4 ms·

Portland is not burning. Here's live context and sourced fact checks

120 points by dangle1 1y ago

pdx_flyer 1y ago
I'm glad someone posted this here. Outside of the 1 block where the protest is happening, you would never know anything is out of the ordinary in Portland. For reference: https://imgur.com/a/portland-ice-protests-perspective-lRFsQaV https://imgur.com/a/portland-ice-protests-perspective-lRFsQa...
paulddraper 1y ago
PulsePoint embed at the bottom ... 9 fires today as of 4pm PT. Not sure how many is normal though.
- pdx_flyer 1y ago
  A bunch of them are vegetation fires. We are very dry here right now, so any thrown cigarette is a risk. We are supposed to get some rain this weekend.
  - j_walter 1y ago
    https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/03/15/data-shows-fires-at-homeless-camps-remained-a-large-portion-of-portland-blazes-last-year/ https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/03/15/data-shows-fires-at-ho... Portland has issues with homeless...no one can deny this fact. Things are a little better since hard drugs were recriminalized, but the city is far from "fine".
    - pdx_flyer 1y ago
      Oh, are the homeless the reason the National Guard was called in? I thought it was for the protests. /s Yes, Portland has a homeless issue. It has had one since I moved here in 2013 (and probably before then). Covid made it worse but the issue is slowly getting better. But again, homelessness isn't what the President and Kristi Noem are talking about.
      - j_walter 1y ago
        [flagged]
        cosmicgadget 1y ago
        Interesting argumentation style. Which other cities should be occupied by federalized troops?
- superb_dev 1y ago
  It’s wildfire season unfortunately so some fires are expected
  - j_walter 1y ago
    Wildfires don't usually happen downtown...which is what this website seems to be tracking. At least from this 2023 article the number of fires related to the homeless camps is pretty consistent and only the % drops during the summer months. https:
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - superb_dev 1y ago
      I wouldn’t call them wildfires when they’re downtown either. Wildfire season just means it’s hot and dry so fires start easier everywhere
      - pdx_flyer 1y ago
        Yep, everything is dry, including the 5,200 park that sits less than a mile from downtown (Forest Park).
siliconc0w 1y ago
MAGA isn't really about facts on the ground. It's about repetition of lies and "muzzle velocity". Independent media gets fatigued calling you out, people tune out or accuse them of bias, and so eventually they just give up and "both sides" it - treating basic facts like an unknowable super-positional state.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
Havoc 1y ago
Facts and current administration parted ways amicably sometime around the "They're eating the dogs" era
arghandugh 1y ago
The rightwing disinformation network is so strong that family members do not believe anything I’m saying about my own city. Activist billionaire takeovers of media platforms coupled with inflammatory “good enough” AI videos have the potential to irrevocably rupture shared reality.
bix6 1y ago
Mobile top bar needs a fix (text is overlaying on other text) but this is epic
shard972 1y ago
I don't see how this convinces anyone on the other side that has other evidence that is not being displayed here. Lying through omission used to work before the internet but in the age of social media, a few hand curated fact checks isn't going to shift the needle and probably just makes people more dug in on their positions.
- pdx_flyer 1y ago
  My parents live in a small town in Texas and are in the MAGA camp. They came to Portland a couple of years ago to visit and said "oh, it's not like what was on TV"... Yes, that's what I was trying to tell you. Now they are saying I should move based on what they see on Fox News. I'm dumbfounded; Don't you remember what it was like when you were here? It hasn't changed. Part of it is a small town mentality, the big city is just dangerous. The rest of it is just being spoon fed clips of the same protest footage over and over and over again.
- techblueberry 1y ago
  What do you suggest?
- anigbrowl 1y ago
  I had an argument with someone earlier who commented on a post I'd made and was all in on the MAGA position. They accused me of ignorance and I invited them to post some video of supposedly 'war-ravaged' Portland (a phrase used by the WH press secretary recently). First they told me to go and look on the timelines of their favorite right wing influencers, and when I declined to go on a wild goose chase they followed up with a mix of invective and random factoids, like the Portland fire department responding to 9 fires in the last 24 hours. (Since I live near a fire station in a similarly sized city the idea of a few minor fires every day impresses me not at all.) It's tedious and unrewarding, but calling people's bluff is somewhat effective.
whyage 1y ago
The "live" view from the Standard Building is blocked. What are THEY trying to hide?!!!
- anigbrowl 1y ago
  I noticed that too. The cynical part of me observed it's a Sinclair-owned news station, and I can't help wondering if they made it unavailable because it doesn't support the position of their corporate owner.
  - cap11235 1y ago
    This is extremely dangerous to our democracy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE
pdx_flyer 1y ago
A local news station is going to have a 24-hour livestream outside of the ICE detention center - https://katu.com/news/local/24-hours-outside-ice-what-really-going-on-portland-oregon-trump-administration-local-republicans-immigration-protest-antifa-fascism-national-guard-kotek-police-crime-media-noem-kristi-dhs https://katu.com/news/local/24-hours-outside-ice-what-really...
cosmicgadget 1y ago
Part of me wishes each stream was accompanied by an obligatory "other side" viewpoint "for balance and objectivity" that showed disaster movie clips.
moogly 1y ago
Meanhile, on the other side of the fence/universe... https://gizmodo.com/fake-protest-videos-are-the-latest-ai-slop-to-go-viral-in-maga-world-2000669656 https://gizmodo.com/fake-protest-videos-are-the-latest-ai-sl...
_wire_ 1y ago
That anyone thinks burning Portland needs to be debunked is a testament to the insanity of the Trump admin.
yencabulator 1y ago
Remember how Los Angeles was completely destroyed a while back, too?
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
JohnTHaller 1y ago
You'd be amazed how many of the folks from high school are dumb enough to believe the right-wing media trope of cities being 'burned to the ground'. I was standing outside Fox News in NYC on a quiet, sunny afternoon while they were reporting on the 'war zone' that was NYC.

