Althouse: "Portland is leading. They’re showing what it looks like to stay in the streets despite police oppression, despite the federal forces being sent in. This kind of energy is actually what’s needed."

July 26, 2020

"Portland is leading. They’re showing what it looks like to stay in the streets despite police oppression, despite the federal forces being sent in. This kind of energy is actually what’s needed."

Said Chantelle Hershberger, "an organizer with Refuse Fascism who was part of the Los Angeles activists protesting the presence of federal agents in Portland, where city officials have opposed the presence of the federal officers," quoted in "Fires and Pepper Spray in Seattle as Police Protests Widen Across U.S./From Los Angeles to New York, protesters marched in a show of solidarity with demonstrations in Portland, Ore. In Seattle, they smashed windows and set fires. A shooting at a protest in Austin, Texas, left one man dead" (NYT).

The protests are hitting the top of the front page of the NYT again, and you can see why.

ADDED: I had trouble reading "part of the Los Angeles activists protesting the presence of federal agents in Portland." I thought it meant that L.A. activists had traveled to Portland to protest. It took me a while to notice that it could mean activists were protesting in L.A. about what was going on in Portland. I had to root around in the article for other mentions of Los Angeles to try to puzzle out what Chantelle Hershberger was up to. Was she the sort of organizer who crosses state lines to participate in disorder going on in a place that's not her home or someone who stays in her home town and protests about what's happening elsewhere? It matters! Especially when we're talking about the proper role of the federal government.

90 comments:

Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: The worst enemy of each side in this campaign is their supporters.; 7/26/20, 8:34 AM
Jersey Fled said...: What I want to know is who is paying her.; 7/26/20, 8:40 AM
Robt C said...: Who/what is organizing these things? They can't possibly be spontaneous, either at the city level (sure, a bunch of folks just show up??) or at the national level??
There has to be some group behind it, funding, planning, etc. I don't see why the FBI or local police can't figure it out.; 7/26/20, 8:40 AM
mikee said...: Austin ASSHAT and mayor, Steve Adler, is "heartbroken and stunned" that a protester approaching a vehicle with a rifle during a protest was shot, in obvious/apparent self defense. ASSHAT Steve Adler allows homeless encampments of drug abusing criminals to proliferate in Austin, instead of forcing the drug abusing homeless to either move on, get help, or stay out of the way of the law-abiding. ASSHAT Steve Adler does not want the law-abiding to be able to prevent criminals from dominating Austin. ASSHAT Steve Adler does indeed wear his own ass for his hat, here in Austin.; 7/26/20, 8:40 AM
gspencer said...: "Said Chantelle Hershberger, 'an organizer with Refuse Fascism'"

As she and her kind impose fascism.

Dead is dead. The totalitarian ideology of your killer matters not. The following was written in 1937,

Nazism and Communism imagine themselves as exact opposites. They are at each other’s throats wherever they exist all over the world. They actually breed each other; for the reaction against Communism is Nazism, and beneath Nazism or Fascism Communism stirs convulsively.

Yet they are similar in all essentials. First of all, their simplicity is remarkable. You leave out God and put in the Devil; you leave out love and put in hate; and everything thereafter works quite straightforwardly and logically.

They are, in fact, as alike as two peas. Tweedledum and Tweedledee are two quite distinctive personalities compared to these two rival religions.

I am reminded of the North Pole and South Pole. They are at opposite ends of the earth, but if you woke up at either Pole tomorrow morning you could not tell which one it was. Perhaps there might be more penguins at one, or more Polar bears at the other; but all around would be ice and snow and the blast of a biting wind.; 7/26/20, 8:40 AM
wendybar said...: Leading America to be just like Venezuela....great job Lefties....Destroy America and eat zoo animals.; 7/26/20, 8:42 AM
mikee said...: Austin ASSHAT and mayor, Steve Adler, is "heartbroken and stunned" that a protester approaching a vehicle with a rifle during a protest was shot, in obvious/apparent self defense. ASSHAT Steve Adler allows homeless encampments of drug abusing criminals to proliferate in Austin, instead of forcing the drug abusing homeless to either move on, get help, or stay out of the way of the law-abiding. ASSHAT Steve Adler does not want the law-abiding to be able to prevent criminals from dominating Austin. ASSHAT Steve Adler does indeed wear his own ass for his hat, here in Austin.; 7/26/20, 8:43 AM
Big Mike said...: Was she the sort of organizer who crosses state lines to participate in disorder going on in a place that's not her home or someone who stays in her home town and protests about what's happening elsewhere? It matters! Especially when we're talking about the proper role of the federal government.

