Cost of Living Index
Summary: The cost goods and services in Portland are more expensive when compared to other large cities, but nothing like California and cheaper than Seattle.
Article:
$5 wrench can beat 4096 bit RSA
True crypto-currency story time. This actually just happened here in Portland end of 2023:
According to an indictment, the four [men from Florida] flew to Portland on Nov. 8, 2023, rented an Airbnb in Vancouver and used ride-share car services to get around.
Over the next two days, they watched their target’s downtown Portland apartment and schemed how to carry out the kidnapping, the indictment alleges.
On Nov. 10, some in the group abducted the man, forced him from one car into another and drove him away from his residence while others entered the man’s apartment to try to access his cryptocurrency.
They drove the man to a field in Banks, tied him to a post with duct tape and repeatedly assaulted him before abandoning him, according to the indictment and police records.
Later that day, they ultimately used the man’s password, or so-called “seed phrase,” to transfer digital currency from his cryptocurrency wallet to another location, the indictment says. Prosecutors have not disclosed how much currency was taken.
Extortion and personal data breaches accounted for the most frequent cryptocurrency frauds reported in 2023, according to the FBI
A reminder that security is only as strong as it’s weakest link. And often, that link is you. It only took some rope and a long bout of ‘persuasion’ for this guy to lose his crypto wallet.
This also holds up for things like biometrics where you can be forced to apply a finger or put your face in front of the device. Even worse, some biometrics still work if you’re conscious or not. They could club you and put your finger on the device to unlock it. They may not even need the rest of you if you turn into too much of a hassle. You could just find yourself tied to a post missing a finger, hand, or even your head (face id).
Lists of local Summer events
Portland Park’s lists of concerts, movies, and cultural events (for 2024)
Portland Theater Events https://www.portland-theater.com/dates
Portland Night Market: https://www.pdxnm.com/
New York Times, Oregonian, and other magazines and newspapers for free
If you have a Multnomah County or other local library subscription, you can use get a New York Times group pass via your online Library card. It allows you to log into NYT’s website or via the mobile app. You’ll need to claim then renew the pass every few days, but a lot cheaper than paying for a subscription.
- Multnomah County link: https://proxy.multcolib.org/login?url=https://ezmyaccount.nytimes.com/group-pass
- Fort Vancouver Library system: https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/redeem?campaignId=8YK88&gift_code=66f640a612130f32
They also have a number of other free publications – so check them out via their website access.
- Multnomah County items: https://multcolib.org/resource/new-york-times-digital-access
- Fort Vancouver Library items: https://www.fvrl.org/resources/newspapers
If you want more unlimited access to all magazine holdings (such as The Economist, Smithsonian, Inc, Fast Company, Wallpaper, etc) by using the PressReader website or app and logging in with your library card information.
No bar exam required to practice law in Oregon
In another move that will almost certainly not have unintended consequences in an overly litigious country, starting May 2024 law students will be able to become licensed in Oregon without taking the bar exam.
The Oregon Supreme Court approved an alternative licensing program that allows candidates to spend 675 hours working under the supervision of an experienced attorney and create a portfolio of legal work that bar officials will grade as an alternative to the traditional bar exam.
The program, called the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination.
Article:
Before sending your kid to Portland Public Schools
Students are being forced to stay in classrooms with other students that have physical assaulted and threatened their lives:
A seventh grader at Beaumont Middle School in Northeast Portland described feeling terrified after a classmate held a boxcutter to her neck and threatened to slit her throat during school hours several weeks ago. Her classmate was suspended for a few weeks, but is now back at school without supervision, she told members of the Portland school board on Tuesday, adding that she’s experiencing regular panic attacks as a result. “My school is not safe, not safe while I know people in positions that can help are not helping me and probably not helping others,” she said.
PPS also had to pay $250,000 to a student seriously beaten after years of bullying – as staff just stood by and watched the beating.
More Local Oregon/Portland 2024 Lowlights
Portland and Oregon continue to struggle in 2024. While some of these numbers may be normal for bigger cities, all of these mark dramatically decreased quality of life for a city that used to have very few of these problems and only population of 600,000 people in the entire metro area.
