House keys, not handcuffs

Our mayor, the multi-millionaire grandson of one of the timber barons who stripped Oregon of its old growth forest, consistently represents the interests of the wealthy at the expense of the poor. He is particularly eager to make houseless people disappear from view, and to that end he has crafted a ban on camping anywhere in the city between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. seven days a week. He has provided nowhere for houseless people to go during those hours, though there are some massive internment camps being constructed. People in these camps will be overseen by a brutal private police force. 

Protests in Portland have pretty much disappeared since the tear gas excesses of the Portland Police during the George Floyd protests of 2020, but this horrific new policy, which stands to pass when it comes to a vote next week, brought out the protesters, including me. One of the strongest official testimonies pointed out that if the city would provide more public toilets and trash depositories, the problems that most distress people would be eliminated at much less cost than mass, privately-policed camps.

My camera is acting up, back-focusing occasionally and giving me blurry shots about half the time. This won’t do. The photo here are of the few that tell the story without blurring faces.