Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks at a campaign rally.

Lines to enter Waterfront Park stretched for at least ten blocks. Such an audience would exceed the number who flocked to the park in August 2004 to hear Sen. John Kerry when he was running against President Bush.

When asked why they were willing to wait in the heat in long lines, some Obama supporters say they wanted to see history in the making.

Portland Fire and Rescue estimated that 60,000 people were gathered inside the bowl at waterfront park and another 15,000 were outside, listening to the Senator speak Sunday.

Sounds about right given what we saw.  We'll have our report shortly from our stint as Press!

ntodd

Another Silly Bikeathon Ride

We hung out with Vera Katz on the Eastbank Esplanade today. 

Today's numbers: 33.4 miles, 12.5 mph.  Very leisurely ride to downtown and then zigzagging around the waterfront.  Rather different kind of biking for me given that we rented 3-speeds, the urban environment has a lot more obstacles and traffic, and there were so very many people on the multi-use paths.  But it was wicked fun in the sun and reminiscent of the family rides I used to take with NTodd's Pa and NTodd's Pa's Wife as a kid.

Along the way we met Michelle Lopez, who is doing something really, really silly:

I guess the first thing that I should do is be honest with everybody, so here it goes: Whenever I tell people, especially my closest friends and family, that I’m going to be biking 4000 miles across the country with Bike & Build, I get a lot of skeptical looks and expressions of disbelief.
...
Here’s my chance to raise awareness for the cause in a fairly exciting and eye-catching way. Not only that – I feel like serious problems like housing shortages need extreme measures and drastic initiatives in order to even begin to create a change. Well, biking 4000 miles from New Hampshire to British Columbia is a pretty extreme measure, if you ask me. And if somebody as sluggish and couch-potatoey as I am can do something as amazing as raising $4000 / biking 4000 miles for a good cause, I hope that I’ll be able to inspire others to do the same and prove that they can do it too. If nothing else, I’ll be able to raise awareness for the problem by sharing stories of my experiences with Bike and Build.

What a poseur!

Anyway, she doesn't appear to have a blog, but many of this summer's riders do so if anybody is from your area you might consider following their progress.  Also be on the lookout for them in public places selling cupcakes, as Michelle was, or doing other fundraising for their trip!

ntodd

PS--Special shoutout to the dudes at Waterfront Bicycle--from whom we did NOT rent our rides--for helping out with the flat I got 5 miles in.

Sweet Crude, Sour Grapes

We didn't really want that oil anyway:

President Bush said Saudi Arabia's small increase in oil production will not solve soaring U.S. fuel prices, but he defended the wealthy kingdom Saturday against American lawmakers "screaming the loudest" for Riyadh to open its spigots.

Getting bitchslapped by his Saudi masters after jawboning?  Cay you say 'lame duck,' boys and girls?

But he is right: opening spigots really won't solve the inherent problem with our carbon economy.  Just like it wouldn't have when he bragged about his great Oil Mojo during the debate.  Just like it wouldn't have when his Vice President met secretly with energy industry buddies during the California crisis.  Just like it wouldn't have when he launched his illegal, immoral, strategically-idiotic war.

2 trillion dollars (not to mention untold blood) spilled in the sands that we could have invested in real energy policy, reasearch and infrastructure...

ntodd

More And Better Democrats

Throw some turkee at a fine Democratic challenger to Senator Rug Deal (R-SC) before the next reporting deadline (midnight on the 21st).

ntodd

Being Social

One more social note: E and I had a lovely lunch with my Scrabble buddy Elizabeth (who regularly kicks my ass, I might add, which pisses me right the fuck off to no goddamned end) Thursday.  I was assured that my luck with tiles will not change after finally meeting in person.  Shit.

Anyway, it's been wicked fun to meet people this week.  I cannot believe the concentration of virtual friends in PDX that are now more real.  More social eventage tomorrow before I leave on the redeye includes possibly changing our luncheon plans to go see the Decemberists and Bam at the waterfront with a buncha dirty fucking hippies.

ntodd

Bikeathon: No, Really!

