Entries tagged with portland

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/787935.html

Entry tags:

politics,
portland

Portland: Patriot caravan and shooting.

I didn't go to last night's motor rally, but reports indicate the turnout by our side was amazing. According to The Oregonian, "More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday at the area’s largest rally for President Donald Trump amid the 2020 election season. Demonstrators converged outside of Clackamas Town Center ahead of a planned caravan to Portland."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FvCW_nesXs

The event went without serious incident until late last night, when just before 9pm, according to AP, "One person was shot and killed late Saturday in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed in the streets, police said."
https://apnews.com/9193c733a02ab33304b32e1c27ce7d55?

"Black Rebel" Andrew Duncomb, himself a survivor of political violence, shares a video of the shooting: "This is so hard to watch."
https://twitter.com/SpaceForceUSA_/status/1300110998502694912

Andy Ngo posts: "Portland Police have not officially named a shooting suspect who killed the Trump caravan participant but the alleged shooter identified based on videos says he is antifa in his writings & has been at many of the Portland riots. I will not name him until authorities do." And I'm going to follow Andy's lead.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1300097998773301250

UPDATE: "The victim of last night's deadly shooting in downtown Portland is Aaron Danielson, who went by Jay."
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1300192368981807104

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/787240.html

Entry tags:

politics,
portland

Portland patriots rally.

I didn't go to yesterday's conservative rally at Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland, but apparently there was a good turnout by our side - and, of course, the antifa / blm folks showed up and did their thing. Via a public facebook post, here's an account of the event from my friend Kathryn T.:

Northwest Unrest 8/22/20 - No matter how the MSM or the Portland "officials" try to spin what happened in Portland today, here is the real 411:
1) Hundreds of PATRIOTS went to Portland today. ( Not ALT-RIGHT or FAR-RIGHT or White Nationalists or White Supremacists) PATRIOTS - ALL colors, ALL backgrounds - PATRIOTS who went because they live in Portland or near to Portland or cared enough to fly in from California or Texas..... PATRIOTS who simply love America and are sick of the violence in Portland. PATRIOTS who are not afraid of Antifa or the LIES of the LEFT.
2) They gathered in front of the Federal building which houses the Police. Most of the men had the women in the back to be protected (like REAL men do) and they formed a line in front that they HELD in spite of rocks being thrown, frozen water bottles being thrown, and being pepper-sprayed and pelted with HUMAN EXCREMENT (😡) over and over.
3) After 2 solid hours of the assault, the police declared it an unlawful assembly and Patriots left. As they all came in from different directions, they were in smaller numbers when they left and large crowds followed them, shooting them with paintballs and more pepper spray.
4) 9 people were arrested. 3 for attacking a police officer.
5) The Antifa crowd was energized because they felt they had "won" and ran off the Patriots, BUT, the only reason the Patriots left was that they are still law-abiding and they followed the police orders.
6) As of right now, the only known (to me) injury was one of the people attacking the police officer who was hit with a non-lethal round. Of course, a number of others attacked and then whined and cried if they got hit back.
7) This is Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler's baby. At this point, it makes Rosemary's Baby ( if anyone remembers that gross movie) look like a walk in the park.
8) This is planned and paid for. These terrorists are well funded and coordinated. This is a Democrat plan to bring instability that they HOPE to pin on President Trump. IT WILL NOT WORK. Even those of us who are political prisoners of WA, OR & CA see it for what it is. VOTE EVERY DEM OUT - this is our only hope for not having our entire country look like Portland.

More on yesterday's events via Andy Ngo at twitter:
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1297328838045601792
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1297568993465622531
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1297509164793511937
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1297522316427984897
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1297518236431351808
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1297516946917691394

Don't miss the bit about guillotining the teddy bear.

The media will tell you our demo was "alt-right" and "white supremacists" which is an absolute fantasy. I know many of the people involved and they are no more "white supremacists" than I am. The media are lying to you.

