Booklovers

If you consider yourself a lover of good books, then check out the link on the right side of this page that sends you to BookCrossing.com. Spend some time exploring the site and join up, if you like. I think this is such a cool idea and a great way to open up reading to lots of people. I'll not say more, as it would not do justice to all the good words at BookCrossing.  

Anty Up Time

Time to anty up a few bucks to help the Kerry folks defeat GW in the Fall. He'll need all the money he can get and then some. You can contribute here . Just $25 will help but if you're one of the fat cats, a few more bucks might help even more. :)

Word of the Day
scuttlebutt Half of a barrel, filled with soapy water and kept next to the main mast, where crew members went to clean up. Since each crew was often restricted to a particular location on the ship, this was the only location where members of different gangs could exchange information 

Time To Hit the Appalachian Trail Again!

Thruhikers have started up along the Appalachian Trail again. Some 40 had left Springer Mountain, north of Atlanta as of Feb. 20th. 1750 northbound thruhikers started the trail last year, down somewhat from the peak back in 2000 when some 2875 started. Of those 1750 who started last year, 352 made it the whole way. 291 went southbound with 45 finishing the whole trail. The trail covers 2174 miles and crosses 14 states. Janet and I hiked some 1800+ miles of it back in '95 and if we ever get healthy again, we might just finish it! For a bit of history:

First reported thru-hiker
In 1948, Earl V. Shaffer became the first to report a thru-hike, walking the entire Trail from Georgia to Maine. He hiked again—this time from Maine to Georgia—in 1965. On his third thru-hike, 50 years after his first, he became the oldest thru-hiker at age 79.

Youngest thru-hiker
A 6-year-old boy became the youngest person to hike the A.T. when he completed a flip-flop thru-hike with his parents in 1980. Twenty-two years later, in 2002, another 6-year-old boy completed a flip-flop thru-hike with his parents and 8-year-old sister

Youngest female thru-hiker
The youngest female to thru-hike the A.T. was 8 when she completed hiking the Trail in 2002 as part of a family group.

Oldest Female Thru-Hiker
Emma Gatewood, better known as "Grandma Gatewood," mother of 11 children and grandmother of 23, was 67 when she first hiked the Trail in 1955. She completed her second thru-hike in 1957 and became the first person to complete the Trail three times when she finished a section hike in 1964. Yep, she carried that sack and wore Keds!

Multiple hikes
Approximately 100 people have reported hiking the A.T. two or more times; about 25 have reported hiking the A.T. three or more times.

For some good links to trail stories, forums, pictures and ongoing events, try some of these.

Appalachian Trail Conference

Daily Trail Journals of this and past year's Hikers

Wingfoot's Trailplace (WF has hiked the entire trail 7x)

Our Trail Journal from '95

Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association

The Thru-Hiking Papers

Frank Logue's AT Page

Appalachian Tales An Appalachian Trail Education Project 

For the Lover of Words

Dictionaries
Check out this interesting compendium of dictionaries - you'll surely find something good in here!

Pompeii
Just finished my latest audio book Pompeii . Wonderfully narrated with appropriate Roman voices. Full of suspense, even though you know what will eventually happen - actually that increases the drama. Meticulously researched , you'll learn a lot about aqueducts and volcanos, all while having a great time. From an Amazon blurb about the book

All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii.

But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta’s sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.

If you want to get started on Audio books, just click the link at the top of the page and you can get a free audio player (will also play .wma or mp3 music files) with a year's subscription to Audible. 2 books a month for $20 - cheap when you consider what you would pay for audio books in a bookstore. Books on tape or on CD often run between $25-$50 each. (or click the link on the right side of this page and save $100 on an Ipod). And with an an Audible audio player, you just download books - no tapes or cd's to lug around. You can check out some of the books I've read in the last year on the right side of this page - click on the links and you'll see what the price is, if you are not an Audible listener. Then imagine getting that book for just $10! A wonderful service - especially useful if you are driving lengthy distances to work or are working out at the gym on treadmills or anywhere that you are doing something mindless and could be enriching your mind at the same time.