@Althouse, do you think she cares?; 7/26/20, 8:44 AM
Birkel said...: Portland is leading the president to re-election.
I hope the riots stay on the front page of the NYT for the next three months.; 7/26/20, 8:44 AM
tim maguire said...: I read it as meaning she traveled to Portland, which makes it especially outrageous--most protestors are satisfied to screw up somebody else's neighborhood, she's screwing up somebody else's state! I hope she gets arrested and they throw the book at her.; 7/26/20, 8:49 AM
Steve Pitment said...: Years of allowing the left to indoctrinate our children while pretending to educate them comes to fruition.; 7/26/20, 8:49 AM
Rory said...: This is Andy Ngo's twitter feed:

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

The New York Times is no longer useful.; 7/26/20, 8:50 AM
Birkel said...: Minneapolis is leading, also.
https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/07/25/meltdown-minneapolis-violence-nearing-annual-records-july/

It only has crime statistics through July that are higher than 8 of the last 10 full years.
And the victims of that increased criminality are predominantly black.

Hey, a really bright commenter here said that would be exactly what happened.
Wonder what happened to him?; 7/26/20, 8:52 AM
Jeff Brokaw said...: We can all see that the intent of mayors like the Portland mayor is to use a states rights argument to allow the continued destruction, chaos and anarchy of the rioters.

This argument seems ridiculous to me. I sincerely doubt that the intent of the Tenth Amendment was ever to allow riots by assholes who are interested only in tearing shit down and burning buildings to the ground. That’s nihilism, and there is no evidence that any Founding Father was interested in such stupidity.

If all big city mayors decided to sit back and let the mob do whatever the hell it wants, with zero pushback or using the policing powers they all obviously have specifically for such cases, then why should anyone pay taxes? What incentive do regular law-abiding citizens with jobs, families, businesses, and homes, have to continue playing by the rules?

Bueller? Anyone ... ?; 7/26/20, 8:53 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Nothing shows solidarity with peaceful protesting more ... than rioting and smashing windows and the destruction of property.; 7/26/20, 8:55 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: You're expecting journalism from the narrative-only hack-D press?

why?; 7/26/20, 8:56 AM
Fernandinande said...: "They’re showing what it looks like to stay in the streets despite police oppression,"

It sounds like they're actually protesting the fact that they can't burn other peoples' property without being oppressed. "Now we see the violence inherent in the system!"

The protests are hitting the top of the front page of the NYT again, and you can see why.

Because the nyt and its ilk inflame stupid people with anti-police and anti-white racist lies like "the police killing of George Floyd".; 7/26/20, 9:03 AM
Tom said...: Why’s the federal government getting involved in democrat rioters tearing up democrat controlled cities? Makes zero sense to me.; 7/26/20, 9:03 AM
Ken B said...: “What are you rioting about?”
“The presence of the feds they will send in response to my rioting.”; 7/26/20, 9:08 AM
Temujin said...: Jeez. One would almost think of this as a staged, organized, funded rebellion.

Or you could just note that these are Democrats, and these are the people who want to steer your country and your life. You do have a vote in November. I suggest you use it wisely. And even if you dislike Trump, note that people who vote for Trump do not destroy cities. Republicans do not destroy cities. Libertarians do not destroy cities. Independents do not destroy cities. Democrats have made it a resume highlight. They strive to be known as activists which is to say- destructors.

Vote wisely, people.; 7/26/20, 9:12 AM
Sebastian said...: So, NYT, at what point do "protests" become "riots" or "attempted insurrections" or plain old "mayhem"?

"This kind of energy is actually what’s needed."

Needed for what?; 7/26/20, 9:14 AM
Dave Begley said...: 75-80 arrested last night in Omaha. TheIy were blocking a main street and were protesting in solidarity with Portland.; 7/26/20, 9:15 AM
Jeff Brokaw said...: Supporting riots in the streets as a citizen because you want the president to lose is a good way to speed up the destruction of the fabric that osensibly holds us together as “one people”.

This is not a parlor game. It’s literally stunning to me how depraved some of our fellow citizens are. It’s disgusting, frankly.

And the biggest irony is, the tax bases of these big cities is going to erode even faster now, with the exodus of jobs and higher income families who really do not need this shit. Then the mayors will run crying to the federal government, hat in hand, expecting bailouts.

