Monday, August 27, 2018

Good morning from Daily Drip Central! It’s Monday, August 27, 2018. We’re waking up to an autumn feel with light rain in the wind and school buses on the road…but no need to rush. There’s still summer to savor. Today any morning precip will fade in the sun, and we’ll reach a high of 80. Air quality is excellent. Sunrise 6:26 AM, sunset 7:57 PM. If there are gaps between clouds this morning, the full moon is sinking in slow mo in the western sky.

This is The Day for thousands of our children and youth as school begins in Portland, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Wilsonville, and others I’m sure. Anyone care to share any painful or happy memories of the first day of school?– the joy of being dealt a fresh hand, strange buildings and harder subjects and harder teachers, all paling against the dramatic social backdrop of that age: acceptance and snubs, enemies and friends. And who’s this new person that’s kind of caught your eye? Oh, the stories I could tell! but I’d rather hear yours.

What’s new on Day One in the Portland district–aside from two reopened middle schools to better serve North and Northeast Portland–is the return of drinking fountains! They were covered up last year because of the lead scandal, but today, we are assured, they’re flowing free and clean.

For our Clark County neighbors, this scheduled first week of school is very much in peril, as talks between teachers’ unions and school boards in practically every district are at an 11th-hour impasse, just before the scheduled start on Tuesday or Wednesday. The Vancouver, Evergreen, Battle Ground, Washougal, Ridgefield, and Hopkinson districts are all facing strikes if teachers are not given double-digit raises; school boards argue that such raises are unsustainable over time despite added money from the legislature and the direction of the courts.

-traffic sounder here…

The ramp from I-84 to I-5 southbound was supposed to reopen by now, but that’s been delayed a day because crews discovered still more deteriorated rebar that’s been holding up millions of cars since oldies were newbies.

****
He was never elected President, but today John McCain is regarded at that level of stature; the air is filled with praiseful words from voices on all sides of a political divide that McCain himself regarded with contempt and ignored will glee. His insistence on taking stands dictated by his intelligence and not his party earned him some enemies. But the contrast stands tall between his open objectivity …and the petty partisanship that dominates today.
Barack Obama Retweeted Little Le

Ten years ago tonight, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was nominated for President by the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Obama, who then defeated John McCain in the 2008 election, and former President George W. Bush, who’d derailed the Straight Talk Express in the 2000 GOP primaries, were requested by McCain himself to deliver eulogies at his memorial. I understand that it will be at the National Cathedral in Washington Saturday morning at 10 Eastern, 7 Pacific. The chronology of events honoring this great man, the moving memorial from Arizona to DC to Bethesda, almost reminds me of the passing of RFK. I bet a lot of people would salute that jet as it flies overhead. Another event among many is that Joe Biden, who was elected VP over the McCain-Palin ticket, speaks at a service at the North Phoenix Baptist Church at 10 AM Eastern on Thursday. We should meditate on the parting message McCain sends in selecting his team-of-rivals Obama, Bush, and Biden to speak at his memorials. He’s telling us to reach out across the aisle, reach out in the darkness–and he’s giving us the gift of handing the prime time mic to some wise people who might have something to say. I mean, really say. This might be a moment.

I’ll think this week we’ll toss in a few quotes from the late Senator but rising role model John McCain, starting with his advice to–

“Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood”
― John McCain (1936-2018), The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations

****
Sunday’s mass shooting in Florida seems to arise from something altogether different from others: during a Madden NFL gaming tournament, a guy who lost came back with a laser-sighted gun and shot up the room, killing two players, wounding 11, and taking his own life. There’s a lot of virtual gun violence in gamer world, but crossing over into RL is not cool.

***
Neil Simon died. He’s the playwright who wrote “The Odd Couple” and much more. A sample:

Oscar Madison: Don’t point that finger at me unless you intend to use it.
Felix Ungar: I’m a neurotic nut, but you’re crazy!

Neil Simon was 91.

****
And now…..the much-shared (via the link below, in comments. Please bookmark if you use this. We’re still trying to tame Facebook. Hello, Vladimir?) Headlines To Remind Us That It’s Going To Be OK:

–“John McCain’s Vietnamese jailer pays tribute to ‘stubborn’ prisoner–who taught him English” What? I didn’t know this. But why am I not surprised?

–“Cruise passengers cheer as their crew rescues three men after fishing boat sinks” This story had me at “Cruise”.

–“Police officer who breastfed malnourished baby on duty get a promotion to Sergeant” This story had me at…never mind.

–“Seattle girl feeds the crows in her garden – and they bring her gifts in return. She’s collected hundreds.” This is a weird BBC story. Check the link.

****
Lots of people are on vacation this week, including my radio partner Bruce Murdock, so our new friend Megan is filling in; and it’s vacation time at 1190 KEX, so guess who’s flipping their morning news this week? It’s a challenge that I enjoy, like doing the AM/FM George Carlin bit, but feeding the news beast for that legendary station requires that I get in earlier, and spend less time proofreading the DD. So if I misssed something…