Portland Mess
So Portland was one of the cities where the protests, or I don't know if describing these gatherings as protests would be fitting.....Anyhow the "protests" in Portland lingered for around 160 days or so after May 29 when it all started with the passing of George Floyd.
I went to see what it was all about several times because DUH I live like a ten minute drive from downtown Portland (depending on where you go) and why would I not go and see things for myself? Anybody nowadays knows that you can not necessarily trust media (sadly). I have covered my visits at the protest before and I have some more photos that I want to put up here before 2020 is over and it will be over soon! So I better do this now.
So after several times at the protests, breathing tear gas almost every time and running so I would avoid getting arrested I had enough. I saw way too much destruction for my liking.
Yes I am all for standing up for what is right but when you destroy, loot, spray paint everything and act like an idiot in general I no longer have any respect for you. And I saw that basically every time. So finally I had enough of the Portland mess and stopped going.
Banks are BAD, banks mean money and capitalism so therefore the windows must be broken. Seems like a natural solution, right? Yes I know the banking system is far from perfect. Not sure how else we should solve the issue of money. Perhaps just get rid of money and barter instead? I am not an economist so I will leave that task to those who are knowledgeable on the subject of money and finances. Figure it out already!
Starbucks too is an evil corporation so let's break the window. Hey....if you don't like Starbucks take your business elsewhere, it is that easy. I do not go to Starbucks, I prefer other places for my lattes but I am not about to show Starbucks what a badass I am by throwing a brick through their store window. Fucking morons.
Glass everywhere. Nobody stopping to think that somebody will have to clean that up and that perhaps somebody's pet might step in that on a walk and need expensive veterinary care. I can not stand people that litter and destroy. Simply CAN NOT stand them.
A message written on a piece of cardboard propped up on the sidewalk, not many seem to live by these words. It looks cool and intelligent somehow written like that but is a completely different story in reality when people do not practice what they preach.
Ripping out the free magazines and destroying the holders for them? Atrocious.
Another GREAT idea is to unscrew the bolts that hold the park benches in place and just drag the benches around while loudly announcing to others what size tool is needed to unscrew the benches. Did I say MORONS already? Too many loose screws in their brains obviously.
Some people actually enjoy park benches and others sleep on them, like this guy.
Slept through the commotion.
Burning trash cans. So smart, so cool and so productive!
Burning stuff, starting fires and throwing stuff around.....yeay so much FUN!
I think Portland's autonomous zone called "Cascadia" lasted for about 15 minutes.
Wanting police officers to die? No I am definitely not behind that.
The random scribble does not look good. Is that what you want your children to see? Is that the kind of city you want them to grow up in? Ask yourself that before destroying stuff.
And who do you think is going to pay for all that destruction when it comes time to clean it up?
Go write on your Mom's/Grandma's/friend's house or your own if you are a homeowner but wait that's right you will have to buy it with cash (which is possible if you work hard or hustle good) because banks are bad so applying for a loan is out of the question. Sleeping on a park bench might work instead of owning a home one day if the benches are not destroyed or removed. Then a piece of cardboard on the sidewalk will have to do.
Communism or extinction. Hmmmmm......well the idea of communism might be noble. But is it really possible to follow through with the goals of communism in real life? That can be discussed.
And since I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of the protests cause I did not wear a gas mask or black garb from head to toe or yell obscenities at the police I was asked to not take pictures a few times. Excuse me? Everybody else down there was taking pictures and all kinds of footage so do not tell me what to do. Are you not protesting against the establishment and authority or something like that and you are asking a bystander not to take pictures? Doesn't make sense. It's not like I was shoving my phone into faces of people like a paparazzi, I was only taking random pictures. Fuck off, I take pictures if I want to.
In the midst of it all I saw a community garden. But I guess that is of no importance. To see that there ARE efforts made to improve stuff and do good. No let's destroy instead!
Then things seemed to calm down for a while sometime after the election at the beginning of November. And then the debacle about The Little Red House On Mississippi started and went on for almost a week. And after finding out the details on that whole deal I must say that the family (the Kinney family or whatever they call themselves, since some of them decided that they are sovereign citizens and renamed themselves) should consider themselves lucky. $300,000 richer. Not bad. I know a lot about bad loans and mortgages. I have studied some of the RESPA violations. Perhaps I should start a GoFundMe as well and hope that enough generous people donate towards my mortgage that I honestly believe I was bamboozled into thinking was a great deal when in fact it was a disaster and has caused me a LOT of stress. And I did not kill an innocent person either. Yeah.....this story is tangled for sure.