GFY and good luck, warriors.; 7/26/20, 9:16 AM
hombre said...: “I had to root around in the article for other mentions of Los Angeles to try to puzzle out what Chantelle Hershberger was up to.“ Yes, well everybody has to root around to discover what these douchenozzles and their Democrat enablers are protesting by now.

My lefty son in Portland sits in his riverfront condo and blames Trump. He can’t explain the six weeks of rioting before Trump acted, but so what?

Cancel the cops, attack the feds, empty the prisons, close the churches, destroy small businesses, promote “reverse racism,” pay teachers to stay home, promote Covid hysteria in Republican states with low death rates, etc. If the Democrats could figure out how to destroy Israel and gas the Jews while still raking in their campaign contributions, 2020 would be their banner year.

It doesn’t matter who wins the election. Biden is corrupt and incompetent. Trump will be hamstrung by the Democrat/mediaswine/Marxist coalition. Prosperity, civility, and sanity are gone. The genii will not go back in the bottle. We’re toast!; 7/26/20, 9:17 AM
madAsHell said...: We had that professional agitator, Raz from CHAZ, handing out $700 AR-15s indiscriminately from the trunk of his car. He was alleged to be from Georgia. Indiscriminately transferring weapons to friends is a federal offense as well. The transfer event was documented on Facebook. They seem to be purposefully violating federal laws to prompt a federal response. This won't end well.

I hope they go after these people, but they're still naming streets after Obama, so I don't see that happening.; 7/26/20, 9:23 AM
madAsHell said...: "This isn't about George Floyd, is it?"

"Who?"; 7/26/20, 9:26 AM
robother said...: "Mostly peaceful" protesters broke into and tried to burn down the Aurora (CO) Municipal Court building yesterday. Aurora police were nowhere to be seen.; 7/26/20, 9:27 AM
Etienne said...: I grew up in Portland. We escaped to the county (No mans land) which was unincorporated and served solely by county police and fire. Portland invested heavily in mass transit to get people from the suburbs into the city. Mostly buses and freeways, later light rail.

It was doomed to fail. Slowly people found there was no reason to go into the city. The fantastic shopping in 60 year old companies and beautiful stores, was replaced by the malls.

Slowly the city was taken over by the homeless, always present wino's, and building started catching on fire as owners collected insurance and moved to Idaho, and Utah.

The Unions collapsed. I remember I couldn't get into the Teamsters when I was 18, but by the time I came home after my enlistment, they union locals were empty parking lots and boarded-up buildings.

I have two brothers who still live there, but their neighborhood is completely central American. Hondurans, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans. Not many Mexicans.

There never have been many blacks in Portland. My high school we had two blacks out of 400 whites and Asians. My school had a lot of Japanese, as they owned all the farms. I worked all the Japanese farms as a kid (strawberries, and raspberry's mostly).

Portland has always been run by hippies as far back as I can remember. Every mayor has been some sort of hippie. The police and fire have only one goal, and that is to get their $60k a year pension after 20 years service. I know a lot of school buddies who joined at 18, retired at 40, and make more money than most employed people.

Oregon has been anti-sales tax. Thus the property taxes are phenomenal. But lately they have turned to taxing everything except sales. So sales doesn't matter. These people are highly stressed, and most of them haven't traveled out of the city their whole lives.

My opinion is, and fire is a good fire, when it comes to Portland. Burn the place down. No one gives a shit. I know I don't, and I'm pro-law and order.

The people burning Portland down are bused-in. I can guarantee that. If the Feds want to win, it would be to intercept the buses and take the thugs to reeducation camps in the deserts of Eastern Oregon.; 7/26/20, 9:29 AM
Francisco D said...: These childish idiots are just plain boring with their predictable bullshit.

The rest of the country has meaningful lives to lead. Thus, we yawn at their infantile need for attention.; 7/26/20, 9:33 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: All police and federal authority should stand down and let the leftwing ANTIFA FASCIST NAZI destroy and hissy-fit in an uncontrolled manner.

fOR THE COMMON GOOD.; 7/26/20, 9:35 AM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Let them burn down the federal courthouse in Portland. Then charge Portland the costs to rebuild it in Eastern Oregon.; 7/26/20, 9:49 AM
Martin said...: The idea that one would claim Portland riots and destruction as something GOOD is rather mind-boggling.; 7/26/20, 9:50 AM
Jeff Brokaw said...: @Robt C “why the FBI or local police can't figure it out”

I’ve learned to deduce from these situations that they don’t want to, rather than can’t. Not a perfect explanation, but about 95+% accurate, I would say.

