Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Hello, Americans! It’s Tuesday, July 17, 2018, and we hear from unimpeachable weather sources that today will be Portland’s last in the string of 90 degree days. Ninety-five, they’re predicting for today, then a lovely 80 on Wednesday. And the nights will be cooler, your sleep will be better, your dreams sweeter. Sunrise 5:38 AM, sunset 8:54 PM.

People across the spectrum are sick over President Trump’s display of acquiescence in Helsinki. Trump fan Newt Gingrich called it “the most serious mistake of his presidency.” Non-fan John McCain said, “No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant.” Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “You stood there like a little wet noodle.” The Russian press is praising Putin for “outmaneuvering” Trump, while worrying that Trump has lost face through having his lunch eaten in Helsinki, and may not be able to deliver what Putin hopes for. Trump is quoting himself, via Twitter, with this: “I would rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace, than to risk peace in pursuit of politics.”

As people try to explain why Trump is so obeisant to the former KGB agent Putin, Senator Jeff Merkley openly speculates that the Russian government has something on the president.

Separately, a young Russian woman is jailed in the US for failing to register as a foreign agent, after she buddied up to the NRA and tried to broker a pre-election meeting between Putin and Trump.

Oregon State University has cut ties with longtime sponsor Papa John’s, over its founder’s use of the obscenity that starts with “n.”

Experts at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife say it wasn’t a cougar after all that jumped a small dog at SE 118th and Division. They had a look at the wounds and determined it was a coyote.

Remember a couple of years ago when a man set off a pipe bomb on Aisle Thirteen of the Fred Meyer at 82nd and Foster Road? He was sentenced yesterday to six years in federal prison. He did it to create a diversion for shoplifting. “Meth thinking has not served him well,” said his attorney.

Amazon hopes to be fully up and running after the system crashed under the weight of traffic on Amazon Day, which continues today.

Major League Baseball’s meaningless but entertaining All-Star Game is tonight.

This is the anniversary of the day things changed for good on a 160-acre plot of sandy land once filled with orange and peach trees and a few houses near a quiet town called Anaheim. Walt Disney wanted an inland location for his fantasyland dream because he felt the ocean attracted seedy people; his advisers looked at rainfall records, traffic patterns, population projections, and even smog before settling on Orange County, then ruled out sites because of their proximity to oil wells or migrant labor camps, and Disneyland opened on this day in 1955.

The #1 song fifty years ago today, when guys like me were sprouting peach fuzz on our chins, was “This Guy’s In Love With You,” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for trumpet player Herb Alpert to sing about as well as any trumpet player could. Herb’s still very much around; he and wife Lani Hall–former lead vocalist for Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66–will be in Bend and Salem this coming October.

Tell Me Something Peachy!

–“Alabama college student walked 20 miles to 1st day of work so his boss gave him his car”

–“France’s Kylian Mbappe, 19-year-old phenom, will donate World Cup earnings to charity”

–“8-Year-Old Girl’s Birthday Wish Yields Over 12,000 Pounds Worth of Pet Food”

–“After police officers in Tukwila, WA see a boy running around with dirty socks, they bought him a new pair of shoes, attended to his injuries and got ice pops for him.”

–“In 2017, carbon emissions from energy use from the US were the lowest since 1992”

OK kids! Time to grab our PeeChees and catch the school bus!