Daily Blues & Views

The feeding frenzy on Judge Sotomayor is on. One line out of context and the pundits and politicos are "Rush" ing to make judgments of their own. Isn't it logical that a self-made Latina might have a different perspective than any of the nine, eight, or seven, old men on the court. Aside from the fact that suddenly the critics are concerned with the intent of the law and the true meaning of blinded Justice, (Where were they when Scottsboro, Executive Order 9066, Plessy V. Ferguson, Dred Scott, et.al. went down) What particularly amuses me is in their zeal to have this discussion, many of the old line media types can't even get her name right. Sota mayer is what I keep hearing. So the witch hunt is on. With Fox News leading the charge, the appointment will be dissected in short one liners out of context and political posturing. It'll be tab sploited in simple to understand pronouncements that compare the judge to everyone from David Duke of the KKK to Obama...

It's all over. I'm 98.8% moved in. The trail from NE Portland to SE Portland covered 100 miles in 5 days. Given that my new home is about 3 miles from the old one, that's about 16 trips across town. Where did all the stuff we had come from? I swear I've paired down my books by the hundreds in the last few years. I've gotten rid on a couple of file cabinets, a working printer, lots of clothes I don't wear anymore and a number of collectibles that made their new owners very happy. I still have work to do. But for now, it's over. We're trying to find new places for our old belongings. Everything is still in boxes. I don't know where anything is and right now, I don't care. I don't ever want to move again, but I know I will. Maybe just one more time. We hired two guys from Thunder Movers. They were efficient, courteous, and very strong. They were also reasonable and on time. Doug and Corey. A tall thin white guy and a husky blac...

Last week we stopped by Portland's newest soup kitchen. Katie had heard there was a small place built inside a catering facility on Belmont Ave. After a few passes through the area on our way back and forth to other errands, we never seemed to find the place. Last Tuesday was different. We'd been downtown and came up Belmont all the way, making sure to look at every storefront and recessed building. There it was, a small banner facing us that read: Alf's Soup Haus. We parked. The entry way was facing away from our direction so it would have been impossible to find the "haus" unless we saw the small sign near the street. "You found us," the receptionist squealed while we stood there looking around. I saw another sign that read "Soup and bread $5.00 Affordable huh?" Katie began asking questions and I wandered into the main room which was more like an industrial kitchen with some tables and benches newly placed around. A large food locke...

There is an issue that's been poking around the local papers in my town for a few weeks now. It involves the notion of a charter school and the legitimate concern of some that students have needs that just can't be met in a traditional school setting. As an educator, I'm certainly sensitive to the variety of learning styles, degrees of emotional maturity, and the kinds of personal baggage all high school students bring with them. It's called a virtual school. Child stays home, works mostly online, doesn't have to deal the pressures, difficulties, temptations, dangers, difficulties of a real school. Is a virtual school a legitimate educational option? I would argue no. How could it be? I realize that leaves me standing with the evil, corrupt, unions, but here I'll stay. I get that traditional schools, often referred to as Brick and Mortar schools in this discussion, don't work for everyone. What concerns me is how people can glibly remove their childr...

The first Saturday in May has come and gone making and taking lots of history in it's wake. The upset victory of Mine That Bird (if ever there was a name that did not sound like a Derby winner...) had turf writers scrambling in all directions. Adjective emergency. No time for amazing, shocking, or unbelievable. Maybe just trying to describe jockey Calvin Borel's emotional state was enough to do the trick. Let's face it, Derby 2009 was always a wide open affair. The winner may have been originally purchased for $9500. but he was sold again after winning 2 year-old honors in Canada for $400,000. 3 year-olds are always works in progress and with 20 horses going a mile and a quarter carrying 126 lbs. for the first time, you get the picture. Throw in 150,000 screaming people, half of whom are inebriated, and 50-1 looks better all the time. No I didn't pick Mine That Bird. I went with Pioneer of the Nile who finished second. But I did cash a 50-1 ticket. I bet t...