Crosswalk Lettering: In this 1939 photo, a street crew is painting a white crosswalk sign using a stencil, probably made of Masonite hardboard. The crew is working in east Portland in Oregon. They are stencil painting on S.E. Hawthorn Blvd. looking east from 49th Avenue.

In the early 1980s, my plastics manufacturing company supplied the State of Oregon with 4-foot by 10-foot blanks of 0.5 inch thick UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) for stencil work. UHMW was much stronger and sturdier than Masonite and it was easy to clean, since the paint didn't stick to the plastic stencils. (posted 10/25/21, permalink)

---

Forget It, Jake, It's Portlandia: Vancouver-based Burgerville - a chain that has about 40 locations, 20 of which are in Portland - is closing its SE Portland store (on Powell near I-205) because the employees are afraid for their lives. Burgerville is best known for its seasonal fruit milkshakes, Tillamook cheeseburgers and Walla Walla sweet onion rings.

"The environment around the restaurant has deteriorated seriously," a company spokesperson said. "Police are now being called daily. Burgerville employees have found weapons, drug paraphernalia and human waste on the property."

The neon-hued fast-food restaurant shares a border with the Interstate 205 multi-use path and an Oregon Department of Transportation buffer that has hosted large homeless encampments this year. The responsibility for clearing camps on ODOT land within city limits falls on Portland officials, not the state.

Another business in the area reported, "We are right next to a path that leads to the MAX station and you know, you have children and families walking on that path next, all the way up to the MAX station. And over the last year-and-a-half or so, we've had a number of tents just stack up right in the area. It started with one and we now have about 20, just along the path going up as I mentioned to the MAX station. And the unfortunate thing is ... you have families and children that are walking up the path and at any time you can find hundreds of needles."

They've reached out to Mayor Wheeler and County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson but have "not received any response."

Bums and antifa have taken over Portland. City officials have abdicated. (posted 8/12/21, permalink)

---

Has Portland Gone Licence-Plates-Optional? Jack Bogandowski asked, "Is it just my neighborhood, or is the whole City of Portland seeing the sudden appearance of unusual numbers of cars, vans, and trucks on the streets with no license plates? And I'm not talking about the old Pennsylvania look, with a plate on the back only. I'm talking about no plates, front or back, and no temporary card in the window, either."

---

Buh-Bye: Author Michael Totten has packed up with his family, sold their house and moved out of Portland, OR.

He wrote, "Portland, Oregon, has been the most politically violent city in the United States since Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Just a few days after the result, a peaceful protest against the incoming president turned into a riot when anarchists broke off from the main group and rampaged through the Pearl District, a renovated SoHo-like neighborhood adjacent to downtown packed with art galleries, loft apartments, bookstores, and restaurants. Vandals used baseball bats and rocks to break cars, plate glass windows, bus shelters, electrical boxes, and anything else that looked smashable.

The election-night mayhem was not an attack against Republican voters. Donald Trump received a paltry 7.5% of the vote in that precinct. It was an assault on the urban middle class and bourgeois society itself, and it was perceived as such by most people who lived there." Antifa is not about Donald Trump; antifa is a poison that hates everything and wants to destroy society. The Portland riots have been and continue to be overwhelmingly dominated by BLM and antifa thugs, that is, Democrat consorts.

In related news, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, has submitted a request for $2 million in funding for the police months after the city slashed the budget in a move he advocated for. "Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, asked the Portland City Council for the additional funds, citing a surge in gun violence throughout the city. … The city has had 208 shootings so far this year to go along with 20 homicides, compared to only one homicide at the same point last year."

As usual, a federal courthouse was burned and American flags were torched as leftist antifa agitators stormed through Portland, clashing with police. "The violent riots have become commonplace in the city and occurred on 100 consecutive nights at one point last year."

In 2020, Portland cut police funding and got a 2000% surge in murders. Last year, we were told that it was all Trump's fault. He's now been gone for months, so I guess it's now Biden's fault.

Totten continued, "The anarchists in Portland who throw things, smash things, and burn things are not protesting for progressive reforms. They insist that we abolish the police, abolish prisons, abolish borders and nation-states, and return the land to Native American sovereignty. They are demanding the impossible, and they are demanding it violently. … While impossible to prove, it seems unlikely that the city would have veered as out of control as it did were 2020 not a plague year, with rising angst, surging unemployment, the flourishing of extremist movements that always accompanies pandemics, and the abandonment of the professional class that once commuted downtown every day."

