From the open publishing newswire: we need more housed people to come out and sleep on the sidewalks around city hall. until we have more housed folks out here showing that they are on our side and that this is in fact a WHOLE community issue, we will likely and unfortunately not be taken as seriously. pull out your sleeping bag, ground pad, tarp and sign, and set up shop with us. there's lot of friends down here who are willing to help you navigate our protest while sleeping on the street. see you there!

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Yesterday while doing Food not Bombs at protest until late, I did my best to listen to what the organizers there needed and others requested.

The big one is more people that aren't homeless. Tarps and Blankets.

Food not Bombs served on Tuesday at City hall. Weds. Food not Bombs will be held at City hall instead of outer SE. We will also be serving on Thursday. It was requested that Saturday Food not Bombs be held at City hall. We would actually like to request that all food not bombs be held at City hall. There is the looming response of a police ticketing sweep of City hall. But there are still no where near the about of beds needed for people on the streets.

From the open publishing newswire: I remember some years back, when the newly minted "Pearl District" first began to gentrify. People were moving into expensive condominiums and something called "artists' lofts," where they paid a grand a month to live in a fake warehouse and pretend they were artists. And then, those same people were showing up in droves down at city hall, complaining because there were people sleeping in their doorways. (Likely, some of the doorway-sleeping culprits were the real artists who had been thrown out of the real warehouses, which had then been torn down to make way for the "artists' lofts" and the condominiums.) In response, the city began cleaning up for the urban yuppies.

And when they get their way, they create the stale, dead world they moved here from in the first place. The city becomes nothing more than a glass and steel shopping mall. Plastic and surface and all for sale. The gritty culture is gone, the interesting people are gone, the stories are gone. All that remains is shiny, new things no one cares about, boring people just like them, and places to go shopping. And who wants that? Nobody wants to live in a place like that. Nobody wants to visit a place like that.

So they all leave again. And the city begins to "decay" again. And the malls close down, and the housing prices plummet, and the warehouses empty out... and we can all move back again. And rebuild our own culture again.

From the open publishing newswire: The first day of the food drive was succesful there was many pledges to bring fod tomarrow since many did not have food on them today. We got quite a bit of food as well today. I also want to emphisize the fact that we will be distributing the food directly back to the homeless themsleves rather than giving it to a food bank the distribution will take place on PSU campus. Thank you again for your support and we will be back tomarrow between Cramer and Smith (Park and Montgomery) tomarrow between 10:00 am until around 8:00 pm tomarrow as well as Wensday.

From the open publishing newswire: Its thanksgiving time, and the homeless are still starving!
The PSU chapter of the SDS is organizing a food drive to help the homeless and we would love to take anything extra that you have.

Where: South Park Blocks (Near PSU- Look for an SDS sign and a table)
When: Monday through Wednesday
What: Non-perishable foods and socks, coats anything you have.
Who: The newly formed Portland State University SDS chapter

Contact us for more info at:  psusds@pdx.edu

From the open publishing newswire: I was standing at a bus stop a little while ago, on the corner of SW 4th and Oak. It was lunchtime, so there were a lot of people there. There had to be nearly a dozen of us, mostly waiting for one of three buses that would be passing by soon. And there was the man who was sitting by the wall on the corner. I see him now and then. He was leaning back, soaking in the scant rays of the weak November sun. Occasionally, he would ask people walking by if they could spare some change. None did, but he is used to that. He took it all in stride, just leaning back again and waiting for someone to show some kindness.
Anyway, so I was standing there, waiting for this bus. And as I'm squinting up the street wondering if it will be on time, I see the two "Clean and Safe" oppressors walking toward us. As I see them, I realize that my friend by the wall is probably in danger of being harassed. One of them, the woman, walks up to him, while the other "officer" goes into the little market there, for a moment, either picking up a snack or trying to justify what comes next. I hear my friend ask the first officer, "Hey, how ya doin'?" And I hear her terse response. She's doing fine. The male officer comes out of the little market, walks right up to the man, and growls at him that he has to leave. He's being kind of obnoxious about it too, standing right up against him with his face only an inch or two from the other man's face. And of course, there is the implication that if he does not leave, force may be employed. The relish with which the fake officer brandished his fake power was just too much.

"Why does he have to leave?" I asked.

From the open publishing newswire: Today religious leaders from every corner of Oregon wrote to Governor Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Senator Gordon Smith asking that both the federal and state government do more to address the growing number of homeless students in Oregon seeking an education. A report issued this month by the state Department of Education documented that Oregon schools served over 15,000 homeless students at the same time that the federal government cut funding to support this population group by 10%.

"No child should be homeless in a nation as rich as ours." - Oregon Religious Leaders

From the open publishing newswire: Here is a short clip and some pictures of the peaceful rally
The protest was to bring attention of a no-sit no-lie on sidewalks in downtown which is a "new" proposed law coming soon!
Also the protest highlighted the Human rights of people who are homeless

Listen to Frank Cobb on KBOO (90.7fm)for some LIVE recordings of the protest, interviews, and documentation from the event

From the open publishing newswire: My name is Ray Kavick, anarchist and member of the Olympia Poor People's Union (PPU). This is a short reflection on the first week of an encampment we set up in Downtown Olympia on Thursday, February 1st. We called the encampment Camp Quixote. This piece is not that comprehensive, but gets the basic story out there. My comments DO NOT represent those of the PPU. The PPU is a non-hierarchical group dedicated to improving the lives of the poor and "homeless" in Olympia by whatever means available.