The old advice to never assume malice when incompetence will do (or whatever the exact words are) needs to be flipped on it’s head when government is involved, especially anything to do with lefty politics.; 7/26/20, 9:52 AM
Michael K said...: ASSHAT Steve Adler does indeed wear his own ass for his hat, here in Austin.

My son and his daughter are doing college tours. They thought Austin was a dump. They liked northeastern Arkansas and this week are going to Alabama. She is an A student and varsity soccer player. Tuskaloosa would suit her well. The parents are also looking to relocate out of CA. Mobile Bay would be an option. It's a bit far from those staying in CA but I think we will see major moves by white families to the Old South. He also wants to be close to water. Grew up sailing.; 7/26/20, 9:53 AM
Etienne said...: BleachBit-and-Hammers said...All police and federal authority should stand down...

I agree. It's interesting that the businesses in the local area are complaining, heavily but they are not being listened to.

This will not have a favorable outcome, and the city will fall deeper into debt as they pack-up and leave. A company rainforgrowth.com (the old R2C Group is located near ground zero, and what they thought was a great hippie location, is now just a shithole. I know several people who work for them, who meet with customers outside of the city, as no one wants to take their nice limo's into a shithole.

Millions in advertising contracts, they now have to get out in order to get any work done.

Capitalists hippies are upset at the socialist anarchist hippies running the city at a loss.

Burn baby burn!; 7/26/20, 9:57 AM
stlcdr said...: Wasn't Portland held up to be a liberal/progressive and happy ideal that everyone should aspire to?

Why are people so violent in Portland, to the point that it requires federal agencies to be brought in to control the violence, murder and looting?; 7/26/20, 10:01 AM
Michael said...: I suppose it is to be expected that an organization promoting fascism in America should be called "Refuse Fascism."; 7/26/20, 10:01 AM
Velocon said...: Stop treating the NYT as some Delphic oracle of what we should pay attention to. That's so '70s. They have no credibility, and are a propaganda engine for totalitarianism. You are enabling tyranny by outsourcing your brain to them.; 7/26/20, 10:02 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Let the D-run hell holes descend into Antifa fascist chaos.; 7/26/20, 10:02 AM
Bilwick said...: "Excellent . . . excellent!"--Darth Soros, tapping his finger-tips together.; 7/26/20, 10:05 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Etienne- great post

"My opinion is, and fire is a good fire, when it comes to Portland. Burn the place down. No one gives a shit. I know I don't, and I'm pro-law and order."

I agree. Some places need a good purge. let the antifa freaks burn it to the ground.

The media will blame anyone but the antifa arsonists.; 7/26/20, 10:07 AM
Unknown said...: WHAT ARE THE RIOTS LEADING US TO?; 7/26/20, 10:11 AM
cubanbob said...: Why does the Portland PD take this crap from the Mayor? Arrest, arrest and arrest. Cooperate with the Feds and help make arrests. They can't get fired for upholding the law. Indeed why does any PD take this crap from Communist Mayors?; 7/26/20, 10:17 AM
Sam L. said...: Is Portland burning? If not, I expect it will, soon. Seattle, too. Minneapolis already has.; 7/26/20, 10:18 AM
Francisco D said...: Unknown said...
WHAT ARE THE RIOTS LEADING US TO?

Indifference.

The children are having a tantrum and their parents don't know what to do.; 7/26/20, 10:22 AM
Etienne said...: Unknown said...WHAT ARE THE RIOTS LEADING US TO?

Bankruptcy

Portland is among the seven major U.S. cities with the most staggering loads of debt per capita, according to a report Chicago-based Truth in Accounting.

The Rose City received an 'F' grade for its $4.4 billion worth of debt, most of it for capital projects and unfunded employee pensions. By that metric, Portland ranked 70th among 75 cities.

Can you imagine hippies spending 5 billion dollars and not having anything to show for it, except crumbling infrastructure?

It's a sin. God hates sinners.; 7/26/20, 10:37 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Get prepared. It's only a matter of time now before we have a dead Federal Marshal or two. Or maybe one get wounded and captured by Antifa and tortured live on Twitter.

The next step will be an infantry division heading into Portland and martial law followed by some "mostly peaceful protesters" getting shot.

