Sunday, 11-5-06: Quote from a column by Brian Doyle: "Bush and his advisers have created, in six brief years, the worst presidency in American history, what with record deficits, an exhausted military, attacks on the Constitution, attacks on American civil liberties, secret prisons, governmental defense of torture, a new policy of pre-emptive war, willful failure to address environmental decay and what increasingly appears to be the fomenting rather than the destruction of violent anit-American terrorism around the world." Couldn't have said it better myself.... This is interesting. The American public believes that the dangers of global warming are overblown. Only 41% of those polled believe climate change is a result of human activity. Wowee!... In local news a 16-year-old was sent home from school for weaing knee socks. School officials said his fashion statement too closely resembled the latest styles sported by local gang members. Tuesday, 11-7-06: We had a little earthquake here last evening. I happened to be sitting on my bed, and I felt it. I could tell it was an earthquake rather than a truck rumbling by. All those years in Afghanistan, I suppose. The quake turns out to have been centered at 17th and Taylor. Wow! That's about three blocks from my friend Ruth.... Wednesday, 11-8-06: Seven states backed bans on gay marriage in the recent election. Arizona is the first state where such a ban has been defeated. Wildlife officials in southern Australia plan to use sheepdogs to protect the coast's dwindling population of penguins. the sheepdogs will stave off attacks by wild dogs and foxes. The strategy has worked elsewhere in Australia to protect free range chickens. Thursday, 11-9-06: In local news, a 50-foot tree crashed into the bedroom of a man in Milwaukie at 5:30 in the morning. Terry Doson awakened to the sounds of windows shattering. "All of a sudden I was pinned in bed screaming," he said. He had a slight shoulder injury, but refused medical treatment. Friday, 11-10-06: John Bolton's chances of being confirmed as the ambassador to the UN died yesterday. The result is that Bush will be forced to find a replacement, with a Democratic house and senate. Wow.... Lebanon is poised on the edge of violence. Hezbollah is demanding that the Cabinet be expanded in a way that would give it veto power. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to bring down the government unless Hezbollah gets a third of the 24 seats. And he can do it, too.... Mexico City passed a law yesterday recognizing same-sex unions. The law also grants new rights to unmarried heterosexual couples. A spokesman for the Evangelical churches said, "This is madness. It's unnatural. It's immoral." And legislation is being prepared in South Africa to legalize gay marriage. Which is pretty wild when it's illegal to be gay in most sub-Sahran countries. Meanwhile, the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem had to move to a closed stadium because of protesters clashing with police and burning trash bins in the streets.