EDIT: "Black Rebel" Andrew Duncomb, who recently survived a politically-motivated stabbing attack, sets the record straight:

"It was Patriots that showed up in Portland. Ignore the rumors."
https://twitter.com/SpaceForceUSA_/status/1297398195480227842

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/787052.html

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Fire at Portland Chabad.

This is the synagogue where I used to pray when I lived in Southwest Portland a couple of years ago.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/sw-portland-jewish-center-damaged-in-2nd-fire-in-under-a-week.html

'The Chabad Center for Jewish Life appeared to be fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, said Lt. Rich Chatman, a Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman. An external shed was also on fire.'

It was the second fire there in less than a week. According to the article: 'The center’s previous fire broke out Friday, and investigators determined it occurred because of an electrical malfunction in an upstairs office area.' This time, though, the power in the building was turned off.

Also from the article: 'On Tuesday night, vandalism - the throwing of eggs - was reported at the nearby Kesser Israel congregation in Southwest Portland.' Kesser is just down the street from Chabad.

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/786799.html

Entry tags:

home,
portland

Portland.

It was 20 years ago that I first moved to Portland. I lived there until the end of 2017, with a hiatus from 2007 to 2013 when I lived in San Francisco. When I first moved there, it was a beautiful, friendly, safe city. No more.

The last four years - from the beginning of 2014, when I moved back from SF, to the end of 2017, when I moved out of the city to take a job near Scappoose - it became clear that the Portland I had known and loved was gone and was not coming back.

For the latest from Portland, you can read Andy's feed -
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo

So, it is what it is. I'm living in Hillsboro now, about 10 miles to the west of Portland proper, and it's a whole different world.

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/769351.html

Entry tags:

politics,
portland

Alyssa for Portland!

I'm pleased to announce that my friend Alyssa Vinsonhaler's campaign website has officially launched:

https://alyssaforportland.com/

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/766874.html

Entry tags:

politics,
portland

Now it can be told ...

... my friend and political comrade Alyssa is running for a spot on Portland City Council.

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/667873.html

Entry tags:

politics,
portland

Made minyan this morning, got called a Nazi this afternoon.

Just another fun day in Portland!

I got up bright and early and drove to the shul in the Southwest Portland neighborhood where I used to live. The weather was nice, and we had a good turnout.

After davvening, I headed back home to downtown. Some studying, housecleaning, laundry - and then it was time to head down to the waterfront for today's rally.

I met up with a friend from our political community - she was standing near the great big flag and was easy to spot. We had a good turnout and I think morale was very high.

The folks from the other side were there too, of course - many of them wearing masks, banging on drums, or tooting those noisemaker horns to drown out conversation. And of course there were the obligatory chants of "Nazis go home!"

Today's demo was a logical continuation of the June 4 event. But there were some important differences. The June 4 rally was held at a park, on Federal land. (The Mayor would have liked to deny us a permit, but he has no jurisdiction over Terry Schrunk Plaza, so it wasn't up to him.) The event went well, but it was a bit claustrophobic: we were surrounded by a phalanx of law enforcement keeping us separated from the counter-protestors, who greatly outnumbered us.

This afternoon we met in the open, in public space, at Waterfront Park. There were no battalions of police officers, maybe only one or two cops in sight. And it was not a static rally, but a march - we walked north along the waterfront and back, being seen and heard. So I think in those ways it was a much stronger statement.

And the oppo weren't there in nearly the same numbers as before.

We got maybe a few hundred yards down the waterfront when we had to stop and pull back - the antifas were hitting us with pepper spray, and two or three people went down. Some of our security people served as medics for the affected folks. Eventually we regrouped and kept moving.

I didn't stay for the whole thing because I don't have unlimited endurance for these kinds of things - and I was hot and tired and I've got a job to go to Monday morning. But I was glad I went, and I was very encouraged by the high morale and the sense of momentum. Also I was moved by the number of people who'd made the trip from their homes in the more conservative, rural parts of the state to make an appearance in uber-liberal Portland.