It's only a matter of time now.; 7/26/20, 10:42 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: Wow on Andy Ngo's twitter.

The use of lasers is horrible.

I am surprised the Feds have not done more arrests.

Trump is basically trolling the rioters / antifa / protesters by defending the court house, and getting them to over react. So how soon to Trump demolishes the "mostly peaceful" trope the MSM is pushing.; 7/26/20, 10:45 AM
rcocean said...: Yeah, they're just "Protesters". Most peaceful too. Who are they? Are they left-wing or anarchists or communists? No one knows - Or the NYT/WaPo/MSM won't say. And what is "refuse Fascism"? What does that organization believe in? Why did the NYT contact HER as oppose to a lot of other people?

Everyone notices that the MSM NEVER calls organizations or people "left wing" or "extreme Left wing" unless they absolutely have to. They're just "activists" or "environmentalists" or "concerned citizens" or people without labels. Meanwhile Center-right non-partisan people can't even protest the lock-down without being labeled "Right wing" "Pro Trump" or "Extreme Right wing".; 7/26/20, 11:26 AM
Joe Smith said...: They've had their fun. The easiest way to stop it is declare a curfew then arrest everyone who breaks it and impose a mandatory federal sentence. But politicians in DC can't make that happen I guess.

If you leave it all on the local level there will be protests until the rain comes.; 7/26/20, 11:26 AM
gilbar said...: Chantelle Hershberger, an organizer with Refuse Fascism

ref·use (rĕf′yo͞os)
n.
Items or material discarded or rejected as useless or worthless; trash or rubbish.

I DO like, that they're calling themselves Nazi Trash
It's GOOD that the blackshirts are showing self-awareness; 7/26/20, 11:28 AM
RichAndSceptical said...: I'm guessing some of the "protestors" may spend many years in a federal penitentiary.; 7/26/20, 11:51 AM
rcocean said...: Reading the NYT article I was struck by what a propaganda it was. We're constantly told "The protesters" are doing this or saying that. But we get no details or identification. And all violence by the Protesters is crouched in vague passive voice language: "Shots rang out" in Austin. "Windows are smashed". "Buildings are set fire". There are "clashes between Police and the protesters" as if both sides are responsible.

At one point, we're told that and organized group of "Nurses" "Mothers" and "fathers in Hard hats" helped the protesters. How does the reporter know they are "Nurses"? What is remarkable about mothers/fathers doing something? Who is this mysterious "organized group"?

We then get quotes form selected "protesters" telling us (without evidence) that the police are terrible, the United states is fascist, and the police are using brutal tactics. We're given several people, not just the one Althouse talked about, and everyone quoted doesn't seem to be from Portland.

Finally, we're told the Federal Police went far beyond their assigned federal buildings. At almost no point in the article is the source for the various assertions given, other than a few "protesters" giving us their personal opinion or a Police Chief giving his official statement.

Its obvious the "protesters" all belong to organized groups. So why isn't the NYT telling us what those groups are? Why all the mystery and lack of journalistic curiosity? The NYT's quotes two innocuous signs. What about all the OTHER signs?; 7/26/20, 12:04 PM
Vonnegan said...: Michael K, make sure your granddaughter is looking at Alabama's honors college. Most of the kids from Houston who wind up there are B students and frat boy types, so if she is an A student, she needs to think about the honors route. If she's at all interested in being in Texas, she should check out Baylor. They have a scholarship calculator on their website that was 100% accurate for my older son - he loves it there, and they gave him 1/2 tuition for 4 years. Their honors program is excellent. Their great books program is actually legitimate, and teaches liberal arts as they were taught 50+ years ago. Both my son and his closest friend from HS chose it over Hillsdale.; 7/26/20, 12:06 PM
rcocean said...: BTW, I understand these riots are at night, but why aren't they being televised on Fox, MSNBC, and CNN? The media LOVES riots! But for some reason they don't want to show these on TV for hours and hours like the other ones. Isn't that CURIOUS? Isn't that ODD? What's up with that?

The WH Website said 3 Federal officers were blinded by lasers held by the "protesters" and may lose their sight. Why isn't this headline news? Why would something so awful be covered up? If 3 "protesters" were blinded by the police would the MSM pass over it in silence?; 7/26/20, 12:07 PM
Original Mike said...: "The use of lasers is horrible."