And that was that.
I went to see what it was all about several times because DUH I live like a ten minute drive from downtown Portland (depending on where you go) and why would I not go and see things for myself? Anybody nowadays knows that you can not necessarily trust media (sadly). I have covered my visits at the protest before and I have some more photos that I want to put up here before 2020 is over and it will be over soon! So I better do this now.
So after several times at the protests, breathing tear gas almost every time and running so I would avoid getting arrested I had enough. I saw way too much destruction for my liking.
Yes I am all for standing up for what is right but when you destroy, loot, spray paint everything and act like an idiot in general I no longer have any respect for you. And I saw that basically every time. So finally I had enough of the Portland mess and stopped going.
Banks are BAD, banks mean money and capitalism so therefore the windows must be broken. Seems like a natural solution, right? Yes I know the banking system is far from perfect. Not sure how else we should solve the issue of money. Perhaps just get rid of money and barter instead? I am not an economist so I will leave that task to those who are knowledgeable on the subject of money and finances. Figure it out already!
Starbucks too is an evil corporation so let's break the window. Hey....if you don't like Starbucks take your business elsewhere, it is that easy. I do not go to Starbucks, I prefer other places for my lattes but I am not about to show Starbucks what a badass I am by throwing a brick through their store window. Fucking morons.
Glass everywhere. Nobody stopping to think that somebody will have to clean that up and that perhaps somebody's pet might step in that on a walk and need expensive veterinary care. I can not stand people that litter and destroy. Simply CAN NOT stand them.
A message written on a piece of cardboard propped up on the sidewalk, not many seem to live by these words. It looks cool and intelligent somehow written like that but is a completely different story in reality when people do not practice what they preach.
Ripping out the free magazines and destroying the holders for them? Atrocious.
Another GREAT idea is to unscrew the bolts that hold the park benches in place and just drag the benches around while loudly announcing to others what size tool is needed to unscrew the benches. Did I say MORONS already? Too many loose screws in their brains obviously.
Some people actually enjoy park benches and others sleep on them, like this guy.
Slept through the commotion.
Burning trash cans. So smart, so cool and so productive!
Burning stuff, starting fires and throwing stuff around.....yeay so much FUN!
I think Portland's autonomous zone called "Cascadia" lasted for about 15 minutes.
Wanting police officers to die? No I am definitely not behind that.
The random scribble does not look good. Is that what you want your children to see? Is that the kind of city you want them to grow up in? Ask yourself that before destroying stuff.
And who do you think is going to pay for all that destruction when it comes time to clean it up?
Go write on your Mom's/Grandma's/friend's house or your own if you are a homeowner but wait that's right you will have to buy it with cash (which is possible if you work hard or hustle good) because banks are bad so applying for a loan is out of the question. Sleeping on a park bench might work instead of owning a home one day if the benches are not destroyed or removed. Then a piece of cardboard on the sidewalk will have to do.
Communism or extinction. Hmmmmm......well the idea of communism might be noble. But is it really possible to follow through with the goals of communism in real life? That can be discussed.
And since I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of the protests cause I did not wear a gas mask or black garb from head to toe or yell obscenities at the police I was asked to not take pictures a few times. Excuse me? Everybody else down there was taking pictures and all kinds of footage so do not tell me what to do. Are you not protesting against the establishment and authority or something like that and you are asking a bystander not to take pictures? Doesn't make sense. It's not like I was shoving my phone into faces of people like a paparazzi, I was only taking random pictures. Fuck off, I take pictures if I want to.
In the midst of it all I saw a community garden. But I guess that is of no importance. To see that there ARE efforts made to improve stuff and do good. No let's destroy instead!
Then things seemed to calm down for a while sometime after the election at the beginning of November. And then the debacle about The Little Red House On Mississippi started and went on for almost a week. And after finding out the details on that whole deal I must say that the family (the Kinney family or whatever they call themselves, since some of them decided that they are sovereign citizens and renamed themselves) should consider themselves lucky. $300,000 richer. Not bad. I know a lot about bad loans and mortgages. I have studied some of the RESPA violations. Perhaps I should start a GoFundMe as well and hope that enough generous people donate towards my mortgage that I honestly believe I was bamboozled into thinking was a great deal when in fact it was a disaster and has caused me a LOT of stress. And I did not kill an innocent person either. Yeah.....this story is tangled for sure.
And that was that.
