Just a day or so ago, I wrote this:

There's an odds-on chance that we're set to witness more large-scale system failures as bloated, wasteful and sluggish institutions run into challenges they cannot adequately address.

Katrina is the example du jour, and a spectacular one at that, but there are contemporary examples in recent history. The failure of the Democratic party to dispose of Bush is one. The failure of the Pentagon to produce an unabashedly total result in Iraq. The failure of anti-war activists to make even a dent in the march to war.

In truth, that last one is more an example of a failed coalition than a failed institution. However, part of the whole thesis is that effective coalitions can in many way do the work of organizations which have become institutionalized. As such, I have to make the case that most recently constituted coalitions -- the anti-war protest movelet, America Votes, etc -- have been in some way lacking in critial qualities which render them ineffective. When I do that, it's not to disrespect or run anyone down. It's an honest inquiry into what works conducted in the hope of making things somehow better.

And now for an unrelated, but still revolution-oriented Portland-inspired thought.

Fires are part of the revolution. Sitting around a fire gets you back into a deep human place. You go out when the band it done playing, and someone picks up some scrap lumber from a construction site and you break some of it up and throw a little white gas on and suddenly you've got the original community ritual, ready for a gathering. It helps if it's the right kind of cold outside, but regardless it's a good thing to sit around a fire with some friends and talk.

It's been a good night. I could really see myself staying here for longer than a weekend if I had the option. Feels like a place where it would be possible to put down some roots.