Monday, October 9, 2017

Good morning, and happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day! We’re grinding up the Daily Drip for a Monday, October 9, 2017. Portland’s weather is sparkling, with abundant autumn sun and a high of 68. Sunrise 7:19 AM, sunset 6:35 PM. It had the feel of a deepening fall last evening when the creamy orange peak of Mt. Hood quickly turned dark silver, and my hand felt numb around my IPA.

The sun’s coming up on a quieter downtown Portland than we saw yesterday, where the day began with the running of a thankfully screwup-free Portland Marathon, and ended with a small but clamorous rematch of the Patriot Prayer and Antifa crowds, with their dueling noisemakers, bullhorns, and most of all, throats. One man was arrested for toting a gun on Federal property; he was in the news last summer for defending the alleged MAX knifer. As for the Marathon, everyone seemed pleased with the out-and-back course, nobody was accidentally channeled running into an extra half-mile like last year, and there were porta-potties aplenty.

Wearing the horns of chagrin today are a dozen or so members of the Clackamas County Sheriffs Department who grinned and preened in a midnight nude calendar shoot inside the county courthouse as a very special gift for a retiring deputy. These guys, and they’re all guys, are sprawled around posing in provocative ways, with their naughty bits concealed except for the occasional moon. The sheriff is taking this all “very seriously,” in contrast to the rest of the world, which will laugh up its sleeve as this story spreads.

Portland’s KGW-TV is pre-empting its 6 PM news hour today for an investigative documentary on homelessness with a title that’s stung City Hall. “Tent City USA” reports that a third of the city’s population would consider leaving town because of the ubiquitous proliferation of unhoused people. Seeing this coming, Mayor Ted Wheeler called a news conference Friday seeking to refute the show’s title, amid the perception that no progress is being made. It’s not just a Portland problem, he pointed out. Nevertheless, it is a Portland problem, and it’ll be interesting to see what KGW shows us.

Columbus Day is celebrated in many cities, today, although not in Portland, which recognizes today as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in honor of those who were swept from the path of Columbus and those who followed. It’s not a day off for most of us, and the meters do require feeding. But you’ll get an echo if you shout into your mailbox today.

President Trump laid down his conditions for protecting the 800,000 DACA people who were brought illegally to the US by their parents. Chief among them is The Wall. Trump also tweeted congratulations to himself for the recovery work in Puerto Rico…”Nobody could have done what I’ve done for Puerto Rico with so little appreciation. So much work!” And he engaged in a twitter war with Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who uncorked right back, saying that the White House “has become an adult daycare, and somebody missed their shift.”

VP Mike Pence racked up a lot of miles over the weekend, flying to Las Vegas to honor first responders, then flying to Indianapolis to walk out of the Colts/49ers game after some San Francisco players took a knee during the National Anthem, then flying to Los Angeles. That was the lead story on the BBC last night.

The Dove soap company has apologized and yanked an ad which showed an African-American woman pulling off her brown shirt…and revealing a white-shirted red head underneath, as though that’s what soap does.

Harvey Weinstein, recently exposed as a serial sexual harasser, been fired by the Weinstein Company.

John Lennon was born October 9, 1940; his and Yoko’s son Sean arrived on his Dad’s 35th birthday. Lennon always said that 9 was his lucky number.

Dentists say they’re seeing a rise in the number of chipped teeth and other problems associated with munching on popcorn–which people are choosing as a healthy alternative to fried chips and such.

The highest of high fives to the Portland Thorns, who will play North Carolina this Saturday for the championship of the National Women’s Soccer League. The Thorns, and I love that name, are the sister franchise to the Portland Timbers. Rip City is representing!

Seahawks win…Blazers win…Yankees and Red Sox stay alive in the playoffs…Tigard stunned West Linn with a shutout in HS football…

It is my duty to report that this year’s Golden Spurtle, at the World Porridge Championship in Scotland, was won by a Swedish woman, dethroning Bob Moore, the founder of Bob’s Red Mill in Clackamas, where the porridge is nonetheless very fine indeed.

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on this date in 2009. He accepted it, saying he hoped someday to deserve it. I hope we all deserve it, through our thoughts and deeds, but for right now, let there be coffee on earth. Let it begin with me.