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Tuesday | March 22, 2011

Amtrak lines that serve Portland increasingly offer free wifi
One more advantage to passenger rail service, that oft-overlooked (in the US) dinosaur, is falling into place. Amtrak, the long-ailing, government-supported corporation providing domestic intercity passenger rail service, is rolling out free wifi on most of its lines. Already trips from its Cascades line (serving Vancouver (Canada), Seattle, Portland, and Eugene, with other stops on the way) are fully blanketed from front to back by the soothing, low-level radiation of wireless internet. The Coast Starlight line, which continues south all the way to Los Angeles, is also beginning to offer wifi service, albeit only in its freely available "Parlour Car" for now. For travelers used to paying for wifi on airlines or "lucking out" with a "free" wifi promotion bundled with the Google Chrome browser or other marketing ploy, traveling with free, no-conditions wifi is a distinct advantage. Add that to passenger trains' spacious legroom, cheaper price, better environmental impact, beautiful views, greater actual security without the "airport security" gauntlet (no clothesless, skinless ogling, surly gropefests, public luggage-pawing, or strip searches for those that happen to share a name with someone on the no fly list). The only catch: it's slower. High-speed rail, anyone?

Go to article: Touching the third rail

Monday | March 21, 2011

Come Hang With Local Civic Wiki Geeks
Tonight's Discussion: User Interface!

How can PortlandWiki present a more inviting user interface?

And: Rehearse sampling of community-approved hijinks and practical jokes in anticipation of upcoming April Fools Day. Come enjoy some friendly discussion! We usually have a good time. Hope to see you this evening!

What: PortlandWiki Monday Meets
Where: Powell's Technical Books
Address: 40 NW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209

Corner of NW 10th Avenue & NW Couch Street. (This is Powell's Tech's new location.)

(OpenStreetMap, Google Map)

Day: This evening! Monday, March 21st, 2011
Time: 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.

Go to meetup page: Monday Meets

Go to event calendar: PortlandWiki Monday Meets -- Come Hang With Local CivicWiki Geeks

Sunday | March 20, 2011

Bradley Manning Freedom Rally
And direct action event.
Army Private First Class Bradley Manning is a genuine American hero. He is the presumed whistleblower who provided documented evidence of serious war crimes and other abuses perpetrated by U.S. military and non-military forces operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those crimes and abuses included those documented in a video showing U.S. helicopter gunship troops slaughtering close to a dozen Iraqi civilian non-combatants.^[1] Manning, 23, has endured nearly 300 days of solitary confinement under conditions described as "torture."^[2] Tomorrow you are invited to join Veterans For Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Code Pink Portland, the Surge Protection Brigade and others calling for the government to "Arrest the Real Criminals, Free Bradley Manning!" The rally includes a short march to the site of a direct action to raise awareness and support for Manning.

What: Bradley Manning Freedom Rally
Where: Director Park
Address: Downtown Portland: 815 SW Park Avenue (between SW Yamhill & SW Taylor Streets), Portland, Oregon
Day: Monday, March 21st, 2011
Time: 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Go to event RSVP page: Bradley Manning Freedom Rally

Go to story: Private Manning and Abu Ghraib Tactics

Go to story: Bradley Manning Is Stripped At Night And Made To Stand Naked By His Cell: Tortured For His Own Good

Saturday | March 19, 2011

Today's Antiwar Rally: The Egyptian People Set The Example
Cairo's Tahrir Square^[3] is the current model for pushing back oppressive regimes. Can we make Pioneer Courthouse Square the same?

What: Antiwar Rally & March
Where: Pioneer Courthouse Square
Address: Downtown Portland: 715 SW Morrison Street, Portland, OR 97205
Day: TODAY! Saturday, March 19th, 2011
Time: 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Go to story: Rally For Peace

Friday | March 18, 2011

The food coloring gives it an extra kick, you say? How about a head-on collision? Photo by Jonathunder.

St Patrick's Portland legacy: 16 drunk driving arrests
Sixteen drunk celebrators were arrested for driving last night, according to Oregon State Police. While the arrests were three fewer than last year, any of the sixteen could have found their green beer-lubricated partying suddenly cut short by a fatal accident. Designating a driver, taking a bus or the MAX, or calling a taxi are options that still remain ignored by some reckless individuals that would rather risk taking the lives of innocent bystanders than shell out a few bucks or endure the inconvenience of waiting a few minutes for a bus or taxi. Fortunately, there were no fatal accidents last night, but next year the "Luck of the Irish" may run out.

Go to story: On St. Patrick's Day, 16 drink, drive and get arrested

Thursday | March 17, 2011

Small Potatoes
Ah, the luck of the Irish!^[4] Whether it's boatloads of unruly Vikings storming the Celtic Isle to enslave its "blooming, lively women" and carry them off to parts unknown "over the broad green sea,"^[5] or planeloads of rapacious neoliberal plunderers swarming in to loot the entire economy,^[6] it's the Irish people who're always caught one leaf short of a four leaf clover. But today is Saint Patty's Day! It's OK to drown your sorrows in ale and dance and cheer. And thank ol' St. Patty that you're (for now) spared the luck of the Japanese.

Go to story: St. Patrick Catholic Church.

Wednesday | March 16, 2011

Bleached Bones And Jumbled Residues
The nature of the most dangerous cults is that "they are led by unstable, power-wielding authoritarians who believe they alone know the true answers and can change the fate of the world."^[7] Shortly after the Dear Leader ^[8] steps into the "emotional abyss," the people follow. Whether the cult leader is a charlatan preacher promising a "socialist paradise,"^[9] or a b-grade movie actor cum U.S. President^[10] announcing "morning in America,"^[11] the delusional fantasy always ends badly. The people become upset, and the poison Kool-Aid is dispensed.^[12] Absurd economic dogmas^[13], crafted by the most mendacious and powermad among us, are enforced. Wars without end are launched. A torture regime is set in motion.^[14] Economic war is declared on working people.^[15] Fortunately you're invited to cheer up and bring all that gloomy madness to a screeching halt with a lazy Saturday afternoon march and rally this weekend!

What: Antiwar Rally & March
Where: Pioneer Courthouse Square
Address: Downtown Portland: 715 SW Morrison Street, Portland, OR 97205-3103
Day: Saturday, March 19th, 2011
Time: 12:30-1:30 p.m.