- Port of Portland’s attempt to restart container traffic failed and Portland, ironically, loses it’s port.
- I’ve written about this before, but the illegal activates of the ILWU Teamsters Union (that resulted in a record setting fine and their bankruptcy) also destroyed shipping business to the Port of Portland. After attempting for several years to woo shippers back, the port admits the shippers will not come back and all remaining container traffic will end Oct 1, 2024. This affects many local businesses like Les Schwab, Jeld Wen, Bob’s Red Mill and Pacific Seafood.
- Portland schools continue to be some of the worst in the nation (previously written about here)
- Portland schools are ranked a ‘F’ for performance while having an ‘A’ in spending. Proving money isn’t the problem.
- Oregon schools’ pandemic recovery lags behind much of the nation
- PPS now has tripled the size of its rapid-response team when students have mental health issues that lead to physical violence in what some are calling ‘soft bigotry’ of simply calling violent students a ‘students in crisis’ and forcing them to stay in classrooms with students and teachers they have assaulted and threatened. It’s a problem that continues to grow worse – causing it to be a major problem in the teach union strike and every single PPS middle school principal writing a letter begging for help.
- PPS paid $250,000 to a student seriously beaten after years of bullying and staff just stood by and watched.
- Students are being forced to stay in classrooms with people that have physical assaulted and threatened their lives:
A seventh grader at Beaumont Middle School in Northeast Portland described feeling terrified after a classmate held a boxcutter to her neck and threatened to slit her throat during school hours several weeks ago. Her classmate was suspended for a few weeks, but is now back at school without supervision, she told members of the Portland school board on Tuesday, adding that she’s experiencing regular panic attacks as a result. “My school is not safe, not safe while I know people in positions that can help are not helping me and probably not helping others,” she said.
- Gresham High School’s 64 staff members publicly denounced the principle and district administration after 2 years of mismanagement that has created unsafe conditions for students and staff. The culprit is a principle that is largely absence and district administration that ignores documented issues. Staff said that principle “does not hold students accountable for negative behaviors, address safety concerns, maintain consistent school-wide expectations, provide clear consequences, or transparent communication” and has created an environment unsafe and detrimental to learning for students and staff.
- Portland net population continues to decline – lead by middle and high earners fleeing the state
- Burdened with the 2nd highest tax bracket in the country, middle to high income earners are fleeing Portland and Oregon for Clark County (Washington State) with over 14,000 residents moving in 2022 alone. The majority are middle-income households earning $50k-$150k a year.
- “In sum, we have undeniable evidence that a mass movement of once-cosmopolitan renters have fled Portland’s urban core for suburbs. Some cite crime and anarchy.
- Overdose deaths go down by 10% everywhere across the country – but not Oregon. Demonstrating that legalization and harm reduction has increased the problem, not made it better.
- Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) continues its mismanagement
- Despite handing out grants amounting up to $7000 per bed every month; shelters that have taken the money are now shuttering claiming they don’t have any money to pay staff. When asked if OHCS obtained any documents to evidence shelter’s claims of operational deficits before determining how much of the $24.1 million to award them, Yant said that is not something the agency had time to do.
- Portland has some of the most cost-burdened renters in the country
- 50-57.9% of renters in Portland are considered cost-burdened – needing more than 30% of their income for housing.
- Cost-burdened residents are not just the poor – but across all middle-income households. The median income required to live in Portland is $86,000/year.
- Portland, despite having no need for water treatment plants and ample hydro-electricity, has some of the highest utility rates in the country.
- 40% of renters do not have enough money after housing to cover basic expenses.
- Oregon ranks nearly last (47 out of 50 state) in mental health and care
- Despite over 20 years of complete Democratic party control, Oregon Democratic legislators repeatedly fail to invest money into it’s mental health system – instead rely on a patchwork of inadequate services that has directly resulted in the failure to care for it’s citizens.
- Funding misuse is rampant – despite pouring $400 million into a hospital renovation (only $35 million could be identified), there are now 5% fewer beds than 2005.
