By Shamus Cooke With the November elections right around the corner, the millions of unemployed and underemployed have little reason to care. Aside from some sparse rhetoric, neither Democrats nor Republicans have offered a solution to job creation. Most politicians seem purposefully myopic about the jobs crisis, as if a healthy dose of denial might…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The notice on the door of Room 3000 at 1900 SW 4th Avenue — home of Portland’s Bureau of Development Services (BDS) — listed the various administrative hearings that would be taking place on September 6, 2012. I was present because I expected a 9 a.m. hearing between the…
By Shamus Cooke The Great Recession and its possible continuance has brought the issue of privatization to the forefront of American politics. But most Americans aren’t even aware that this debate is happening, because the media and politicians aren’t using the word “privatization”. Instead, less threatening substitutes are used to ram through a corporate…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw “Protecting a competitive race to the lowest wages is crucial,” said Tom Chamberlain, President of the Oregon AFL-CIO. After a confused pause, Chamberlain restated himself, replacing “protecting” with “preventing.” It was a slightly awkward moment at this strange gathering billed as a “Listening Session on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)”.…
By Nicholas Caleb Through a process of losing confidence that has spanned my twenties, I’ve finally given up on national politics and find it incapable of being reformed through existing institutional reform mechanisms (except maybe a constitutional amendment coming from a state driven convention; different can of worms for a different post). The lack of…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Another year, another so-called free trade agreement. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is almost 20, while its younger sibling, the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is nearing seven years old. They sure grow up fast, don’t they? And now coming down the pike is the Trans-Pacific…
By Christina Schüll and Paul Cone Tireless citizen activist Ralph Nader spoke Monday night, April 9, to an overflowing crowd in the Agnes Flanagan Chapel at Lewis and Clark College, as part of their 50th International Affairs Symposium. Nader followed Jamie Fly, who served in George W. Bush’s National Security Council, and is now the executive…
by Lana Buchanan It used to be that the homeless were the drunks and drug addicts that lived under the local bridge and people largely ignored them. In today’s world the faces of the homeless have changed, and it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore. There are still many who choose to live on the streets,…
by Lester MacGurdy When we think of infiltrating and destroying a movement, we assume that means attempting to bring about the immediate end of the movement. This is a naive perception of the actual mechanics of infiltrating and destroying a popular political movement of the people. Why would CIA, FBI, etc. want to destroy OWS?…
Last month we published an article concerning the most recent downgrade of the Bank of America Corporation, or BAC, by the credit rating agency Moody’s. The downgrade had triggered a demand for further collateral by the bank’s counterparties–that is, security for those with something to lose should the bank go under. The collateral offered was…
