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Friday | March 11, 2011

Govenor Kitzhaber to Oregonians: "Head for the hills."

Big In Japan; Small In Oregon; Minuscule Along The Willamette
An "extraordinary powerful earthquake" struck a wide area of northeastern and eastern Japan including Tokyo on Friday at 2:46 p.m. local (Japan) time. At an estimated magnitude of 8.8 to 8.9, the massive quake "the biggest quake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s." The quake triggered "dozens of fires and a massive tsunami that swept away houses and cars...." Estimates of the number of people killed during the quake and subsequent tsunami had already reached 1000 as PortlandWikiNews went to press. The first waves from the subsequent tsunami caused by earthquake reached the Oregon coast at Port Orford, Oregon "around 7:30 a.m. PST Friday" according to Geophysicist Gerard Fryer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu. Gov. John Kitzhaber issued a statement urging "all Oregonians along the coast to heed tsunami alarms and follow instructions from public safety officials about heading to higher ground." Waves the size of a small ripple are expected to reach the banks of the Willamette River in Central Portland.

Go to story: Tsunami Swamps Hawaii Beaches, Brushes West Coast

Thursday | March 10, 2011

Potato Champion at Cartopia in inner Southeast. Photo by Sarah Gilbert.

National & international media continues breathless praise/stereotyping of Portland
While satirical TV show Portlandia still loudly echoes through the streets of Portland, national (and international) media attention to Portland's "quirky" culture continues to grow. Nearly all coverage of PDX praises and/or ridicules Portland as a haven for progressives, artists, foodies, hipsters, hippies, punks, and sex workers. Today's scrap of moderately accurate out-of-towner commentary comes from the UK's The Guardian, praising Portland's food scene.

Go to story: Top 10 places to eat in Portland, Oregon.

Wednesday | March 9, 2011

Walls Of Pride Book Release

Walls Of Pride
After gentrification managed to dislodge residents from whole Portland neighborhoods largely to make way for affluent newcomers, the city launched a "Restorative Listening Project" it said was "based on the principles of Restorative Justice which says that only when those most impacted are heard, acknowledged and efforts have been made to repair the harm can the community be made whole again." Some of the gentrified folks, like Norma Trimble, weren't terribly impressed. "That's been our history. They take all you've got. They take your land. Now they want your stories," she observed. Now Portlandians can "celebrate" some of that lost history with the release of Walls of Pride: A Tour of African American Public Art. "Walls of Pride provides a self-guided tour to 20 of the city's African American public artworks through color photos, a detailed map, mural descriptions and artist bios." The event includes brief talks and two short movies: a 16mm documentary on the Albina Mural Project and a piece on the history of In Other Words Bookstore. Refreshments will be provided by E’Njoni Ethiopian Cafe.

• What: Walls Of Pride Book Release
• Where: In Other Words | Portland's Feminist Bookstore and Resource Center
• Address: 14 Northeast Killingsworth Street, Portland, OR 97211-2624, (503) 232-6003
• Bus: N Killingsworth & Williams
• Day: Sunday, March 13th 2011
• Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Go to story: Walls of Pride Book Release

Tuesday | March 8, 2011

Cram these into vending machines to destroy the system from within!

Trimet ticket dispensers treated as ashtrays
Beginning in January, dozens of Trimet's transit ticket vending machines have been taken offline due to a vandal or vandals stuffing the bill intake slot with cigarette butts. Trimet officials have yet to identify the culprit(s), despite heavy video surveillance.

Go to article: Cigarette-butt bandit crashing TriMet fare machines, officials say

Tuesday | March 8 & 1/2, 2011

Young women choreographers (and one boy) gather to anxiously anticipate International Women's Day on a makeshift dance floor at the Multnomah Athletic Club at the conclusion of this year's Young Choreographers Competition.

Young Choreographers Compete In Lead-Up To International Women's Day 2011
On Sunday March 6th, dance students were invited to participate in a "unique opportunity to showcase their own choreography in a safe and supportive environment" in the lead-up to International Women's Day (internationally celebrated today, Tuesday March 8 & 1/2). Each student's work was "adjudicated by dance professionals." Before sentencing was announced "choreographers receive(d) personal feedback from the judges." Exactly one third of the three judges were woman, in deference to International Women's Day. The private club with a dysfunctional web site charged each young choreographer "only $25.00 to enter," warning that "space is limited." Performers from Groove Nation, Northwest Academy, Studio One Dance Academy, Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, Columbia Dance and Multnomah Athletic Club competed choreographically with one another. Parents, even International Women parents, were charged $4 to observe the choreographical competition, although grudging allowances were made for cashless parents. Even cashless Domestic Men parents.

