features archive

From the open publishing newswire: Report from the frontlines in Argentina..Demonstrations have been growing every day since the worker occupied factory, Brukman, was evicted last Thursday. Brukman is one of two hundred factories run directly democratically by the workers, no bosses and no owners. It is a huge symbol for people in Argentina. A country with a huge number of people unemployed, when discussing Brukman or the other occupied factories, people say, claro, of course, they should run it collectively. People from all sectors of society have been mobilizing to support the workers, and today, to help the workers take their factory back. For more on Brukman see indymedia Argentina. [Full Story ... | pics] Argentina Update 12:18pm Tue Apr 22 '03

From the open publishing newswire:

APRIL 27TH, SUNDAY, PORTLAND, OREGON
9:45 AM TO 6 PM

8-hour workshop, open to the public, at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Ross Island Campus, Great hall, Room #310. You do not need to register for this workshop. There is visitor parking available in the West lot. Directions to NCNM
You will learn: Basic protest safety for you and your affinity group, Chemical weapons (pepper spray) decontamination, Herbal remedies and aftercare, ABCs (Scene survey, scene management, Airway, Breathing, Circulation, spinal cord precautions, triage).

Dress as if you were going to a protest. Sensible shoes and raingear required; we may get you wet. Sandals are a no-no. [ Read More... | Black Cross Health Collective]

From the open publishing newswire: Feminisms Conference - looking backwards, moving forward: a weekend of connected activisms. We invite you to participate in this upcoming free conference celebrating multi-dimensional feminisms and connected activisms. Come and participate in sessions and engage with inspiring performers, doers and thinkers as we explore ways to take our individual and collective actions to deeper levels.

There will be a community activist space showing a range of videos including the A22 Bush Protest video, the story of the Peak Timber Sale as well as videos from the recent anti-war protests. There will also be information and updates about various activist groups including Cascadia Summer, The Student Activist Alliance and Art and Revolution.

When
Friday, April 25th 6 - 9 pm
Saturday, April 26th 9 am - 8 pm

Where
Portland State University, Smith Memorial Student Union, first floor
[ The goals of this conference are: ]

From the open publishing newswire: Please take 5 or 10 minutes each day to act in defense of animals lingering in laboratories. Each weekday during WWAIL, you can take one simple action to speak up for the hundreds of millions of monkeys, mice, dogs, cats and other animals who are being tortured behind locked doors. These lonely, terrified animals need your help right now.

Monday, April 21 - March of Dimes - The March of Dimes (MOD) has funded research in which newborn kittens had their eyelids sewn shut in an attempt to study the effects of visual deprivation. MOD itself admits that this study [ yielded no... ] March of Crimes | WWAIL Events

From the open publishing newswire: The Oregon Commission for Voluntary Action and Service will host Voluntary Action Day at the Oregon Capitol in Salem on May 2, 2003. This is a chance to share stories of service with legislators and highlight the impact of volunteers on Oregon communities. Festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. as Governor Ted Kulongoski (invited) and state legislators sign the Pledge to Serve Oregon. For more information about Voluntary Action Day, please email ocsc@pdx.edu or call (888)353-4483. [ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: After the strange series of miscues, misunderstandings, and miscommunications which led to my being barred from a recent Portland Police Bureau news conference (all of which was, of course, written up here), Michael Hall made the suggestion that some sort of local "independent media consortium" might be necessary. And so, we announce the beginnings of the Portland Association of Independent Journalists, otherwise known as PAIJ, whose mission statement reads [ as follows ... ]

Image courtesy of Roberta

From the open publishing newswire: Portland is becoming a hall of horrors. The health care system is in a serious state of disrepair due to a taxation policy that relies heavily on income taxes. Revenues from income are precarious when the economy is unstable, and the Oregon Legislature does not have a backup plan. We are further crippled by our leadership's commitment to one of the lowest corporate taxes in the nation. Our social workers and health care workers are laid off or juggling caseloads that make it impossible to give proper care. This is why union memberships such as workers in IU650 Social Service Branch of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) and many outraged individuals and groups are pulling together to make changes necessary for a healthy community.

Annie is a member of the IU650 Social Service Branch of the IWW. She is tenaciously working with many others including workers, patients, and agencies to find solutions to the decaying public safety net for the uninsured... Annie, who says she can't hear these stories without crying, referred me to a woman named Roberta, a 51 year old military veteran whose health has been compromised by fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, periodontal disease, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder... Despite her own health woes, Roberta manages to advocate for others with similar conditions. [ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: Craig T. Miller of Eugene OR (who has written for Portland Independent Media Center under the pen name "Sumold Gote") died 9 April 2003 of a pulmonary embolism. He was 46. He worked at a mental health hospital for children in San Diego for five years, and four years in the mental health profession in Eugene. He worked as the chief executive officer of Riff Raff Recordings and the Oregon Independent News Center.