Master and Commander

Now on to the Patrick O'Brian series and the first book in his series. Wonderfully narrated by Patrick Tull, an old salt if there ever was one, great prose and a whole new world of terminology. I'm already prowling the Net for naval terms. Did find a great sight at this link describing his books and so much more. Most of you are familiar with the recent movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe. That was the 10th in the series, so I've got some reading to do before I go see the movie. :) Check out the book jacket covers and an interesting article by Robert O'Harrow in the Washington Post.

Back to brushing up on my naval terms!

Word of the Day:
Gerrymander - To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections. And for a bit of word history regarding this strange word:

WORD HISTORY “An official statement of the returns of voters for senators give[s] twenty nine friends of peace, and eleven gerrymanders.” So reported the May 12, 1813, edition of the Massachusetts Spy. A gerrymander sounds like a strange political beast, which it is, considered from a historical perspective. This beast was named by combining the word salamander, “a small lizardlike amphibian,” with the last name of Elbridge Gerry, a former governor of Massachusetts—a state noted for its varied, often colorful political fauna. Gerry (whose name, incidentally, was pronounced with a hard g, though gerrymander is now commonly pronounced with a soft g) was immortalized in this word because an election district created by members of his party in 1812 looked like a salamander. According to one version of gerrymander's coining, the shape of the district attracted the eye of the painter Gilbert Stuart, who noticed it on a map in a newspaper editor's office. Stuart decorated the outline of the district with a head, wings, and claws and then said to the editor, “That will do for a salamander!” “Gerrymander!” came the reply. The word is first recorded in April 1812 in reference to the creature or its caricature, but it soon came to mean not only “the action of shaping a district to gain political advantage” but also “any representative elected from such a district by that method.” Within the same year gerrymander was also recorded as a verb. (Word history courtesy of Gurunet)  

And in the Techno World

Ah, will be hard to resist this new printer from Canon. Due out in May. Borderless 13x19" prints in under 3 minutes. 8 inks, 6,144 nozzles, 2 picoliter droplets, Firewire and USB 2.0. Not bad. Will have to upgrade to XP's SP1 (dreadful thought), but will be worth it I guess to have this baby crank out some monster prints. May just wait until SP2 comes out and do it all at once. Think it is due out in the not too distant future. May jump yet at that new Nikon D70 - will wait and see what others experience with that first though.

DxO is a hot new product that looks quite promising. Noticed it in a newsletter from Imaging Resource. Promises to dramatically enhance image quality by automatically eliminating chromatic aberration, blur, vignetting and noise. You can try it out on a few pictures at the DxO site.

Trillian Pro has a new patch out 2.011. It doesn't get any better than Trillian for an IM, especially if you take advantage of all the plug-ins (stocks, weather, newsfeeds, to do tasks, and on and on). If you don't know what an IM is, just skip this. (They also have a free version with less features - Trillian lets you connect to your friends at msn, aol, yahoo, icq all through the same IM).

Roboform Pro is now up to version 5.61. The pro version will set you back $30 (a pittance for a program used this often) which will allow you unlimited passwords. The freebie version will grant you 30 passwords (if you're a light user of the Internet). Offers encrypted passwords as well. This really is a highly useful tool - used to be totally free, but that has kind of gone the way of the dinosaur. 

You do have the Google Toolbar , don't you? I would hope so. Another one of those indespensable tools. Free and this newer version offers a pop-up blocker, in case you are using IE as your Internet browser (IE is a bit slow to come around to the times). You can also look at all the other tools Google offers by clicking here You can also get a popup blocking browser by using Mozilla or by using MyIE2 . MyIE2 gives you all the advantages of IE with all the tools of Mozilla (surely debatable to those who use Mozilla). The popup blockers and especially the tabs features of these 2 browsers make your Internet experience completely different and better. I've used both Mozilla (1.3.1) and MyIE2 and have gotten used to MyIE2, but either will do the trick. Some things display better in IE than in Mozilla, which is why I stuck with MyIE2. Your choice.

