On a show, there's a certain scene where a person is being portrayed playing a guitar for tips with a cup hanging from their guitar and walking through a crowded train. All the passengers are shunning, cringing, eye rolling, and mocking. This portrayal was perplexing and a little disgusting. Is this what society thinks of a busker? This is someone who actually has a creative talent and is putting themselves out there in a very judgemental world. They may not have needed the money either. This person was actually taking action to produce opportunities. Playing an instrument with their own talent, that they took the time to learn. I admire that. Now for sure, I'm not into anyone doing anything for the sake of seeking attention which the majority of the population is needy that way. Everything is better now these days with AI, and computer generated art though! Sarcasm is a school for derelicts. Who needs actual troubadours, gypsies, artists, and folksters anymore! And what's with people listening to music through their phone without headphones? On a max? On the bus? At work? They can't be hearing and focusing on anything and less so without headphones. Also, no one wants to hear that shit!!!

Here's what most of you don't want to hear. The Obama Presidency was a failed presidency. Banks got bailed out and millions lost their homes. Two foreign wars raged on sending young men home, injured, dead, or damaged. An opium epidemic ran unnoticed and unchecked through the middle of the country. We got a dirty bandage slapped on our failing health care system. And at the end of it all nearly half of American households couldn't deal with a $400 emergency. President Obama is a good man, but he didn't have the political chops or interest in developing them to create real progress, it was all brilliant rhetoric. There is real embedded racism in this country, but that's not the reason we have the presidency we have now, we have what we have now because George W Bush was a fiasco, and Obama a crushing disappointment. There is no getting out of where we are without acknowledging these failures, and coming up with real solutions. Please focus at least half of your attention on those solutions. Love and Peace

One way or another, I was still one of the best students you ever had and you were one of my worst teachers. I worked hard and became really good because I put the effort in. I over looked the fact that you were an asshole so I could get what I wanted. I made my own mistakes outside of your club and I kept working. My life is harder than yours. You can’t do what I’m doing. You prove you can’t when you step away from me.

Gotta say it was probably the most boring and least shocking thing I've seen on the internet this week Was surprised by Alicia Keys (which I enjoyed) and Deepak Chopra (which I also enjoyed). There was an enjoyable video of a cat lounging on a computer. The rest was so heavily edited and blacked out that they might have as well not been released. Even videos that weren't blackened out were obviously cut short to like 2 or 3 second clips. At the end you see Maxwell being questioned for like a minute or two. Oh yeah, there was definitely some nice properties filmed. That's about it for now. I'm thoroughly tired of this dude at this point. I'm going to bed.

With all the suspicion and mystery around Sen. Wyden’s letter to the CIA, there isn’t much to say. The letter is classified. For all the implications and criticisms of that fact, it is the reality. For now, and maybe for a long time, the public won’t know what it contains. It could be about Bigfoot. It could be about aliens. It could be about long-term campaigns of manipulation and malign influence waged against our community by local and foreign corrupt actors. Or maybe it is a special popcorn recipe. Or perhaps it discusses the extent of infiltration and influence foreign and corrupt actors have objectively achieved in Oregon and elsewhere. How they targeted young activists in college, collaborated with key political consultants, and influenced political dynamics here. Maybe it builds on already public reporting, like how foreign actors targeted extremists across the political spectrum, from groups like the Proud Boys to the Uhuru movement, as well as intense resources focusing on law enforcement community members and issues. Maybe it looks at influence in the business community, or attacks on researchers and journalists. Maybe it outlines overt strategies engaged to counter networks of corrupt and foreign influence. Maybe it mentions a council person being dosed at an event, and others subjected to similar dynamics. We don’t know what the Senator included. All we can do is look at what is public. Reports, court cases, Wheeler's letter to the FBI. And try to connect the dots. Was the CIA, or others, running ops to incite actions in Portland. Who caught them. How. What happened next. Did other intelligence organizations have moles in the city government? Was the government running a sting on itself? Were there other governments involved? Were there any local advocacy lawyers involved? How do we talk about this?

There's a moment I still keep with me. It's fragile and delicate. It's close to twenty years old now and still doesn't drive, but that's perfectly fine with me. I don't know how much of the moment is a memory or how much has been filled in and switched out over the years. For example, I can still feel the shingles under our hands and the warmth upon them radiating into us from where we sat. I remember trying to lean in to each other to take a picture of the sun for some reason. We didn't say much. We didn't know how to say it. We still don't. We've tried. At times I get frustrated that the moment wasn't anything more, like if we said or did something different, a whole different collection of decades would have occurred. That's probably true too. Still, I'm incredibly thankful for all and everything that was in that moment. Those are the times I try to hold on to. I've been thinking about wishes lately, and I'm getting stumped. I don't know what I would wish for right now. For so much, and for so little. Moments come and go. I've been holding on to what could have been for too long. I think its had its time. It was never really my moment anyway. None of us are who we were any more. Take that one to whatever depth you're comfortable with. We don't know each other any more. I love you. I love everything that was and how it happened. I love the decades that collected between that moment and now. I'm sorry for my part in the pain and confusion and heartbreak. Thank you for everything, honest. This is no declaration, I just thought I'd let you know, goodbye.

