I lived in Portland for 18 years. In 1984 it was a city to envy. Now, it's crowded and yuppified, so it's a great city for the young. It used to be a great small town city. Now it's almost the same as everywhere else. It's warmer than Minnerapolis, and I do not mean climate, though that is true too. And oddly enough, Portland was hastened to ruin by it's most liberal mayor, the Cherryhomes-like, developer loving, where's my perk, the royal lady Vera Katz.

It's just like with hunger. There is enough food to go around, but most assuredly it will not go around. As a youth I used to hear that a healthy, educated nation was the best way to maintain freedom. Apparently that was not true. We could educate everyone and have an intelligent populace, but that is not really what is wanted by the power players, or we would in fact have it.

Personally, I find it amazing that people with plenty want more and more. Another park for people with the river right there is pandering to already existing excess.

In the quest for profit, many humans are relegated to fodder. They fit into niches and serve particular purposes. The poor, the neglected and the traumatized children must be marginalized and managed with minimum amount of expense, for the betterment of the corporate class. Paring down social services while maintaining a lipservice commitment to "helping" is now on the docket, and things look to get much much worse. A dependent welfare class and a greedy corporate class have pretty much...