If you have one of these "tabbed browsers" set up to open links in new "tabs", then as you've been reading these paragraphs, each time you could click on one of the links and a new tab would be opening with that window's information, all the while you continued to read here. By the time you finished reading here, the information is downloaded and ready to be read in the new tabs. All you have to do is click on them. Absolutely wonderful (ah, the little things that get me all excited!). All of these programs are easy to download and install.  

Like Free Magazines?

Check out Free Biz Mag.com It asks you to fill out some information about your job (generic info). Make something up. Once you're signed on, then periodically you will get emails asking if you would like a free year's subscription to various magazines. I've gotten everything under the sun - from Sports Illustrated to Stuff to Newsweek, Saveur, etc, etc. No credit card info required. Once the year's subscription expires, then you'll get a renewal notice which you can choose to use or disregard. They also offer from time to time free digital magazines (I'm currently getting Barrons, Foreign Policy, US News and World Report, Handheld Computing, PC magazine). They're identical to the print magazine, except you download them and view them in a slick free viewer. If you use a spam filter on your email, you may want to watch it carefully for a bit to make sure it's not disgarding these free offers. Once you see one, if you mark it as "Friend", then you won't have a problem. If you don't use a spam filter, disregard this.

Each time they send you an offer , you have to go to the website and go through the same ol' questionaire asking about your job, etc. They'll offer you some other stuff, which 99% of the time I say no to. You have to look closely to find the "no" buttons sometimes (watch out for the Literary Guild offers). But all this is a small price to pay for the free mags - in my case, they are passed out to Guests at our Inn, so I'm sure that is of benefit to the magazine publishers. It's peanuts to the publishers and good advertising. So, enjoy your reading! (I get nothing out of this, so don't think I'm hitting you up for something. :) I'll save that for my wild salmon offerings and audio books. :)  

Your Choice for VP?

Politics
-- Assuming Kerry is chosen at the Convention, whom amongst the following 3 do you think would be the best bet? Edwards (lack of experience and foreign policy experience, but strong with common man) ? Bill Richardson (Gov of NM) - strong on Foreign Policy - speaks fluent Spanish (raised in Mex.City) - would bring possibly very strong Hispanic vote (Florida) or Dick Gephardt (strong on jobs - could bring Missouri, Ohio and similar states that have been hardhit by job loss into the fold) ? Or perhaps someone else I haven't mentioned? Click on the comments link below to post your view.

-- Paul Krugman discusses The Trade Tightrope - The point is that free trade is politically viable only if it's backed by effective job creation measures and a strong domestic social safety net. And that suggests that free traders should be more worried by the prospect that the policies of the current administration will continue than by the possibility of a Democratic replacement.

Put it this way: there's a reason why the two U.S. presidents who did the most to promote growth in world trade were Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, while the two most protectionist presidents of the last 70 years have been Ronald Reagan and, yes, George W. Bush.

-- Dennis Hastert today is calling on a curtailment of the 9/11 commission. Bush is saying that he approves a 60 day extension, but many are suspicious that Hastert is doing the "heavy lifting" for GW on this one and is trying to prevent further disclosing. Bush has agreed to sit down with the 2 chairmen of the commitee for 1 hour, but not before the entire panel. Hate to tell them, but 1 hour goes pretty quickly, when about all you can say is , well, uh, duh...., well, let's see - what date did you say this thing happened?

Money
Harry Potter author becomes a billionaire. Not bad for someone who started writing these books at the corner cafe, because she couldn't afford heat in her apartment. The list of billionaires has now grown to 587, an increase of 111. There's hope for me yet! Just a few more investments and I should be there. LOL

Richard Grasso says no way is he giving back 139 million to the Big Board. Hey, if they were stupid enough to give it to him, why should he?

