Shocking, I know -- but apparently people aren't that enthused about bringing back a 63-year-old retread whom everybody thought had been term-limited out of office. Between Kitz and Wyden, there may not be a clothespin strong enough for Democratic voters' noses.

Here we go again.

We noted last week the over-the-top behavior of the Federal Aviation Administration toward an air ambulance operator down in Medford. Now Greg Walden is helping the company push back.

Speaking of over-the-top federal bureaucrats and air travel, this makes one's blood boil. When the Democrats in Congress get dinged in November, and they wonder why the progressives stayed home, they can look to this sort of shenanigans for their answer.

One of the fascinating things about my boyhood haunts in northern New Jersey was how homeowners would paint some of the concrete around their properties green. From an airplane, it looked like grass -- and maybe it kept the house a tiny bit cooler in the blasting heat of the summer.

Here in Oregon, we haven't quite reached that point. But we're getting close. Accordingto a KGW story last night, now the state transportation gurus are painting the brown grass along Interstate 5 green rather than watering it.

I just tried to download some updates to some iPhone apps. Before I could do so, Apple insisted that I agree to the new version of iTunes's "terms and conditions." O.k....

At the bottom of the first page of legalese that constituted such "terms and conditions," I noted that it was "Page 1 of 55." I could read all 55 pages, or just click on "Agree" at the bottom of that first page.

Gee, which do you think I did?

A wonderful day to start the month, with a downpour, a brilliant clear sky for sunset, and good work done. The highlight of the day was celebrating with Ricardo his win in our World Cup Soccer bracket contest from earlier this summer. As he savored his victory beverage, he signed up for our next sports prediction adventure -- the second annual NFL Charity Underdog Pool, in which all proceeds go to worthy nonprofits selected by our winners. Ricardo's entry goes into the pot, where there's still plenty of room for more players who want to predict the behavior of the big daddies of American pro football -- see here.

The Republican senator from New York sure has done well on a public servant's salary. Even the O is catching on.

It is worth asking what was accomplished by spending tens of billions of dollars to prop up the market for a bit over a year with these tax credits. First, this allowed millions of people to sell their home over this period at a higher price than would have otherwise been the case. The flip side is that more than 5 million people bought homes at prices that were still inflated by the bubble. Many of these buyers will see substantial loses when they resell their house.

When the United States initially advanced the Bush family's mindless vendetta by invading Iraq, the common wisdom was that our country's military could never withdraw from that land without starting a bloodbath. But now, seven and a half years and thousands of young American lives later, we're declaring our "combat role" in that country over. We're wishing the Iraqis luck, and pointing out that they should maybe sorta get a government together sometime real soon. We'll leave some kids behind to show you how to use Uzis, but that's it.

Unless everything we've been reading throughout the war is wrong, the violence in Iraq is now going to ramp up to unprecedented levels, and a leadership extremely hostile to the United States will soon be back in control.

Is that an accurate assessment? And if so, then wasn't the whole "Operation Iraqi Freedom" (thank heaven we've gotten rid of the Bush-Cheney catchy names for killing) a complete waste of time?

Oregon's minor political parties don't want their party names abbreviated on the ballot. Since Secretary of State Kate Brown and her election folks are planning to do just that for the November election, the whole thing is going to county court down in Salem.

You can't blame the small parties. They sit up all night dreaming up names for themselves like Working Families Party, and then Brown puts them down as "WFP." I mean, WTF?

And if Brown prevails, will they be changing their names to something that abbreviates as MOM, USA, POT, LUV, SEX, FUN, KKK, GOD, or HOT? Will the state Supreme Court have to rule on the proposed abbreviations? Will the DMV's custom license plate rulings be regarded as precedent? Ah, the joys of democracy.

Back in New York City, where a debate rages about whether the city's water system needs to be filtered, somebody's taken out a microscope and looked at what comes out of the tap. And they've found -- yikes! -- these guys.

In Portland, a similar debate about water treatment is in progress -- although it's a stretch to call a verbal interaction with Fireman Randy a debate. Anyway, you wonder what critters you'd find in Portlandia's tap water under high magnification. Readers? Water Bureau tweet staff?

