It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, isn't it? Especially if you're a downtown business booster. Which means I'm about to mention yesterday's news about the Occupy Portland eviction notice. Occupiers have begun grappling with the looming Sunday morning deadline for leaving Chapman and Lownsdale squares (and Terry Schrunk Plaza) lest they face arrests. Seems some will go—and take a good measure of the camp's expensive, donated infrastructure with them, but many will stay. Why? As I tweeted and tweeted late into the night, there are plans for a big march from Pioneer Square, a family-friendly potluck, and then a peaceful sit-in until the police give their QUIT IT order and descend. More on all this later today.

Elsewhere in Occupy news, cops at the University of California-Berkeley have "raised troubling concerns" by using their batons—and worse—to jab and poke and push students trying to set up a camp at the school. And, just down the road in Oakland, a shooting outside the Occupy camp there initially had some people blaming the occupiers. But then everyone remembered it was still Oakland and, well...

"It's called Zuccotti lung." Meanwhile, the original Occupy, in Wall Street—still thriving despite its own eviction notice weeks ago—is working on ways to keep everyone from getting sick, sick, sick.

But it could be worse. Way worse. Syria has reportedly killed 250 political protesters in the past few weeks, in a pretty deadly uptick in unrest there. And troops in good ol' Yemen just decided to shell a building filled with dissenters, killing 11, including women and children.

And who says activism here doesn't make a difference? Days after environmentalists put their hands around the White House, and tried to the same here around the courthouse in Pioneer Square, President Obama is punting on a controversial oil pipeline until after he needs disillusioned liberals to pretty-please vote for him next year.

The Penn State assistant coach who first reported seeing another coach rape a child—a scandal that caused a coverup and then misguided riots—won't be doing his job this week because of death threats by those who say he should've gone to the law, not his coach.

Fears of creepy rituals on 11/11/11 have convinced Egyptian leaders to shut down the Great Pyramid.

ALSO, ALL OF OUR DEAD-EYED POLITICAL CANDIDATES COULD TAKE A LESSON FROM VLADIMIR PUTIN, A REAL LEADER WHO CLEARLY KNOWS HOW TO RUN A REAL AMERICAN CAMPAIGN. EVEN THOUGH HE'S IN RUSSIA. WHICH IS SOMEWHERE FEAR FAR AWAY.