Social
-- Bob Hebert makes some good points with his Bliss and Bigotry article in the Times today. In a world beset by ignorance and poverty and suffering, a world wracked with wars and terror attacks and ethnic strife of every kind, it seems crazy to be twisting ourselves into knots over the desire of good men and women to transcend the prison of themselves and affirm their love for another by marrying.

That kind of desire is a good thing, isn't it?

--- Before we keep pouring money into schools and "education", maybe it's time we realize that it's not so much the physical things our kids need. Sure computers for everyone are nice, bright and shiny buildings, all that stuff. But that's just what it is - stuff. What kids really need are quality teachers. Kids in America can be just as bright as elsewhere, but it requires top-flight teachers like Rosemary Fryer . America needs to spend that money on finding and encouraging great teachers first and foremost. Anything else is lip service to education. Ask yourself how many truly great teachers you had? I suspect you can count them on one hand. (I can count 2 truly great ones).

-- Going to England anytime soon? Even if not, you should check out this site which will tell you all about English Pub Etiquette . You'll be a bloomin' expert!

Health
-- Need your Sinuses sucked out? Ask your pharmacist! Yikes! How about an arterial aneurysm? No problem - take a seat buddy!

Link of the Day:
Can't get enough of photography? Check out these Photo Blogs . 

Stick a Pin in It!

Just thought I would remind all my visitors to click on the little button above this post and place your pin on the map. You can remain anonymous or post your website/blog so others can pay you a visit! Would like to know see where all my visitors are coming from!

News

Tune in to CNN tonight to see Larry King moderate the Dems debate from LA. Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, Sharpton - the field narrows. Maybe it will get more interesting now. But most likely, Sharpton will once again carry the night - he seems to be the only one who puts a fresh face on each debate. Maybe we should be voting for Dave Barry instead?

Thomas Friedman points out that there's some good things about Indians having all those jobs, too. Read the flip side . JadooWorks has decided to produce its own animated epic about the childhood of Krishna. To write the script, though, it wanted the best storyteller it could find and outsourced the project to an Emmy Award-winning U.S. animation writer, Jeffrey Scott — for an Indian epic!

Rosie O'Donell is getting hitched in SF today. Good for you Rosie. I'm not a big fan of Rosie, but she will draw some attention to the absurdity of these discriminatory actions.

And on the weird front:

-AP - German prosecutors said Thursday they are investigating a student for stealing electricity after he plugged his laptop into a train station electrical socket and used 0.2 euro cents, or a quarter of a U.S. cent's worth, of power.

Now it's time to go stock up the fire as another blizzard hits the mountains - damn those caterpillars anyway!

Quote of the Day:
"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
Steven Weinberg
-

Snow on it's Way Again

Just noticed that the Thursday forecast is calling for 6-10" of snow. Man, just when the driveway finally got cleared off and here we go again. I can't tell you how many times this has happened this year. Was going to go to the movies today and see the "Passion", but decided not to at the last moment. Looks like I won't be going anywhere tomorrow, either.

Health
You ever get a bad burn? Next time, dip it in mustard! No mustard handy? Try iced tea! Crazy? Don't knock it till you've tried it. Picked up those tips from Terry and Joe Graedon of the People's Pharmacy fame. Joe's like a God to me. (I picked up a tip from his book years ago that 4 aspirins every 3-4 hours would kill the pain of a severe sunburn and that's the truth! After being flayed alive on the white sand beaches of Florida a number of times, you can appreciate why I feel this way!) Caught them for a few moments on an NPR fund drive. If you want to know more, you can check out their web site .

News
Watched a very good Larry King Live last night. They had SF Mayor Newsome on along with Senator Musgrave of Colorado, a Minister and a gay Actor/Producer. I'm telling you - this gay marriage debate drives me bonkers every time I see it. We're going to amend the Constitution so we can encourage discrimination? Give me a break. If the Church wants to drive away more people, sure seems like this is the way to do it. They make themselves out to be hypocrits. The Constitution has been amended over the years to bring women, blacks and young people into fuller citizenship. President Bush's amendment would be the first adopted to stigmatize and exclude a group of Americans.... a majority of Americans understand what President Bush does not: the Constitution is too important to be folded, spindled or mutilated for political gain. (Editorial - NY Times)

Cut Social Security? Yep, that's what Greenspan thinks is the thing to do. Boy, reduce taxes on the rich and then whack social security benefits. Yep, seems like a compassionate thing to do.