I don’t know who you are, or whether you’re a man or a woman. I may never see you. I may never hug you or cry with you or get drunk with you. But I love you. I hope you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better, and that one day people have roses again. I wish I could kiss you.

I can’t work up the courage to talk to any of my friends when I’m having mental health issues. It hits the worst for me usually at 4-5 am, and I never want to wake anyone up when I’m having panic attacks that late due to my intrusive thoughts, even though being around people helps. I’m in a safe place and have a therapist/medication, but it feels like I’m not getting better every time I find myself back in this situation. I know that’s not true. It just sucks.

Why is it that when I get on a bus on a hot day all the windows are closed and the AC is off? The Sun is beating down on me and I am sweltering. No one else seems to care. Conversely, whenever it's cold and wet outside, half the windows are open, the heat is off, and I'm freezing. No one else seems to mind. Did you know that you can get hypothermia in eighty degree weather if you're wet and the wind is incessantly blowing on you? It's more than just uncomfortable being cold on the bus, it's a health concern. Can we please try for more comfortable temperatures?

I can't believe I've been reading these for years and never clicked through to post. I guess that sums up so much of my life. The 90s support for gay rights because who you love as a consenting adult shouldn't matter to 20s out nonbinary queer pipeline. Interest in EFF because cyber philosophy to Thanks I Really Don't Want Government In My DMs. Going to the Red Cap as a bi woman and finally feeling safe on the dance floor getting down with men to weekly t shots. All we are is all we are. All we are is all we are.

Welcome to the sum times. Some people look away while others add things up. Some are waiting for someone else to do it for them, hoping the numbers will work themselves out. But no. The sum is yours to calculate. We can help each other, that’s how it all holds together,but at the end of the day, there's another day dawning and the math is on you. Two plus two equals four. No ifs, no maybes. It’s the law of the freaking universe. Some want us to forget that. They want us to believe that reality is up for grabs, that the numbers can bend to whatever story they tell. But we know better. We know better. We know better. Because once you start letting the numbers slide, you’re giving up the whole equation. two plus two equals accountability. two plus two equals truth. Count the lights, count the cost, count the truth, add it up or fall for anything. Two plus two equals four, and it’s time we start taking the sum back. Stand up for the basic math, the simple truths, and never let them tell you anything else. This is how we hold the line, one answer, one sum, one stand at a time, one love.

To whom it may concern, I’m a mom of a set of twin kids they are about 4.5 yrs old they are pretty independent kids but still need mom and dads help for somethings. I told dad twin A needs this, dad said ok. And let it be. I got up and tended to twins A minor needs but told dad this is why I get mad. All things pertaining to the kids fall on me. In dads eyes things I tell him need to be done immediately and he called himself shrek. I walked away and said I didn’t call you names I just stated why I get mad and walked away. Now shrek is asleep and the lil minions are up. And that’s why I get mad all things pertaining to kids are left to me. providing and driving are left to shrek. Being this vague is not helpful but I feel like he provides and I care for kids.

I've lost all faith in your ability to rise to the occasion. I don't see leaders, I see complacent followers doing their job. I don't care about ICE's legality of their actions. I don't care about fining ICE. I've started many drafts about my disappointment in our elects to protect citizens. Many deleted lines attempting to argue fine details of ICE's actions and the failures of our politicians rising to the task. Researching perceived failings of those elected and relating them to my perceived failing of addressing the ICE crisis. There's no point because these two must coexist. These elects and ICE are part of the same system. The existence of ICE is predicated on the existence of our mllquetoast politcos. If there was an actual counter-party or opposition leadership, that might have been able to prevent ICE from getting this far. Or existing at all. The same reason we have ICE is the same reason we have this healthcare system, as many people living homeless, as many people in prison, and why our environment/climate is being destroyed wholesale. Working from within the system to subvert or create meaningful change against that system will never work. While I am disappointed in our elected's ability to rise to the occasion, I am hopeful a new system of organizing is coming. That those in positions of power currently will rise to help this new system where they can. However, it appears our elected are doing nothing. History has shown they will act in self-preservation and blind fealty to a piece of paper written 2800 miles away 250 years ago. Those in power today will continue to uphold this system of capital and cruelty. It's up to us to imagine and build a better tomorrow, today.

Maybe it wouldn't have made much difference, but often when I take TriMet somewhere, people remark something to the effect of, "Oh, I didn't know there were buses along there". Examples: direct lines from Lake Oswego to Tualatin (37), Oregon City to Tualatin / Tigard etc (76), a route along Forest Park from Downtown to Sauvie Island (16), and most essentially, an express line from Downtown to Tualatin (96), among others. Never have I seen a billboard, sign, or flyer, saying "now offering service to ____". I also rarely see businesses or parks saying you can take such and such bus to get here (although some do). This is just one thing I think about this low ridership and funding situation.