"The center of Portland, already on its knees, was now on its back. Property values cratered downtown while skyrocketing in the suburbs. Insurance companies became reluctant to underwrite new business policies. The city’s reputation as a tourist destination has taken a terrible hit. It could take years to reverse all this even under a best-case scenario."

This is a lengthy article about the destruction of what was once one of America's nicest cities but the piece suffers from the author's liberal mindset. In the 1970s through the 1990s, Portland was a pleasant town. We dined and shopped there often. But, over the years, it changed from a city of free-thinking libertarians to a bunch of lefties and socialists. Violence is everywhere and homeless camps engulf the city and its surrounding areas. As I've written before, when liberals are involved in government, common sense goes right out the window. And, people with any common sense moved elsewhere.

Once a model of urban cleanliness, Portland may now be the trashiest city in America.

Our days of supporting Portland's economy by buying pricey theater tickets, paying high parking rates, dropping big bucks on shopping sprees and dining at the city's expensive restaurants are done. Lawlessly liberal, out-of-control Portland can go straight to Hell. The people of Portland elected the current mayor, so they can now suffer the consequences. (posted 4/12/21, permalink)

---

Couldn't Happen To A Nicer Guy: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was "assaulted at a restaurant Wednesday evening during a confrontation with protesters." The 'assault' consisted of a single shoulder pinch by a guy who then fled the scene. Coward. The mayor was uninjured.

Mr. Wheeler "was having dinner with a woman in the outdoor dining area of a northwest Portland restaurant when he was approached by a group of protesters." "I think you need to leave," Mr. Wheeler told one protester, who was recording the incident. The protestor replied, "I think you need to do your job as a f–ing mayor. I think you're a disgrace. I think that everybody in this f–ing city thinks that you're f–ing pathetic." True dat.

Portland deserves what it gets. They voted Wheeler in even though no one - business owners, shopkeepers, conservatives, liberals, Antifa, Proud Boys, even bicycle terrorists - seems to like him. (posted 1/8/21, permalink)

---

Unsettling Experience: I bought my first La-Z-Boy recliner/rocker in 1966. I've had one ever since; I'm now on my 6th one which was delivered last week. (Three of the old ones are still in use by family members.) A couple of weeks ago we traveled to the La-Z-Boy Home Furnishings store which is in the Hayden Meadows section of Portland - about a mile south of the Columbia River and about 17 miles north of center city.

There is a relatively new light rail flyover in the area and we were shocked to find a large homeless camp below it - complete with a motley collection of tents and tarps as well as several outdoor grills. In the shopping complex on N. Hayden Meadows Drive, we found a large crowd on the pavement outside Lowe's Home Improvement. Some appeared to be Mexican laborers looking for day work (a not uncommon sight at big box home improvement stores), but most of the people were unruly homeless pushing their obligatory (stolen) shopping carts. A pair were in a shouting match (probably discussing the philosophical differences between Nietzsche and Kant). During our stay in the area, I spotted two SUVs with 'Security' on the sides - obviously private security hired by the stores. Not once did we see a Portland police vehicle.

Overall, it was a scary sight, seeing large groups of tramps so far from traditional downtown homeless locations. I mentioned this to a friend, who informed me that the Jantzen Beach area - which extends to the banks of the Columbia River - is also full of bums and squatters.

---

Why I Don't Go To Portland Anymore: A homeless man named Brian Ray Lankford who threatened a woman and her son with a large tree branch in 2017 was given a break this week. Instead of putting Lankford in jail, the Portland, Oregon prosecutors cut a deal which gave him probation and mandatory drug treatment.

"Lankford has been arrested more than 220 times in the past decade and convicted 68 times for crimes including misdemeanor theft, trespassing, harassment, disorderly conduct and interfering with public transportation, according to his court file. He often has been sentenced to fines, short stints in jail or probation in which he was not actively supervised."

The boy's mother, Tiffany Hammer, told the Portland City Council in May that Lankford was a repeat criminal who was among a homeless population that commits a wide array of crimes around their neighborhood. On that particular day, Hammer said, she thinks he was trying to steal from her home.