And on the Strange Side Today: (courtesy of Yahoo News)
- BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A Hungarian TV hostess sat naked Wednesday to announced she is running for a seat in the European Parliament as candidate of the upstart Union Party. (Think Hilary's up for this?)

- AP - A young scientist says cat drool appears to be cleaner than that of dogs. Lacey Lafromboise, a fifth-grader at Turtle Mountain Elementary School in Belcourt, earned a trip to the Native American Science Fair in Albuquerque, N.M. by proving that her two dogs have more bacteria in their mouths than her two cats. (My cat's fur smells great after a good lick job! :)

-AP - Put this one in the "there-oughta-be-a-law" category. A bill introduced in the Georgia House Wednesday would require twice as many toilets in women's restrooms as in men's rooms (Yep, our lawmakers at work!)

- Vietnam's largest city has seen a surge in fish bone choking incidents after an outbreak of bird flu made chicken scarce and increased consumption of seafood (They should stick to sardines)

- A 64-year-old priest pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal possession of $50,000 stolen from his Long Island parish — cash police found at his apartment along with a pistol, pornography and Nazi paraphernalia. (Bet his sermons are interesting!)


Quote of the Day:
"We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police."
Jeff Marder  

Blogsnob

You'll notice at the top right of this blog where it says "Blogsnob Random Blog", there is now a link to a random blog that will appear each time you load the page. So click on it and be surprised! Sometimes you find some pretty cool blogs, sometimes they're in a language, you won't even understand!  

Bush Moves to Shore up his Base

GW today struck out against gay marriages today asking for a constitutional amendment to ban them. "On a matter of such importance, the voice of the people must be heard." Voice of the People? How about the voice of GW and his conservative base?

"Decisive and democratic action is needed because attempts to redefine marriage in a single state or city could have serious consequences throughout the country" Serious consequences? Such as? Once gays are married, what are they going to do? Protest, picket the White House, start attacking heterosexuals? Gee, how many times have you heard of homosexuals attacking heterosexuals? And now that they're married, I suspect their rage will know no bounds. Yeh, right.

"Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. " Please explain to me how gay marriages destabilizes society? Gay parents can't raise children? Oh yes, I forget - gay behavior is learned and thus there will be even more gays running around! Yikes, can't let that happen! If it is learned, wonder how a kid growing up in a heterosexual household, turns out gay? Maybe the tooth fairy really was a fairy? Damn, better come up with a new fairy tale.

"Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all." No, it is meddling in peoples' affairs and it sure as hell doesn't recognize the interests of the gay community. "Our government should respect every person and protect the institution of marriage. There is no contradiction between these responsibilities. We should also conduct this difficult debate in a matter worthy of our country, without bitterness or anger. In all that lies ahead, let us match strong convictions with kindness and good will and decency." Oh yes, I like that last part especially. I'm sure gays who have had their basic rights denied, will feel the same way.

Let's face it, GW is just trying to turn the heat away from his other failed policies and is trying to shore up his conservative base before the election. (It does disturb me though that polls suggest that most Americans don't want gay marriages - we are so afraid of people different than ourselves, whether they be minorities, homosexuals,etc - nothing new since the beginning of time , of course, but sad, nonetheless). Pretty much the same way as he seated Pryor on the bench the other day. And he's probably hoping he can drag the Dems into this debate and get them off of his failed jobs program, his mess in Iraq, his attack on the environment and on and on. I would get a very good chuckle if this all backfired in his face. Sorry, but in my book , the government doesn't belong in this issue. For a very well written argument written about this, look at Clark Schpiell's commentary . And for a rather biting and funny look at the Bush program, check out Arianna's column . 

