YEP, âOSTRACIZEDâ SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT
RE: âTwo Prominent Members of the Oregon Cannabis Community May Have Ties to White Power Groupsâ [Blogtown, Dec 6], Josh Jardineâs post about how Bethany Sherman and Matthew L. Combs of OG Analytical were revealed to be members of a hate group. In a statement, Sherman whined that âif you have âwhite prideâ it automatically makes you a Nazi, and you are ostracized, attacked, and lynched by your community.â Jardine wrote, âMaybe donât use the language âlynched by your communityâ when defending your white supremacy.â
If you are white and believe you are a victim of discrimination, then you actually have a much simpler problem: Youâre likely just an asshole.
Bobby Turkualino
HOUSING SHAKE-UP
RE: âIn Shake-Up, Ted Wheeler Announces the Departure of Directors of Housing, Diversityâ [Blogtown, Dec 7], News Editor Dirk VanderHartâs story about how Mayor Ted Wheelerâs office announced the departure of Housing Director Kurt Creager. Creagerâs departure appears to be forced.
This is outrageous. Creager was brought in to jumpstart the cityâs belated response to the housing crisis. Thatâs exactly what he did. Clearly, Ted Wheeler doesnât give a crap about housing low-income Portlanders.
Euphonius
MAD RESPECT FOR BILLY JOEL
RE: âBilly Joel Is Rockâs Tragic Antagonistâ [Music, Dec 6]. âBilly Joel is one of the most successful and accomplished songwriters of all time. Heâs also unanimously loathed by pop critics,â wrote Morgan Troper, who argued Joel is âdisdained reflexively and unfairly, thanks to decades of subliminal rockist propaganda.â
Billy Joel is about as ârockâ as Liberace.
musicismyreligion
Keep in mind that Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen have mad respect for Billy Joel. And his album The Stranger is considered a masterpiece among the SĹtĹ Zen set. His music stands the test of time, and you really had to be there to appreciate why itâs great.
crowsarecool
ENTITLED ASSES
RE: âGood Morning, Newsâ [Blogtown, Dec 11], in which Editor-in-Chief Wm. Steven Humphrey wrote that Portlandâs Tim Boyleâthe CEO of Columbia Sportswearâis threatening to move the company unless Mayor Ted Wheeler does something about the homeless problem. âNote to Tim,â wrote Humphrey. âMaybe instead of using your money to buy off politicians, you could get off your entitled ass to actually do something yourself about the homeless problem? Portland isnât on this earth for the sole purpose of making you money, dum-dum. To everyone else: STOP BUYING COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR.â
Speak for yourself, Steven Humphrey. I couldnât disagree more. Speaking of entitled asses, I know the Mercury is in Southwest, not far from homeless ground zero, but are you penning these opinion pieces from the office or the confines of your suave overpriced apartment away from the crime and tweaked-out street walkers? [HAAAAAA-HAAAAAA-HAAAAAA!!! Oops... sorry to interrupt. âSteve] Tim Boyle is putting media attention on a problem business leaders have been talking about for years. As a tenant in Northwest Portland, I couldnât be happierâbut of course, just like the rest of the news outlets in this city, the Mercury doesnât cover the vast multitude of rape and sexual harassment, car break-ins, robbery, violent attacks, and filth that exists in Northwest and Southwest Portland. How do you answer for that, Mr. Editor-in-Chief? Instead of putting a business leader on blast for trying to affect change, how about you arrange a meeting with the Portland Business Alliance and find out how downtown businesses are feeling/coping, and then report that in the paper you edit?
Anonymous
This weekâs letter of the weekâand two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theaterâgoes to Bobby Turkualino. Enjoy the movie, Bobby! Also, thank you for not getting into a fight about Billy Joel. Also, thank you even more for not attempting to defend the classist CEO of a company that had $2.38 billion in sales in 2016âyet whoâs terrified that someone sitting on a public sidewalk is going to destroy his business.