He was given a "wolf meditating with a monkeywrench in its mouth" from the Earth First Journal (page 32 Litha June-July 2002 issue) for spending Earth Day morning 2002 sitting beneath the tail rotor of a helicopter interrupted in its mission to spray local clearcuts with herbicides. [ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: The US Forest Service is proposing to log 90 million board feet of trees from sensitive, Biscuit Fire affected forests in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area.

In plans released March 18th 2003, the Forest Service also proposed an unspecified amount of logging, non-native tree planting and road building across tens of thousands of miles - all at a loss to tax-payers.

DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS IS TODAY - MONDAY, APRIL 21ST, 2003
GO TO WWW.SISKIYOU.ORG TO TAKE INSTANT ACTION!

"Nothing about this plan makes sense" said Rolf Skar of the Siskiyou Project. "We didn't need to log Yellowstone after it burned. The Siskiyou Wild Rivers area depends on fire, and is rejuvenating naturally. Why should we trash it at tax-payer expense?"

"There is no scientific basis for this proposal" said Dominick DellaSalla, Ph.D., director of the World Wildlife Fund's Klamath-Siskiyou office in Ashland. "Quadrupling logging levels on the Siskiyou National Forest will doing nothing to help communities become firewise. Salvage logging is one of the most destructive types of logging activities - it removes both live and dead big trees, leaving behind flammable logging slash and delaying post-fire recovery. This is yet another move by the Bush administration to gut environmental protections for the globally-significant Siskiyou Wild Rivers area."[ Read More... | Siskiyou.org ]

World Tree-sit Day kicks off early in Eugene,Oregon

Activist Mike McCarthy is right now occupying a tree in front of the Shelton McMurphy house on Skinners Butte as of 11:00 pm sunday night(4-20-2003) in protest of proposed cutting of several trees.He will be available for interviews on site monday.

McCarthy has been discussing this issue with city parks staff and feels he must call this to the attention of the community.[ Read More... | Tree-sit.org ]

Celebrate Earth Day by Canceling the Clark Timber Sale

Twenty-nine acres of old-growth forest are still slated to be logged any day at the Clark timber sale in the treasured Fall Creek watershed. There are three upcoming events that have been put together to get the last of the sale canceled.

Sunday, April 20: Campout at the Clark timber sale (Fall Creek)
Monday, April 21: Banner making at Growers for Earth Day rally at Zippo
Tuesday, April 22: Earth Day rally at Zippo Log Mills (6th/Garfield). Ride your bike and meet at the mill at 1 pm. Rally at the mill and urge Zippo to get out of the sale. Critical Mass bike ride to the Federal Building afterward to rally for old-growth protection. Spread the word.

[ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: Sisters in Action for Power has issued an emergency alert, announced on KBOO this morning by Joanne Bowman.

Sisters in Action for Power won a $16 a month pass for low income students to ride TriMet public transportation less than two years ago. Trimet is now proposing to increase this fee by $1 per student who rides the bus. Sisters in Action are encouraging everyone to make their voices heard on Wed April 23rd TriMet Public Hearing from 9 am to 11 am.

If you can't make this meeting, scheduled when most people would of course be unable to attend, you can email Fred hansen, gen'l manager of Trimet. His email is: runnionk@trimet.org. [ Full Story...]

From the open publishing newswire: Arrested for "Interfering with a Police Officer" for standing 30 feet away and silently observing... a cop giving a couple of kids a hard time...Almost immediately after I stopped the cop turned his aggression towards me. [ Read More... | Critic's Corner ]

From the open publishing newswire and portland imc calendar of events:
THURSDAY 4/23:
6:30 pm Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force Legal Clinic to educate and inform people affected by discriminatory immigration laws about their opportunities for legal immigration There will be a presentation, social time and free consultations with immigration lawyers. [Details...]
6:30pm A Dialogue on the Middle East - First United Methodist Church, 1838 SW Jefferson, Room 202
A Dialogue on the Middle East: The Kurdish Perspective. Come and learn more about Kurds and Kurdistan. [ Calendar post... | www.orpeace.org ]
7 pm Benefit for anti war arrestees
funds raised go towards the legal costs and lawyers for those arrested during the Anti War demonstrations here in Portland. [ Details... ]
7 pm Free Peace Party! Open Mike Poetry Against War Every Thursday from April thru June! Open mike Poetry Against War. Featured guests moe bowstern, anna decastro, leslie fried, walt curtis, steephen spyrit, jennifer gleach, leanne grabel and you. free of charge, but if you give a donation, you will get a free zine with poetry against war. Details