In the war of the Bald Eagles vs. the Port of Portland Bulldozers out on Hayden Island, the wildlife and its defenders have scored at least a modest victory. Now the City of Portland and the state DEQ say they are taking another look at the Port's practice of routinely dumping dredge spoils from the Willamette River on the west end of the island. It seems that the dredging picks up low levels of DDT and hydrocarbons, which of course are not healthy for any living things. Good for the Audobon Society and others who are fighting the Port over their current abuse of the property, and over the much more destructive plans they have for the site in the near future.

A reader in central Portland writes:

Little Miss Ella needs a home! She's now 3 months old, has had first two series of shots, etc. She is very sweet, smart and affectionate. She loves to play and will keep you laughing!

She was supposed to stay with my friends who have taken care of the Mama kitty and kittens, but they have had a huge emergency surgical bill for one of their dogs, and just can't afford to keep her.

Please think about it and let me know if you can take her. I will deliver her anywhere within a 10 hour drive!

Dang, that's a lot of bud.

It's been a rough few days here in the great Northwest.

It happened to them, it can happen to anyone.

Will there be shortcuts in workmanship, or massive cost overruns? Hard to believe that this rush-rush project will be completed without one or both of those.

And if that sewer line caves, it's Katy bar the goal.

Meanwhile, it looks like the roof on the stadium will soon be gone for good. The soccer fans will be getting as much of a soaking as the taxpayers.

UPDATE, 10:17 p.m.: False alarm about the roof -- the Timbers website shows it will still be there:

Not sure what the point is of that roof-less version picked up by the Daily Journal of Commerce.

I need a few grains for this report: Oregon's economy is "recovering."

Portland police officer Ronald Frashour, who killed Aaron Campbell last winter, has been placed on leave, and a review board has recommended that he be fired.

The nice folks who put out Oregon Business magazine have been sending me free copies of their monthly print publication for a while now, and it's always a good read. This month they have a fine feature about how big-money college football has invaded our state. Collegiate athletics have become a greasy business just about everywhere you go, but reading the story of the local participants in that game really brings the point home.

For us, however, the highlight of the September issue is the journal's annual look at chief executive compensation at public companies headquartered in Oregon. We often ruminate about public employees' salaries on this blog, but looking at what the CEOs of these corporations rake in can rally take one's breath away.

Especially the public utility companies. These cash cows are regulated, at least to a degree, on the theory that their service is a matter of life and death, particularly to people of limited means, and their opportunities for profit-taking should be limited. That said, it's a bit eye-popping that the guy who runs the gas company -- former Goldschmidt lieutenant Gregg Kantor -- pulled in a nifty $2,418,958 in compensation last year, including a $446,000 salary, a $234,848 bonus, and a wheelbarrow full of stock and other goodies. Meanwhile, at PGE, James Piro raked in a lovely $1,433,807, including a $550,000 salary and a $370,194 bonus. But of course, they're both pikers compared to the guy running Standard Insurance ($3,723,004), or the CEO of Nike ($13,118,834). Even if he worked every waking minute, the Nike chief made around $2,250 an hour.

Are these folks worth that kind of money?

Of course not. No one is.

At this intersection near our place, on the southeast corner, you see an adorable sight -- a kids' lemonade stand. But move in any direction and look back at it -- it disappears.

The road fights back.

A first-time reader writes:

I was scammed earlier this evening (8/30/2010) on SW 11th and Yamhill. He started out with the usual line "Have you heard of Welches?" He told us his truck was stolen and he needed cab fare to get home. I totally thought he was legit and honest. Shortly after I gave him $20, my boyfriend googled his name. We jumped in the car and drove around downtown hoping to find him. I stopped a police officer and told him the story. Hopefully the d**che nozzle gets what's coming to him! Funny thing is... the police officer seemed shocked that we googled the guy and saw that he was a scam artist. How do they not know who he is?

