Saturday 10 October 2020

 Doomscrolling over my first cup of coffee.

Portland, Oregon

Our President says that Portland has been ablaze with anarchy for decades. Let’s see how things stand this morning.

The annual football game between Oregon and Oregon State had been referred to as the ”Civil War.”  They have decided that is no longer cool. 

https://www.oregonlive.com/collegefootball/2020/10/rob-mullens-doesnt-expect-new-name-for-oregon-oregon-state-rivalry-to-be-decided-in-2020.html

About 150 people marched and demonstrated last night, calling for an end to police killings of black people. They were done by 9 PM. There was no property damage or police presence.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/10/portland-protests-to-end-police-violence-resume-friday-downtown-live-updates.html

Trump claimed in the first Presidential debate that he had just been endorsed by the “Portland Sheriff.” All local law enforcement leaders say it wasn’t them.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/10/portland-sheriff-who-backs-trump-hasnt-stepped-forward-several-officials-say-its-not-them.html

Members of our Well Regulated Militia left a three year old child alone in a room with a handgun.

Deputies: 3-year-old shoots self in head at Aloha home

https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/3-year-old-shoots-self-in-head-at-aloha-home/

From the Twitterverse

Friday 9 October 2020

 Reviewing the news which catches my eye as I greet the day.

Portland, Oregon

New coronavirus cases hit a record high in Oregon.

Coronavirus in Oregon: State sets record 484 cases, nears record with 11 deaths
https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/10/coronavirus-in-oregon-state-sets-record-484-cases-nears-record-with-11-deaths.html

I can’t find any news reports of civil disturbance last night.

U.S. News

The FBI arrested members of several groups seeking to overthrow the Michigan government by force, kidnap the governor, and subject her to a “trial” for treason. I think that President Trump encouraged these people when he tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” this spring, as armed protesters found measures to slow COVID transmission to be an egregious loss of liberty.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/michigan-governor-kidnap-plot/2020/10/08/0032e206-0980-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html

I know that Attorney General Bill Barr has wanted to prosecute BLM protesters for “insurrection,” and has explored whether he could prosecute Portland officials for not “cracking down” on such protests. I am searching the news for any evidence that Barr has said anything supporting the Michigan arrests, or condemning the Michigan terrorist conspiracy.

Trump makes the staff at Walter Reed sign NDAs about his visits.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-walter-reed-nondisclosure-agreements/2020/10/08/50dbb71a-073b-11eb-a166-dc429b380d10_story.html

The Kentucky AG made statements that the grand jury found that there was no basis for indictments of police officers for killing Breonna Taylor. A grand juror found that very misleading, and sought to be able to speak about what really happened in the grand jury room. The Kentucky AG seeks to prevent such disclosures.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/07/kentucky-ag-seeks-to-ban-breonna-taylor-jurors-from-speaking-publicly/

The Scrum that is Twitter

News of the day: 8 October 2020

 Gleaned from news sources in Portland, Oregon

The Multnomah County DA declines to prosecute the majority of protest related charges: 

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/10/multnomah-county-da-declines-to-prosecute-70-of-portland-protest-cases.html

Demonstrations at an ICE building led to use of tear gas, crowd control munitions, and arrests:

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/10/federal-police-use-tear-gas-crowd-control-munitions-in-s-portland-protest-4-arrested.html

Gleaned from national news

DOJ alters notes by McCabe and Strzok, gives altered notes to Flynn legal team to submit as exculpatory evidence

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/justice-dept-acknowledges-fbi-notes-given-to-flynn-defense-contain-altered-dates/2020/10/07/00b66060-04ec-11eb-a2db-417cddf4816a_story.html

The New England Journal of Medicine publishes its fourth editorial in 208 years, urging that voters oust Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/08/science-journal-endorsement-trump/

I prefer to read

I was searching for ideas for cooking skinless boneless chicken. I put those three words into Google, purposefully leaving out specifying a part. For what it's worth, results for breasts outnumber thighs three to one, it appears.

I pick a link. About fifteen seconds into reading the article, a little box zooms out of nowhere and begins playing some sort of techno march, with prominent drum machine flourishes. This box reveals controls to mute the audio as a tease, for about a nanosecond, I waste precious time hovering the cursor, right and left clicking in vain as I realize that the smart play is to mute my whole machine.

My entire train of thought has been derailed. My dining room was a quiet place until this electronic invasion occurred. It's like reading in a library, only to have a guy at your table suddenly turn on a loud boombox.

Growing numbers of us prefer instructional videos over instructional articles. I have no problem with offering both, but reading lets me think at my own pace, reflect, and redirect. Videos lock me in to their pace. Loud popup ads send me to the thesaurus, looking up "hate."

Context Bears Scrutiny

Ruth has engaged in a 100 day project to carve out space daily for art and creation. Towards that end, she has been working on a counted cross stitch project, using embroidery floss to create the image.

Her project is to be a gift for one of the twins, currently at 30+ weeks in her niece Kelley’s belly. Ruth was working away, Day #8, and asked me to photograph her project.

I laughed while taking the picture, and she wanted to know about that.

“What so funny?”

“Oh, it’s just the Grateful Dead image as a baby present.”

“Grateful ..., what?”

I wordlessly reached over her shoulder, typed Grateful Dead into the Google search box, and clicked on images. Then I pointed.

 

Lively discussion ensued, wondering whether there was someone who used to make Grateful Dead merch, who is now trying to keep a revenue stream going.

My advice for Ruth is to remember that she still has to consider the gift for the other twin. I think she needs to be consistent.

 

Meal Planning

Much of the time, meal planning commences in the aisles of the grocery store, on the way home after work. The considerations include whether the sight of anything there sparks enthusiasm. I sometimes catch myself being attracted by the same meal I had the night before.

Having some themes to plan meals around could help me avoid ruts. I have great cookbooks which are rarely consulted. I think my kitchen could make a quantum jump up.

A theme that has always appealed to me is "Food Museum Night." Find the oldest thing in the cupboard, and either incorporate it into the menu or get rid of it.

Tonight that is: manicotti shells. That bulky box has occupied its real estate in the cupboard for as long as I can remember. Pulling it out now I find it partially used, with seven manacotti shells remaining.

For three people, that would make a course in a meal, but not a full meal.

Old School Ideas: The Cremaldi Cookbook has a host of manicotti fillings. I'm thinking pesto in ricotto.

That's enough ideas, I'll go with this one.

Food to walk the plank on the next Food Museum Night: black rice

Let It Go

These are scary times. Our country is run by a sociopath. Our legislature has gerrymandered the country, stolen Supreme Court nominations, and now has added $1.5 to the deficit, letting their sponsors cash out and leaving our kids and grandkids to pay for it.

There is a certain amount of my life which they can screw up no matter what I do. I have to make decisions about how much to focus on it, what portion of my 'discretionary' thoughts to allow politics to taint?

I am going to try to give more attention to other things for a time.

Civil War II

President Trump makes absolutely no moves to unite the country he conned. He shows no concern for division, no regard for waves of marches in the streets. The 2018 midterms could spark Civil War II.