In an attempt to discourage the homeless from camping in the neighborhood, Ms. Hammer and her neighbors cleaned up the area and removed all of the garbage and used needles left behind. To prevent homeless campers from returning to the freshly cleaned site, the neighbors planted dozens of rose bushes. Each bush had a small ribbon tied around it. Then, the Oregon Department of Transportation took issue with neighbors planting things on their land and claimed the tiny, ground-level ribbons "might be a dangerous distraction to drivers. Just to emphasize the point, ODOT hadn't previously expressed any concern that a tent camp surrounded by garbage and needles was a distraction to drivers, but the tiny ribbons were suddenly a concern."

About a month later, the city of Portland decided that it would roll out a new program for the homeless. It parked a "hygiene station," basically a porta-potty plus lockers on wheels, in the same neighborhood. Tiffany Hammer complained at a City Council meeting that the station was actually making things worse. "A swarm of extra campers have shown up in the last week and we've had a lot of personal attacks from that alone," she said. "We hide our children in our homes to protect them. They are no longer able to walk to school."

When liberals are involved in government, common sense goes right out the window. And, people with any common sense, move elsewhere. (posted 10/22/19, permalink)

---

Gaza on the Willamette: There were riots in Portland last week and over the weekend. Michael Walsh wrote, "Portland has now become a lawless city, one in which the authorities, including the mayor and the cops, turn a blind eye to a horde of American brownshirts taking over the city's streets and threatening its residents." Police arrested no one on either occasion.

---

Black Privilege: Two employees of a bakery in Northeast Portland were fired earlier this month for denying a black woman service because the business had closed for the night. Back To Eden Bakery released several public apologies and statements following the incident, before letting the employees go. In one Facebook post, John Blomgren, the bakery's spineless co-owner wrote, "We are doing business in a gentrified neighborhood in a racist city within a racist state of a racist country."

Lemme tell ya, Northeast Portland is hardly gentrified, especially 22nd and Alberta St. where the bakery is located. It remains a high-crime area, especially at night. Furthermore, in my experience, Portland and the state of Oregon are some of the least racist areas of the U.S.

In one statement, Back To Eden Bakery said that, according to its own surveillance video, Lillian M. Green - Equity Director for the State of Oregon, a black woman who is a "well-known activist," entered at 9:06 pm, after the bakery's closing time. Employees had also turned off the 'Open' sign, but several customers who were waiting for orders were still inside. Two other white women, who arrived at the bakery two minutes before Lillian, were also informed that the business was closed and were also turned away.

As for the two female employees who were summarily fired, their only 'sin' seems to be offending a government hack who probably makes twice as much as the two fired ladies combined wages.

This certainly sounds like a case of wrongful termination. I hope the terminated employees file a grievance and the Oregon Department of Labor and Industries comes down hard on this moronic bakery. May the wronged employees also successfully win a six-figure lawsuit against Back To Eden Bakery and, perhaps, another one against Lillian Green who started the whole thing.

As a state employee whose primary job seems to be enforcing equality, she should be held accountable for behavior which reflects poorly on Oregon. Equal Rights are not Special Rights. Unfortunately, expecting the uber-liberal State of Oregon to fire Ms. Green is too much to hope for. (posted 6/7/18, permalink)

---

Caffeine-Free: In 1900, before coffee was Yuppiefied with various flavoring bells-and-whistles, there was Boyd's coffee of Portland, Oregon. Many Oregon restaurants stated on their menus, "We proudly serve Boyd's coffee."

Boyd's grew because it offered very good coffee. Now the new owner, Farmer Brothers, is shuttering Boyd's Portland roasting and shipping operations, laying off 135 people and moving everything to Texas. (posted 4/4/18, permalink)

---

The Sinking, Stinking Ship Known As Downtown Portland: Once upon a time we were regulars at downtown events: Broadway in Portland series, concerts at the Schnitz, dinners at downtown's many upscale restaurants.

No more. Camping homeless, aggressive panhandlers with their big dogs, tough-looking street kids, and impossible parking are the primary causes. Thanks, liberal Portland government overlords.

I penned that sentiment over five years ago. And things have only gotten worse - something to be expected when nothing is done about a problem. The problems have risen to such a level that businesses are abandoning the sinking ship.

Recently, Columbia Sportswear - an old-line, well-established employer in Portland - is planning to exit downtown Portland "after a series of frightening encounters with the city's homeless population, including car break-ins, human waste dumped by the office's front door and threats to its employees. In an op-ed piece published earlier this month by The Oregonian, Columbia Sportswear President and CEO Tim Boyle said he is concerned he made a mistake when he opened a headquarters for the company's Sorel footwear brand downtown, calling the situation "outrageous and unacceptable." ... Since moving the 50 employees downtown, workers immediately reported being harassed and threatened by homeless individuals near the new offices."

