From the open publishing newswire: Here is the email I just sent Fred Meyer: You heavily advertise in the Oregonian, a Portland daily paper. On 9-28-08, the publisher of the Oregonian distributed with the paper a DVD titled 'Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.' This DVD is generally regarded to be a bigoted and untruthful piece of hate-mongering, designed to inflame public opinion against Muslims world-wide. Less that a week after this disk was distributed in Dayton, Ohio, unknown persons attacked an Islamic community center by releasing noxious vapors, burning to the eyes and nose, into the child care room.

From the open publishing newswire: Lauren Regan of Eugene's Civil Liberties Defense Center says in regard's to Marie Mason's plea agreement: "I state with unequivocal confidence and knowledge that Marie has been absolutely stalwart in her commitment to not cooperate with the government, and to do no act that would damage the larger environmental movement in any way."

Marie has not received any favors or special treatment by the US Attorneys prosecuting her in Michigan; in fact, it is despicable that Marie may do more time then any other Green Scare defendant to date as a result of her choice to not snitch. Marie joins Jonathan Paul, Daniel McGowan, Sadie, Exile, Briana Waters, Tre Arrow, Rod Coronado, Eric McDavid and several others I am probably forgetting to mention --these folks are wholeheartedly deserving of our support as activists that have maintained their integrity in the face of political persecution by the federal government. They will do extra days or years in prison as a result of their refusal to give information to the feds used to prosecute others. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with Marie's situation. If you are able to contribute financially, I'm sure they would deeply appreciate it, and if not, please show solidarity for Marie as she goes through the process of being yanked away from her children and family for a long time.

Marie Mason, Stephanie Fultz, Aren Burthwick All Plead Guilty in ELF Case

From the open publishing newswire: Returning to "real life" after the intensity of St. Paul is challenging. So many people there used the word "surreal" to describe the conflicting mix of violence/kindness- brutality/courage- despair/committment. It will matter so much to learn from this, process the experience and not allow our grief and rage to leave lasting scars and diminish our intent to survive and prevail. It will not be easy.

From the open publishing newswire: Last weekend started with a meeting Thursday to start the planning for the presentation of the Trial of George W. Bush, it ended by getting into a confrontation with Willy Smith and Mac Prichard about our protest outside of Prichard's house. I have not seen Willy so upset, he was almost foaming at the mouth, telling me I had crossed the line by protesting at a private home. Willy told me in very clear language that if we blocked people coming in he would have us arrested. Prichard was angry about me upsetting his wife and ruining their fundraiser for the Earlman. I was kind of taken aback by their reaction, there were only three of us and we were not going to disrupt the party, just silently witness the continuation of the "Cocktail Liberals" telling themselves what peacemakers they are and how they want the war to end. Blumenauer after all, voted against the war! (He continues funding the occupation.)

From the open publishing newswire: Is the two-foot area on the street next to walls (often blocked by vehicles) in the Pearl warehouse district the only legal public walkway? Is to illegal to use a rolled up piece of paper or plastic to speak through if you can be heard within 100 feet? Should the First Amendment be curtailed if it is simply inconvenient to a business? Should 6-10 officers not direct their attention toward violent crime (in progress or unsolved) on a Saturday night? Are these tactics symptoms of a larger failure by the PPB to consider the rights of citizens equally to those of business?

From the open publishing newswire: As of tonight, dozens of journalists have been arrested while observing street action this week in downtown St. Paul, host city of the RNC. Some were arrested pre-emptively and still sit in jail. Along with the most showcased arrests, that of Amy Goodman and two DN! producers, are those of reporters with community news sites and independent media of all stripes.

New journalists must not only be the eyes and ears for the public, sometimes they must also protect the public, as was the situation over and over again in St. Paul.

Here's just one example: [...]

From the open publishing newswire: The marriage of private and public security forces and the Portland Business Alliance is threatening the organic infrastructure of the inner Eastside of Portland. Recent events point to gradual takeover... it's almost nostalgic, thinking of the days when PPI and Clean and Safe patrol and harassment were limited to Portland's Corporate Livingroom: Pioneer Courthouse Square and Pioneer Place. Then the Portland Business Alliance took advantage of unconstitutional, racist and fascist 'laws' like the Sit-Lie and Anti-Camping ordinances and Drug Free Zones in order to expand their control over most of downtown. In cooperation with the Sheriff, the Portland Police, Tri-met Security, Portland Patrol Services, Blackwater and others, they have even set up a fusion center (go see it yourself: the logos cover the windows) at the Old Town/Chinatown MAX stop, right next to the TopOff3 dirty bomb target: the Steel Bridge.