I took a few photos which I'll try to post later. Meanwhile, the Oregonian has a decent write-up on the event, with lots of photos.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/08/altercations_shouting_at_dueli.html

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/664138.html

Entry tags:

politics,
portland

Athena Profiled by PBS

Helen Church, Kathryn Townsend, and my friend Athena Brown are the subjects of this refreshingly fair piece at PBS, which covers the June 4 rally in Portland.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/features/trump-supporters-portland/

'Some are extremists. Others hold more moderate views. Still others are hard to pin down. They include independent voters like Townsend, who are becoming more active and strident as they see unprecedented efforts on the left to shut conversations down. They include people like Church, who, when slapped with labels, respond by showing up at rallies for the first time. And they include Republicans like Brown who have become fed up with what they see as the left’s PC culture. ...'

Go read the whole thing at the link.

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/655078.html

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Andy Ngo: Reporter Fired for Reporting

My friend and fellow Viking Andy Ngo first made waves at Portland State University with his feature on minority students who support Donald Trump:

http://psuvanguard.com/traitors-the-minorities-who-support-donald-trump/

Watch on YouTube

Last April, Andy lost his job at the Portland State Vanguard for simply publicizing the words of a Muslim speaker in an open forum:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447563/free-speech-islam-i-was-fired-my-student-newspaper-reporting-truth

'At one point, a woman in the audience asked the Muslim student if a specific verse in the Koran actually permitted the killing of non-Muslims. “I can confidently tell you, when the Koran says an innocent life, it means an innocent life, regardless of the faith, the race, like, whatever you can think about as a characteristic,” he began. At this point, I took out my mobile phone and began recording as he continued: And some, this, that you’re referring to, killing non-Muslims, that [to be a non-believer] is only considered a crime when the country’s law, the country is based on Koranic law — that means there is no other law than the Koran. In that case, you’re given the liberty to leave the country, you can go in a different country, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. So you can go in a different country, but in a Muslim country, in a country based on the Koranic laws, disbelieving, or being an infidel, is not allowed so you will be given the choice [to leave]. ...'

The video clip is here: https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/857469487909490688/video/1

And more on the incident at The College Fix: https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/32616/

Andy was punished, not for anything he himself said against Islam or Muslims, but for simply reporting what a Muslim speaker said, publicly, about Islam. What's being punished is the imagined "intolerance" of someone daring to question Islam, but not an expression of intolerance from within Islam itself.

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/644262.html

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Portland May Day Riot

Via my friend Leo Stratton.

Watch on YouTube

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/601914.html

Entry tags:

portland

Gas Explosion reported at NW 23rd / Glisan

http://koin.com/2016/10/19/gas-incident-reported-on-nw-23rd-and-glisan/

This isn't close to where I am right now - the incident was in the north-west part of the city and I'm working in the south-east. But it was in the middle of a very popular and fashionable shopping district, so I'm concerned about casualties.

UPDATES:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/10/portland_firefighters_respondi_3.html

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

portland

Cacao to San Francisco

Moving van due soon. Next stop: Portland!

Entry tags:

Updates, downdates, etc.

After six weeks away from work, I'm back at my old gig at Big Pharma. My job is mainly interoffice deliveries, which obviously involves a lot of walking - I'm basically on my feet and MOVING eight hours a day. When the attack of the fascist peanuts made it impossible for me to work any longer, I told my manager I was taking a break from work for three weeks. He wasn't able to keep the position open, so I was technically "fired" at the end of the three weeks and I started interviewing again. But the Office Services angel was on my side, and the manager managed to eventually get me back on board at the same site after all. So, I'm working again, and it's good.

The foot problem, as it turns out, was the result of bad posture - as were the back problems that had been plaguing me with increasing ferocity over the past couple of years. If you, dear reader, have been suffering from random lower back and/or foot pain, I urge you to read up on Esther Gokhale and the Gokhale Method without further delay.

At any rate, Gokhale provided me the key to the things I was doing wrong with my posture and how to correct them. To wit, keeping my lower back (lumbar) firm and curved in the proper direction, bending at the hip (rather than reversing the curve of the lumbar spine) when I need to bend over; and keeping my feet pointed forward, with the weight on the balls and outside edges, rather than walking duck-toed and pronating as I did in former days. And that was all it took to get my body working properly and pain-free once again.

