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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2010)
Page 6 <ri'1 |JortIanò (Observer New Prices Effective May 1,2010 Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CH G $45.00 A sm all distance/travel charge m ay be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: I small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services)-. $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly. $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) U PH O LSTERY C LE A N IN G Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139 Chair or Recliner $25 - $49 th W Throw Pillows (With Other Services) : $ 5.00 AD D ITIO NAL SE R V IC E S • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • M inor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 O pinion July 21.2010 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Gun Rights and Public Safety Look to the root cause of gun violence J udge G reg M athis S eco n d A m e n d m e n t w as T h e U .S . S u p r e m e n o t in te n d e d ju s t fo r m ili C o u rt re c e n tly ru le d th a t tia s an d d id , in fact, e x sta te an d lo cal g o v e rn te n d to in d iv id u a ls. m e n ts can no lo n g e r re W h ile th e r u li n g stric t an in d iv id u a l’s rig h t d o e s n ’t g u a ra n te e c itie s to o w n a firearm . H o w w ill m o d ify th e ir g u n ban e v er, the C o u r t’s d e c is io n an d law s, it d o e s o p en th e d o o r for su p p o rtin g a rg u m e n ts left ro o m r e s id e n ts to le g a lly c h a lle n g e fo r la w m a k e rs to im p o se so m e re th o se law s an d w in. stric tio n s on o w n e rsh ip and p re O ffic ia ls in th e se c itie s, w h e re v en t e asy a c c e ss to g u n s w h ile th e re are h ig h ra te s o f g u n c rim e, still p ro te c tin g th is b a sic rig h t. are u p se t an d fe a r th e c o u r t’s d e In h a n d in g d o w n its d e c isio n , c isio n w ill in terfere w ith th e ir a b il th e c o u rt fo c u sed its a tte n tio n on ity to c ra ft g u n law s th a t re d u c e a c ase th a t c h a lle n g e d a 2 8 -y e a r- crim e. T h at fear, h o w e v er, m ay be o ld C h ic a g o b an on h an d g u n s. u n fo u n d e d . T h e d e c isio n is an e x te n s io n o f T h e c o u rt m ad e c e rta in to n o te the c o u rt’s 2 0 0 8 ru lin g th a t the th a t th e rig h t to o w n a firea rm is by C u ttin g c itiz e n s o f f from g uns d o es little to h elp re d u c e c rim e s w hen w o u ld -b e crim in als buy their g u n s on th e b la c k m ark et. T h e re is n o t m u ch d a ta th at sh o w s g u n b an s in A m e ric a re d u c e g u n d e a th s b u t th e re is e x te n siv e re se a rc h on the k ey ro le c o m m u n ity c e n te rs, jo b c re a tio n a n d n e ig h b o r h o o d a n d p o lic e p a rtn e rs h ip s p la y in k e e p in g c iti z en s safe. I f o fficia ls in C h icag o an d o th er c itie s are s e rio u s a b o u t gu n v io le n ce p re v e n tio n , th e y w o u ld , in stea d o f lo o k in g fo r w o rk a ro u n d to th e C o u rt’s ru lin g , b e g in to th in k o f n ew w a y s to re d u c e gun crim es. n o t th e sam e as the rig h t to p o s sess an d c a rry a firea rm in any m a n n e r fo r w h a te v e r p u rp o se . To th a t en d , th e c o u rt d o e s su p p o rt re stric tin g firea rm o w n e rsh ip fo r fe lo n s an d th e m e n ta lly ill and e n c o u ra g e s state an d lo cal effo rts to c lo se lo o p h o le s th a t a llo w in d i v id u a ls to p u rc h a se g u n s w ith o u t a b a c k g ro u n d ch eck . W h at w e ’re left w ith is a h y b rid s itu a tio n - o n e th a t p ro te c ts an A m e ric a n ’s b asic rig h ts w h ile still le av in g ro o m fo r lo cal g o v e rn m e n ts to c ra ft th e law s th a t w ill k e ep th e ir s tre e ts safe. T h e se la w m a k e rs, e sp e c ia lly th o se in u rb an Greg Mathis is a retired Michi a re a s, sh o u ld a lso lo o k at th e ro o t gan District Court Judge and syn c a u se s o f c rim e an d g u n v io le n c e. dicated television judge. Keep the Internet Open for All Big companies want to manipulate access by J oseph T orres P erh ap s the greatest freedom in a democracy is free dom o f sp eech . T h ro u g h o u t o u r n a tio n 's h isto ry , people have died fighting not only for our right to speak, but for our right to be heard. The Internet is the greatest com m unications netw ork ever created because it allow s us to speak for ourselves w ithout first asking perm ission from co rp o rate g atek eep ers. The Internet's im portance as a fo rum for speech is the result o f the principle called net neu tra lity , w h ich p re v e n ts the phone and cable com panies that provide Internet service from d iscrim in atin g against content online or interfering with the free flow o f Internet traffic. But net neutrality and the open Internet may be in serious trouble. Julius Genachowski, the chairman o f the Federal Communications Commission, has been holding closed-door meetings with Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, and Google that could pave the way for a corporate takeover o f the Internet. The big phone and cable companies want to kill net neutrality so they can control and manipulate the con tent you can access on the Internet. Those who can pay will have their websites sped up; those who can't may have their sites slow ed dow n or even blocked. Guess who'll be able to pay that extra cost? The big corpo rations. Meanwhile, the small or startup business or the new non profit organization will be pushed to the digital margins. • The FCC, our nation's com munications watchdog agency, is currently trying to modernize ‘rhr JJnrtkinv» (fthserbfr Established 1970 USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0 ______________________________ ________ _4747J\JE^faniryLythetA<ingLJr_ B lv^^ E ditor - in -C hief , P ublisher : Charles H. Washington E ditor : M ichael L eig h to n D istribution M anager : M ark W ashington C reative D irector : P aul N e u feld t W eb E ditor : Jake Thomas P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, POBox3 1 3 7 , Portland, 0 R 9 7 2 0 8 oppose. The Sunlight Foundation re ported that 72 percent o f the lo b b y ists h ire d by A T & T , Comcast, Time W arner Cable, Verizon, the National Cable & Telecommunications A ssocia tion, and the U.S. Telecom As sociation—the leading opponents o f net neutrality—have previous government experience. This fig ure includes 18 former lawmak ers and 48 former Hill staffers who worked for the House and Senate commerce committees that provide congressional over sight o f the FCC. The FCC has the power to do the right thing. What the Ameri can people want is someone to stand up and fight for them against corporate corruption— w h e th e r from B P, A IG or Comcast. It needs to protect the Internet from a corporate take over. its Internet policy framework. Unless it succeeds, the phone and cable companies will be free to censor us online, block the websites we want to see, and track the websites we visit with- outdisclosingtheirpractices. The agency is under immense pres sure from the lobbyists to take control o f the Internet away from Internet users and turn it over to corporations. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that these com panies spent more than $20 mil lion lobbying the federal govern ment during the first quarter o f 2010 alone. Many o f these lob byists enjoy a direct line to deci sion-makers in Congress and at the FCC. Glance at a list o f the top staffers working on telecom munications just a few years ago, and you'll find name after name now representing indus Joseph Torres is a senior try, unconcerned about advo adviser fo r government and cating for positions they used to external affairs at Free Press. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. 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