Social Responsibilty - Taking Away Dad's Car Keys?

If you have an older parent who is still driving, do yourself a favor and read this article in the Christian Science Monitor . I and my brothers made the mistake of not taking action some years ago and had to listen to the tragic news that our Dad had crossed a busy highway and had not seen someone coming. My mother, riding as passenger, was killed and my father injured.

Fortunately, no one else was killed. But the driver of that other car now has to live the rest of their life knowing that they killed someone, even though it wasn't their fault. My Dad had had other accidents in the past and had even totaled his own car , pulling out into traffic when he didn't have the room to do so. We had all ridden in the car with him and had witnessed scary moments of bad decision-making and poor reflexes. Yet somehow none of us thought we could tell him, that enough was enough. We hoped his doctor might stop him - after all, he complained of double vision and was on heavy dosages of prednisone for an illness. It would have been nice if the doc had stopped him, but we should have taken action, as well. I think we also figured (hoped?) he would just be lucky enough to somehow not hurt anyone - Wrong.

I think part of it was that my Dad had always been a very capable person and we all knew his car was his lifeline to his independence. We probably also were concerned for my mother's sanity, should he now no longer be able to drive and be forced to spend all day in the house! I think my Mother probably feared that taking those keys away would also rob him of his independence. To those of you with older parents, forget that! They'll learn to cope (and you may be saving countless lives). It was a mistake not to take those keys away. Had we been firm enough, I think he would have stopped. It would certainly have spared us all a tragic loss. So, for those of you who read this, honestly assess how your parents drive and if they're no longer skilled and possess good judgement, do yourself, them, and many others a big favor and take those keys away.

From the article:
Several years ago, as my own father approached 90, I worried about such accidents and that my dad, licensed in 1927, might cause an accident. I believed this after dozens of erratic rides with him in the driver's seat, brushing up against curbs at 30 mph, taking corners from the middle of busy streets, and cruising past stop signs. I was scared for him - and for others. I wanted him out from behind the wheel. I believed it was time.

The author of the article was lucky, as he didn't take action to take those keys away. Instead , his father decided on his own at age 90, that he had had enough. Of course, I reasoned, he'd had one too many close calls. Maybe he was scared, some near-miss forcing his decision. Certainly, I believed, it wasn't my hectoring. I'd been passive when I could have acted because I couldn't turn stool pigeon. In hindsight, I was thinking of myself when I should have been thinking of my dad - and so many other fathers, sons, and families on the road. 

The other side of Outsourcing

"I took him to a factory outlet center. In the back of the Rockport store they were having a clearance of shoes made in China or Indo-someplace. I bought him a pair of fine leather shoes for $24. You shoulda seen my boy's face light up."

Free trade is helping that lady make ends meet because her hard-earned dollar now has more buying power. If those fast-talking protectionists had their way, the high cost of living would deny her boy those shoes.

Just wanted to be somewhat balanced here and present the other side of the argument as suggested by William Safire - arch conservatist pundit for the NY Times. As you can see, it is a complicated issue.

Quote of the Day:
"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
Robert X. Cringely, Info World Magazine 

Factoid

The Motley Fool's Credit Center features several mind-blowing statistics:

-Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion.
-Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562.
-Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion.
-Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%.
-Number of credit card holders who declared bankruptcy last year: 1.3 million.

Now I would recommend you pay off your credit card each month in full and then you wouldn't owe any interest. Also a heck of a way to control your spending habits. But note this latest little twist on that - GE Rewards MasterCard holders who pay off their entire balance in a timely manner are actually penalized $25 per year. As this Yahoo! Finance article explains, a full 75% of credit card company revenues come from finance charges and responsibility is not profitable. Apparently other credit card companies are possibly expected to follow GE's lead. They sure want our moola, don't they? 

