Barry Johnson

8 if you count the invasion of L.A, Portland, Minneapolis -- not bombing in the traditional sense, of course. But nothing is traditional at the moment.

I started getting followed on my way home from an anti-war rally by a guy who was filming me so I assumed he was a right wing agitator and then he was a revoke person…demanding I answer why I support keeping the building open (I’ve never given a statement either way bc it’s a quasi judicial matter)

This is theft. No person should hoard so many resources.

Tao Te Ching,😍 James Legge translation, 1891

Tao Te Ching, R. B. Blakney translation, 1955

Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell rendition, 1988

Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin rendition, 1997

"Governing a great state is like cooking small fish."

Tao Te Ching, James Legge translation, 1891

The war machine Lockheed Martin (LMT): Approximately $450 Raytheon Technologies (RTX): Around $100 Northrop Grumman (NOC): Approximately $500 General Dynamics (GD): About $250 Boeing (BA): Roughly $210 Palantir Technologies (PLTR): Recently surged by 6.6%

Isn’t it funny how the ‘Department of Defense’ is now the ‘Department of War,’ yet we still call companies ‘defense contractors’ because it sounds better for Congress to justify funding. Language shapes perception. Meanwhile, these companies are making billions supplying weapons of war. 🔄

Everything about the Post these days smells like rotting fish...

This book is eight years in the making. So proud of Brian for his persistence and his vision.

Comes out on Sept. 15 and he’s got some interesting events in the works for the launch!

You can see the corporate stooges salivating over the possibility that their 6+ year plan to raid PCEF might finally bear fruit.

Anyway, if you think we should use the climate justice fund for climate justice, you should speak up!

DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family. Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U...

Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland.

Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U.S.-funded nonprofit.

(Published Aug. 2025)

A deal has come together that would allow Oregon to purchase Abiqua Falls and 200 acres of surrounding forest for a new park, in a bill being considered this week by the legislature.

The deal includes an agreement with Mt. Angel Abbey that put the falls up for sale: tinyurl.com/4fufhm7n

The Oregon Legislature is moving toward imposing a 1-year moratorium on major new tax breaks for data centers.

This is a big, surprising reversal. Gov. Kotek had been pushing to expand data center inventives.

www.oregonlive.com/silicon-fore...

Portland street corner. Stoplight on red. Sign on telephone pole reads “Alex Pretti was murdered and rene good too”

Portland remembers

The costs of this Iran war debacle will likely be more than the cost of extending the ACA health insurance subsidies.

If you asked Americans, which do you want: another war in the Middle East or lower health care costs at home, is the margin 90 to 10? 95 to 5?

It’s really crazy how much I’ve been agreeing with Rep. Thomas Massie recently!

One of my favourite sides of politics/media.

It’s pretty disturbing to me that #waleg has effectively decided to allow unregulated robotaxis into Washington, instead of taking a proactive approach and establishing reasonable regional caps, giving UTC rulemaking authority, and disallowing entry for unproven technologies (i.e. Tesla).

“What is most repugnant to me in America is not the extreme freedom that reigns there, it is the lack of a guarantee against tyranny.”
– Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835/40)

There are rails that are quad tracked from Union Station in Portland to Union Station in Vancouver. Why has there never been serious conversation about running commuter rail on them?

Possible ransom to be paid to Republicans in order to free our transportation system from even worse austerity.

In ‘When We’re Born We Forget Everything,’ Alicia Jo Rabins recounts her spiritual and musical coming of age • Oregon ArtsWatch The Portland-based writer, musician, and educator will launch her memoir March 4 at Powell’s Books.

The Portland-based writer, musician, and educator will launch her memoir March 4 at Powell’s Books.

C. M-J-M-A’s Return to Oregon The next morning in Tacoma, Defendants released M-J-M-A- without explanation and left her to find her own way back home to Oregon. Id. ¶¶ 19-20. As stated in M-J-M-A-’s declaration, . . . [A]n officer called me and told me to get my stuff because I was going to leave. I thought I was being transferred to another detention center. . . . The officer took me to another room to change into my original clothes. After I was done, an ICE officer came to get me and that is when I found out I was being released. She asked if I had someone to pick me up, and I said no. She said that if I did not have a ride, they would just leave me alone on the street. This terrified me because I have never been Tacoma and I did not have a phone or any money with me. Luckily, I was able to get a ride home with someone else who was visiting a family member at the detention center that day. I have now returned home but I am still afraid that ICE will come and arrest me again. They have done it once without a reason, so I fear they will do it again. I feel it was only luck that I was able to meet with the attorneys for a few minutes before I was taken from Portland, and that is the only reason I am here and not deported or in a detention center somewhere else in the country. I know some of the other people who were detained at the same time as me, have already been deported or transferred to detention centers in other states. Id. at ¶¶ 19-21.

But relevant to important decisions to be made in City Hall, these two paragraphs from the opinion describe the absolute necessity for emergency legal representation at the ICE facility in Portland. But for a few minutes with an attorney, M-J-M-A would be gone and this case would not exist.

A century of cinema, local theater defies industry trends - North Peninsula Review Share thisBy Mark Kirchmeier Old theaters are irreplaceable. They could never be duplicated at today’s costs, and their spirit could not be duplicated because they remind us of a day when going to the...

A century of cinema, local theater defies industry trends northpeninsulareview.com/a-century-of... #PDX #Portland

Oregon Shakespeare Festival producer Kaytlin McIntyre on the art of keeping the show in motion • Oregon ArtsWatch As the Ashland festival's 2026 season approaches, McIntyre talks about guiding creativity and chaos to bring the musical "Come from Away" to life.

As the Ashland festival's 2026 season approaches, McIntyre talks about guiding creativity and chaos to bring the musical "Come from Away" to life.

The newly renovated libraries are fantastic. This is the N Portland library, which is worth checking out just for the art.

Well over 1,000 students walked out and Marched at the Oregon state capitol in Salem today too.

Bill Frisell has released his 5th Blue Note album "In My Dreams" out today: billfrisell.lnk.to/InMyDreams

The acclaimed guitarist plays special 75th birthday concerts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, New York & more next month: www.billfrisell.com/tour-schedule

if you believe in any form of free enterprise at all, the idea that the Pentagon can not only cut off your contract but designate you a supply chain risk and prevent other companies from buying from you just because you won't build killbots for the government should be terrifying

maybe we should clear some more food carts for luxury hotels that promise affordable housing units they won’t deliver on

City Council votes unanimously to rezone select properties to support affordable housing production Zoning map amendments reduce barriers to expanding and preserving affordable housing on key properties owned by nonprofit and public affordable housing providers.

The Affordable Housing Opportunities Project addresses a clear problem.

Nonprofit and public housing providers already own land intended for affordable housing, but existing zoning creates unnecessary barriers and delays.