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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2010)
street roots 13 April 1, 2010 Readers chime in on Street Roots coverage, other stuff I f you have a question fo r Street Roots Managing Editor Junie-bug Zoloft, write to her a t juniebugforever® streetroots.org. Dear Editor, My 12year-old son picked up one o f your newspapers from a man outside of Powell’s last week, only to fin d two uses of thefiword, and a “sh-t. ” I know you think you’re doing something positive for the people who sell your paper, but you have to realize that little children are reading ASK THE this. They are buying EDITOR. the paper on the streets 6 0 AHEAD’ and learning these words from you. Please do not undermine the ability o f parents to raise their children to be respectful citizens. Reed College protesting the media’s portrayal o f Reed as some kind o f heroin capital. A t least two dozen people turned out and sat down in protest. There wasn’t even a mention of it in your paper, which is supposed to represent us. Is it too much to ask that you take the time to send out one of your reporters to organizing meetings around these events, or are you just too good for us these days? The people need to stand up and take back the power, and there’s a lot of empowerment happening out there. We at least thought Street Roots would be interested in what the “little” people are doing. -ANARCHY BLUE -LINDA Dear Anarchy, Thanks! Great points! Dear Linda, Point taken, Linda. Thanks for the sharp eye! Dear Editor, How come I never see a Street Roots reporter at the cop protests or the war rallies? Or the Columbia River Crossing demonstrations? Other media are out there, why not Street Roots? The recent Recall Sam Adams campaign rally brought out KGW, KATU, The Oregonian, The Williamette Week, The Portland Mercury and OPB, but no Street Roots! A nd last month there was a sit-in at Dear Editor, I ’m looking at buying a condominium in Portland’s inner Southeast Neighborhood. What do I need to know about homeless people in your city before I arrive? -ROBERT A lot! Thanks for writing, Robert! Dear Editor, So, you’re a homelessness newspaper. I f that’s really true, as you claim, than how come you charge a dollar for it? Is that why people are panhandling in downtown Portland, to raise money to buy your paper? -DENNIS Hi Dennis. Actually we’re not a “homeless” newspaper and we don’t use that term. We .were created more than 11 years ago by people on the street who wanted a voice in their community as policies and attitudes were painting them into a corner. That said, our coverage in the paper has grown to encompass many issues of social and economic justice, interesting personalities and our local culture. And our readers are people who care about those issues. Our vendors are homeless and low- income residents, who often give the paper for free to people who don’t have any money to pay for one, because people on the street know we cover the issues important to them. Regarding the second part of your question, we don’t have a clue why people are panhandling in downtown Portland. Dear Editor, I would read your paper more i f you printed more positive and entertaining articles. -TIFFANY So would we, Tiffany! Thanks! Drink up, but don’t get caught sipping the liberal Kool-Aid D /oh« Q. Paytreeut knows what's good for you. Teabagge-, I mean, Tea Partier: ( ear Lipton vs. Earl Grey. Any thoughts? -CURIOUS Dear Curious, Earl Grey? Who the hell is he? Sounds like some kinda limey commie socialist to me. Our original Tea Party brethren didn’t throw off the monarchical fist of our British oppressors just so we could wind up filling ASK A the coffers of the socialist New-World- TEABAG... ER, Order European TEA PARTIER Union 250 years later. Show your true colors (which don’t bleed) by always buying American, my friend. That means Lipton, that means good ol’ American flags (which are made in China - ed.) and that means.Toyota. Go USA! you know what I'mean. But it’s every man for himself, I’m afraid, just.the way God and the'Founding Fathers intended. Universal health' care is just secret code for a free ride for welfare queens and illegal immigrants. The only thing our tax dollars should go for is killing unruly foreigners who mess with the oil that rightfully belongs to us. I’m talking about the Arabs and the French. the dictionary that white is “radiated or transmitted light containing all of the visible rays of the spectrum,” which means it’s a mixture of all the ... um, different colors. Like, uh, red and yellow and ... Crap. Well, I guess it’s not quite so pure as I thought. Never mind. Dumb question! You should stick to drinking coffee. Wait, that’s brown. Dammit! Dear Teabagger. Sorry, Tea Partier: I recently moved to Oregon, and I ’ve encountered chai for the first time. I t’s yummy, but like any new experience, it can be so confusing. Can you recommend how I might best explore its creamy white goodness? Dear Teabagger. Oops, I mean, Tea Partier: I ’m dreadfully sorry, but I seem to have gotten lost. I followed a curiously anthropomorphic rabbit down a hole and found myself in the midst o f the strangest tea party. A nd there’s a shrill red queen named Palin who’s calling for the heads of people she calls “liberals. ” Her folksy fascism has given me quite a splitting headache. Do you have any advice on how I might fin d my way home? A w Teabag-. Doh! My bad. Tea Partier: Tea is such a healthy drink. What do you think about imposing a 1-cent tax on it that could go toward universal health care, something that would benefit all o f us as a society? After all, we’re all in this together, aren’t we? -METHE PEOPLE Dear Me, oil m it int- ciirp Knpp-deen in it. if -MYWAYORTOWAY Dear MWOTCW, Chai? That wouldn’t be short for “Chai- nese” would it? Because they own us lock, stock and pork barrel, thanks to those scheming traitors in Congress. Might as well be wearing gray dungarees with little . red stars on ’em and singing Papa-ooh-Mao- Mao, you know what I’m saying? On the other hand, this chai stuff you’re talking about is white, you say? Now, that’s a good thing, because white means clarity. White means American. Saying that don’t make me a racist You can look it up for yourself in the Bible or any of Glenn Beck’s books. White is pure. Heck, it says right here in' DETOUR 3035 S.E. Division • Portland, OR 97202 503.234.7499 .. —ALICE, AGE 7 Dear Alice, You sound like a polite, bright little girl, darling. But did you know that under the forced-down-our-throats health care reform bill you would have been aborted well before you lived to become so well-spoken? Think about th a t Now, you must excuse me. I’m late for a very important date to spit on a congressman. Next week: Ask a Mad Hatter
