Frost, I say! Did you hear me? I said FROST! In what’s clearly the most important news of the day, the National Weather Service says Portland should expect to start the work week with its coldest morning yet this fall, as low as the mid- to lower 30s.

No… wait. This is probably more important. The iPod marks its 10th anniversary today. It used to look one way. And now it looks different, and also there are, like, lots and lots of them.

Hmm… maybe not that either. I know! A horrific earthquake in Turkey has flattened dozens of buildings and killed several dozen—so far—with some reports suggesting the death toll will climb into the hundreds and maybe past 1,000.

Libya has chucked its wedding ring into the Mediterranean. With the body of former strongman Moammar Gaddafi on display for looky-loos in a mall meat cooler, the country’s new leaders decide it’s time to declare their “liberation.” They still also declare that Qaddafi/Gadhafi/Gaddafi was killed in crossfire, even though an autopsy confirms what half the world saw on YouTube: He was shot in the head.

You know that place our troops have occupied for 10 years? What’s its name? Afghanistan, or something? Anyway, they totally said that if the United States goes to war with the country next door (Pakistan, I think they said? It’s sooooo confusing; Stan’s supposed to be a first name!), then they’d totally not support us and would support those other people instead.

What do anti-trust laws matter, anyway? Quietly, secretly, wishfully, Google reportedly is interested in buying Yahoo, the search company it dethroned—even approaching private equity firms to help it finance a purchase.

Two roller coasters race. A man loses an eyeball. So, now, the two roller coasters don’t race.

Alabama is still smearing itself on the Constitution. Allegedly. To ensure white juries in death-penalty cases, African Americans are routinely kept off juries in parts of the state, a lawsuit alleges, 140 years after that kind of thing was made, you know, illegal.

Pizza pitchman Herman Cain, running for the GOP presidential nod, but maybe also just to sell books and jack up his speaking fees, started his political career as a restaurant lobbyist with close ties to Republican leaders. His main missions: fighting restaurant smoking bans, opposing reduced blood-alcohol limits to prevent drunk driving, fighting increases in the minimum wage, and opposing a patients’ bill of rights. (He might also be the antichrist.)

Once the banks get their hooks into you, they never let go. The United States is already working on a deficit reduction plan, but now a second rating agency says it wants to lower the nation’s debt worthiness score.

The Portland officer who mistakenly shot a mentally ill man with buckshot instead of beanbag pellets this summer is arguing (actually, his lawyer is making the case) that his error was “directly caused” by the Portland Police Bureau’s failure to safely devise standards for handling “less-lethal” weapons.

Good Morning, Occupy Portland! Occupiers complain that police data showing slightly higher nuisance crime around Chapman and Lownsdale squares aren’t statistically that significant—and even the police kind of agree that the percentage increases are “misleading.”

The Oregonian’s opinion writers still can’t decide if the camp is maybe worth a damn or if it ought to get the hell off their lawn. With a “successful finale,” of course.

With no signs of an imminent eviction, Portland’s occupation is among an ever smaller club across the country. Rat problems are leading Oakland officials to try to boot their occupation. Big Vancouver also is laying on some legal pressure.

More mass arrests were reported in Chicago (130) last night. That follows arrests in recent days in such hotbeds for social change as Tampa, Cincinnati, and San Jose.

And, yes, frost in Portland come Monday morning might make life more difficult for some occupiers. But maybe they’ll remember this bit of warmth from the weekend.

Denis C. Theriault is the Portland Mercury's News Editor. He writes stories about City Hall and the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on issues like homelessness, police oversight, insider politics, and...

14 replies on “Good Morning, News!”

  1. Well, so far ‘occupy’ hasn’t accomplished shit, has it? And it doesn’t appear that change is on the horizen anytime soon. For any of the issues that fall under the (big) umbrella of protest.

  3. One thing the occupy movement has accomplished is that they’ve brought the conversation about America’s enormous economic disparity to the forefront. Certainly, part of the conversation is knee-jerk derision on the part of people like frankieb (the same person who used to post “Honeybucket” in the comments section of Ann Romano’s column every week) and Fox News commentators. On the other hand, 37% of the American people support the occupiers (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/23/o…), so they must be doing something right.

    The problem is that, while beginning the conversation is important, it’s only a first step, not an end in itself. So far, the occupy movement hasn’t given us a clue as to what their next steps might be, and how those steps might bring about real change. They need to. Still, the movement is just over a month old — a very short period of time. Anyone who either expects the movement to have immediate results or dismisses the movement because of its lack of immediate results has no idea how genuine change happens, especially in a society as big as America.

  7. dmitrir – I do truly hope something can be done about the disparity of wealth here in the states. Especially when one looks around at the spread of wealth in other countries, it is criminal.
    I just don’t see ‘occupy’ getting anything done about it.
    You mention that 37% of Americans support ‘occupy’. Since ‘occupy’ claim to be the 99% it seems far too low a number to brag on.
    Additionally, since the ‘occupy’ covers a big umbrella’s worth of causes, you’d figure that 37% should easily be much higher.
    However, I’d bet if you started breaking down the numbers based on causes within occupy, that 37% would drop like a rock – with the exception of corporate greed.
    But still, no course of action. Vaugue protest.
    ‘occupy’ wants to be everything to everyone. It lacks identity. After a MONTH even…
    Nothing knee-jerk here, I’ve been paying attention.
    btw, I don’t watch Fox.

  8. @frankieb: every time the Mercury posts something about the occupy movement, you immediately post a piece of snarky derision. That’s every bit as knee-jerk as posting “Honeybucket” every time Ann Romano wrote a column.

    The 99% does not represent the number of people who support the occupy movement. It represents the number of people who are getting screwed over by America’s economic disparity. Maybe you haven’t been paying attention closely enough.

    A MONTH is a very short period of time. For the occupy movement to get the support of 37% of the American people so quickly is an accomplishment. So, when you say they haven’t “accomplished shit,” you’re just speaking out of your ass.

    Feel free to do a real analysis of what that 37% actually thinks. Something similar to the AP poll I cited would do. Your opinion on the matter isn’t exactly a reliable source.

    You may not watch Fox, but you do a very good impersonation of one of their commentators.

  10. Uh, yeah, I *got* that the what the 99% represents.
    So, besides getting 37% of the people supporting a variety of causes to be pissed about, what have they exactly done?
    Nothing.
    You obviously didn’t *get* the Honeybucket thing.
    Twinkles down.

  11. “@frankieb: every time the Mercury posts something about the occupy movement, you immediately post a piece of snarky derision. That’s every bit as knee-jerk as posting “Honeybucket” every time Ann Romano wrote a column.”

    You’re certainly right about that.

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