FRIDAY 4/25:
4 pm ART=PEACE ACTION - Pioneer Courthouse Square. "Mourning" The third installment in OPI'S "DEAD-IN"... [ calendar post... ]
5:30 pm Celebrate Spring with the First Annual Critical Mass Scavenger Hunt - NW Park & Couch (North Park Blocks)
In response to the brutal treatment Critical Mass has received from the Portland Police Department, and the continuing media and police misinformation campaign against Critical Mass, the April ride has been established as a scavenger hunt. [Details..]
6:30 pm Rachel Corrie: Honor Rachel on the 40th day after her martyrdom
NW Cultural Center 1819 NW Everett. Commemorate her life and commitment to justice and the Palestinian People.[ Details... | Flyer]

7 pm Pepto Dizmal & Circus Pandamonium - Liberty Hall 311 N. Ivy -
Portland's homegrown circuses team up to promote Cruelty-Free circus fun! [ Details ...]

From the open publishing newswire: The Bible tells us that pride goeth before the fall. In Iraq, it cameth right after it.
From the moment that statue of Saddam hit the ground, the mood around the Rumsfeld campfire has been all high-fives, I-told-you-sos, and endless smug prattling about how the speedy fall of Baghdad is proof positive that those who opposed the invasion of Iraq were dead wrong.

Well, it turns out that, far from being on the verge of destroying Western civilization, Saddam and his 21st century Gestapo couldn't even muster a half-hearted defense of their own capital. The hawks' cakewalk disproves their own dire warnings. They can't have it both ways. The invasion has proved wildly successful in one other regard: It has unified most of the world -- especially the Arab world -- against us.
[ Full Story and commentary... ]

[ Baghdad: dangerous groundswell of resentment | Hands Off Iraqi Oil, Mideast States Tell U.S. | 'They Did the Destroying. So Why Can't They Get Everything Working Again?' | Bechtel wins $680 million contract -- Weapons Dealer in Charge of Rebuilding Iraq? | Fear And Anger in Syria Is Cuba Next? -- Selling to Cuban hospitals an act of Treason | Children Main Victims of Cluster Bombs | War photographer witness to Marines killing unarmed civilans | 1991 - 2003 U.S. genocide in Iraq ]

From the open publishing newswire: Come to Sacramento, CA June 23-25 to shut down the WTO agricultural ministerial!!! - From June 23-25th 2003 the Ministers of Trade, Agriculture and Environment from 180 nations, including all member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will meet in Sacramento California at a summit hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), USAID, and the US State Department. This meeting will be a stepping stone to the September WTO Ministerial in Cancun and the Summit of the Americas scheduled for Miami in November. This meeting will be held the same time as an "Expo On Agricultural Science and Technology" which will be showing off the "benefits" of transnational agribusiness and biotechnology.

With this meeting and Expo the United States through WTO is planning on forcing its agricultural agenda on the rest of the world. Agriculture in the most debated issue in the WTO, and for good reason, food affects everyone world wide. Yet both the ministerial meeting and the Expo are not open to the public. The rest of the world has no say. We can not allow these bastards to impose their rules on the rest of the world.

The reasons for shutting down the WTO and putting an end to neoliberalism are far too many to name here. So much suffering around the world has already been caused by neoliberalism, now they are trying to add even more through their agricultural agenda, and their forcing of the biotech menace upon the world. Concerned activists from northern California and around the world will gather in the streets on Sacramento and tell the biotech industry and the WTO to go to hell.

The day after the invasion of Iraq started activists shut down San Francisco. We are calling on individuals and affinity groups to stop the invasion of our food supply with a militant shut down of Sacramento for 3 days.

There will be spokescouncil meetings every night from June 16th, through June 26th. Come with a plan of action and be ready for a capitalist-smashing good time.
[ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: Last night, well-known New York civil rights lawyer, Lynne Stewart spoke before a crowd of more than 150 at PSU speaking out against her indictment by General Ashecroft on charges of materially adding a terrorist organization. Her case may be deciscive in whether lawyers want to and are able to defend their clients within our current legal system. Few have spoken as well about the executive branch's munching away at our civil liberties and the impending consequences. [ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: In the next two weeks the new portland indymedia website will be launched. There will be a revised look to the site, as well as new functionality. During the transition, which will be announced beforehand, you can expect the site to be down for 12 up to 24 hours while it is switched.