Now they're on the Central Eastside Industrial and Commercial area. With spreading gentrification, real-estate grabs and looming MLK/Grand Streetcar plans (where Blumenauer's business buddies are padding his PAC coffers and re-election plans), it appears that the PBA and their rent-a-cop thugs are reaching their tentacles into our dear neighbourhood. We stopped the big box development plans on the Burnside Bridge, but that wasn't a big enough hint. The other day they were seen rounding up ruffkins and later came into our shop to tell us we had nothing to be afraid of: we were safe now. What I want to know is which businesses asked them to come over here and "save us" in the first place? We're doing fine on our own, thank you very much. If there are any problems, it's the drunk Pearl District prowlers, getting their kicks at the Doug Fir and Union Jacks, vomiting and knocking over our plant boxes. That's no reason to call over private mercenaries and harass the homeless, now, is it?

From the open publishing newswire: I presented a Ground Zero Lounge about the possibility of a police state being declared in Denver if protestors rioted at the Democratic National Convention. It featured the Denver International Airport and the Masonic, religious and apocalyptic symbolism throughout the huge mural on the wall there and on other artwork throughout the building.

As I was preparing to go on stage at Dante's, I was called out of the bar by security guards. I wondered what was wrong.

"Come outside, Mr. Lewis. There is something that you should see."

I stepped out into the street, where, all along the curb, people scanned the sky with alarmed expressions. I thought that perhaps they were seeing some anomaly or UFO in the sky. "What's up?" I asked. "I don't see anything."

One security guard said, "Shhhh, listen!"

I heard a faint sound, rather like a lawn mower. As the sound got closer it drowned out the sounds of the downtown Portland streets.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were two low-flying black helicopters buzzing rooftops and dropping armed soldiers on top of buildings. The only time I had seen anything like this before was in an Alex Jones documentary.

From the open publishing newswire: Something clicked when reading about Spain's basketball team doing the Chinese eye thing. My mind wondered back to The story a couple years ago of the German solders making derogatory comments about Harlem and black People. Both of these stories highlight socially unacceptable behavior being committed in an environment of different social norms. At first I thought the word was hypocrisy, where always doing things here In America that would be considers socially abhorrent elsewhere.

From the open publishing newswire: This is a response to the article by Dante Armos titled "Student Activism Doesn't Make The Grade" ( http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/07/377275.shtml). Though I valued its attack on pretention and intellectual elitism, I have a few counter-points in defense of higher education, student organizations, and required community service.


Higher education in America is bullshit. Earning a college degree has become synomymous with earning a key into the middle class and (who knows, this is America, right!) beyond. Too often, education serves to elaborate on the tactics available to enter into and thus maintain systems and games of dominance.

From the open publishing newswire: .... sources are saying that the Pentagon denies that it plans to blockade Iran (imminently): "As a matter of policy we do not discuss current or future ship's movements. However, I can tell you that reports of an alleged naval blockade of Iran are false," said Lt.-Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs."

From the open publishing newswire: As we drove to Silverton today, we passed by the memorial along Highway 213 which honors Andrew Hanlon, the Irish citizen who was shot and killed by officer Tony Gonzalez early this month. The Grand Jury has since decided that Officer Gonzalez was justified in killing Hanlon. No surprise there. We are getting used to officers being exonerated after their thoughtless and deadly actions. Will we ever get used to these memorials? There were notes from Andrew's friends, declarations of solidarity and flags of Ireland fluttering in the summer breeze. I thought about Fouad Kaady, another unarmed man killed in Sandy by officers quick to pull their triggers. In Portland there have been many such deaths. Each of them has been discussed and remembered on this site. Here are pictures of this memorial so we can put a face to this most recent murder.

From the open publishing newswire: This week, Bark, a local forest watch group focused on Mt. Hood National Forest sent Oregon Governor Kulongoski a letter demanding he use his full authority to stop LNG from coming in and through Oregon. The concerns expressed in the letter were surrounding the Palomar Pipeline. In June, Bark staff and volunteers walked the entire 40-mile segment that crosses Mt. Hood National Forest. Many of the findings in the letter were a result of this groundtruthing effort.