I'm puzzled by this. I have green lasers that I use for astronomy observing. They are EXTREMELY useful. You can follow the beam up into the sky. Attach them to your telescope and you can see where it's pointing. Beats the hell out of the alternatives, (Telrad, Red Dot Finders, etc.) And it's the solution to the age-old problem of pointing out objects to neophytes ("No, not that star, that one over there, … no, not that one. Follow the arc of stars, …oh, never mind).

But I thought they were required by law to be low power (5 mW), specifically to limit any potential damage. Looking into this, it looks like in the US 5mW is the legal limit for SALE, but it is not illegal to OWN higher powers. And there appear to be much higher power lasers for sale. Are they coming from other countries?; 7/26/20, 12:09 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Who/what is organizing these things? They can't possibly be spontaneous, either at the city level (sure, a bunch of folks just show up??) or at the national level??
“There has to be some group behind it, funding, planning, etc. I don't see why the FBI or local police can't figure it out”

I think that the FBI, in particular, is working hard on this. The key, I think, was designating AntiFA, in particular, as a terrorist organization. They at least appear to have Soros, which means foreign, financing. I think that means that they can use FISA to track down the organization and the money. Even a little foreign financing makes this much easier.

When they go after organized crimes, they can spend years building cases. They are bureaucrats, so they like completeness. And they love large projects like this. But that is their weakness too - they would prefer spending a year or two building a complete case on all of the perps involved in this sprawling organization, and ignore that we have an election in three months, and if they don’t start indicting their targets, their entire investigation has a decent chance of being flushed, if the Dems win.; 7/26/20, 12:13 PM
madAsHell said...: My school had a lot of Japanese, as they owned all the farms. I worked all the Japanese farms as a kid (strawberries, and raspberry's mostly).

My wife grew up in the canyons above the Japanese Rose Garden, but she was on the bus to pick berries in the summer!! It was good money for a kid.; 7/26/20, 12:14 PM
GingerBeer said...: Let me know when Portland gets to "Wall of Actuarials." That I want to see.; 7/26/20, 12:26 PM
Anonymous said...: cubanbob said...
Why does the Portland PD take this crap from the Mayor? Arrest, arrest and arrest. Cooperate with the Feds and help make arrests. They can't get fired for upholding the law. Indeed why does any PD take this crap from Communist Mayors?

The Portland Mayor also functions as the Police Commissioner. What do you think hat 50 years of Progressive Mayors and political decisions on Police promotions has done to the Police will to act?

You may not get fired for making an arrest, but you can go to jail if something in any arrest is alleged to have been wrong. And you certainly can get fired for acting against the orders of some political Captain.

Etienne said...
Can you imagine hippies spending 5 billion dollars and not having anything to show for it, except crumbling infrastructure?

Light rail designed to get you out of your evil car and take you to downtown, where nobody wants to go ever...; 7/26/20, 12:33 PM
Gk1 said...: "I understand these riots are at night, but why aren't they being televised on Fox, MSNBC, and CNN? The media LOVES riots!"

Because the media really doesn't want to publicize the wanton destruction, its bad for the narrative of brave progressives 'speaking truth to power'. Also its dangerous for them as Antifa doesn't want to be filmed doing crimes so they jump tv crews and journalists with impunity whenever they get the chance.; 7/26/20, 12:35 PM
Lars Porsena said...: They can carry on indefinitely. Grab some artisanal pizza, swill some IPA, recharge your phone , check your helmet and mask, head back out on for a night on the streets.

It's sort of like summer camp with a frisson of danger. If things get hairy Mom and Dad can
be counted on for rescue.; 7/26/20, 12:53 PM
Etienne said...: rcocean said...Why isn't this headline news?

Because they are fascists and work for the Trump administration, who was put in power by the Russians. So says Hillary, MicroSoftNBC, and CNN.

🎵 Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss 🎵; 7/26/20, 1:05 PM
walter said...: Summer of Glove.; 7/26/20, 1:05 PM
Etienne said...: madAsHell said...she was on the bus to pick berries in the summer!! It was good money for a kid.

Yep! My damned parents made me put the money in the bank to buy school clothes.

But I was smart enough to hold back $1 to buy lots of candy for the pretty girls on the bus.; 7/26/20, 1:13 PM
MD Greene said...: The demonstrations aren't being televised because "news" footage is difficult to shoot after dark and because the "news" networks already fill their evenings with gasbags talking around tables; the format is cheap to produce and less hazardous.