For some small business owners in the City of Roses, the increasing homeless population has already proved to be too much to handle.

Judith Arnell closed her business, Judith Arnell Jewelers, last month after 20 years in Portland. Her decision "came from a mix of panhandling and concerns over the safety of her employees and clients. A few months ago, the store's surveillance cameras caught a man defecating right in front of their doors."

Now you know why people avoid Portland, Oregon at all costs. (posted 12/18/17, permalink)

---

Reverse Racism: In Oregon, Portland police will no longer maintain a database of suspected gang members, due to concerns that the vast majority of people with the gang label are racial minorities.

"The Portland Police Bureau will end the 20-year practice of issuing gang member designations, which police say can lead to "unintended consequences" and a lifelong stigma even for those who have given up the gang lifestyle. Officials intend to notify the approximately 300 people on the gang list that the bureau will purge all records related to the designations."

This is something you'd find in Bizarro World ... or on 'The Simpsons', where Police Chief Clancy Wiggum comes up with equally stupid ideas: "What the --? This is Wiggum reporting a 3-18: Waking a police officer." Or, answering the phone with, "9-1-1 ... this better be good." Or: "Uh, I have some bad news. Your husband was found DOA. Oh, wait, I mean DWI. I always get those two mixed up. Uh ... why don't you talk to that officer over there? I'm going out to lunch." Or: "Put out an A.P.B. on a donut, believed sprinkled." Or: "Okay, you just bought yourself a 317, pointing out police stupidity ... Or is that a 314? Nah nah, 314 is a dog uh, in, no or is that a 315? ... You're in trouble pal."

Portland city officials and community activists - liberal ones, of course, because there are no conservative community activists in the city - had long urged the bureau to stop attaching the gang designation to criminal suspects, claiming the practice "disproportionately impacted people of color." A review of police data by The Oregonian newspaper found that 81% of the "criminal gang affiliates" in Portland's database were racial or ethnic minorities. Not enough lawless white people, you see.

Incidentally, Portland's newest police chief is appropriately named Danielle Outlaw. She's an African-American, who was formerly deputy police chief of that ... ahem ... upstanding community known as Oakland, California. Chief Outlaw is paid $215,000/year and her goals include "improving relationships with Portland's communities of color, increasing diversity on the 950-member force and embracing equity." Nothing about locking up bad guys was mentioned.

One commenter, Brawny60, wrote, "I'm a member of a loosely organized white gang. Our gang principles are hard work, providing for family and helping the community. Our gang signals are a wave and a smile." Hey, there are some of those in my neighborhood. (posted 9/22/17, permalink)

---

Big Trouble In Little Utopia: Macy's is closing its down Portland store, once the flagship of the Oregon's Meier & Frank Department Store chain.

The cause is a combination of general brick-and-mortar retail woes, combined with the fact that fewer shoppers go to downtown Portland anymore. Camping homeless, aggressive panhandlers with their big dogs and impossible parking are the primary causes. Thanks, Lefty Portland government.

In somewhat related news, because of Donald Trump's presidential win, two Portlanders have submitted a petition for a 2018 ballot initiative to have Oregon secede from the United States. On Thursday morning, Jennifer Rollins, a lawyer, and Christian Trejbal, a writer, filed the Oregon Secession Act.

"Oregonian values are no longer the values held by the rest of the United States," Trejbal said over the phone Thursday. Those values? "Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness," Trejbal said, "Plus equality." All viewed though a unicorn-emblazoned, utopian liberal kaleidoscope. (posted 11/15/16, permalink)

---

Why We Don't Go To Downtown Portland Anymore: Once upon a time we were regulars at downtown events: Broadway in Portland series, concerts at the Schnitz, dinners at downtown's many upscale restaurants. No more. And, we're not alone.

"I am a third generation native and have spent many of my professional years as an attorney working downtown (although I rarely go downtown at night). Last Saturday night, my husband and I were downtown for a wedding. We arrived a bit early to grab a drink. At Portland Prime. The wedding was at Kells.