E and I are going to ride together downtown today.  It's cooler than it has been the last couple days, and quite frankly, I wasn't all that motivated to ride solo in unfamiliar climes even with ride guides and a pretty good mental map of the area.  This will be way more fun.

I've updated the $$$ side of the progress bar to reflect new donations--one dollar for every Representative in Congress, though I ain't meeting with all of them--for which I am extremely grateful.  And I'll get back in the saddle and update that stalled distance indicator later today, I totally swear!

ntodd

My New Glasses

Broke my decade-old glasses on the plane Friday, so E helped me pick out new ones that I finally picked up today.

Working on reprinting some stuff from today's issue of Street Roots, which has lots of in-depth stuff about the City Hall protest.  Consider a donation while you wait...

ntodd

Friday Portlandblogging

Finally saw Mt Hood!  Also have seen St Helens, but haven't shot it yet.

Neptune had fun prancing in Washington Park.

Oh, really?

Tired!

ntodd

More Silly Biker Tricks

LAAAAAAME!

Brian LaFave couldn't care less how high gasoline prices climb these days — he's parked his pickup truck and is refusing to buy gas for a month, possibly longer.

"The goal is to not use one drop of gas for 31 days," LaFave said, calling it his personal stand against the oil companies.

Now LaFave, 31, is riding his bicycle or walking everywhere he goes. He won't even let friends pick him up unless they already planned on being in the neighborhood.

"If they're not going out of their way, I can take the ride," he said. "But if they're going out of their way, then ... I'm still consuming gasoline so it kind of defeats the purpose."

LaFave started the effort May 11. He bikes to his third-shift job at Aldrich Chemical in Sheboygan Falls, a 9-mile commute.

"I did like a practice run ... two days in a row to make sure I could do it," he said. "I'm not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die."

It's a big change for someone who put 300 miles on his truck the week before he stopped driving it.

LaFave fills out a chart each day listing how many miles he bikes, the destination and the gas price that day, among other things. He plans to compute his savings and donate that amount to a charity that provides food to children in Africa.

First the cancer people, now this guy.  The worst part is that these people are all, like, telling people what they're doing.  Pretty fucking self-righteous if you ask me...

ntodd

Silly Biker Tricks

Yeah, like this kind of thing does any good:

Amy Couture rides a Honda 750 shadow. It's her survivor bike, her husband, Ed Couture, said. "After she beat cancer she said, 'I gotta live' and bought herself a bike. This is her third season on it."

The Coutures, of Milton, will be riding together in "Cruz'n for a Cure" on Saturday. Ed rides a 2005 Honda VTX 1300.

The Coutures started participating in Relay For Life events sponsored by the American Cancer Society in 2003 after Amy's battle with the disease. The first year they raised $700.

"The feeling was amazing to be with survivors and I wanted to do more," Ed Couture said. "The next year we raised $1,200 with a Texas Hold 'Em tournament."

Couture said cancer has hit his family hard. He wanted to continue to do bigger things for Relay For Life and his two passions collided creating "Cruz'n for a Cure:" riding motorcycles and finding a cure for cancer.

"This event is 100 percent volunteer-run," he said. "Every penny goes to Chittenden Relay For Life."

And no Bikeathon ride today for me in PDX.  E's taking the afternoon off and we're gonna hang out, including a jaunt up to Clackamas to pick up my new glasses (I broke mine on the plane last week)!  We're planning on riding together downtown tomorrow, which should be a bit cooler and more fun than going solo.  Yeah, I'm behind now...

ntodd

Friday Notyetmycatsblogging

E took this pic of Gracey (front, mutant tail) and Pearl hanging in the tub!

ntodd

The Mice Who Roared

Israel Bayer, director of Street Roots, who left a comment here the other day:

Street Roots fully supports the idea of housing first – the idea that we as a community can engage individuals on the streets with low-income housing.

Portland is badly in need of leadership that will guide our city to the resources needed for people on the streets to thrive through a broad approach that includes economic development (micro-enterprising), outreach and engagement efforts through non-law enforcement and harm reduction models, and of course, housing itself.