The first tents were awkwardly set up with the people at the campsite looking over their shoulder every once in a while. I felt that many of us were waiting for the police to come immediately. During the planning meetings, it was assumed by nearly everybody that we would be at the site for an hour at most. When the first five tents went up and an hour had passed, none of us were completely sure what to do. But that soon passed, the group got together and we decided to go ahead and put as many tents and as many people on the sight as quickly as possible.

From the open publishing newswire:

On February 1st, the day that the City of Olympia banned sitting, panhandling or performing on the sidewalk, the Poor People's Union set up a tent encampment in downtown Olympia at the corner of Capitol and Columbia. Dozens of local businesses and residents have donated food, clothing and other assorted necessities. People who would have been sleeping outside alone, isolated from any sort of community have now found one.

Today, February 6th, the city manager Steve Hall and the police chief came down to the camp and, after kicking one of our tent poles over, gave us a verbal order to disperse. We need people to call all of their friends, contact as many media sources as possible and generally spread the word. We need people to physically be there for support and to continue what we are doing when some of us are in jail. | read more >>

related: "Homeless" Tent Encampment in Olympia Feb 1 | !Raccoon Radio! - Poverty and Homelessness | Homeless Encampment in Olympia | City Refusing To Talk With The PPU!

From the open publishing newswire:

On February 1st at 12 PM, the Olympia Poor People's Union (PPU) set up a tent encampment on city property. The date of the action intentionally corresponds with the city's implementation of an amended pedestrian interference code already in effect. The addition of Ordinance No. 6456n to the existing law criminalizes sidewalk sitting with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. This act of civil disobedience, the encampment, was carried out in response to growing discontentment amongst Olympia's poor people over the slow, systematic attempt at the dispossession of our city's homeless, orchestrated and supported by some city officials and business owners.

In addition, significant portions of the population of Olympia have taken on a generally dismissive and apathetic attitude towards the plight of those in need. This is the inception of an ongoing effort on the part of the PPU to find a sustainable, dignified way to address the issue of homelessness in this area, rather than to ignore it or to punish its victims.

read more >>

City Refusing To Talk With The PPU!

After passing a serious of ridiculous laws banning sitting on the sidewalk, panhandling and busking, the City said they would give 200,000$ to the homeless. Regardless of the fact that 200,000$, divided among all the homeless in Olympia, cannot do anything, the City is not only threatening to take away the 200,00$, but they are refusing the even talk with us. There has been talk that the police may move in on us on Monday. So, refusing to talk with us or respect us as human beings, the City is ready to use force against us.

Please, tell everyone you know about what is going on here and, if you can, come down to the encampment. It is located on the corner of Capitol and Columbia, behind The Brotherhood bar.

read more >>

From the open publishing newswire: On February 1, the "Poor" Peoples Union of Olympia, WA will set up a "homeless" tent encampment in response to a new city ordinance which goes into effect on February 1, making it virtually illegal to be on the street ("homeless") in Olympia. The exact location will not be revealed until the last minute, however it will be a highly visible protest. The eventual goals are to find a permanant location where the people can have a long term, autonomously run encampment and locations where people can be housed in autonomous, democraticly run communities.

The Poor People's Union, since its inception, has sought to overturn the ordinances targeted at the "homeless". Our intitial idea was to have a referendum on the ordinance and gather enough signatures for it. Over the past weeks, however, it has become clear that the PPU will not be able to expediently stop the ordinances from going into effect and has decided to put a referendum off for the time being.

From the open publishing newswire: One of the outcomes of the most recent review of the infamous sit-lie ordinance, is that the city has been persuaded of the need for more public restrooms. This recognition on the part of the city is related to its agreement to decriminalize sitting on the sidewalk, finding approximately $750,000 for the entire program, part of which would go to provide an alternative, in the form of a drop in center of sorts, to this reality of homeless life.

Also in the new provision, is a determination to establish the availability of more public restrooms to counter the glaring lack of these essential facilities for people who have no alternative. In the account I read most recently about this pressing need, doubts were expressed that the restrooms could last long, because it was thought that they would quickly be destroyed by some of the people out there with the worst problems. Seattle's discouraging experience with the auto toilets was mentioned to illustrate this concern.

From the open publishing newswire:

They're back. Deplorable conditions in North America's homeless shelters and tenements have contributed to the exponential increase in the bed bug population. Some advice for the wary follows...

The return of the bedbug to North America is causing some people to call for a return to the use of DDT as an antidote. Because there are some people who might be interested in a non-chemical answer to the bedbug invasion I have decided to post information about my own battle with those loathsome creatures, which are coming to a home or apartment near you sometime soon.

read more >>

Sleep 'tight' and don't let the bed bugs bite -- In the past two years there has been a resurgence in the number of bed bug infestations in North America. Bed bug city has maps showing the extent of the plague, with the situation being worst with some of the heaviest infestations spreading in the Western Coastal regions of the United States which has a climate the most favorable to year round bed bug travelling (they are killed in winter should they be found outside the warm comfort of a nest in someone's bedroom, which inhibits their ability to travel in some regions of the country). [more]

Experiments with bed bugs -- The attached photo shows my attempt at isolating my bed. My mattress and box spring have been wrapped, trapping inside the colonies of bed bugs dwelling therein. I am using no head board. The bed posts are sitting in stainless steel bowls filled with water and some disinfectant. The bed is surrounded by sticky glue traps made of double sided carpet tape, and there is also a glue trap barrier on the bed posts. I have not yet aquired fresh water Diatomaceous earth, and I am thinking of purchasing a batch of those really sticky glue traps that can trap a mouse. I also have my tent pitched on my living room floor as a backup in case all these precautions fail. [more]