In the coming hours, the largest ever transfer of money from labour to capital will become a Hyperreality.

Capitalism is dead.
Long live capitalism.

George Soros: "Paulson cannot be given a blank cheque."

Naomi Klein: "... nobody should believe the overblown claims that the market crisis signals the death of 'free market' ideology. Click to continue reading...

I'm home and still catching up, so this will be brief.  We're undergoing an audit by the State of NH at work starting tomorrow and running through the end of the week.  (As Princess Sparkle Pony would say ... "Yay!"). On the actual, honest-to-goodness YAY front, I see that the Phillies won (again) over the Braves, [. Click to continue reading...

Two of the men leading MLS expansion charges get the ink from their local papers today. Québécois dairy tycoon andMontréal Impact owner Joey Saputo has an enjoyable Q&A in the Montréal Gazette, while Portland Timbers impresario Merritt Paulson reveals loads of revenue and attendance related dirt on the Rose City club. Click to continue reading...

Resurrected. Thoughts after Portland's 4-0 drubbing of Miami FC Blues. Ideas about MLS to Portland. Interviews with Gavin Wilkinson, Tom Poltl, Chris Brown, Merritt Paulson and a bunch of 10 year old girls. Music by XTC and The Police. Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson held a press conference this morning formally announcing his MLS intentions and I for one am solidly behind him. Not that my opinion carries any weight in the real world but there you go. Also, I enjoy pandering to the Timbers Army constituency (hey, Seattle loves Ives so I'm not too concerned about upsetting Jet City). Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is making an aggressive push for the city's inclusion in the next round of Major League Soccer expansion. On Wednesday, he launched a public campaign to build support for the idea, which he said could bring "tremendous positive national spotlight to the city of Portland. Click to continue reading...

There has been a lot of news about MLS expansion floating around and I havent' written much on it because I've been sort of saving some of my thoughts for my PE column. I'm planning on writing next Tuesday's piece on expansion and kind of break down where things stand and what cities should get an expansion team. Click to continue reading...

Not long after the MLS commish said bids for new franchises have to be in by October, Portland Timbers owner and president Merritt Paulson said he's going for it.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Major League Soccer in Portland would both add a tremendous amount to the league and have a phenomenally positive impact on our community and state," Paulson said.

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We were cent the following Press Release early this morning:

Portlanders Launch Grassroots Effort to Bring Major League Soccer to the Rose City
New website features essay contest with $111 cash prize

PORTLAND, July 24th 2008 – On the eve of the 2008 Major League Soccer Allstar Game, a loosely assembled group of Portland residents, writers and sports fans today launched MLStoPDX.

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I would like to remain anonymous on the following if you choose to publish it.


This comes to us via email from an source wishing anonymity.

I was able to glean the following while sitting at a table behind to Merritt Paulson and some ‘other guy' at the Starbucks across from PGE Park earlier this week.

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Two expansion stories this week have come to the fore. As one city's hopes for MLS expansion in the immediate future, fade, another city's grows into sharper focus.


First the good news. Portland. We've been big proponents of Portland joining the league, especially since Seattle will start playing next year. Click to continue reading...

MLS Commissioner Don Garber and league president Mark Abbott will be in Portland today to revisit PGE Park. They will see PGE in "soccer mode" for the game tonight between the US Women and Mexico. Garber first looked at PGE Park in March but at the time, it was not setup for a soccer experience. There [...] Click to continue reading...