120 points by dangle1 1y ago

I'm glad someone posted this here. Outside of the 1 block where the protest is happening, you would never know anything is out of the ordinary in Portland. For reference: https://imgur.com/a/portland-ice-protests-perspective-lRFsQaV https://imgur.com/a/portland-ice-protests-perspective-lRFsQa...

paulddraper 1y ago

PulsePoint embed at the bottom ... 9 fires today as of 4pm PT. Not sure how many is normal though.

pdx_flyer 1y ago
A bunch of them are vegetation fires. We are very dry here right now, so any thrown cigarette is a risk. We are supposed to get some rain this weekend.
- j_walter 1y ago
  https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/03/15/data-shows-fires-at-homeless-camps-remained-a-large-portion-of-portland-blazes-last-year/ https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/03/15/data-shows-fires-at-ho... Portland has issues with homeless...no one can deny this fact. Things are a little better since hard drugs were recriminalized, but the city is far from "fine".
  - pdx_flyer 1y ago
    Oh, are the homeless the reason the National Guard was called in? I thought it was for the protests. /s Yes, Portland has a homeless issue. It has had one since I moved here in 2013 (and probably before then). Covid made it worse but the issue is slowly getting better. But again, homelessness isn't what the President and Kristi Noem are talking about.
    - j_walter 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - cosmicgadget 1y ago
        Interesting argumentation style. Which other cities should be occupied by federalized troops?
superb_dev 1y ago
It’s wildfire season unfortunately so some fires are expected
- j_walter 1y ago
  Wildfires don't usually happen downtown...which is what this website seems to be tracking. At least from this 2023 article the number of fires related to the homeless camps is pretty consistent and only the % drops during the summer months. https:
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - superb_dev 1y ago
    I wouldn’t call them wildfires when they’re downtown either. Wildfire season just means it’s hot and dry so fires start easier everywhere
    - pdx_flyer 1y ago
      Yep, everything is dry, including the 5,200 park that sits less than a mile from downtown (Forest Park).

