AMERICA’S PREMIER BUFFET RESTAURANT
Via voicemail.
Hello. I’m trying to find out if Hometown Buffet advertises in the Mercury, and if you could give me some access to the advertising and any coupons they might have for the upcoming holidays. If you could just give me a little idea? I heard that Hometown uses you for advertising. It’s about 2:30 on Monday. Bye.
Anonymous
UH, IT’S LITERALLY TREASON
RE: The Mercury’s event listing for Van Jones’ upcoming Portland appearance. Calendar Editor Bobby Roberts wrote that Jones is “the CNN host and author of Beyond the Messy Truth, focused on ‘the hypocrisy on both ends of the political spectrum,’ which is a pretty interesting tack to take in 2018 when one of those two ends is literally committing fucking treason on a daily basis and the other is surrounding the ICE building to protest the forced separation of immigrant families seeking refuge. But who knows, maybe Mr. Jones can provide an interesting spin on that whole ‘both sides’ bullshit.”
Two local nonprofit organizations are working together to bring Van Jones to Portland. He is a renowned author and CNN contributor with an important message to share. His book addresses the polarity and hypocrisy which grip our nation and make it nearly impossible to solve urgent problems.
It seems ironic that your events editor, by accusing one end of the political spectrum of treason, would give us such a clear example of the problem. JFK pointed out that we all inhabit the same planet, we all breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s futures. Name-calling and demonizing everyone you disagree with is not helpful.
We sincerely hope people will attend the Van Jones Visiting SAGE event and take his message to heart. Future generations depend on it.
S. Ward Greene, President of Senior Advocates for Generational Equality (SAGE)
SCOOTERS: NOT JUST FOR TECH DWEEBS
RE: “How Will E-Scooters Benefit Low-Income Communities” (Blogtown, Aug 9). “Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) permitting process for e-scooters came with an equity-focused requirement: all companies must place a certain number of scooters east of 82nd Ave, in far Northeast Portland, and in the Cully neighborhood,” wrote News Editor Alex Zielinski. “The idea is to see if e-scooters will actually be of service to people living outside of the wealthier and whiter bubble that envelops inner Portland neighborhoods.” In addition, PBOT required the three e-scooter companies operating in Portland—Skip, Lime, and Bird—to detail how they’ll engage “low-income and historically underserved communities.” In documents obtained by the Mercury, only Skip gave concrete plans, including fee-reduction programs for those with low incomes and rewarding houseless Portlanders who return scooters to charging centers.
Riding a scooter in East Portland is a death wish.
Euphonius
Here’s my idea: We let them do business, charge them taxes, and then spend the tax money on stuff that helps low income communities! This is the same way we ensure other businesses benefit low-income communities.
MichaelAndersen
Alas, Anonymous, we can’t help you game the coupon system at Hometown Buffet—but we CAN give you the Mercury’s letter of the week and two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, a veritable all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of cinema!
