Thursday evening, in the pouring rain, four people gathered at the Northeast Portland pie bar Random Order Cafe. Your Intrepid Reporter was joined by Dave Westerlund and his companion Charlotte, when Herschel Soles arrived, on time as always.
Meetings of the Cascadia Chapter of the Pacific Green Party do not follow an agenda: we do not follow bullet points, assign tasks, and review our progress. We meet one another and see how the Party can collaborate.
For example, he wasn’t at the meeting but Ted Pyle called in that day, to tell attendees that he has a scheme to build mobile plastic-walled and -roofed shelters, on casters, for a low price, with labor supplied by the homeless whose new shelter it becomes. Contact with Ted available on request, so to speak. The meeting did (of course) discuss the activity, and wishes Ted all speed.
NonParty-member Dave opined that the anti-war witness performed at Pioneer Courthouse Square every Friday afternoon now for 12 (13?) years has had little effect; he termed it the “Portland Pitiful Response” since the same 8 people meet every week. The reply of Your Intrepid Reporter was, that no one could deny the impact of those 8 people, chanting as they filed through the crowd last month at the lighting of the Portland Pioneer Square Christmas Tree, “While You’re Shopping, Bombs Are Dropping”.
Bump City’s expression of shopping frenzy: artificial Christmas Tree
Herschel found of interest the showing of the movie “Suffragette”, which indicated that, in the struggle for women’s suffrage asking for the vote was attempted repeatedly without any success. The movie, which Charlotte also had seen, indicated it was only when property was destroyed and large demonstrations held that women got the vote.
Similarly, the week before at the Chapter meeting, Matt Brewster and Bob McGown inquired about activities and accepted materials published by the movement for a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Herschel and I have gotten pages of signatures on the ballot initiative, attacked today by the Portland Tribune, to increase the minimum corporate tax in Oregon.
The Cascadia Chapter of the Pacific Green Party 