Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Good morning to you! Here’s your own personal news update on this Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Portland’s weather is balmy and warm, for the second-to-last day of Spring, with highs near 90 degrees. PDX made 83 yesterday. Sunrise 5:21 AM sunset 9:02 PM. It’s one of those rare days of the year when sunrise and sunset are at the same time as the previous day; that happens when we’re near the Solstice and the pendulum is pausing.

News..a lot to sort out….a lot to endure, and react to, and take a stand on..

Some hard news has fallen on 14,000 young Oregonians with intellectual disabilities and their families, as Special Olympics has canceled the 2018 State Games competition. Instead, they’ll spend their limited resources on year-round local activities and training. Also canceled: the Bite of Oregon, a benefit for Special Olympics.

And now to the border. As more and more families are being separated, comments are rolling in from all sides mostly condemning the Trump policy of making an example by prosecuting (for a misdemeanor) every single soul who sets an undocumented foot in the US after trudging on roads or riding a rickety packed bus from El Salvador and Guatemala to America. Asylum in the US is the only hope they see of escaping the horrors of home, the gun violence and gangs (like MS-13, which originated in LA in the 80s, and was spread in Central America by members who were deported). But when grownups are jailed, their kids can’t go with them, and so our present government policy is to funnel these thousands of children into fenced pens at an old Walmart, where they are fed and shown TV and wonder if they’ll ever see their Mom or Dad again. From John McCain: the policy is “an affront to the decency of the American people.” From Ron Wyden: “Trump’s grotesque trampling on human rights must have zero place in America and in Oregon.” From Ted Cruz: “All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers.” From Dan Rather: “Let’s be clear – tearing children away from their parents is but a logical extension of this administration’s immigration policy – a policy already steeped in cruelty and fueled by racism and demagoguery.” Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker canceled the deployment of his state’s National Guard troops to the border in protest. But Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says there will be no apologies, and: “It is important to note that these minors are very well taken care of — don’t believe the press.”

Here in Portland, protestors continue a 24-hour vigil outside ICE headquarters at 4310 SW Macadam. A lot of that is connected to our own version of the events on the border, as over a hundred asylum-seeking men are held at the federal prison in Sheridan, southwest of Portland. Another vigil is happening outside that facility, while an extensive legal network has sprung up on behalf of the detainees with volunteer lawyers saying they’ve been denied access to legal counsel.

Dow futures are down hundreds of points, as investors around the world are rattled by the latest layers of threatened tariffs emanating from the White House.

Something completely new to look at? President Trump yesterday ordered the Defense Department to create an entirely new branch of the military called the Space Force, on par with the Army and the Navy and the Air Force, with the mission of “reclaiming America’s heritage as the world’s greatest spacefaring nation.”

In the College World Series: a do-or-die game that was delayed by lightning and rain for 4 and a half hours ended with the Oregon State Beavers pounding the Washington Huskies 14-5.

The state means biz when it says no booze on the beach at the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area–they’ve cranked out 140 citations and warnings since the ban took effect in May.

On today’s birthday roster…Ann Wilson of Heart, Salman Rushdie, Lou Gehrig, Kathleen Turner, Guy Lombardo, and Moe from the Three Stooges–who was born in 1897.

Happy birthday to the Federal Communications Commission, keeping us safe from interference on our assigned radio frequencies, and also from skin and dirty words, since 1934.

The BBC reports that women today speak at a deeper pitch than women of past generations — because their more prominent role in society has led them to adopt tones that project authority and dominance.

The ever-popular “Les Miserables” opens at a near-sellout Keller tonight. The winsome little urchin in the ads is a detail from Emile Bayard’s “Portrait of Cosette,” printed in the original 1862 edition of the novel by Victor Hugo. Cosette is a street kid, fending emotionally for herself after she was ripped from the arms of her mother, who’d been arrested for some crime.

Sounds familiar.

So, that’s the news, and may I just say, Argh? Tell me something non-arghworthy!

–“Kind Texas Cop Buys Food For Man Whose Groceries Were Stolen When He Fainted Outside Store.”

–“Indiana state trooper lauded as ‘hero’ for pulling over ‘slowpoke’ left-lane driver.” Hero?

–“In California, more and more companies want to recruit autistic employees.”

–“Europe’s oldest tree is still growing.” (It’s in Italy, and was planted in the year 788).

–“Man makes girlfriend’s dream come true by proposing to her in a Trader Joe’s.”

–“Radio Daddio finds a vacationing neighbor’s escaped cat.” I’m practicing my I’m-not-a-hero speech for media interviews.

Away we go into a workday! We’ll be seeing you on 103.3 from 5 to 9, and right here all day!