The Portland school board says it will burn $22 million in reserves rather than cut services any further in the coming school year. Let's hope their financial picture doesn't get any worse.

It snowed today (mixed with rain) in Sunriver. And they were cross-country skiing on Mount Bachelor.

When the Port of Portland paves over hundreds of acres for yet another under-utilized shipping facility on the island's west side, they can simply install one of these.

The cyclist who was hospitalized after a crunch with a Tri-Met bus on the Portland transit mall on August 12 was given a ticket for failing to obey a traffic device in the incident, according to the BikePortland blog. [Via KGW.]

One of things that the Portland region's "unique" Metro government has going for it is its primary role as keeper of the area's land use laws and regulations. As we understand it, many years ago, before there was a Metro, the lawmakers in Salem correctly figured out that city, county, and town politicians couldn't be trusted to apply land use rules honestly and wisely. But rather than have the state run the show, the legislature created a new level of bureaucracy, between the state and the county, to coordinate land use policy.

The wisdom of that move could be debated, we suppose, but if you ask Portlanders what they think of having Metro as the area's land use barons, most would probably say they like it. Metro has a reputation as the folks responsible for keeping urban sprawl contained, and stopping developers from paving over the Willamette Valley all the way down to Salem and all the way out to the coast.

But is that reputation well deserved? Is Metro's heart really in the right place?

Lately we've been having our doubts. A few weeks ago, we noted that the chief operating officer of Metro, a guy named Michael Jordan, had issued a bunch of documents that suggested that the region's smaller governments weren't doing enough to make more tax money available for development scams.

Now he's making speeches about it:

Jordan noted that there have been some challenges in implementing the 2040 Growth Concept, the region’s growth management plan adopted in 1995 that focuses population and employment growth in designated town centers, regional centers, transportation corridors and employment areas. He noted that having the plan is not sufficient and that there have been significant challenges to achieving new development, much of which is due to insufficient or poorly coordinated public funding to pay for the sewers, roads, sidewalks and other public structures that are essential for development to occur.

He sure doesn't sound to us like a watchdog for the earth. More like a salesman for the guys with the bulldozers.

This time it's a Swiss outfit, ReVolt, which is trying to make zinc-air batteries big enough for cars. They're going to be ensconced out by the airport -- just up the street from the Home Depot near I-205. In addition to a $5 million federal grant, they say they've lined up $6.8 million of "incentives" from the Oregon Department of Energy (criminal investigation pending) and the Portland Development Commission. The PDC, of course, just handed over something like $2 million to the Danish windmill manufacturer Vestas to keep its American headquarters in Portland.

Jobs are better than no jobs, and anything's better than the PDC handing out more money for condos and streetcars. But one wonders whether these "green" firms are going to make it in the long term. Take ReVolt, for example. Various big-time players (including General Motors) have been trying to get a vehicle to run on a viable zinc cell for decades, but without commercial success.

Eventually, ReVolt says, it will be manufacturing batteries on the airport site. Given its proximity to the City of Portland drinking water wells and the Columbia River, one suspects that some interesting environmental regulatory issues could crop up.

Fifty-seven more condo units! Who's crazy enough to blow money to build condos in the midst of the worst real estate trough of our lifetimes? You guessed it -- the Portland Development Commission. They've got $11 million into this turkey, including $3 million they coughed up just this past Friday. The deal has been staggering along for nearly four years.

When Fireman Randy asks you in November for money for his new firehouse and trucks, you could suggest that he should have used this money instead.

So says someone who knows what she's talking about.

The media reports about this Friday night car wreck involving an Oregon state trooper are mighty thin. Often, that can mean that the police officer was at fault. Anybody know what happened in this accident?

Will this video about Portland take honors? It appears the winner will be announced any time now.

UPDATE, 8/30, 1:25 a.m.: It appears that the Portland video won! At least, the home page of the contest now says "Congratulations to Riley Hooper," and she's the maker of the Portland entry. The first prize is a trip to Amsterdam -- Royales with Cheese all around!

It's not safe for work, but this comment on our schools is well worth watching. (And you're not at work on Sunday, are you?)