I don't understand why the feds don't just pull out. There was plenty of expensive mayhem before they were there, and their presence just gives the baby Maos another complaint against Trump. If they don't want federal troops, let them fix their own problems.

Empty that federal courthouse, cover its windows and doors with heavy-duty concrete. Move courtrooms and offices to low-rise office buildings in small towns on the other side of the Cascades or out of the state entirely. Stop arresting people for federal crimes, just as Portland has stopped jailing people for local crimes.

Harsh medicine maybe, but it would be an interesting social experiment.; 7/26/20, 1:15 PM
Jupiter said...: "Was she the sort of organizer who crosses state lines to participate in disorder going on in a place that's not her home or someone who stays in her home town and protests about what's happening elsewhere?"

And? What did you decide? You're supposed to be reading this dreck so we don't have to.; 7/26/20, 1:21 PM
Jim at said...: Oh, Portland is leading alright. But Seattle and Olympia are charging hard from the outside.

Fort Sumter was leading at one point, too.; 7/26/20, 1:24 PM
ALP said...: I do business immigration as a paralegal. Since consulates are not issuing visas to anyone abroad (and have not since mid March or so) my casework has been mostly about *keeping people in status* that are already here. Some cases are "Hail Mary" attempts at ***any*** nonimmigrant category that might stick. The biggest Hail Mary petition is the O-1A extraordinary ability.

Doing one right now with a snowball's chance of approval for a guy from Denmark. God forbid the family return to the global hellhole that is Copenhagen. Others are from Canada, Australia and U.K. (London). You can see why people are desperate, right? s/; 7/26/20, 1:31 PM
effinayright said...: I keep wondering if Oregonian hipsters still under strict covid lockdown spend their time binge-watching old episodes of "Portlandia".

----And then wonder what the hell hit them.; 7/26/20, 1:46 PM
Rabel said...: Chantelle

Hear her story. Feel her pain. Share her fears of the evil one.

On the bright side, when Chantelle blocks a freeway, she doesn't need a whole lot of help.; 7/26/20, 2:22 PM
Dave Begley said...: Etienne wrote, "The police and fire have only one goal, and that is to get their $60k a year pension after 20 years service. I know a lot of school buddies who joined at 18, retired at 40, and make more money than most employed people."

With today's interest rates, a $60k pension means $2m put at interest. Everyone cop and fireman is a millionaire.; 7/26/20, 2:25 PM
Dave Begley said...: Michael K:

If your granddaughter has *any* interest and talent in the health sciences, she should look at Creighton. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, OT and other majors I don't know about. New health care campus in Phoenix. Sorry, no real sailing in Nebraska. She can survive without it during the school year.; 7/26/20, 2:29 PM
Dave Begley said...: Mikee:

I was in Austin last October before the crackdown. The homeless were right across from the federal courthouse and the police station. I know exactly where that shooting was last night. It's the main drag.; 7/26/20, 2:30 PM
Dave Begley said...: Dr. K:

Creighton also has the best soccer field in America and a great men's program.; 7/26/20, 2:31 PM
Michael said...: Wait til the cop is cleared in the Floyd case. He no more “murdered” Floyd than Althouse did. There will be a lot of “shopping”; 7/26/20, 2:41 PM
Etienne said...: The hope is, that all the peaceful protesters will die from the China Virus. Some things take time.

If no one dies of China Virus after two months of rioting, we may have to get the Chinese to develop a more powerful weapon.; 7/26/20, 2:57 PM
mikee said...: Here in Austin, one of the protesters pointed a rifle at a car driver stuck in the protest. He got hisself shot. To death. It is a lesson to learn, this protest business.; 7/26/20, 4:39 PM
11Bravo1P said...: cubanbob said...
Why does the Portland PD take this crap from the Mayor? Arrest, arrest and arrest. Cooperate with the Feds and help make arrests. They can't get fired for upholding the law. Indeed why does any PD take this crap from Communist Mayors?

The police don't prosecute the cases post arrest, if the State's Attorney is pro-protestor, those charges will be dropped when the case gets to court regardless of merit. And there are some serious negative consequences to going against what the Mayor wants, because what the Mayor wants is what the police bosses want (they are political creatures). In places like Portland, the best option for good police is to leave/lateral to another department.; 7/26/20, 5:48 PM
wbfjrr2 said...: Texans carry guns, same as here in Arizona.

It’s why almost all the rioting is in blue, gun hating cities and states.

I hope the incident in Austin is on tape so they see the moron pointing the rifle.

