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Where were you when the Bush administration was spending us into this corner?

posted 1 year, 2 months ago
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If unsustainable spending was what sparked the Tea Party, then where were they when the unfunded wars started?

posted 1 year, 2 months ago
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The comparison between cars and guns, a favorite of the pro-gun crowd, is entirely specious.  Cars are not designed for lethality.  Guns are.  The responsibility to control lethal substances and objects is self evident.  How would the pro gun guest think about the freedom to own anthrax spores?

posted 1 year, 3 months ago
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A couple of years ago I was involved in a bike vs. car accident in North Portland. Both I, the bike rider, and the car's driver were black.  After a brief, non-physical altercation a policeman arrived at the scene of the accident. The white male officer was extremely rude, unnecesarily beligerant and generally unprofessional.  He treated us both, along with an african american witness, like criminals. Rather than asking whether anybody was injured he ordered us all to sit on the curb while he figured out what happened. I sat there in pain (I had hurt my shoulder) and seething with anger at the treatment I was recieving. I had to wonder whether everyone who is involved in an accident in Portland gets treated like this, or just people of color.

Then, I guess after figuring out that there was not much he could do, he literally snatched the insurance certificate from the driver, gave it a once over, wrote down the policy number on a post it note and handed it to me and abruptly left.

Unfortunately, whenever I have encountered Portland's Police I have had similar experiences to that first one. Rude, discourtious and generally unhelpful behavior seems to be the rule.  The only exception was when I dealt with an African American officer.

As a black man, I worry whenever I see Portland Police.  I don't want to be the victom of somone's itchy trigger finger.

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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