Sunday AM News

Kerry and Edwards
George Stephanopolus had Kerry and Edwards on discussing each other's programs. Too bad they weren't in the same room at the same time. It's hard to say who has the better plan - the problem will be pushing them through a congress. I think if folks expect the world to change dramatically overnight because Democrats are elected, they're probably setting themselves up to be disappointed. George did make the interesting point that even if Edwards should win all the rest of the States, it would be hard to beat Kerry. Why? Because in Democratic primaries, unlike Republican ones, delegates are based on a % of the vote. So if they run close, Kerry will get just about as many delegates as Edwards, making it impossible for Edwards to catch up. Of course if Edwards were to sweep the rest of the States, it might be close enough to lead to a brokered convention (which is what happens if neither candidate gets 40% of the delegates necessary to win on the first ballot). In Republican primaries, winner takes all. For more about how all this works, look at Vote Smart's web site.

When it comes to Edwards vs. Kerry, I think it will come down to experience vs non-experience and how the public views those two items. If you think experience is a positive, you'll vote for Kerry. If you think experience means only that politicians have been corrupted too long in Washington, then you'll vote for Edwards.

Nader
Well, of course Nader had to run, didn't he? Guess our write in campaign didn't pull it off. Ralph huffed and puffed about the audacity of the liberals to ask him not to run and basically I couldn't disagree with anything he said, except that he isn't facing reality, no matter how important it is to let an independent run. Are the Dems beholden to special interests just like the Republicans as Ralph suggests? I'm sure they are. Is it going to change soon? I doubt it. But I'll still take the "vision" of the Democratic party over the "blindness" of the Republican party. He obviously does not see a danger of 4 more years of Bush. I personally don't think it's worth risking. It will be interesting to see where Dean's "angry left" supporters go. That probably has MacAuliffe (Dem Nat'l Party chairman) sweating. Ah, politics - endlessly fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

Friedmann goes to Bangalore (India's Silicon Valley) and Meets the Zippies
What are zippies? Find out here. They won't put any zip in your life, I can tell you that! Well not at the moment anyway! Either way, managing this phenomenon (outsourcing) will require a public policy response — something more serious than the Bush mantra of let the market sort it out, or the demagoguery of the Democratic candidates, who seem to want to make outsourcing equal to treason and punishable by hanging. Time to get real.

Quote of the Day:
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss 

The Latest Hot Issues

Nader
Noticed that the Ralph Nader issue is picking up steam. Supposedly he will announce this Sunday on Meet the Press what he plans to do. Democrats are going all out to convince him otherwise. One on his long time friends made this comment: Mr. Green said that he, in turn, told Mr. Nader that during a talk Mr. Green recently gave about his new critique of Mr. Bush, "The Book on Bush," 93 of 100 audience members who said they voted for Mr. Nader in 2000 said they would not do so again. "I relayed that as a way to say, a) It may hurt Kerry and help re-elect Bush and b) It won't help you given how much more you have to contribute." Joshua Marshall points out in his Talking Points Memo :A reader notes that since Nader now isn't even running as a Green, he has apparently abandoned even the pretense that he is in the race to create a viable third party in American politics. If he runs, it would now be strictly on a platform of vacuous moral posturing and self-aggrandizement.

SF Marriages
A judge blocked conservative groups from denying gays the right to marry . Gee, guess these groups won't have the chance for a few days to further their bigotry. I know, I know, there are 2 sides to this issue, but I'm sorry, I still don't get the side that thinks this is harming the "sanctity of marriage". Gov Schwarzenegger weighed in with this comment: saying that "San Francisco's actions are directly contrary to state law and present an imminent risk to civil order." What? The conservatives are going to rise up and wage war on the gays in the streets? Actually, that wouldn't surprise me. Update: Here's an interesting article on Mayor Newsome and his reasons for taking on this issue.

