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Food carts are just one part of the wonderful communities of street markets and night markets that are prolific in any Asian community. These markets bring people out of their homes and into contact with their neighbors on an everyday basis. The camaraderie extends from eating to shopping for groceries, household goods, music, sports, even ballroom dancing to a boombox! This does not happen occasionally for a fair or festival, but every day and night of the year.

Unique, inexpensive, and fantastically fun, Asian street markets and night markets are also very popular tourist destinations. Portland, with its vibrant immigrant community and love of all things local, is poised to make the leap from the shopping mall with its bleak commercial sameness to something locally grown, much more personal, and fun.

The concepts of our farmer's markets, the Saturday Market, and the many new food pods, are ready to fuse and grow to full blown street markets and night markets in the neighborhoods, creating jobs, attracting neighbors to come together, and even becoming a tourist attraction to the entire region.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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"Insurance" is the wrong model for health care. A for profit corporation is obligated to make money for its owners. Insurance models require minimizing risk to their profits. This means minimizing risky clients. This leaves those in need without this option. An insurance company has a difficult, or even impossible to reconcile conflict of interest in insuring "health."

Better models for health care are other public services that succeed - libraries, schools, water systems, roads - a single payer, or public option alternative to insurance. Health care consumers can, if they choose and can afford to, select private alternatives, but will make their contributions to the common good.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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I support single payer or a public option. It is the most important component of meaningful change. I am, however, very concerned about the mandate to enroll.

My adult son has a personality disorder that makes his self support difficult. He is often homeless and, even when working, very poor. He has no money to pay for health care. Worse, his paranoia won't permit him to apply for any government assistance of any kind. He has said he will go to prison rather than submit to government health care.

He is, by any rationale thinking, in a no win position, but is also in need of assistance. How will any mandate accomodate people like this?

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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I don't study Buddhism, but consider it the best reflection of my world understanding. Today, with the start of your program, as the stock market carries my retirement savings to far below what it cost me, I considered my addiction to this financial security/insecurity. Buddhism has taught me that nothing lasts. Getting this concept to some degree I can relax and enjoy your show.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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Less accessible parts of the beautiful Marquam Nature Park in the SW hills above Terwilliger are turning into ivy deserts. If you hike into these areas you can quickly find many acres where nearly all the trees and shrubs have been killed by ivy. Is it possibly better in the long run to use herbicides to kill off all the ivy, once and for all, followed by a replanting of native plants?

posted 5 years ago
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