From the open publishing newswire: Money is a vice I wore
Taking over my mind
It negotiated its own results .
It had its own illogical sequences
Bad mathematic formulas that no one bothered to unravel
The sequences were not 'solvable"
And there fore pleasing to the economic
It made sense to me that money was power
And I had abdicated the throne.

From the open publishing newswire: On June 7th, 2008 in Olympia Washington a new Northwest (Washington & Oregon) US based regional anarchist organization, Class Action Alliance, held our founding General Assembly. Preparation for this founding General Assembly had taken place over several months including meetings in locations throughout the Northwest and the sponsoring of a speaking tour.

From the open publishing newswire: In "Kaspar Hauser," Jacob Wassermann describes a town suffering from a long drought. With the wells dry, the town becomes enmeshed in violence and recrimination until a little boy plays so beautifully on his flute that water rises again in the wells.

Consumerism, trickle-down mythology and the market as a self-healing panacea or elixir have led to social paralysis in monopoly capitalism. Profit eclipses social welfare. Concentration of power has led to the domination of corporate media and corporate inevitability. Convinced "there is no alternative," (Margaret Thatcher's phrase implying that society isn't a reality, only individuals) people are caught in the mythology of CEOs as "job creators" and workers as "cost-factors." This language distortion is a product of our "elite democracy," where definitional power is exercised by capital and elites. Since the market is stylized as sacrosanct and self-healing, all problems are explained as interferences with the market.

From the open publishing newswire: Yesterday 7 people were arrested when the Portland Police came to post 72 hour "Illegal Campsite" notices and alert us that our homeless encampment at City Hall was not within lawful compliance. We have been camping on the sidewalks for 15 days to protest the unconstitutionality of the sit/lie ordinance and to demand the repeal of the anti-camping law that makes being without a home a crime. Long term solutions to the affordable housing/greed crisis in downtown Portland however is the primary goal that has brought everyone who is down at City Hall together. So far, many creative ideas have been offered and discussed over the past weeks, and over the course of time the number of protesters has grown from 15 at the beginning into the upwards of 100. Although yesterdays police presence seemed to disperse protesters, the peak head count last night was 84.

"We aren't leaving until they give us what we want" is our general consensus, although the diversity of our growing crowd has brought many new angles as to how we would accomplish such. Mayor Potter has basically refused dialog, and continues to be narrowly focused on the federal mandated "Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness," as well as on opening temporary shelter beds which do nothing over the long-term.

Last night our entire camp met to discuss issues and decide what's next.

Letter asking Mayor Potter for Dialog

From the open publishing newswire: [Ruckus Press Release]: Right now three activists, including one of our beloved Ruckutistas, are climbing up the suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge in an action to support Tibetan independence. San Francisco is the only city hosting the torch in the United States, and Students for a Free Tibet are responding. The message is clear and visionary: "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet"

Actions in Paris and London have already shown one of the ugly truths of standing up against injustuce - the bravery of nonviolence is met with the cowardice of violence. This is true in Tibet, where 180 people have been slaughtered since March in their attempts to send a message to the world through the layers of repression of Chinese rule.

The Tibetan dream of independence is our common dream, and we're asking you to do one thing if you are moved by the strength and perseverance of the Tibetan people and Tibetan-led Students for a Free Tibet: donate to support today's action and the actions to come.

Banner Hang photos: 1, 2

Statement from Students for a Free Tibet | more protests are planned Extinguish the Flames of Genocide in Darfur! | Guardian Commentary | Guardian Coverage of Paris Protests of Olympic Torch relay | UK Indymedia coverage of 4/4/08 protests | Free Tibet Prisoners - Callout for Independent Media in Tibet

www.ruckus.org

From the open publishing newswire: On Saturday, February 23, the prohibition of a meeting of the opposition in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, was followed by bloody repression and confrontations. A private TV channel that had the misfortune to broadcast a report on this subject was immediately banned by the authorities. At the beginning of week the transportation unions (taxis, motorbike-taxis, primarily) called for the strike to protest against the rise in the price of fuel. Very quickly and spontaneously, apart from any instruction from the trade unions or political parties, the strike overflowed from the owner/operators of taxis to be followed by a large part of the poor population. With several thousand people against the high cost of living, the demonstrators and strikers establish barricades with their slogans "We are hungry!", "Lower the price of staple foods", "No to high cost of living and the reducing to beggary of Cameroonians!", as well as anti-government slogans: "Biya must leave!" "Popaul you will be hung along with your constitution", etc. The forces of capitalist disorder responded by shooting at the demonstrators. The port of Douala, which is the economic heart not only of Cameroon, but also of all the countries of the sub-region, was paralyzed. During the riots, shopping centers were attacked and plundered, various public buildings attacked (the Taxation Center and the sub-prefecture of Douala V were burnt), enterprises belonging to the Biya family, symbols of French presence, etc.