- Half of public transit riders do not feel safe on public transit
- Primary reason: 82% say it is other riders’ behavior. The behavior in question is pretty clear and Trimet has barely done anything. These are just the ones from 2024:
- Portland restaurant closures continue to hit hard. Especially Oregon’s breweries
- https://pdx.eater.com/22240842/portland-restaurant-bar-cafe-closings
- https://pdx.eater.com/2024/6/20/24182552/portland-restaurant-closings-june-2024
- https://pdx.eater.com/2024/7/11/24196590/portland-restaurant-closings-july-2024
- https://pdx.eater.com/2024/8/15/24221178/portland-restaurant-closings-august-2024
- Blame the victim
- Instead of cracking down on rampant graffiti from lawlessness and destruction, the city has passed a law requiring property owners to clean graffiti on their buildings within 10 days or the city will hire contractors to do it and bill the owner for anything the contractor wishes to charge.
- Nearly half of Portland residents have expired plates
- Since it was made illegal to enforce traffic laws during BLM riots, it turns out that 460,000 vehicles, or nearly HALF of Portland drivers, have let their tags expire. This is cited as one of the reasons for a $32 million shortfall at the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
- That’s if they have plates at all.
- Misc
- US Bank (founded in Oregon) is closing branches at an alarming rate. Closures impact small business owners, rural residents and low- to moderate-income communities the most.
- Antifa inflicted $750,000 in damages during it’s recent destruction of a local community library. Ironically, much like real Nazi’s, they made access to books and the internet impossible for many low-income students and locals for the rest of the school year.
Local Portland/Oregon Fall festivals and events
Enjoy some fun fall festivals!
Sept 12-15 – Mt Angel Oktoberfest – Huge Oktoberfest. Be sure to also visit Mt Angel Monastery.
Sept 13-15 – Oregon Celtic Festival – At about $50/ticket, this is cool but dang expensive
Sept 14th – Mid-Autumn Festival – Experience a day filled with Asian cultural performances, delicious food, unique merchandise, and a beautiful lantern parade.
Sept 14-15 – Polish Festival – Enjoy some amazing delicious food, amazing perogies, and music
Sept 20-22 – Los Roast Green Chili Roasting – order a half or whole bushel or 1 peck of hand-delivered New Mexican green chilis.
2024 PDX Hot Sauce Festival
Every August is the PDX Hot Sauce Festival. It’s a celebration of all things hot and spicy. There are dozens of vendors from around both the local area as well as around the country. It’s interesting to see how many different kinds of hot stuff that people make.
But it’s not just all vendors, there’s a lot of things going on. The local Hammer Brothers WWF-style Wrestling does matches all weekend.
Then there is the contests. The stage of doom hosts actual Guinness World Record attempts to eat the most Carolina Reapers. Or maybe try your hand at bobbing for Reapers, Burning BBQ Pork challenge, or Spicy Tacos from hell.
The star of the show, in my opinion is Ed Curry and his creations. I always stop in because he usually brings a bunch of Carolina Reapers for sale. This year you could buy a bag of 10 reapers for $5
Also present, you can taste test all of his hot sauce creations. All the way up to pure Reaper puree (Reaper Squeezins) and his new Xperience made from the supposedly even hotter Pepper X. I didn’t even see those latter ones on his website yet.
New for this year, he even brought Pepper X Oil, and even Pepper X ‘sludge’ that’s the purest of the Pepper X extract. It comes in a simple printed bottle and is supposed to be the hottest thing in the world (literally and figuratively). I bought a bottle. Lets see how it goes.
Eating the world’s hottest peppers
Ed Curry comes to the PDX Hot Sauce festival every year and brings along his latest creations. Good Mythical Morning sat down and ate ONE Carolina Reaper chili – and hilarity ensues.
My favorite quotes:
- “It’s started”
- “I’ve been here before, but never like this”
- “I hate the world. I hate that we exist.”
- “I can’t do it. Every breath out…is like time travel … into a stupid, stupid place”
- “We’ve been told it peaks at 6 minutes”
- <dry heaves>”Nothing came up. I wish something would have.”
I can confirm they are stupid hot. Honestly though, the Carolina Reaper sauce, when mixed with chili and other foods in proper amounts – actually has a great taste.
Even more interesting is that in 2024 he brought his Pepper X extract and sauce. It supposedly even more hot. I bought a bottle to test it out. Is it bad when there is just a simple typed label?
