I wonder if my brother in law is there. He's a Portland firefighter

Fire department.

down to the protesters.

too bad he doesn't have a body cam for DU. LOL

Have been watching.

Just up the river

I thought it was going to take longer to repair.

not a hanging protester

....of the river.

I'm watching the livestream...but I may have to pop down there and watch in person.

If I jumped in my neighbor's kayak, I could be there too!

But I won't.

with them.

on local oregon news stations. two of the kayaktivists - older women - were bold and standing in their truth and power. i support them - and especially today when another oil slick has appeared off the beach of my home town and alma mater.

shell should not be drilling for oil in the arctic. i cannot understand how reasonable "do the right thing" people granted them this permission. - i would put the oil drillers in the same prison the lion killer is headed to.

hook and ladder, too

What a spectacle.

The mayor was not there.

....and hooked the rope of a protester.

not sure why

.....is this blocking the main river of all large traffic or is this a tributary that only leads to the dry dock/repair dock where the Shell ship is?


Because if they are blocking all this they were doomed to a rapid failure from local authorities:


Over 17 million tons of cargo move through Portland each year. Twelve million tons of this cargo moves through the Port of Portland-owned and operated facilities.
Major exports include grain, soda ash, potash, automobiles, and hay; major imports are automobiles, steel, machinery, mineral bulks and other varied products.
Imports and exports at the Port of Portland total about $15.4 billion USD, annual.

is noted..

....you really think the local powers that be are going to let $15 billion in shipping grind to a halt? Unlikely.

Mostly.

This is on the Willamette and there are other marine terminals downstream from this bridge and on the Columbia River proper.

It does require thinking about possible consequences from an action and how a specific action might affect others. For example, business and the jobs that dockworkers have, perishable cargo that might be waiting to be unloaded or scheduled to be loaded on ships that would have to just anchor and wait.


This is blocking the Willamette (stress on -lam-). There are a couple of marine terminals upstream from the St. John's bridge, but the traffic can probably be routed through terminals downstream or on the Columbia. In some cases there may be difficulty with logistics (is there enough railway or support for specific cargo?). If the Port of Portland is booked solid, a day can create a backlog and cost people a lot of money.

That's fine, but their actions are meticulously planned out, I trust them to pick what is most effective.

Like that time they practically destroyed one of the worlds oldest works of art?

http://gizmodo.com/how-greenpeace-wrecked-one-of-the-most-sacred-places-in-1669873583

Greenpeace, like any other activist group, is full of a bunch of people who take the law into their own hands, and anytime groups do this, they mess up sometimes.

Meticulous is not a word I would use for any activist group. Though I appreciate all of their efforts, none of them are perfect heroes.

The St. Johns Bridge is just a ways (three or four miles) from the confluence with the Columbia.

The kayaktivists, that is. A lot of the container ships are too short to have a problem with the people hanging from the bridge.

I suspect another big concern is that this has the St. Johns Bridge closed to traffic. Most of Portland's bridges over the Willamette are located a good ways upstream, nearer the heart of the city (the St. Johns neighborhood is pretty far north). So this is the only bridge for a good few miles...and the evening rush hour has started. An inconvenience for most, but if ambulances cant get past the inevitable traffic back-up, it could be a very bad situation. I strongly agree with the protesters' aims, but not to the point of putting someone needing medical transport at grave risk.

The river channel is open now, by the way. Only the bridge "hangers" remain.

there are many hospitals and medical facilities on BOTH sides of the river, as well as plenty of ambulances and services.

So medical necessity is not a concern.

...it's the massive, widespread clusterfuck that traffic anywhere near the bridge will become when people can't get across. You've seen, I assume, how bad it gets (particularly on the St. Johns side) at rush hour on a normal day. People unwittingly approaching the bridge on their usual commute, unaware of the situation, are going will be getting backed up, I suspect. Tempted to ride my bike up there to see...

Think I will go check the TV.

the kayaks were corralled (kettled?) to one side of the river, not allowed to move

one protester has been removed

a couple of people are in the water

is that we are paying people to protect us and our rights while watching them do corporate bidding.

I hope Greenpeace can stop Shell...but like all that is evil, they will return...

to fight. But they weren't the ones who were every going to stop the boat.

What's ironic, and a little sad, is that all the people on shore, anyone who is not in front of that boat, is insuring a dead future for their descendants as they leave to watch the trials of the activists from the comfort of their lazyboys.

As they watch the people, police, firelighters, others working so hard to do Shell's bidding, I wonder if they realize that the ones in the water aren't the ones who have enough power to stop Shell. That's our job.

They one's in the water are just showing us what a couple million more of us could have done if we weren't so servile.

Some things are worth fighting for...and I can't think of a better one than the future environmental health of our planet.

is gone and there is a system in place whereby the wealth of the few is being propped up by everyone else. We no longer have a world to destroy in a war and then sell them everything to create an economy.

Today, for about 100 million Americans - and many globally, they are being left in poverty or near poverty to prop up the wealth of the other 3/4 of our population.

We even have people pretending that the lower deficit - spending and the increase of which, partly just for color-blind government jobs could bring those people out of poverty . At the cost of diluting some of the wealth of the people who bankrolled our last couple of candidates, of course.But I think that is a good thing.

Timothy "Killer" Geither wrote a book called Stress Test that outlines how we are doing it. He leaves out the part about how we are leaving children hungry to help bank$ter/donors, but programs to offer assistance to our neighbors are cut and trimmed to leave more for our bank$ter fiends. So we are. You can see voters - who it turns out are not as stupid as he seems to think - laugh at his face about that here . There is a 35% unemployment rate (really higher than that) among black males in large inner city areas, and that is kept there directly by not spending on government jobs- i.e. "keeping the deficit low". These policies are a significant part of how we are becoming less secure by the day, no longer investing in our people, much like we were prior to 1800. And we damn well know it.

We badly need a conversation about how whether it is worth going forward in servitude to the bank$ter/donors, but people have their heads hanging too low, it seems. Instead of talking about those real issues, and how they drive Shell's firefighters and police to confront those good people at the bridge, we coo at brightly colored kayaks and dangling protesters.

Like Romans watching the Gladiators.

We think we are talking about our future environment, but it might be a lot bigger. Look out the window. Instead of a future for the kids, future travelers here will maybe find what remains of our Colosseum, and a bunch of rocks.

blocking the Fennica. Police boats and USCG trying to corral them. It's like herding cats.....

...and last I heard, an activist has "locked" himself to the RR bridge (which would disrupt Amtrak, I spose)

It's Portlandia!

You know, one of those annoying people that comes to your door and tries to get you to give them money. What I can tell all of you is that if you like what they're doing then the best way you can help is to become a monthly donor. Everybody always thinks that to help out they have to be willing to get arrested or become an international pirate or something. Trust me, Greenpeace has no shortage of people willing to do direct action. What they really need are monetary contributions. $15 of $20 a month goes a long way to helping them perform actions like this.

I can't tell you how frustrating it was to see that even in very liberal neighborhoods how hard it is to get people to pitch in even $15 a month. Everybody says they support Greenpeace. Well, if you do, put your money where your mouth is and cough up some dough for them. They're out there fighting the good fight.

possibly comes from investments and labor into corporations who oppose not only Greenpeace, but virtually any group fighting for a survivable future.

When one labors for evil, I almost find it sickening to take it, even for a good cause. At their very best they are a one step forward, two steps back ally to change, democracy and every form of justice. Aside of course from corporate ones.

Thank you for your good work on the front lines!