If there is any question we have a local Portland domestic terrorism problem, you can check out Rose City Counter-info as they’re quite public about their attacks.
This flier was making the rounds on local Portland social media during the 115 straight nights of riots in downtown Portland in 2020 – encouraging people to take these different roles. Video evidence you can find freely on YouTube and countless photos/Instagram accounts show that all of these roles were indeed being done on a nightly basis.
Note that only 1 of the 12 roles is a ‘peaceful protester’. The other 11 out of 12 roles include multiple levels of criminal assault, arson, social media disinformation, propaganda, and putting lives at risk blocking medical and rescue vehicles. It is most worth noting that ‘light mages’ using lasers/light directed towards people are in direct violation of international treaty against blinding weapons.
These are well-oiled machines; or as one person I know put it: Portland’s Protest-Industrial Complex.
International Longshore and Warehouse Union files bankruptcy for Port of Portland violations
It looks like the illegal slowdowns by ILWU that ended up destroying the Port of Portland and leaving it’s own members jobless when shipping companies cut all ties has finally reached a head – in the bankruptcy of ILWU.
The bankruptcy of the union was the final result of a decades-old litigation between the union and an affiliate of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. It started as, what a jury later determined, to be illegal tactics when workers for years caused operational disruptions at the Port of Portland.
The Port of Portland has succumb to the damage of the illegal ILWU slowdowns. After attempting to restart the port, it announced that it will again close all container operations effective Oct 1, 2024. The Port has announced they are closing all container operations after it had lost $13 million for each of the last 2 years – never recovering after the illegal Teamster union slowdowns that caused shippers to pull out of Portland and ultimately also bankrupt the Teamsters.
One of the best is a series of commercials I have seen is for Sakeru Gummy candy. The episodes is often just known as Long Long Man about a young couple and their running into a mysterious man who likes a longer version of the candy.
It is honestly some of the best commercial making around – and I hate to say – has better acting and story than probably 75% of the constant re-hashed old franchises, superhero stories, and movies/TV we see today. For a series that last a total of only 6 minutes over 11 thirty second clips – it delivers an amazingly engaging story.
Here’s the whole series:
What’s awesome is the actor Yukiyoshi Ozawa even does a short interview. He put some emotion and thought into his role.
Want to know what ‘progressive’ activists are like in Portland? Here’s an interview with one: Adam Egelman.
Adam Egelman of Safe Street Rebel is referred to as leader of “a new breed of tactical urbanism that has sprung up across the U.S. and is transforming city streets without the permission of city governments.” “Direct action gets the goods,” reads the title of a panel Egelman participated in. The group participates in confrontation and illegally blocking and modifying roads without working with city transportation permission. One of the activities they were involved in was disabling self-driving cars in San Francisco with traffic cones.
Other quotes:
“Safe Street Rebel is explicitly anti-police.”
“We say ‘bullying works.’ “
“It can be tense with…people who favor car access, or, you know, [people that] oppose safe streets”
I have a serious problem with people like Egelman. They like to break the rules when it suits them, then go running to the cops when it doesn’t go their way. The behavior is designed to silence other voices, and…well…as he says: bully people. This works great when others follow the rules – but as we’re seeing right now in our country – it creates an environment in which ‘might makes right’ and rules and laws are just for chumps. His kind of thinking is how we descend into violent chaos.
Radicals like Egelman encourage others to see following laws and rules as pointless. If people see that you can do whatever you want, then they’ll start doing the same. His kind of thinking is common for extremist of both left and right groups such as the Proud Boys.
Bullying is an act of violence and behavior that unquestioningly harms individuals, harms communities, harms cities, and harms society. We don’t accept bullies at schools. Nobody likes working with bullies. Bullies destroy the best ideas coming out. Bullies don’t listen to others – they silence dissenting voices. We should stand up against bullies and for those oppressed by bullying.
It’s an incredibly arrogant stance to think your opinion is far more important than scientific evidence, community discussion. It’s a profoundly damaging thing for social structure as a whole. It teaches people to ‘do whatever you want’.
How do domestic airports rank? This year, my Midwest home of Indianapolis gets some love as the #2 airport in the US.
