Hello Portland!

FYI, after a week away from this weblog, I decided to make a small change to the format and publishing schedule.

Hello from a new home, my friends! And hello to the great city of Portland!

I know, I know, for all of you who watch right-wing propaganda all day, you are wondering why I'd move to a war zone. (Okay, you probably aren't reading my work if this is you).

One of the biggest tools of propaganda that the Murdoch Family Cartel (and their competitors) uses to send loyal users into an alternative reality is the drug of fear. And they love getting our fellow Americans to fear life in the big bad cities led by "lib" mayors and governors.

And you know what else Murdoch and Friends hate? Those of us who move to cities that allow us to live without having to operate a gas-guzzling death machine for a couple of hours a day. They hate it when folks like myself discover that cars = freedom is a vicious fucking propaganda campaign and a vicious myth.

So, what is Portland, Oregon, really like?

I will discuss this great city in more detail in later posts. But first impressions?

Are there problems here? Of course. This is the United States of America in 2024. There is a fuckton of problems everywhere.

BUT!

The transit system here is so great. Except for NYC and DC, it is better than any transit system I have visited in this nation. And Portland does some transit and micromobility things that are far better than what NYC and DC do.

Also, the city is clean, the people are friendly, and the creative spirit here is as strong as it gets anywhere (I love my fellow weird humans!).

Plus, there are so many flourishing locally owned and operated businesses, including one of the best craft brewery communities in the world—which I absolutely love.

So I can already tell that this is my kind of city.

MONDAY'S WEBLOG

I tried to get away from the news as much as possible this past week, so no links today.

But if you see the difference in the header for this weblog from previous posts, you'll notice that it no longer aspires to be a daily blog. Over my week away from my new little corner of the interweb, I learned that we all need to get away from the news as much as we can. Not to escape it entirely but to get much-needed breaks from the looming chaos.

So, the new plan is this: I will blog four days per week about a few of the most alarming things I read today. More importantly, I'll include links to books, articles, columns, and podcasts focused on the amazing humans doing the essential work to drive our interdependent team forward despite the challenge to do so right now.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays? Why not Fridays? Because I say fuck the work week that is longer than 4 days — and this is one of many labor fights that I will write about on these pages going forward.

Stay strong, my friends.