The protesters in front of City Hall demanding an end to the camping and sit-lie ordinances have thrown a wrench into a larger bureaucratic battle that’s been playing out behind the scenes for years.
...
Like it or not, many individuals experiencing homelessness are not going to sleep in a shelter, period. There are also people living with animals; couples, and families that simply will not be split up due to archaic shelter guidelines. And yes, there are drug addicts. Individuals dealing with an addiction are human beings, and using law enforcement to force individuals into the criminal justice system, and not have the same access to shelters as the broader population, is inhumane, costly, and backwards.
...
The people in front of City Hall have organized themselves. Their leadership is strictly from the streets. For better or worse, they’ve created community, and at the end of the day, tried to make the world a better place for themselves and people just like them.

We are all on the same side in this fight — local businesses, community organizations, City Hall, advocates, social services, and the people affected the most. It’s clear that there are not enough resources. But we can’t lose our focus on being able to couple short-term, out-of-the-box thinking with a housing first model that has proven successful. We can’t be distracted into thinking shelter beds are a satisfactory means to end the criminalization of the homeless or to house people. Portland’s leaders need to reinforce long-term solutions to truly make a difference.

(via Blogtown)

Amen.  Now if we could just "clean" the streets up a little...

ntodd

More Twittering

When I grab my phone these days E often asks, "are you Twittering?"  Hey, it's a powerful tool!

ntodd

Get On Your Bikes And Ride!

While the Bikeathon is still on pause for the moment, I am going to hit the streets and byways of PDX, I totally swear. 

I could use the sore Achilles as an excuse, but we're meeting one of my Scrabble buddies for lunch and then "the girls" at E's office decided they want to get coffee with us this PM so as to scope me out.  Tomorrow, however, we have no social duties at all and I've already scoped out my rides for the weekend thanks to some spiffy online maps...

ntodd

Shut The Hell Up!

I prefer KO when he slags on Bush and not Hillary.

ntodd

It Is Raining And Not Raining

The Fucking Oregonian:

A lesson from Dignity Village is that “temporary” homeless camps have a way of sticking around

Mayor Tom Potter extricated the city from a tense confrontation this week. He had let the overnight campout at City Hall swell into a party and spin on too long.

But he did end it, finally, on Tuesday. He got involved personally and negotiated intensively. And he brought the campout to as graceful a conclusion as anyone could have hoped for. That’s especially true given the fact that he didn’t budge on the campers’ basic demands.

They were asking for something inherently unreasonable, unfair and just plain wrong: the right to usurp city sidewalks or city parks as campgrounds.
...
There is a worrisome loose end, however: the notion of a “green zone.” Potter said he would at least be willing to discuss the idea of designating a zone where homeless people could camp temporarily and link up with mental health or social services. He’s not wrong to discuss the idea. The problem is in that word “temporarily.”

How would the city ensure any camp or zone of this sort is truly temporary? Dignity Village, as you’ll recall, was supposed to be temporary, too. Eight years later, it’s still going strong.
...
The protest leaders deserve some credit, too. And they deserve housing. But no one deserves permanent “temporary” campgrounds.

Way to miss every goddamned point in every way possible whilst mischaracterizing the protest and Dignity Village with ignoring basic human decency as the cherry on top.  I can understand why they were so brave to print this as an unsigned editorial.

ntodd

Am I Blu-Ray?

I'm still gonna watch porn the old fashioned way: on my iPod.

ntodd

BREAKING NEWS!

All three of E's companions joined Edwards in endorsing Obama today ahead of the Oregon primary...

Gracey doesn't like press conferences

Pearl was a DK supporter, but has come around to Obama.

Look, I endorsed him, okay?  Now will you take me for a walk?

ntodd

Wednesday Portlandblogging

After a lovely dinner with ErinPDX and Sarah Deere last night, E and I waited for MAX.  Chess dude was just gathering up his pieces for the evening and we chatted a bit about Vermont.

Lounging at E's, nursing my sore Achilles heel while she's at work today.  She tells me I've officially arrived because Gracey is rolling around on the back of chair as I blog.

ntodd

Run, Hillary, Run!

Jesus fuck, John, who's the horrible human being?