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport
Indianapolis International Airport
Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport
Palm Beach International Airport
Tampa International Airport
Hartford Bradley International Airport
Minneapolis St. Paul
Long Beach Airport
Portland (Oregon) International Airport
Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Sadly, Portland falls to #9 after having lead the list in years past, but things haven’t been very good at Portland airport in the last few years. We had protesters/counter-protesters assault each other a few times, and then of course a recent woman that fired a few shots at the airport.
Higher interest rates now biting credit dependent famous local Portland restaraunts
Sortis Holdings bought up a number of famous top-flight Portland hospitality businesses and restaurants on a diet of low margins and low interest rates as they faltered during the pandemic. However, all is not well. They have been the target of at least 4 lawsuits by unpaid creditors, employees, contractors and partners since September. They recently failed at an attempt to acquire Ace Group International hotels and are currently facing many suits on unpaid bills.
Which Portland ‘local’ businesses do they own? Bamboo Sushi, Blue Star Donuts, Ava Gene’s, Tusk, Sizzle Pie pizza, the Ace Hotel, Rudy’s Barbershops, and Water Avenue Coffee to name just a few.
There’s a growing list of distressed commercial office buildings in Portland – some of the most iconic and largest ones. In the second half of 2023, this situation has finally come to a head. How bad is it? The numbers are almost twice as bad as they have ever been in 50 years, and some say Portland is facing at least a decade of downturn.
Nearly a third of Portland’s downtown office space now stands empty – and it’s a situation that’s growing worse in 2023. Many of these buildings, bought at top dollar during the time when Portland was one of the fastest growing cities in the country, now have too much debt and not enough income from rent to cover it. Owners aren’t just selling, they’re decided the situation isn’t going to get better and are now actively defaulting and walking away – just like homeowners did in the 2008 financial crisis.
The numbers are bad – off the charts bad
The commercial vacancy rate in Portland currently sits at 31.5%. Hard-hit San Francisco is 31.9%, Seattle 27.9%, Los Angeles 30.9%, Salt Lake City 19.9% and Denver 23.4%. Even during the great recession of 2008-2009, the commercial vacancy rate never broke 15% in Portland.
But things will get better right? “The Portland office market continues to face a bleak outlook at the midway point of 2023,” say analysts at Colliers – a Toronto-based firm that tracks global real estate. “Over the next two quarters, more than 500,000 square feet of leased space [in Portland] is set to expire market wide. Should these tenants maintain office space following the expiration of their leases, they will likely look to downsize their real estate footprints.” This means that as the leases expire, it’s highly probable the vacancy rate will go up even more – maybe to the highest levels in the country. This means even more foreclosures.
Meanwhile, a few miles away over the West Hills, just outside the Portland border in Beaverton and Hillsboro, companies are doing multi-billion dollar expansions. Companies such as Analog Devices and Intel. Beaverton is becoming the new foodie mecca. Why is Portland doing so bad just a few miles away?
Bob Ames, former president of First Interstate Bank of Oregon and a longtime investor in commercial property says this is the worst situation he’s seen in 50 years. He says Portland is still suffering as plywood covered windows from the 2020 riots and subsequent crime are still quite prevalent on 2023 downtown storefronts. Homeless camps have continued to grow. On some downtown blocks, you’re ‘just as likely to see someone smoking fentanyl as sipping a Frappuccino’.
Steadily increasing and expanding business taxes and regulation far beyond neighboring metro areas has also been discouraging businesses from Portland. Besides stifling new businesses, successful businesses are increasingly moving out too.
His assessment? “The problem with downtown Portland is that you don’t want to be in downtown Portland. We’ve driven a lot of capital out of here, and a lot of tenants. You’re not going to book another major employer into this city for a decade.”
One thing is clear, the collapse has begun. Things in Portland are likely to get worse before they get better. Serious and long-term damage has been done by leadership and Portland is almost certainly looking at a continued decline for a good while before things have a chance of turning around. That’s if Portland can recover from the destruction of it’s business tax base – at the same time they are also experiencing a disturbing income tax reduction due to a growing multi-year population decline.
