A little after 8 pm, with the sun setting through the windows of SE bar Acme, Chris Smith sat hunched over his laptop with a Hefeweizen. As the co-chair of the anti-strong mayor campaign, he had ample reason to celebrate—Measure 26-91, which would have ditched Portland’s longstanding form of government in place of a centralized […]
Scott Moore
Posted inMovies & TV
We Eat Our Own
American Cannibal vs. Reality
There are more scholarly ways to put this, but since space is short and I don’t want to bore you with Social Theory 101 lessons, I’ll put it simply: Reality television represents everything that is wrong with American culture. And not only that, but we’re completely addicted—America wants nothing but reality TV. This is the […]
Posted inNews
How You Should Vote
Thinking for Yourself Is Overrated. Let the Mercury Editorial Board Make Difficult Decisions for You!
Any day now, you’ll be getting a ballot in the mail. Surprise! It’s an off-year springtime election, and there’s an awfully good chance you haven’t been paying as much attention to the issues as you usually do. And the issues on this oddly timed ballot are doozies—one measure could completely rearrange our entire form of […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Exporting Idiocy
Delta Farce: Not Screened for Critics!
In his doomed 2006 film Idiocracy, director Mike Judge painted a terrifying portrait of America 500 years into the future, where reverse Darwinism has led to the dumbing down of society: The president is a moron. Sports drinks have replaced water. Everybody speaks in a dialect that is part-hillbilly/part-fake gangsta, and popular entertainment is dominated […]
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor
Two-wheeled Vengeance
Know how great it feels when you grab a coat or a pair of pants you haven’t worn in a while, and you find a forgotten $20 bill in one of the pockets? It’s like the universe has given you a gift, and since you weren’t expecting it, you can blow it on something fun—instead […]
Posted inNews
Buzz Kill
Parks Department Shuts Down Pot Fest
Organizers for this year’s installment of Hempstalk say they’ve got Tommy Chong and marijuana activist John Trudell lined up, plus a slew of musical acts to entertain the growing crowd. The one thing they don’t have: a permit from the city. In mid-April, the city’s Parks Department sent The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF)—a medical […]
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Hall Monitor
The Digital Divide
These days, I can’t carelessly swing a ball-peen hammer without injuring some bespectacled moppet spouting off about the importance of the “netroots” and the emerging power of “digital politics.” At least, I think that’s what they’re saying—it’s hard to hear a coherent thought through the flood of “LOL” and “OMG” (and let’s not forget the […]
Posted inNews
Squeaky Wheels
Cyclists Rail Against Mayor’s Budget
A little matter of $100,000 has set the Portland bike community against Mayor Tom Potter, who released his proposed budget for the coming year early last week. In the budget, Potter slashed funding for two bike-related programs—the Platinum Bicycle Master Plan and a separate plan for bike safety. The Master Plan, which outlines policies, safety […]
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor
The Price of Access
Last week, as part of his campaign to change the city’s form of government, Mayor Tom Potter called Portland the city that works “for insiders.” The implication: Regular citizens don’t know how to access city commissioners, while powerful special interests know exactly how to work the system. Waddaya know? Turns out he’s right. The day […]
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Hall Monitor
For The Children
After much debate, Portland’s Drug- and Prostitution-Free Zones (DFZs) got a six-month reprieve last week—the extension was needed because someone forgot to glance at the calendar and notice they expired last weekend. Whoops! Since it was an “emergency” vote, it needed unanimous support in order to go into effect immediately. That put Commissioner Erik Sten […]
Posted inNews
The Power of Gray
Healthcare Reform Movement Splinters
Considering that a growing number of Oregonians are forced to go without health insurance (at last count, 602,000 between the ages of 18 and 64), the time appears to be ripe for something approaching universal healthcare. But a rift is growing between two separate pro-healthcare reform camps—and standing in the middle is the AARP. In […]
Posted inNews
Up Shit Creek
But the Senate May Have a Paddle
It’s Portland’s dirty little secret, but one that shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone who’s spent any time on the Eastbank Esplanade: The Willamette River is a filthy, environmental disaster. Next week, a state senate committee could move forward with a plan to clean it up—or objections from polluters could bog it down. […]