Good God. What is wrong with her? The Clintons and their campaign staff don't give a damn that they are now hurting our electoral chances in the fall against McCain and against the Republicans in Congress. Their campaign isn't happening in some vacuum, and they know it. Our candidates can't fundraise because of her. Obama can't focus on McCain because of her. Obama is wasting money on HER, rather than spending it on McCain, because of her. EMILY's List, and AFSCME, and the American Federation of Teachers and others are wasting their members' money on her now-failed race - money that they could be spending, should be spending, on other real races, races that haven't already lost. She can't win, the math says she lost the nomination, but she doesn't give a damn. She's going to stay in the race like some spoiled hateful egotistical brat.
...
The Clintons don't give a damn about our party. Their party, their church, is themselves. To hell with everyone else. I actually liked Hillary up until a few months ago. Other bloggers used to tell me that Joe and I were too nice to Hillary. People just assumed that we were endorsing her. Now I actually loathe her. She makes me yell at the TV like she's George Bush, and no one other than George Bush makes me yell at the TV - until now. I actually can't stand her or her husband any more. I defended her. I defended her husband. And now I'm actually wondering if the Republicans weren't right about them. That's how bad she has damaged her reputation. People who actually liked you, who actually helped you, who actually defended you, LOATHE you now. Call me a Clinton-hater all you like, but people like me were the ones who had your back. And we never will again.

The spoiled hateful egotistical brats are the Clinton-haters who can't seem to get it through their thick fucking skulls that this is democracy in action.  It's messy.  It involves allowing folks in West Virginia--who BTW gave Clinton a more than 2:1 victory over Obama--and Oregon a chance to weigh in before you petulantly demand a candidate should leave because you don't like her. 

The party still has lots of fundraising opportunities as the campaign continues, and if you can't figure out how to multitask and attack McCain whilst fighting off a fellow Democrat in a goddamned primary, then you ain't the shit.  All of this might be why a vast majority of Democrats want her to remain in the race.

So go cry in your fucking beer because you can't declare victory.  I mean, hell, elections are all about your feelings...

ntodd

PDX Update

The protesters were back at City Hall as of this AM.  Lots of them wearing "I DON'T KNOW WHERE [ELSE] TO GO" signs around their necks.  Bought a copy of Street Roots this afternoon to find a flier inside telling us to stand with them in the Council Meeting today at 915AM.  D'oh!  Apparently we missed a bit of drama.

We're going to head back there when E gets done with some errands after work.  I want to see if I can get some audio this time and maybe more info about plans--the HLF, Street Roots and Mercury blogs aren't really keeping ahead of the game and just reporting stuff really after the fact.

ntodd

Disbanding For Now

Blogtown:

The homeless protesters outside city hall have decided to disband and leave for tonight, to regroup and return in the morning and avoid being swept by the cops. Representative Art Rios, Sr. told the crowd, and three different TV cameras, at 7:30 that the protesters can claim a series of “great big victories,” including a conversation with the mayor, and “great support from the community,” but that by cleaning up and returning in the morning, the protesters can create a “win-win situation.” Behind him, a 12-foot banner read “Repeal the Sit/Lie Ordinance.”

This was what I thought would happen after we dropped by yesterday.  It appeared people were gathering things, and there was some significant debate about what to do.  For example, a person selling Street Roots was in a passionate-yet-muted argument with another person about prior sweeps/arrests and whether that meant they should move on for a time.  I think it is probably a good idea to regroup and consider the next tactical steps, get more info out to the wider community, etc.

If I have any critique from my imperfect perch it's that I found it difficult to get any information about how best to support the protest.  Didn't appear to be any media/outreach contact person(s), and even when asked to air their grievances by an OPB sound person almost everybody refused until one person reluctantly took up the microphone. 

I understand a certain reticence given their precarious position, but if you want to beat City Hall you need your message spread far and wide.  Hopefully the blogging that's sprung up will mature a bit and be a part of communicating what their goals and such are rather than mere recapitulation of news from other sources.  There are plenty of people on the ground who can share their own experiences, insights and whatnot that will have more value than what the fucking Oregonian has to say.

