Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Arise, Dripfolk! and greet with a glad heart this Tuesday, July 16, 2019! A weak surface low off the Oregon coast is leaning inland, solidifying the cloud cover and bringing just a dab of rain, with highs a clammy 75. Say, the launch of Apollo 11 was 50 years ago today! A full moon is around here somewhere, named the Ripe Corn Moon by the Cherokees, the Moon of Red Berries by the Siouan Tribe of Montana, and the Claiming Moon by the Celts. Some sources call it the Calming Moon. Sunrise 5:37 AM (which means it’s back to being dark when I drive to work at 5), and sunset 8:55 PM.

We can only guess whether it’s related to our current troubles, or if somebody just forgot a briefcase, but City Hall and Schrunk Plaza were shut down, evacuated, and searched in the middle of the day Monday. The all-clear was tweeted after three hours, and police were vague about what it’s all about.

The head of the Oregon GOP has filed papers to begin a recall against Gov. Kate Brown, pointing to laws Democrats passed in the legislature, starting with “granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.” He has 90 days to collect 280,050 valid signatures from voters.

Oregon’s sole Republican member of Congress, Greg Walden, tweeted, “Today, I attended “Made in America Day” at the White House. The Northwest was well represented with apples and cherries from Washington, Knives from Idaho, and wines from Oregon.” But the public comments to Walden’s tweets were uniformly focused on the president’s venomous go-back-where-you-came language aimed at several U.S. Representatives, all women of color. One sample: ” You know who else were “Made in America”? 3 of the 4 Congresswomen @realDonaldTrump spewed racist vitriol at yesterday. Stand up and speak out or you don’t deserve to go to a “Made in America” celebration.”

The delicate topic of inappropriate relationships between teachers and students will be dealt with, or at least brought up, by the Portland School Board tonight, as they hear the first reading of a policy setting down new rules, such as teachers aren’t allowed to be alone in a car with a student, and social media interactions between teachers and students must be on a teacher’s professional, and not private, page. This is fallout from the revelation in The Oregonian about an ex-teacher who eluded accountability for decades by exploiting loopholes.

Our hearts are with the Southridge High School community, which lost two young men in a collision near Mollala as they were driving home from work at a moving company. Both were football players who had recently graduated, and both were planning to play college football. The gift of life, meanwhile, is being given–by organ donation.

Portland motorcyclists and bus riders are saying on social media that it’s “truly terrifying” how common it is to see drivers texting, scrolling, and even watching YouTube while behind the wheel. One motorist saw a driver texting merrily while she steered her Jeep in Portland traffic, so she “honked several quick blippy-honks and gave her deep eye contact thru her rear review mirror as I said STOP TEXTING! and she understood and stopped, looking appropriately chastised.” That person says honking at drivers with their nose in the phone should be “the new social norm.” But I’m glad she didn’t rear-end someone while giving “deep eye contact”.

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It’s a nice coincidence to have a full moon presenting a plump target for today’s 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, which took our species to Tranquility Base and back again. To celebrate, OMSI is joining in a Global Launch event by inviting children young, and not, to send hundreds of “stomp rockets” skyward from its south parking lot between 9 and 11 a.m.

JFK Jr. died twenty years ago today, in 1999, when the Piper Saratoga aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic off Martha’s Vineyard. His wife and sister-in-law are also killed.

On this day in 1981, we lost Harry Chapin, whose songs were the soul of poignancy. His VW Rabbit was rear-ended by a semi on the Long Island Expressway.

Ethereal songbird Ozzie Osborne is at the Moda Center tonight.

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Good news, in various forms form—all linked in the Daily Drip Coffee Cup…

–“People create a human chain to save swimmers caught in the surf at Panama City Beach”

–“New face of the Bank of England’s £50 note is revealed as Alan Turing”

–“Man goes out of his way to rescue cat which fell into abandoned building”

–“Nice human moment at a ball park.”

–“Why the City of Light Is About to Get a Lot Greener”

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Let’s do it! Have a wonderful Tuesday!