College towns are full of really dumb, ignorant, entitled young people. Reality to them is whatever they dream up or been told by a nitwit professor.

A bullet is a reality some people realize the hard way.; 7/26/20, 6:48 PM
Original Mike said...: "Here in Austin, one of the protesters pointed a rifle at a car driver stuck in the protest. He got hisself shot. To death."

He died doing what he loved.; 7/26/20, 6:58 PM
Gk1 said...: What I'm learning from facebook is the poor "yute" in Austin was pushing someone in a wheel chair when someone in a car came up and shot him for no reason! But then it doesn't jibe with this youtube of the victim posing with his AK-47 earlier (sounding like Howard) that "the people who don't like protesting are too big of pussies to do anything about us"

https://youtu.be/uhm-nbr4zhg; 7/26/20, 8:18 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: I didn't realize, until I looked at Andy Ngo's Twitter feed this morning, that Eugene had its very own riot last night, early this morning. I'd link to the Register-Guard's article but, honestly, it reads like it was written by a 13 year old and is so full of advertisements and links it's not worth the bother [well, it was updated a couple of hours ago, so who knows]. The 'events' happened in two stages, during the first of which, the petty vandalizing (tagging etc) of stores, upending of trash cans etc, the police stayed away; during the second, which involved some physical confrontations and more serious vandalizing, the police used tear gas and made 8 arrests. My own opinion is that once the vandalizing began, the lot of them should've been arrested but, eh, I can't stiffen the spines of the bureaucrats and petty officeholders downtown.

And the attitude of a lot of the decayed hippie folk is, 'you want to trash Whole Foods? go for it'-- those people didn't want them downtown to begin with.; 7/26/20, 8:32 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: "Here in Austin, one of the protesters pointed a rifle at a car driver stuck in the protest. He got hisself shot. To death. It is a lesson to learn, this protest business."

In the end this is how the anarchists must be defeated. If law enforcement authorities can't or won't defend the public, the public will do it themselves. They will have to if they expect to hold onto the civilized society they created.; 7/26/20, 8:48 PM
Iman said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/26/20, 8:59 PM
ken in tx said...: Here's the latest info from the Austin Police Dpt; The guy with an AK pointed it at a guy trying to drive thru the crowd, that guy in the car fired the first three shots, hit the AK guy, then somebody else fired five shots at the car guy but missed.; 7/26/20, 10:31 PM
Openidname said...: "Crazy Jane said...

"The demonstrations aren't being televised because 'news' footage is difficult to shoot after dark."

Not sure if this is sarcasm. But Andy Ngo is managing to get some terrific footage after dark. Even though the rioters are trying to find him and beat him up and maybe oops accidentally kill him.; 7/26/20, 10:33 PM
Zach said...: But I thought they were required by law to be low power (5 mW), specifically to limit any potential damage. Looking into this, it looks like in the US 5mW is the legal limit for SALE, but it is not illegal to OWN higher powers. And there appear to be much higher power lasers for sale. Are they coming from other countries?

It's worse than that, actually. Green laser pointers use an IR laser and a frequency doubling crystal in order to get green. The incoming IR beam is much stronger than the outgoing green, and a lot of that makes it into the output beam.

Laser light is roughly 4x more damaging than the equivalent intensity of incoherent light (the kind you'd get from a searchlight, say) because of constructive interference. (Fun fact: laser speckles are always in focus, even if you're not wearing glasses. This is because the peaks and valleys of the interference pattern are occurring on your retinas, not on the thing you're looking at. Those same peaks are roughly 4x as intense as the average intensity of the beam).

And invisible lasers (IR or ultraviolet) are worst of all, because they don't trigger the blink reflex. Which makes those overpowered green lasers even worse.

Lasers are not toys.; 7/26/20, 11:15 PM
PM said...: Refuse Fascism is we having to separate paper, plastic, cans and garbage.; 7/27/20, 1:34 PM
Nichevo said...: ken in tx said...
Here's the latest info from the Austin Police Dpt; The guy with an AK pointed it at a guy trying to drive thru the crowd, that guy in the car fired the first three shots, hit the AK guy, then somebody else fired five shots at the car guy but missed.

7/26/20, 10:31 PM

That's odd. An Instapundit poster with a pro audio setup worked up a sonic analysis of the video recording which seemed to indicate BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM bang bang bang BOOM, as if a rifle got off four rounds, a pistol three, a rifle one.; 7/27/20, 9:21 PM