Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Morning, sleepy person! I’m right there with you. It’s Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Portland’s weather is a day or two away from soaring into the 90’s, so today’s 78 should be an occasion for knocking stuff out so you can avoid toiling in the heat later this week. Sunrise 5:32 AM, sunset 8:59 PM. That’ll be our first pre-9 PM sundown in a month.

Latest from the cave rescue? Three more boys are out–which means one boy and the coach remain, along with several Thai Navy SEALS who are with them. Doctors say most of the kids who’ve been rescued are in better condition than they’d expected, but a couple may have lung infections. This may wrap up today!

Let’s see if day two of Carmaggeddon works out more according to script today than yesterday, when the likes of me were urging, nay, braying on the air that you must at all costs avoid I-5. Sneakily, it turned out that 205 was the utter disaster, where a freak construction snafu shut down two lanes on the very highway that was the recommended alternative to I-5. What happened apparently is that an overnight crew’s equipment malfunction prevented pavement from hardening. Seems inexcusable. They have pills for that.

And the rose goes to—Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s 53-year old pick from among the appellate judges vetted by the Federalist Society to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Kavanaugh will provide the steady shove to the right for which Trump was elected. I hope the upcoming confirmation hearings will be a national civics deep-dive into the profound power wielded by these nine individuals, who are appointed for life and literally have their hands upon the Constitution. These nine have the power of the founders. How many people can name them all, without Googling? Most do better naming the Seven Dwarfs.

(BTW We’d love to hear the perspectives of the legal types within the Drip group. I think the confirmation process will be a mortal struggle over Roe, which Kavanaugh famously called “a binding precedent” in his confirmation hearings for the DC Circuit. Which means absolutely nothing now, for the simple reason that SCOTUS rulings are binding to circuit judges, but not to SCOTUS. They could overturn Roe. Not saying they will, but for a mighty congregation of religious voters on the right, that’s the whole idea of their support of Trump).

The government says at least fifty immigrant children under age 5 will be reunited with their parents in time for today’s deadline, and the families will then be released into the U.S. But that’s only half the kids covered under the court order.

A skirmish broke out between federal police and demonstrators outside the ICE HQ on Macadam. Three arrested, two feds have minor injuries. These were not city officers. In fact, the City of Portland served papers on the feds saying the fence that Homeland Security built at the ICE office wasn’t built to city code. And was built without a permit. Kind of a gutsy counter-aggression by City Hall; we’ll see what happens.

It’s unthinkable that anyone wouldn’t get immediate medical help if their children needed it, but that’s why an Oregon City mother and father are going to prison for six years minus time served. These young people belong to a small congregation that relies on hands-on faith healing, rather than humankind’s God-given ability to figure things out and let the doctors and nurses take it from there. Their infant daughter died last year after being prematurely born, in a home, surrounded by church people. Nobody called 911. A twin (and they didn’t know there were twins) barely survived. That’s the fifth such case among this small group, though prosecutors see hope in the fact that the plea agreement includes the posting of a statement by the couple inside their unmarked building near the point where Molalla Ave meets 213, saying that “everyone in the church should always seek adequate medical care for our children.” They do for their pets, for crying out loud. And they wear glasses.

Democrats led by Kate Brown are pressuring Bend Democratic legislative candidate Nathan Boddie, M.D., to resign his nomination after he was accused of sexually harassing a woman at a bar, and then claiming his accuser has a substance abuse problem. Victim-shaming, say party leaders. The Gov tweeted, “I’m not willing to compromise my values over an election. Time’s up.”

Mayor Ted Wheeler seems to be growing a beard. I did that once, to savage reviews, and auctioned it off for $7,000 for Make-a-Wish. Your move, Ted! (There’s a Make-a-Wish car auction going on now. Go to their website for details. It’s a Subaru).

Someone posted the following on the Portland Reddit message board: “Red means stop! Someone just blew a red light in front of the MAX, causing the operator to hit the emergency brake, which caused some poor woman in a wheelchair to fall over and needed medical attention.”

George Clooney suffered minor injuries in Italy when somebody ran into his motorcycle.

World Cup semis begin today with France vs. Belgium at 11 AM on FOX. It’s England vs. Croatia tomorrow. Wouldn’t you love to be in a pub in London tomorrow night?

Kelso High School breaks ground this morning on a new football field..with the same turf that the Seattle Seahawks, UW Huskies, and WSU Cougars play on in their stadiums.

TMSG

–“When the Texas heat got to a senior citizen doing his yard work, a responding fireman to the 911 call pitched in and finished up the man’s lawn care”

–“California couple finds wedding ring in ashes of burned-down home”

–“Man drops $1,300 outside supermarket, good Samaritan returns all of it”

–“Cerebral palsy didn’t stop this 9-year-old girl from saving her baby brother from drowning”

–“Activists use soccer jerseys to form “hidden” rainbow flag in Russia, where displaying LGBT flag is illegal”

–“Women Who Violate Tehran Dress Code Won’t Be Arrested, for the First Time in Nearly 40 Years”

#timesup. Gotta get to work!