[lit-ideas] Roots, Poo, Disorder in the Water
- From: David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2012 10:40:43 -0800
To the south of Portland, Clackamas County is an area that defines itself
against the grain of Portland politics. In recent stories, the county resisted
paying its share of the cost of bridge to carry light rail to their area. In
the recent election, a volunteer worker was caught penciling Republican votes
in those spaces that electors had left unmarked. Now comes the tale of the
water board. At their last meeting "three" board members voted to place the
general manager on administrative leave. He has now asked for a restraining
order to prevent the two properly elected members of the board from "fomenting,
fostering foisting disorder, chaos, anarchy and mayhem." (There are three
vacancies on the board; the two members appointed a third member to create a
quorum.) The general manager's attorney, named Nixon, says, "All the people at
Clackamas River Water are being victimized. The ball is in play now and the
pressure is on, and we're going to root out this chaos and disorder and restore
order in the district by force of law."
Chez nous, we currently have replaced any risk of water in our bathtub with
chicks. One daughter has started a green project. How green this will be is a
matter for speculation. Not far from my parents' house there was (possibly
still is) a battery chicken farm, so I have a pretty good idea what chicken poo
smells like. The good news is that my daughter is currently keeping on top of
cleanup and that we're talking of having some kind of moveable chicken coop.
But smell will be an issue. We have eight weeks (about how long before they're
ready to live outside) to come up with a plan and build said coop, which is
about what Obama and Congress have to fix the budget, right? Expect newspaper
stories about two important races to find solutions. (I'd add something about
liquidity problems, but that might be overdoing matters.)
I attribute the list's current quiet to everyone being tired out after the long
squawk, or possibly pining for the fjords. But it's possible you've also had
chickens come home to roost, or a restraining order served.
Carry on,
David Ritchie,
Portland,
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