An Oregon City native left his mark.

A volcano in Indonesia is erupting for the first time in 400 years.

Guess we've got about 180 to go.

The slammer, apparently.

The Saltzmanites will no doubt jump all over this.

We put the sue in sushi.

When confronted with a loaf of New Seasons ciabatta bread with a big hole in the middle, here's exactly what you do: Fill the cavity with Costco chicken salad.

Serve with Casal Garcia rosé. Divine.

The official rules for this year's charity NFL underdog pool are now posted, here. If you think you've got what it takes and want to use your gridiron prognostication skills to benefit your favorite charity, you might want to play with us this year. The games kick off in a little over a week. If you're ready to play and you haven't already let me know, now's a good time to do so.

But in this case, I'll make an exception.

Once again, with the trains come crime and gunfire. This is a large part of why most people in the 'Couv and Milwaukie have no real interest in getting them.

Here's one that sure doesn't look right. The Oregon Department of Justice is investigating a company controlled by John Kitzhaber's significant other, on which company's board Kitzhaber himself sat for many recent years -- but the state attorney general is out on the campaign trail stumping for Kitz? BlueOregon informed us on Thursday:

As Attorney General John Kroger told a group of volunteer canvassers Saturday before heading out to talk to voters about John’s stances on everything from economic recovery to education funding, "The other side isn’t going to have a grassroots effort because they don’t believe in grassroots support. They believe in raising a lot of money from huge corporations."

It's a week before Labor Day, and already the foliage on some of the trees here in Portland is turning. It's been a cool summer, for sure -- nice and easy on the A.C. bills -- but it's too bad the leaves are turning red before the tomatoes.

We enjoy New Seasons bread, but not when we get this, which is a little too often:

I'll tell you why, Qwest: Google's offering free phone calls anywhere in North America from any computer that's got a microphone and a Gmail account attached to it. And in our first experiments with it, it's worked as well as a cell phone call. The only drawback (if it is one) is that you don't show up as yourself on the call recipient's caller ID.

Say your prayers before you go to bed, make sure you get yourself to school on time...

Now the Blazers' owner is suing just about everybody who's anybody in internet commerce, charging patent infringement.

Without delving too deeply into the merits of his lawsuit, already it smells like the time he took the Rose Garden arena into bankruptcy. Allen thought he was "playing hardball" with the mortgage holders, but they cleaned his clock. He doubtlessly spent millions on lawyers, and definitely got nowhere. Given his utter failure with one business venture after another, the presumption regarding this latest courtroom frolic has got to be that he'll lose again, and badly.

The countersuits will no doubt be filed next week.

The Federal Aviation Administration has gone a little over the top with this one. [Via KGW.]

Now that they've fended off Little Lord Paulson, Fireman Randy, The Don, Mother Vera, and the Shipracks, it appears that the folks out in the Lents neighborhood in southeast Portland are being shown some proposed improvements for their park. They deserve the upgrade -- but already one can see that the encroachment of soccer onto the baseball field could be a bit of a bone of contention.

Here's yet another good Samaritan who's gotten much grief after saving a drowning victim.

Our post of a few days ago, seeing if we have enough interest for another year's NFL underdog pool, elicited quite a few "yes" responses. So it's official -- we are going for it! The first lines will be posted on Tuesday, September 7 -- just 11 days from now. (The first game of the season is a Thursday nighter on the 9th.)

If you e-mailed me to say you were interested, watch your own e-mail over the next few days for further instructions. For those readers who haven't thought about this yet, here's the basic lowdown: The pool would operate pretty much the same way it did last year, but this year we'd start with the very first week's regular season action. Players kiss $20 goodbye -- it all goes to charity -- and slug it out, season-long, for glory and the right to designate which charity gets the pot.

The object of the game is to pick each week one NFL underdog that's going to win its game outright. Each successful pick wins points for the player equal to the number of points by which that 'dog was predicted by the oddsmakers to lose. The player with the most points at the end of the playoffs is pool champ and gets to direct the pot to his or her favorite charity. With enough players, we can have multiple winners, and several charities can benefit, as happened last year. More than $420 went out to a couple of charities last time around, as directed by our three top finishers.