We were both STUNNED to witness the hordes of aggressive panhandlers / street kids with too many pit bulls to count harassing tourists, making rude and inappropriate comments to us when we would not give money and at one point, blocking our car door. Not surprising, Portland Prime was virtually empty. The tourists in line at Voodoo Donuts looked scared.

Downtown Portland, once the thriving epicenter of the city, is going to hell."

Don't forget to read the comments following the article.

I avoid downtown Portland - day or night - because of ever-shrinking parking opportunities (thank you, MAX Mass-transit Overlords; thank you, People's Republik of Portland Politburo), an excess of disgusting bums and street creeps, insufficient police presence, as well as bicycle terrorists who obey no rules of any sort.

Such an unpleasant atmosphere has inspired us to take our trade elsewhere. (posted 10/17/12, permalink)

---

A Streetcar Named Disaster: Last week, while chomping down a delicious pizza steak at Philly Bilmos, I was reading an article in Willamette Week about the soon-to-be running Eastside Portland streetcar. What a colossal, predestined failure. The line will lose money - big money - right from the get-go and is already planning to offer abysmal service.

"The streetcar - a mode of transportation already notorious in the Pearl District and Southwest Portland for its sluggish pace and long waits between cars - will run even less frequently on all its routes when the Eastside line opens next month."

Eric Fruits, an adjunct professor in the urban studies department at Portland State University and a longtime critic of streetcar transit, has produced data to show that taking the streetcar is not as fast as walking. "It takes 32 minutes to get from OMSI to Powell’s Books by foot," he said. "It's a virtual tie. But if you're waiting (at a carstop) an average of 8? minutes, the streetcar loses the race. You can get there faster by walking."

On my last visit to Portland's Westside, I had a chance to see ... (more >>>)

---

A Bridge Too Far ... width-wise, that is. The Sellwood Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in south Portland. Built in 1925, it was the first fixed-span bridge on Oregon's lower Willamette River. The steel and concrete structure is 1,092 feet long and about 28 feet wide.

The bridge has those kinda-charming cast concrete railings seen on many period bridges throughout the U.S. I've modeled such railings on my O-gauge model train layout.

The view south from the bridge is very nice, almost rural. Looking north at night, you can see the lights of downtown Portland. The sidewalks on each side are functional but narrow by today's accomodating-the-morbidly-obese standards. In the 1920s, most XXXXL people were found in freak show tents at carnivals.

Few people walk over the bridge; it's not downtown and there's almost no place worth walking to these days.

Randall O'Toole has written that "the region is planning an expensive replacement bridge that is twice as wide as the existing one but will have no more lanes of traffic. Instead, the additional width is supposed to be for bicycles and pedestrians. The huge cost of that additional width, of course, is borne mainly by people who get around by automobile."

Welcome to Portland - the city that caters to fatties, bicycle terrorists and every other variance from the norm - at your expense. (posted 8/22/12, permalink)

---

The Truth About Portland: An earnest former resident has carefully explained why he left Paradise.

Excerpt: "The neighbors have turned out to be mostly shrill, judgmental, and dismissive - they are reflexively political on every issue. In Portland, taxpayers and homeowners are held in contempt - even by taxpayers and homeowners. I never understood that.

Plastic bag bans. Mandatory ethanol in the gas (terrible for my mileage, causing me to burn more). Cigarette butts in my grass. Solicitors nagging me all the time (the sign is useless). Normal city life? Sure. The shiny happy Portland image? Heck no.

The Portland and Multnomah governments are an embarrassment. The thought of them representing me is a joke. I give up. We're buying in a smaller community, in another county. Feel free to conduct your social experiment without us."

He continues to work downtown but hopes to change that soon. "For now I still work in the city, but my goal is to remedy that as well. I used to love just being downtown, but no longer. I enjoyed walking through downtown, PSU, Riverplace and using MAX to visit the Zoo area. It just seemed safer.

Now I wouldn't ride MAX at all, and it's neither safe nor enjoyable to walk many places in downtown during the nice months. People have been assaulted in the secured office building where I worked. Folks will move in if you don't constantly patrol."

The various MAX mass transit lines are a disgrace, full of bums and miscreants who ride them to keep warm in the winter or cool in the summer. And pick your pocket. Or scope out possible mugging victims. The tramps on the main MAX line used to hack and cough so badly that I nicknamed it the line The Tuberculosis Trolley. I stopped riding MAX years ago but still read the crime reports.