One seemingly positive sign we saw made mention of Vera Katz engaging protesters a few years back, so I did a little research into some of the history of how Portland has dealt with homelessness.  The exact timeline is unclear, but it looks like the camping and "sit/lie" ordinances (yes, I spelled it right this time) in question came up because of some constitutional issues with City Code back around 2000 when Dignity Village was established:

Initially confronted by police for their unlicensed use of public land, the initial group of eight men and women had the benefit of a forceful voice in the person of homeless activist Jack Tafari, and the early support of a few local politicians and associated coverage in the local media. The Portland police department eventually realized that the group, then calling themselves Camp Dignity, was engaged in complicated Constitutional issues of redress of grievance, and deferred the political issue to the local political authority: The Portland City Council and Mayor.

Once established in the gray area of political speech, the fortunes of Dignity Village increased and picked up significant media coverage and popular support, but at the same time, they faced a compromise that the group found hard to swallow, having initially fought against.

Pressure on Mayor Katz continued in 2001 and as late as 2003, I was still able to find articles about the encampment.  Local folks might be able to tell me if there was a bit of detente when the city came up with a 10-year plan to end homelessness, but a few years into this it appears very little has been accomplished and is the genesis of the current protest along with, I suspect, an election year increase in police enforcement of the anti-homeless laws.

Regardless, the long struggle is clearly an excellent example of strategic resistance, from nonviolent invasion to occupation to establishing parallel social, economic and political systems.  We can all learn from this principled action.

ntodd

Tuesday Photoblogging

Pearl.

Gracey (apparently I've been spelling it wrong).

The Toon.

Mayor Tom Potter is a liar.

Speaking with OPB about the protest.

More stuff about the City Hall demonstration later.  Was hard to get info about what's going down today, plus I want to research a bit about the previous mayor who had a hand in the ordinances at issue...

ntodd

Unresolved

Well, the best laid plans and all that.  We ended up not going to the City Hall protest last night--more on that in a moment--but it looks like we'll have further opportunities:

In a letter sent Monday afternoon, Potter agreed to meet with the protesters for a second time this afternoon. But he rejected their request that the meeting be open to the public and reiterated that he intends to begin enforcing city law.

"I strongly support your right to protest. However, the City has the right to make reasonable time, place, and manner rules for the conduct of protests in public spaces, and can also act to protect the public from unnecessary obstructions as well as health, sanitation, and safety problems," he wrote. "Protests must comply with the City's camping and sidewalk obstruction ordinances."

The camp-in began April 25 in response to a confluence of events. Every spring, after extra winter shelter space has closed for the season, miniature tent cities spring up under bridges and in city parks. About the same time, police go through and warn occupants that they'll soon sweep out the camps. The sweeps usually coincide with the start of the summer festival season, which began earlier this month with Cinco de Mayo.

This year, a group of campers responded to the police demand that they move along by taking their complaints -- and their stuff -- straight to City Hall. City laws prohibit camping on public property and loitering on downtown sidewalks, but protect people who are protesting.

For the first two weeks, the mayor ordered police to allow the camp-in to continue. But over the past few days, police say, the crowd became more unruly.
...
Rios and other protesters want Potter to temporarily lift the -camping ban, perhaps for a few weeks. They talk about a "green zone," a centralized campsite where homeless men and women could meet with mental health workers, nurses and social workers in addition to spending the night.

Potter has said he won't -- and can't -- lift the anti-camping ordinance.

"We're encouraging them to find other lower-impact camping spots," Reese said. "Typically, we don't go looking for campers unless we get complaints."

On Sunday and Monday, protest organizers went through the crowd seeking volunteers willing to risk arrest if it comes to that. More than two dozen spoke up. Yet even people who are arrested are likely to be back on the street -- and back to square one -- within a matter of hours: Rios, for example, was arrested Saturday afternoon and released six hours later.

"We're assuming they're coming and they're going to sweep us out, and we're going to have to respond," Rios said Monday afternoon. "We've done everything they asked us to do so far. All that has changed has been how the mayor and the police have responded to us."