If you'd like to play, just e-mail me at underdog@bojack.org, the official e-mail address for this year's festivities. I'll get back to you shortly.

This year's contest is dedicated to the memory of last year's third-place winner, Geno P's Mom. Geno wrote us the other day with these thoughts:

What’s life about? A longevity contest. Ask my octo-mom that, and she would tell you the lucky ones went quick while still vital, strong and mentally composed. That life becomes dreary when you’ve lost your partner and know you are in decline.

As her primary caregiver (a labor of love she would never admit to needing), I observed that her final months were consumed with missed doctor appointments and fruitless shopping trips -- going through motions which had long formed an identity but now just resulted in inappropriate purchases and the inevitable questions by me. "Do we really need an entire lemon meringue pie, and two loaves of bread?"

She longed for the sense of responsibility and accomplishment she once felt in providing for her family. Unfortunately, I was the only one near enough to visit regularly and sometimes stay in the guest room to keep her company. She was lonely but unwilling to make an effort to reach out to numerous friends and family who loved her dearly.

My biggest challenge was to recognize her dysfunction for what it was (part of the aging process) and not overreact and make her feel worse than she already did. What a sad existence near the end. My only solution was to rely on my wit to find the humor in an otherwise sad state of affairs. She was no longer a student nor a teacher but simply biding time before the inevitable.

My most satisfying moments were watching her craggy countenance break into a bright smile and hear the hearty chuckle well up from her core into a spontaneous belly laugh in response to some inane remark of mine about a shared observation.

We resolved the unnecessary food purchases by donating the excess to a local seniors food bank. She loved delivering the care packages and they appreciated receiving them. She was nothing if not a discriminating shopper and the food bank received top notch edibles from her.

When my father was still alive we would get together and make Sports Action picks on football games through the Oregon lottery. We all enjoyed the competition and occasionally won a little spare cash for the effort. We lost that shared moment when the lottery commission cancelled Sports Action because it was not as lucrative as the addictive video poker games.

When I announced to her last fall that we could once again resume Sports-Action-like betting except simpler -- picking one sure underdog winner for the week, I saw the twinkle in her eye. I would print the lineup each week and she would pick. She picked several long shots and eventually finished among the top three, winning a modest sum donated to a charity.

I cherished the look on her face when she would smile while reading the standings showing her success as one of the few women in the pool; and, at one time, leading the pack.

That experience was one of the highlights of what would prove to be the final year of her 83-year life. Thanks, Jack, for adding some joy to our struggles.

The City of Portland's second quarter lobbying reports are out, and they show that the Port of Portland hangs around City Hall all the time, schmoozing the city commissioners for this thing and that. They have several people that they send over to whisper sweet nothings to the nose ring types on the politicians' staffs. But for the big scams -- like paving over bald eagle habitat on Hayden Island for a totally unnecessary shipping terminal -- they wheel in the really big guns from the Goldschmidt Network. Bill Wyatt and Tom Imeson themselves! I'll bet the walls tremble just a little when they walk in.

I've written about this earlier this summer, and I'm a little surprised that I haven't struck much of a chord with anybody about it: Isn't it a little weird for the O to have a happy-face photo of a reporter at the head of every story on its website -- even the grim ones?

In Germany, the government's about to make it illegal for prospective employers to check up on job applicants on Facebook.

It never stops.

But that other college in Eugene is leading the nation in something more significant.

For $400K, would you take the tiny 2-bedroom house in the Berkshires, the 1,038-square-foot Pearl District condo, or the "earthship" hobbit hole in Taos?

But hey, all aboard for that billion-dollar-plus Milwaukie light rail -- Linchpin City!

Here's a nonblockbuster story: A group of rich sports team owners lied to get the public to build them a new stadium.

Of course, that could never happen in Portland. Here, the city doesn't even bother to ask the team owners to show how much they're making before the taxpayers are forced to pay part of the hot dog vendors' wages.