GW slips Another One by
George installed Willaim Pryor Jr to a Federal Appeals court during a Congressional recess. First we get Pickering, now we get Pryor. Pretty slick - you just get tired of Democrats filibustering, so you appoint them while the Congress is out. Fortunately they can be removed in the future when the Senates gets to vote on them - all the more reason to elect Democrats to Senate seats, who will rid the court of all these ultra-conservatives.As a state official in Alabama, Mr. Pryor, 41, gained prominence as an outspoken opponent of legalized abortion and as an advocate for a greater Christian influence in government Furthermore, Mr. Pryor is also known for defending the right of high school athletes to pray "spontaneously." And, in a brief before the Supreme Court, he argued that if a law in Texas outlawing sex between homosexuals was overturned, it would open the way for legalized "prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography and even incest and pedophilia."

Staring Into the Mouth of the Trade Deficit SEATTLE - Huge container ships steam into this port every day loaded with clothes and shoes, furniture and video games, electronics and aircraft parts made in Asia.

On their return trip, those same ships often cross the Pacific half empty, bearing chemicals, meat, grain and engines and routinely stuffed with hay or scrap paper. "This is what the nation's trade imbalance really looks like," said Mark Knudsen, the deputy director of the Port of Seattle. "We've got so much empty cargo space, it pays to ship over hay for Chinese animals, or scrap paper to be recycled into packaging for Barbie dolls."

Obviously the trade debate is going to be a big issue in the upcoming election. Many think that outsourcing to other countries is hurting us, but there are others who don't see it that way. Will be an interesting debate. As I've said before, if you want to watch someone who really is outspoken about this, watch Lou Dobbs on CNN.  

Bill Clinton - A Speech shortly after 9/11

This may take you awhile, but it's always interesting to listen to Clinton talk. Smart minds like his don't come along every day. This is the text of a speech delivered to Georgetown Univ. students , not long after 9/11. Interesting viewpoints on terroists, Muslims and how we should view the world. Worth a read.  

Please Ralph, Don't do It!

There's a possiblity that Ralph Nader may run again - he's even got a web site testing out the idea. Now I know anybody should have the chance to run, but in Ralph's case, he actually made a difference which cost the Democrats the Election. He sucked up 80,000 votes in Florida when the difference came down to some 500 votes. And he sucked up 4% of the vote in New Hampshire where GW won by 1%. It would be one thing if Ralph really had a chance, but he doesn't and I can't believe he can sit back and see what the Republicans are doing and think that what he is doing is of some benefit to the country. You can email Ralph at info@naderexplore04.org . Do us all a favor and take the time to click on that link and jot Ralph a note telling him to cease and desist.

Quote of the Day:
I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough.
Claire Sargent, on women candidates, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993 

By Golly, The World may not End!

Electablog* Campaign News with all the Carbs: An amusing quote from Electablog this morning - "I live in San Francisco and can report with some certaintly that our city did not sink into the sea over the weekend, nor did a single person turn into a pillar of salt. There were, however, hundreds of joyous unions. I suppose everyone has a right to their opinions on this, but you've really got to wonder about people and organizations who took the weekend off from their Janet Jackson nipple-related letter writing campaigns to dedicate themselves to stopping people who love each other from getting married."
Quote of the Day:
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
George Carlin (1937-) 

SF Mayor takes a brave Stand

Gavin Newsome did the right thing in my book. It was nice to see all these people who have been discriminated against for so many years, finally achieve some happiness in their lives. Newsome: "There's also a constitution in the state of California that I swore to uphold just 39 days ago," he told CNN's "American Morning." "The bottom line is I took an oath of office and read that constitution, and nowhere in there did it say that I should discriminate."

"I see a world that I saw over the course of this weekend where people were literally coming, from states across this nation, coming together because they have been in a loving relationship for decade after decade, and they want the same privileges and rights and obligations that were extended to my wife and I," Newsom said.

"That's the kind of world that I want to live in," Newsom said. "That's the kind of world that I think the constitution of the state of California, for that matter, the U.S. Constitution, provides and protects."

Whereas I'm sure the courts will find a way to strike this down, I salute brother Newsome for his act of HUMAN decency.