My ceramic
hip works. Armed men forcibly subdued hundreds of acres of sagebrush. Portland’s Mayor
converted liberals into reactionaries with squatter ghettos and public policy that
handcuffs police.
There was
the crippled Christmas – Ken and I unable to walk.
Early
January, I checked the news and learned native born Christian citizens (not Muslim Mexicans) took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge while the caretakers and scientists were on holiday. Serious revolutionaries take over military bases or police stations to add to their munitions. These guys? They just want to establish a right to take public resources
for free. (Some of their cohorts wanted gunplay
– and Lavoy Finicum achieved suicide by cop.)
Portland Rally for Malheur NWR |
Bundys
picked the wrong political entity from which to take public resources without
paying. They should have come to Portland, where the Government allows people to camp for free and enables people to commit suicide by
heroin.
WARNING: POLITICAL RANT FOLLOWS.
Shawn Reap,
a smart kid who got into drugs and moved to Portland, died a couple weeks ago. Shawn “chose Oregon specifically,” said his dad, “because he wanted a free ride.” Tate A., a
smart, piano-playing kid from a small town in Washington, acquired heroin in
Chinatown and died at age 18.
Soon will
arrive fair-weather “travellers,” who prefer to beg, sleep, buy drugs, sell and
use where authorities do not roust them.
Portland’s welcome mat is out with free camping and “legal” heroin. Addicts steal and confront shoppers for
money. Then, they return to 21st
century opium dens, which block sidewalks with tents, trash, stolen shopping
carts, bicycle parts and menacing stares.
Walking the Dogs |
Church
groups: keep providing free tents on Sunday afternoons. Prosecutors: continue to handcuff police and
decriminalize heroin possession and use.
Mayor Hales and Houselessness Czar Mr. Alpert: go ahead, please create
“20-25” (2/8/2016) squatter ghettos, and do NOT enforce your new “rules”
against tents on sidewalks. Parks
Bureau: disapprove neighborhood requests to schedule parks for community
events. The rest of us, everybody:
please dig deep into your pockets whenever young girls and boys ask for spare
change or older men hang by the exit ramps.
The above
conduct is killing people and making homeowners, renters, and business managers
scream about needles, theft, assault and battery. How long will non-heroin tourists, couples
and families stroll along scary and filthy streets for nice dinners or cutesy
shopping? Businesses have failed and
more will.
“Officer,
people saw heroin deals happening and men dismantling bikes. What level of criminality will get you to
act?”
“Sorry,”
answers the Officer. Then she or he
bemoans the lack of actionable direction from above -- not too few officers --
no clear orders.
"Houseless" advocates say it's a public health and economic issue, not a crime issue. Regardless of the reasons, it has became a choice between neighborhood safety and improvement vs.
neighborhood decay. Putrefaction has
wounded severely the once-vibrant Chinese community in Chinatown. The putrefaction experiment failed, and we
should not replicate it with official and unofficial squatter squalor and
criminal sanctuaries all around town.
END OF RANT.
Eastbank Esplanade March 17, 2016 |
Now that I
can walk again, I love walking.
Thursday, I walked from The Pearl through town, across the Hawthorne
Bridge to meet someone for lunch on Water Ave. Then, I returned along the
Eastbank Esplanade on a Spring-like day, marveling at some of the beauty in
this large town, small city.
Today, A’
and I walked a similar route, then we drove down to visit our friends’ wine
club open house at Lady Hill Winery.
Other work of Winter included condo management and mediations.
Other highlights of Winter include family time and friend time.
Let Spring begin.
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