Go to story: Young Choreographers Competition

Monday | March 7, 2011

Health Care, Not Wealthfare!

Carefully Crafted Wealthfare For The Few; Totally Botched "Health Care" For All
It's not entirely unreasonable to suspect that the primary purpose of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more widely known by its "Obamacare" pejorative , was to construct a piece of legislation designed to fail on every legitimate front. This same legislative travesty, however, succeeded brilliantly in key areas--providing opportunities for increased profiteering by private "health care providers," pharmaceutical companies, insurance corporations and so on. It also handed an even bigger gift to the multinational corporations not able to cash in as a direct result of its passage (major resource extractors, Wall Street casino operators, etc.) by giving them all the ammunition they could hope for to further befuddle an already terribly confused and horrifyingly ignorant public. Thus a Tea Party is born. Wall Street's major criminals get off scot-free for their part in unleashing a catastrophic global financial meltdown. Ultra-right Republicans take over Congress, despite having so totally disgraced themselves a short while earlier. And this list can just go on and on.
But not everyone stands idly, merely wringing helpless hands. The Oregon Single Payer Campaign is sponsoring a Legislative Action Day "to support HB 3510 & SB 888, Oregon's Single Payer Health Care Bills." Here's the lowdown:

Legislative Action Day

• Friday, March 11, 2011
• To support HB 3510 & SB 888, Oregon’s Single Payer Health Care Bills
• State Capitol, Salem

Go to info page: Oregon Single Payer Campaign

Go to resource page: Oregon Single Payer Campaign Resources

Go to story: Progressive Models For Health Care Exchanges Emerge

Sunday | March 6, 2011

Teresa Boze and Sylvia Orduño show off more than a baker's dozen of "wiki cupcakes."

Barnraising Party: No Instant Barns, But Lots Of Interesting Discussion, Ideas, Fun!
Sudden illness forced our keynote speaker to drop out at the last moment. Several core PortlandWiki contributors also couldn't make it for similar reasons. And we didn't exactly "raise barns" (make a bunch of immediate improvements to PortlandWiki)...yet. Despite the hiccups, PortlandWiki's Barnraising party was a success. Among many highlights, a few truly stand out: wiki cupcakes!, Street Roots contributing vendor, Sam Al-Jondi (lots of great insights, enthusiasm and a firm grasp of PortlandWiki's potential), out-of-towner Brian Kerr's presentation on what makes ArborWiki so successful. And most of all, the generosity of PortlandWiki volunteers for making getting this party started, and for the wonderful folks who came and celebrated with us. Thank you! Also a special shout out to Schmizza Pub & Grub on 21st Avenue for generously providing pizza to hungry Barnraisers. Show some appreciation and go hit the "like" button on their Facebook page.

Go to story: PortlandWiki Barnraising / Post Event

Saturday | March 5, 2011

PortlandWiki Barnraising Party Today! Central Library!
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.!

Today Is PortlandWiki's Barnraising Party Day!
"Today we celebrate PortlandWiki's first ever Barnraising Party! What's a Barnraising party? It's where neighbors come together to build something that benefits the entire community. For PortlandWiki, that means building a more useful, informative and fun city wiki for Portland!
Here's the details:
PortlandWiki Barnraising Event
PortlandWiki's Barnraising event is where you help decide which improvements to PortlandWiki are most important, and then help make them.
Participants will enjoy an afternoon of vibrant, real-time collaboration. Share your Portland knowledge and help make PortlandWiki a world-class city wiki. Why would we expect anything less than a world-class wiki from the "birthplace of wikis"?
PortlandWiki's Barnraising event is FREE and open to the entire Portland community. Refreshments and "unique" swag will be happily provided at no cost.

• Where: Portland Central Library at 801 S.W. 10th Avenue, downtown Portland.
• When: TODAY! Saturday March 5, 2pm - 5pm.
• Room: Central's U.S. Bank Room, near main entrance on right as you enter the building.

Go to press release: PortlandWiki:Barnraising/PR

Go to event page: PortlandWiki:Barnraising

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