The ’80s AIDS activists of How to Survive a Plague continue to inspire.
Sarah Shay Mirk
Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.
Posted inNews
Sexual Politics
The Sexism Tax
Oregon government’s been trying to close the wage gap for 57 years—but women are still shortchanged.
Posted inBikes
Judge Declares Operating a “Disco Trike” is Free Speech
During an Occupy protest on a rainy night last winter, Portland Police arrested Portlander Dan Kaufman and impounded his sparkly gold “disco trike,” charging him with “unlawful operation of a sound-producing equipment” as he blasted music during the protest. Today, a judge declared that the charges against Kaufman are worthless. Operating a disco trike at […]
Posted inNews
Can We Agree that Airlines Aren’t “Locavores”?
I like Alaska Airlines but, come on. An airline cannot be a “locavore.” Burning jet fuel to run flights across the country has nothing to do with lowering your carbon footprint by eating locally.
Posted inLGBTQIA+
State Says Portland’s P Club Definitely Discriminated Against Transgender Customers
The Bureau of Labor and Industries announced today (pdf) that an investigation of North Portland’s P-Club found that owner Christopher Penner “actively attempted to exclude individuals from the establishment based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.” The case against the P Club (now known as the Twilight Room Annex) arose after Penner left a […]
Posted inTransportation
Transit Tracker is Broken.
The software that runs TriMet’s TransitTracker app—allowing riders to get realtime information on when trains will actually arrive—will likely be down for two to three weeks thanks to some asshole who crashed their car into Transit Tracker’s nerve center. Or, as TriMet says it: A single-automobile crash at the Rose Quarter Transit Center on Thursday, […]
Posted inReligion
Hallelujah! We’re Less Religious than Ever!
I mentioned the new Pew Center report on religion in Good Morning News, but it’s so exciting that I want to post about it again. The report, titled Nones on the Rise (not to be confused with forthcoming Whoopi Goldberg-Vin Diesel action flick set in a convent, Nuns on the Rise) charts the decline of […]
Posted inSexual Politics
Portland’s Crisis Pregnancy Centers are Targeting Hipsters
Crisis pregnancy centers are nonprofit, church-run outposts that provide free advice and support to women who think they might be pregnant. But unlike Planned Parenthood, they don’t refer for abortions and they often distribute misleading information. Portland has a bunch of crisis pregnancy centers, like pretty much every American city. But check out the photos […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
Less-Christian Nation: Nearly 20 percent of American now identify as religiously unaffiliated, agnostic, or atheist. That’s up from just eight percent in 1990. Everything is Terrible. A 14-year-old Afghani girl was a activist for education rights in her region, until the Taliban shot her in the head. Sandusky’s Going to Prison For a Very Long […]
Posted inHorrors
Reasons Columbus Day is the Worst Holiday of the Year
1. I always forget about it and the post office is closed. 2. Genocide. When can we stop commemorating this asshole?
Posted inSexual Politics
If You’re Anti-Abortion, You Should be Pro-Birth Control
We’ve been through this before. But one more time: The best way to reduce the number of abortions in America is to provide ladies free birth control. A new study tracked 9,000 women in St. Louis who were offered their choice of free birth control. Surprise! With free access to birth control, women had way […]
Posted inElection 2012
Snoop Dogg’s Reasons for Supporting Obama
I always vote for the politician with the most hos.