Our suspicion is that Potter's letter was a direct result of the CD threat.  That's one point of announcing such things: you create a response from the regime, making them react to everything you do because as Gandhi said, you are in control, they aren't.

Anyway, I took ill last night so we stayed in.  Not sure it counts as irony so much as karmic retribution, but it was after we'd had a nice dinner about which E felt a bit guilty.  I'd observed, as I often do, that people don't always have to go to Tibet to set themselves on fire or fast to change the Washington racist mascot or be camping with the homeless in Portland every minute of every day to not be hypocritical, fraudulent posers.  I stand by that, but perhaps I should not have had very salty, rich duck prior to our going to City Hall.

Before all that went down, E and I had talked about the possibility of my joining the resisters in their CD.  She was cool with my getting arrested, and we prepared things so I could hand off my camera and iPod (I've got a microphone for it to capture audio) to her in the event the organizers would allow me to participate--not sure if they'd want an outsider/potential provocateur in their midst or would even prefer somebody there to document things instead. 

It was all kinda spur of the moment and maybe nothing will come of it after all the anticipation, but I'm still going to try getting involved because, you know, that's what out-of-town guests do when they visit, right?  This afternoon while E's at work I'm going to attempt navigating MAX so I can check out City Hall to see what's happening with the meeting, etc.  Maybe I will get a chance to Twitter about my adventure...

ntodd

Slumber Party

Homeless posers, holding a silly slumber party that won't change anything, are going to engage in civil disobedience tonight.  Somebody please have bail money ready, because we're going to be there...

ntodd

Terra Incognita

E doesn't have a car, but she rented one for a few days so we could go do The Meeting at her folks' place yesterday and enjoy some stuff outside of Portland.  Today we visited Multnomah Falls.

The falls in full. 

Yeah, gotta do the touristy thing. 

We weren't that close, shooting from the footbridge, but my lens kept misting up. 

I think you can see why. 

Still not understanding the chain concept as he waits for the family outside the gift shop and restaurant. 

Lots of families out enjoying Mother's Day. 

Yes, that's nice "Good Ole Southern Boy" (another sticker on his truck). 

ntodd

Sunday Neptuneblogging

Some places aren't so dog friendly as Coffee Time, but Neppy's used to waiting patiently for us.

ntodd

Pink Poseurs

What, they want people to pay them for walking, and do they really think walking will cure breast cancer? 

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Portland

May 10, 2008
8:00 AM Registration, 9:00 AM Program
Location: Rose Quarter Commons

Together we've raised $96,248.24, and there are still 1 days to go! 

American Cancer Society Announces Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Investment Program

With funds raised through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer events across the Great West Division, grants will be available to support the increase of breast cancer screenings among underserved women. These grants support strategies that reduce breast cancer screening disparities and increase breast cancer screening among women.

This is a waste of time and clearly just something that the participants are doing to lord it over the rest of us.  I could tell looking at them in their pink t-shirts with cute team names as they walked by us on the sidewalks today that they were self-righteous frauds.  This is as silly as a bikeathon...

ntodd

It's Neppy Time

Neptune hangs with us at Coffee Time.  He got treats.

ntodd

sidebar

on the plane waiting for boarding to finish, reading a real copy of saturday review from aug 29, 1970 that i bot online.  in an article about the first hundred days after kent state it quotes the new democrat:

"our society must change radically, but cannot change unless its *people* change.  to make them puppets of a different order, as many so-called radicals are prone to desire, is to betray both them and the radical ideal.  we must try to radicalize the american people as so many of us have been radicalized--not by pushing them up against the wall, but by helping them to regain the sense of power over their destiny that should be their birthright."

i liked that so much that i typed it out on the fucking little keyboard on my q phone.

peace out, bitches!

ntodd

Friday Lolablogging

Next week's catblogging will be from PDX and involve the future additions that Lola will have to adjust to in July.

ntodd

Poseurs (Where Have All The Paxcasts Gone?)

In which NTodd observes there is no hiding place for imposters.  (17:39)  Features: Elvis Costello.

Bonus links: Elvis Costello's newest, 'Momofuku,' may be best.

Subscribe, vote and donate!

ntodd

(x-posted at Pax Americana)