From the open publishing newswire: Blumenauer says he cares about Peruvian workers and farmers--give him a call at (503) 231-2300 to make sure he knows that people are dying in the streets of Peru!

When Congressman Earl Blumenauer voted for the Peru Free Trade Agreement last year, he said, "I continue to be concerned about the potential impact of this agreement on poor farmers in Peru... I am heartened, however, that the 17-year phase-in for Peru to open its agricultural markets contained in the agreement gives us a prime opportunity to fix the problems..." here's something from some activists in New York:

" 4 FARMERS KILLED PROTESTING PERU FTA! 700 ARRESTED! STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN PERU! THE BLOOD IS ON THE HANDS OF CONGRESS, BUSH, THE PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT, AND MULTI-NATIONAL CORPORATIONS! JOIN US TO PLAN A RESPONSE AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE! THE PERU FTA MUST BE REPEALED!"

[EMERGENCY} MEETING CALLED BY: NYC People's Referendum on Free Trade.

From the open publishing newswire: In Bern, thousands demonstrated against the WEF. Police were there to stop the demonstration - and the bourgeois press spoke of a"record-breaking police operation". They used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets, and during the course of the day they arrested 242 people.

The authorization for the demonstration had been taken back two days earlier (January 17). The official reason: the organizers didn't want to distance themselves from violence. In reality there were two reasons: firstly, the authorities wanted to avoid a defeat like on October 6, 2007, as a march by the racist, ringt-wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP) in Bern was stopped by militant resistance. Secondly, they wanted to let the police practice different repression tactics in the run-up to the European Cup, which will be held in Switzerland and Austria in June.

Police officers were stationed at every corner in the inner city and stopped young people, many of whom were arrested for "attempt to disturb the peace" (!!!). The spokesman of the demonstration committee was taken away by the police in the middle of a press conference. Even journalists were among those arrested. It must be considered a success that so many people followed the call from the "Alliance for Global Resistance" despite the prohibition of the demonstration.

From the open publishing newswire: The subprime lending debacle should cause massive rethinking among those who have long proclaimed that the route to Black equality is through wealth accumulation. In a report titled, "Foreclosed: State of the Dream 2008," United for a Fair Economy details the catastrophic losses inflicted on Blacks and Latinos in the U.S. at the hands of predatory lenders - "the greatest loss of wealth to people of color in modern U.S. history." With more than half of Blacks in many cities caught in the subprime trap - and with even these usurious financing schemes disappearing in the wake of the bubble-burst - the prospects for Blacks to amass wealth have grown bleaker than at any time in living memory. At the current rate, it will take 5,423 years for Blacks to achieve homeowner parity with whites.

The money-lenders have already sucked the value out of whole communities, urban and suburban. The wealth loss is staggering: People of color have collectively lost between "$164 billion to $213 billion over the past eight years," with Latinos losing slightly more than African Americans. For the average American, wealth is passed on through the value of homes. That dream, as the report concludes, has been largely foreclosed.

From the open publishing newswire: Downtown has steadily been becoming more and more a thing of the corporate interests who populate the buildings around Pioneer Square. Ordinances have been passed which have, by inches and degrees, driven out the people of downtown to make things more comfortable for the hordes of consumers who flock there to spend their money on frivolities from stores like Macys. Now, in Portland's living room, free speech expression is under attack as well.

For going on 6 years now, PPRC has met, drummed and marched from the NE corner of Pioneer Square every Friday like clockwork, BUT last Friday's rally was told in no uncertain terms: if you continue to do that you've been doing for the past six years, you will be issued a citation.

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: 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: i may be accused of being nostalgic, but how can anyone not feel something as the red and black and other tenants are forced to move away from the 7 corners area, whose sense of place they helped to create? by sharing these thoughts i seek to strengthen my understanding, and stimulate discussion toward a bigger picture of our collective memory.

it's precisely because it is a common story of power, land ownership, the displacement of people and the disruption of the places they gather, that this story needs to be reflected upon. sure, the handwriting of gentrification was always on the wall at 7 corners, and the promises of a community minded landlord were accepted on a basis of minimal trust, but what a drag it is ultimately to be forced to move when it was your own action, creativity, and insight which helped to create the conditions for greedy landowners to exploit!