siliconc0w 1y ago

MAGA isn't really about facts on the ground. It's about repetition of lies and "muzzle velocity". Independent media gets fatigued calling you out, people tune out or accuse them of bias, and so eventually they just give up and "both sides" it - treating basic facts like an unknowable super-positional state.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

Havoc 1y ago

Facts and current administration parted ways amicably sometime around the "They're eating the dogs" era

arghandugh 1y ago

The rightwing disinformation network is so strong that family members do not believe anything I’m saying about my own city. Activist billionaire takeovers of media platforms coupled with inflammatory “good enough” AI videos have the potential to irrevocably rupture shared reality.

bix6 1y ago

Mobile top bar needs a fix (text is overlaying on other text) but this is epic

shard972 1y ago

I don't see how this convinces anyone on the other side that has other evidence that is not being displayed here. Lying through omission used to work before the internet but in the age of social media, a few hand curated fact checks isn't going to shift the needle and probably just makes people more dug in on their positions.

pdx_flyer 1y ago
My parents live in a small town in Texas and are in the MAGA camp. They came to Portland a couple of years ago to visit and said "oh, it's not like what was on TV"... Yes, that's what I was trying to tell you. Now they are saying I should move based on what they see on Fox News. I'm dumbfounded; Don't you remember what it was like when you were here? It hasn't changed. Part of it is a small town mentality, the big city is just dangerous. The rest of it is just being spoon fed clips of the same protest footage over and over and over again.
techblueberry 1y ago
What do you suggest?
anigbrowl 1y ago
I had an argument with someone earlier who commented on a post I'd made and was all in on the MAGA position. They accused me of ignorance and I invited them to post some video of supposedly 'war-ravaged' Portland (a phrase used by the WH press secretary recently). First they told me to go and look on the timelines of their favorite right wing influencers, and when I declined to go on a wild goose chase they followed up with a mix of invective and random factoids, like the Portland fire department responding to 9 fires in the last 24 hours. (Since I live near a fire station in a similarly sized city the idea of a few minor fires every day impresses me not at all.) It's tedious and unrewarding, but calling people's bluff is somewhat effective.

whyage 1y ago

The "live" view from the Standard Building is blocked. What are THEY trying to hide?!!!

anigbrowl 1y ago
I noticed that too. The cynical part of me observed it's a Sinclair-owned news station, and I can't help wondering if they made it unavailable because it doesn't support the position of their corporate owner.
- cap11235 1y ago
  This is extremely dangerous to our democracy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE

pdx_flyer 1y ago

A local news station is going to have a 24-hour livestream outside of the ICE detention center - https://katu.com/news/local/24-hours-outside-ice-what-really-going-on-portland-oregon-trump-administration-local-republicans-immigration-protest-antifa-fascism-national-guard-kotek-police-crime-media-noem-kristi-dhs https://katu.com/news/local/24-hours-outside-ice-what-really...

cosmicgadget 1y ago

Part of me wishes each stream was accompanied by an obligatory "other side" viewpoint "for balance and objectivity" that showed disaster movie clips.

moogly 1y ago

Meanhile, on the other side of the fence/universe... https://gizmodo.com/fake-protest-videos-are-the-latest-ai-slop-to-go-viral-in-maga-world-2000669656 https://gizmodo.com/fake-protest-videos-are-the-latest-ai-sl...

_wire_ 1y ago

That anyone thinks burning Portland needs to be debunked is a testament to the insanity of the Trump admin.

yencabulator 1y ago

Remember how Los Angeles was completely destroyed a while back, too?

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

JohnTHaller 1y ago

You'd be amazed how many of the folks from high school are dumb enough to believe the right-wing media trope of cities being 'burned to the ground'. I was standing outside Fox News in NYC on a quiet, sunny afternoon while they were reporting on the 'war zone' that was NYC.