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| == News == | | == News == |
| === Monday | February 7, 2011 ===
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| [[File:Unfree Internet.jpg|thumb|The Free & Open Internet: Never had it; never will.]]
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| '''The "Internet Kill Switch" And You'''<br />
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| Last month, PortlandWikiNews brought you a preview of Portland's (then) upcoming [[Portland Strategic BroadBand Plan: Connecting Our Future|Strategic BroadBand Plan kick-off event]]. That report also highlighted concerns many in our community have about the "gatekeeper" roles large corporations increasingly exert over public access to the Internet, once widely considered a public utility. (See "The Internet: Just Another Cable TV Box?"; Wednesday | January 26, 2011.) These same corporations (in Portland, they're primarily [[Qwest]] and [[Comcast]]) continue to impose fierce political and economic pressure to assure their increased control over the Internet, and to defeat any genuine guarantee of "net neutrality" (allowing unimpeded access and delivery of all Internet traffic). But the Egyptian government's decision to hit the "kill switch"--shutting off that country's Internet traffic during most of that country's ongoing pro-democracy revolt--has alarmed pro-democracy advocates all over the globe. It has also exposed some of the more sinister motives underlying efforts by governments and large businesses to put control of the global network into the hands of a handful of corporate and state actors. Were you aware that "almost all of the industrialized 'first world' Internet" traffic, including in the United States, "is moderately to pervasively censored by government authorities"?
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| :''Go to story'': [http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663164/infographics-internet-censorship-is-rampant-around-the-world Infographics: Internet Censorship Is Rampant Around the World]
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| :''Go to info graphic'': [http://yuxiyou.net/open/ So you still think the Internet is free.]
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| :''Go to kill switch'': [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/how-egypt-or-how-your-government-could-shut-down-the-internet.ars How Egypt did (and your government could) shut down the Internet]
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| === Sunday | February 6, 2011 ===
| | [[Old news|''Go to news archive >>>'']] |
| [[File:Egyptians in action.jpg|thumb|Egyptians In Action]]
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| '''Measurable Percentage Of Portlandians Express Interest In Egyptian Uprising'''<br />
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| In a recent article published at Centre for Research on Globalization<ref>[http://www.globalresearch.ca/ Centre for Research on Globalization]</ref> Larry Chin leads off with a strongly worded assertion: "As people across the Arab world take to the streets to fight for democracy, and an end to oppression and tyranny, the oblivious, uninterested and acquiescent American public has done virtually nothing." But have Portlandians shown ''total'' abject apathy and callous indifference to the Egyptian People's Uprising? ''We think not!'' As reported by good ol' PortlandWikiNewsLeakers last week (Saturday | January 29, 2011), "about 300" people rallied at [[Pioneer Courthouse Square]] in solidarity with the Egyptian pro-democracy revolutionaries. Toss in the assumed solidarity of PortlandWiki's estimated three active readers and the total number of Portlandians expressing and/or fantasizing "solidarity" with pro-democracy Egyptians rises to 303. That's a whopping 0.05% of Portland's population of 583,835! Hey, five one hundredths of one percent of a town's population is nothin' to sneer at.
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| :''Go to story'': [http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23085 As the Arab world fights, America sleeps]
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| :''Go to story'': [http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-26355-showing_solidarity_with_egyptians_protesters_at_pioneer_square_rally_against_mubarak.html Showing Solidarity with Egyptians, Protesters at Pioneer Square Rally Against Mubarak]
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| === Saturday | February 5, 2011 ===
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| [[File:Bike Rack Yarn Bomb.jpg|thumb|Yarn bombers improve Portland "one stitch at a time."]]
