Where the Mercury fits in the Global Media Pecking Order… Holy shit–this Democratic Convention thing is really starting to spin. Let’s start with last night and run quickly through the hurricane. Ted Kennedy’s pseudo-surprise appearance was somewhat emotional, seeing as how his crackling voice was barely strong enough at times to keep up. Michelle Obama’s […]
Politics
Posted inPolitics
From The Democratic Convention
Oh Good God. Here we are, in Denver. Passed the perimeter and through all of the security checkpoints–it’s sort of like the airport TSA’s, only with bigger dudes and more guns. And so I found my perch inside the Pepsi Center for this Democratic Convention. It’s up in the 300 level, but I’m not complaining. […]
Posted inPolitics
Obama Bumper Sticker Reveals VP?
Matt Drudge is running all the way with reports that a Kansas city company is printing Obama/Bayh bumper stickers: Bayh’s from Indiana. So much for my goddamn text message.
Posted inMedia
Liveblogging The O’s Collapse…S. Renee Mitchell: “We’re Luckier Here Than at a Lot of Other Newspapers…”
I’ve been outside the Oregonian for the past hour, trying to get a sense of people’s reactions to this morning’s news of at least 100 buyouts for the staff. There have, admittedly, been one or two “creative” responses to my questions, but for the large part, people have been very forthcoming. And polite. Columnist S. […]
Posted inMedia
Homeless Clean Up After Each Other
Homeless advocate Larry Bishop said he was tired of reading about homeless people being “dirty” in the comments on blogs all over Portland, and decided to get down to the East End of the Hawthorne Bridge with a clean up crew this afternoon. I stopped by at 2pm, to find Bishop, along with 3 others, […]
Posted inMedia
Business Journal Runs Sit/Lie Poll
Which is interesting. Because shockingly, 60% of their readers are in favor of renewing the controversial law in October. Of course, they could easily acquire some new readers. Like you. With voting intentions. Just thinking out loud here.
Posted inPolitics
Auditor Gary Blackmer Pulls Charter Amendment Proposal
I was fully prepared this morning to write what was clearly going to be the most boring Hall Monitor column EVER. (More boring, even, than anything that Scott Moore ever wrote. Kidding! Miss ya, Scott.) I mean, check this out: I was going to write about Auditor Gary Blackmer’s move to enshrine the city ombudsman’s […]
Posted inPortland
Milepost 5 By The Numbers
People. If there’s a guaranteed way to get my attention, it’s to quote something I said, and write about how right it was. Not only that, but also, DO THE RESEARCH TO PROVE IT. Yesterday, one of my favorite bloggers over at Portland Gentrification did just that, referencing something vague and half-assed I shot off […]
Posted inDrunk
Brewhaha! Barack, Bingo, and Beer
Mark your calendar–on Thursday night, August 28, the Mercury and the Bus Project are hosting a very special Brewhaha to watch Sen. Barack Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination. Bonus: We’ll be playing bingo during the speech. For prizes. This event is going to be so cool, it’s even listed on Obama’s very own website! […]
Posted inBooks
Reading Tonight: Thomas Frank at Powell’s
There’s a great reading tonight at Powell’s, with Thomas Frank, author of The Wrecking Crew, his book about conservatives in Washington, D.C. who have misgoverned to the point where the federal government is nearly in ruins (hello, privatizing and outsourcing to contractors!). I had a great interview with Frank last week, and we talked about […]
Posted inHomo
Take That, Homophobes!
This morning, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the anti-gay activists who’ve been whining that the state unfairly tossed out signatures from their initiative petition, which–had they collected enough valid signatures–would have put the new domestic partnership law on hold until the voters had a chance to weigh in this November. The court […]