The earnest former resident adds, "Lasting image: A smug junkie taking a big dump in the rose bushes in the Park Blocks, right in front of the Art Museum. This was mid-day in summer - tourists, grandparents, children everywhere. The police can't do a thing about it." Or won't do anything about it.

He concludes, "Drifters also use the Eastside Esplanade as their bathroom. Another place I used to go frequently, but never go anymore. Occupiers can move in and crap wherever, but if I step off the curb a second early, it would be a big fine - because I can pay."

Amen, brother. Get out while you can. (posted 7/11/12, permalink)

---

The War On Town Cars: The People's Republik of Portland has continued its war on non-bicycle livery services by forcing limousine and sedan services to charge a $50 minimum for rides to and from the airport and at least 35% more than taxis for trips to any other destination. And these transportation companies cannot pick up customers until at least an hour after the customer calls for a ride.

Last year, two Portland sedan services, TownCar.com and Fiesta Limousine, had the nerve to offer 'Groupons' for service. The city of Portland responded by throwing down six-figure fines on both companies, which then had to nullify the Groupons or go bankrupt as a consequence.

Whenever we fly out of Portland, we use Pacific Executive Town Car Service because we don't want our cars parked at the airport and, at current rates, the cost of riding in a Town Car L is not much more than parking at the airport.

Don't even think about taking a taxi in Portland. Many are cramped (you may end up riding in a Prius or Scion) and we've had too many Russian drivers who barely speak English, can't find anything and drive like morons. (posted 5/28/12, permalink)

---

Life In Portland 2012:

(posted 4/23/12, permalink)

---

Only In Portland: Casa Diablo is described as a 'Vegan Strip Club', yet they offer a coupon for a burger and fries combo for lunch.

And the dancer in the Willamette Week ad seems to be wearing thigh-length leather boots. Go figure. (posted 7/6/11, permalink)

---

Misplaced Adjective: Jack Bojack has written, "A Portland City Hall glossary alert: They're no longer bicyclists, they're 'vulnerable road users'."

Portland's whack job mayor, Sam Adams, "wants to make progress on the 2030 Portland Bicycle Plan, which promises to build nearly 700 miles of new bikeways as part of a bigger plan to reduce greenhouse gases. He wants to get it done now, before the city needs to shift $8 million a year into construction of a new Sellwood Bridge."

"This is intended to save lives and reduce injuries among the city's growing number of vulnerable road users," Adams told the Oregonian.

With all the cracks, potholes and failing bridge infrastructure in Portland, it's the roads that are 'vulnerable'. (posted 5-27-11, permalink)

---

Another Reason To Stay Out Of Portland: The Portland City Council has adopted a policy that discourages the use of personal scented products in the city workplace.

Portland, OR employees must now follow rules that ask them "not to use personal scented products in the workplace" if their intent is to emit certain fragrances, such as perfumes and colognes. The rules offer protections to "employees who are sensitive to fragrances."

'Portland: It's different here.'

Yeah, it reeks of BO. (posted 2-28-11, permalink)

---

The Rest Of The Story: A close terror call in Portland, Oregon was thwarted when the FBI prevented a Somali jihadist from blowing up a crowd at a 'holiday tree lighting' celebration.

Five years ago, Portland became the first city in the nation to withdraw from the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Then-Mayor Tom Potter and the city council voted to withdraw its two police officers from the federal task force. Potter cited "the potential for trespasses against civil liberties and an inability to oversee Portland officers who would be deputized as federal agents." Plus, it was another slap at George Bush, who is reviled in Portland. The Bushes privately refer to the city as 'Little Beirut'.

This time, the FBI kept city officials out of the loop. Blissfully-uninformed City Commissioner Nick Fish took his wife and children to the tree-lighting ceremony.

A few blocks away, Susan Gage - managing editor of The Oregonian, quickly scrubbed its website of comments of "religious intolerance and personal attacks" regarding the Islamic terrorist incident. Of course, previous personal attacks on George Bush and Sarah Palin as well as intolerant barbs posted by the area's mouthy atheist and secular humanist community about non-Muslim religions remained posted in mint, original condition throughout the site.

Portland's political correctness almost got 12,000 people killed. Thankfully, the FBI was on the job. (posted 11-29-10, permalink)

---

Moving Toys: As regular readers know, I have a fondness for toys. I still have some of my old childhood dimestore cars and trucks. Even now, I'm still on the lookout for neat additions to my model vehicle collection.