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| '''Yarn Bombers Keep Bridge City In Stitches'''<br />
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| Slip Yum Yum keeps to the shadows. "We work hard to keep a low profile and only communicate digitally," explained a go-between. Slip is one of a growing number of a growing underground of stitch artists known as "yarn bombers" who stitch their graffiti onto various public artifacts like statues, bicycle racks, trees, street lamps and telephone poles. Yarn bombers can pick up supplies from any of a surprisingly large number of local yarn shops.<ref>[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=1010&q=portland+yarn portland yarn]</ref> Yarn enthusiasts even have their own Yarn Crawl!<ref>[http://www.portlandyarncrawl.com/ Portland Oregon Yarn Crawl]</ref> But the yarn bomb blog ("improving the urban landscape one stitch at a time") is maintained from Vancouver British Columbia.<ref>[http://yarnbombing.com/ Yarn Bombing: Improving the urban landscape one stitch at a time.]</ref>
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| :''Go to story'': [http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/05/us-yarn-bombers-idUSTRE71427O20110205 Oregon "yarn bombers" knit graffiti for lamp posts, trees]
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| :''Go to crawl'': [http://www.portlandyarncrawl.com/ Portland Oregon Yarn Crawl]
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| :''Go to blog'': [http://yarnbombing.com/ Yarn Bombing: Improving the urban landscape one stitch at a time.]
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| === Friday | February 4, 2011 ===
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| [[File:Values-plunge.jpg|thumb|Collapsing housing bubble finds its "floor"?]]
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| '''Portland Home Sales Drop 7%'''<br />
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| The "five-county Portland region" saw a 7% plunge in house sales from December 2009 to December 2010. Absentee buyers accounted for 19.4% of the housing sold. Most of those sales were reported as "investments." Although the median house price hovered at $222,000, absentee investors paid an average of just $190,000.
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| :''Go to story'': [http://www.housingwire.com/2011/02/04/portland-area-home-sales-drop-7-from-a-year-ago Portland area home sales drop 7% from a year ago]
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| === Thursday | February 3, 2011 ===
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| [[File:KCityParkRabbit.JPG|thumb|The rabbit is one of the 12 signs in the Chinese Zodiac.]]
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| '''Welcome to the Year of the Metal Rabbit'''<br />
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| Today is the beginning of the Chinese and Vietnamese (Tết) New Year, marking the beginning of the year of the Metal Rabbit, according to the Chinese Zodiac (year of the Cat in Vietnamese Zodiac). Astrological predictions of rabbit years include associations with "home and family, artistic pursuits, diplomacy, and keeping the peace", and conversely that "nations will also become more insular and increasingly lock down their borders to protect against the 'other'". In Portland, there will be many free activities and celebrations this Saturday.
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| :''Go to events listing (celebrations this Saturday)'': [http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/02/chinese_and_vietnamese_new_yea.html Chinese and Vietnamese New Year events]
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| :''Go to astrology explanation'': [http://www.chiff.com/a/chinese-horoscopes.htm The Year of the Rabbit: Chinese Horoscope Predictions for 4709 - 2011]
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| :''Go to astrology explanation'': [http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/2011.htm Chinese New Year 2011 - The Year of Golden White Rabbit]
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| === Wednesday | February 2, 2011 ===
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| [[File:Dinosaur Colorado A Very Real Town.jpg|thumb|Dinosaur, Colorado: "A Very Real Town."]]
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| '''PDX Out-Migration Fuels Fossil'''<br />
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| Local slacker/hipster has "grown tired of Portland" and plans to relocate to Dinosaur, Colorado, a "very real town."
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| :''Go to story'': [http://twitter.com/#!/BelgianBoolean/status/32958033030025216 I've grown tired of Portland, so I'm moving to Dinosaur, Co. A very real town.]
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| :''Go to very real town'': [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur,_Colorado Dinosaur, Colorado]
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| === Tuesday | February 1, 2011 ===
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| '''Gov. Kitzhaber releases state budget proposal, responding to funding crisis with further cuts to education, health'''<br />
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| The budget Kitzhaber offers would include cuts to Oregon's already ailing K-12 education, reducing teachers and increasing class sizes. Also Oregon Health Plan, the same program Kitzhaber started in the mid-90s, would have cuts. According to OPB, "doctors would be paid less to treat Oregon Health Plan patients and fewer treatments would be covered." Since it was conceived, people who have relied on Oregon Health Plan have experienced several critical cuts in their health care, including a massive cut in 2003 that attracted national attention, when 100,000 people in mental health and/or substance abuse treatment lost their prescription coverage.
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| :''Go to story'': [http://news.opb.org/article/56132-kitzhaber-says-budget-will-require-shared-sacrifices/ Kitzhaber Says Budget Will Require 'Shared Sacrifices']
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| [[Old news|(''Go to older news stories >>>'')]] | |
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| == References == | | == References == |
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