The new site will have a number of new features. First, there will be regions and topics. The publish page is being redone, and the person posting to the site will be able to select both a region, and multiple topics that fit the article (see and comment on topic list). There will also be an actions list and when there is an upcoming major action, that will be an option to select as well. Second, the site will have a new and more effective search engine. Third, the site will be bilingual. All the static content of the site, (not the newswire articles or featured stories) will be in english and spanish. Fourth, media handling will be different for articles. With the new site, all the media will appear as thumbnails on the one article page. Clicking on a thumbnail will open the full size image. Fifth, there will be a new calendar with more reliability and functionality... [ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire: CM tonight was another good ride! our numbers were small (or cozy,as some would say), but having a weekly ride kicks much ass. i think weekly rides need to continue. a week of riding in traffic, being honked at, being run off the road, and inhaling fumes from cars makes me ripe and ready to get out some frustration at a Critical Mass. it's also a nice opportunity to meet other good folks who live by the bike. the weekly mass is beautiful thing and should keep going on strong! (ride meets at between 5:30-6pm every friday starting at North Park Blocks-at the big metal elephant thing)

From a comment: All in all it was a good ride, mini but fun. It was nice to have a bit of respite from the moto-cops, and even when they were there they were pretty nice, one older cop graciously blocked traffic at our request, and joked around with us when we were taking a break. The same officer was heard saying something to the effect of, the police were wasting time on enforcing CM. And at one point we tailed a police cruiser that was making its way through pockets of pedestrians on the waterfront, he seemed to think it was funny, so did we. After the waterfront the mass just kind of broke up.
[ Read More... ]

Celebrate Spring with the First Annual Critical Mass Scavenger Hunt - April 25

From the open publishing newswire: In response to the brutal treatment Critical Mass has received from the Portland Police Department, and the continuing media and police misinformation campaign against Critical Mass, the April ride has been established as a scavenger hunt. Competing teams will course through the city pursuing clues and "that Critical Mass edge" in an attempt to reach one object hidden at the ultimate hunt destination. The lucky winners will be awarded their prize at a post Critical Mass reception at a currently undisclosed location.
[ Read More... ]

BikeSummer Rides Again

From the open publishing newswire: Shift and the ZooBombers are hosting a Mini-BikeSummer in Portland the last two weeks in June. We're giving folks the opportunity to host events again this year, and just like last year it's super simple to get involved. You don't need to come to any meetings, but we need your ideas by **May 15** as our calendar goes to print in May. You don't need to have all the logistics figured out, just let us know the idea, pick a date, and have the location and time.
[ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire:
This Saturday April 19 @ 5-8pm
IWW Hall - 616 E. Burnside

Bus drivers, professors, grad students, janitors, engineers, pre-school teachers, plummers, clerical workers and all workers and students in the education industry are encouraged to come and share their experiences and ideas. We want to evaluate the current strategies, sift out the failing ones, highlight potentially succesful ones,and develop better ideas everyone can take straight back to their workplaces, unions, and fellow workers to implement. There will be presentations, a round-table strategy session, and dinner will be provided free. For more information, please call the IWW Union Hall at 503-231-5488 and leave a message for IOC 620, Campus & Education Workers. [ Read More... ]

From the open publishing newswire:
I-5 Protesters learn of additional charges at arraignment on Thursday

The 9 antiwar protesters who blocked I-5 during the March 20 antiwar protests in Portland learned at their first court date on Thursday that the Multnomah District Attorney's office had added 4-5 additional charges to each of them.

In addition to the charges they were originally cited for (one count each of disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer), the DA has added an additional count of disorderly conduct, and new charges of trespassing, reckless endangerment, and failing to take a proper position on a highway. One protestor was also charged with resisting arrest.

To this defendant, the charge of reckless endangerment is somewhat galling, in that the freeway blockade was a completely nonviolent action. If I was of a sarcastic bent, I might add that the photographic evidence shows that the position we took on the highway appears proper, but I don't want to appear sarcastic.

The nine were scheduled for a new court date on May 29 at 9am in Courtroom 1 of the Multnomah Co. "Justice" Center. [ Newswire Post... ]

From the open publishing newswire:
Saturday April 19th, 2003
noon - 8pm, and it's all FREE!
da Vinci Arts Middle School
2508 NE Everett, Portland, Oregon

It's a festival of our Community featuring live local bands, lots of food, kids' events and more! Listen and dance to bluegrass, samba, klezmer and folk from over 15 performers, including Lions of Batucada, 3 Leg Torso, Anne Weiss, Echo Holstrom, Sid Brown with Steve Amdahl, Vagabond Opera and many others! The FREE Celebration runs from noon until 8:00pm, and includes 60+ green vendors and organizations, a Kids VIllage, a local farmers market and a Village Parade....[ Earlier feature

[ www.cityrepair.org | April 19 events \ May9-18 Village Building Convergence ]