In other news, I went to Portland with G and Bunny last week/weekend. We left SFO on Thursday and returned Sunday. The main purpose was to get Bunny familiar with PDX so that she knows where I'm moving to, and understands that I'm not moving because she did anything wrong. We had a great time. Bunny loves Portland, and apparently G is warming to it too. I wouldn't mind if G decided to move there too - but that's a whole 'nother drama, and subject matter for another post.

But the plan as it stands is that I'll finish out this calendar year here in SF, work as much as I can and build a strong resume, and move to PDX around the beginning of 2014.

Entry tags:

oregon,
portland

Oh Oregon

http://www.kgw.com/news/Police-to-Naked-Bike-Ride-rs-Wear-helmets-210611581.html

PORTLAND -- The World Naked Bike Ride is scheduled in Portland this weekend and police have asked riders to ensure that at least their heads and feet are covered. ...

According to Portland City Code, "It is unlawful for any person to expose his or her genitalia while in a public place or place visible from a public place, if the public place is open or available to persons of the opposite sex." But Simpson said there are exceptions under Oregon law.

"Although many participants may violate City Code, the police bureau will be exercising tremendous discretion as long as participants stay on the route with the rest of the riders," he explained.

"The Portland Police Bureau recommends that at a bare minimum all riders at least wear a helmet and shoes to avoid any potential injuries," he added.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/08/facebook_cloud_versus_cloud/

Facebook's first data center ran into problems of a distinctly ironic nature when a literal cloud formed in the IT room and started to rain on servers.

Though Facebook has previously hinted at this via references to a "humidity event" within its first data center in Prineville, Oregon, the social network's infrastructure king Jay Parikh told The Reg on Thursday that, for a few minutes in Summer, 2011, Facebook's data center contained two clouds: one powered the social network, the other poured water on it.

"I got a call, 'Jay, there's a cloud in the data center'," Parikh says. "'What do you mean, outside?'. 'No, inside'."

There was panic.

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

portland

PDX by Year's End

At long last, the time has come to start planning for my move back to Portland. I hope to make the move before the end of 2013.

Entry tags:

portland

Clackamas Shootings

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/11/reports-gunfire-at-oregon-mall/

'A gunman who witnesses say was wearing camouflage and a white plastic mask opened fire in a shopping mall near Portland, Ore., killing at least one person and wounding others before the shooter was "neutralized" by police, authorities said. ... '

My thoughts and prayers to everyone in the Portland area who has been affected by this.

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Golden State

As San Francisco goes, where I live isn't bad. But I'm looking forward to moving back to Portland.

Long-term, living in SF isn't viable for me in terms of money or mental health. I've toyed with the idea of moving to a suburb or smaller town somewhere in the Bay Area, but I don't really see that happening. It'll still be California, it'll still be the Bay Area, and the cost of living will catch up with me one way or another. It would get me out of the city, but if I wanted city life (entertainment, shopping, culture, work, school) I'd still have to deal with getting in and out of San Francisco - or Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, etc.

And I'm concerned about what California will be like in the next few years. The economy isn't in great shape here or anywhere else, but I'm thinking in particular of what will happen if (or when) the State's budget goes over the cliff. I am not conjuring up apocalyptic scenarios here, but I do worry. California is a big state. What will happen if Sacramento can't keep up basic services like infrastructure and state law enforcement? What will happen when state benefits and programs are cut? I worry about basic things like health, safety, crime.

Oregon is a much smaller state, and its biggest city isn't very big. It's a smaller economy, and I almost feel like it doesn't have as far to fall.

I've been getting job offers steadily - most recently from a Bay Area tech firm whose name is associated with very large numbers. If I can focus on building a good resume over the next year and a half, I'll be in a strong position to get work in Portland when I move back. That new Intel plant [ http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/intel_confirms_itll_invest_bil.html ] should be opening up just about the time I get there.

Wish me luck.