Bob Morris @ Jun 22nd 2004 11:19 - Category: Unfiled ;
Why satire is increasingly impossible to do. Chapter 341
Rocket Fuel: A Food Group!.
Rocket fuel has been found in milk in California, and experts can’t agree on whether it might be bad for kids. And you thought Ronald “Ketchup is a vegetable” Reagan was bad….
Bob Morris @ Jun 22nd 2004 10:36 - Category: Unfiled ;
How geography shapes architecture
In New England, homes usually have basements and attics, which among other things, provide important insulation in cold weather. As you walk in the front door of a house, there will a coat closet nearby, as well as a place to stamp the snow off your shoes. Malls have revolving door entrances, this helps keep warm air inside. Porches are generally screened to protect against the omnipresent summer mosquitos. Central heating is not a luxury.
Here in southern California, where the weather seldom if ever gets seriously cold, malls may not have doors at all, and often have openings in the ceilings, something which never happens in New England. Back in Connecticut, my sister and husband are adding windows to their house to provide more light. More light is generally not needed here in LA, in fact protecting against too much light, and the resultant heat, can be the priority! Homes and apartments here often do not have central heating and instead have gas-powered wall heaters, which work ok most times and might leave you a bit cold somedays. But “cold” here is defined as 55 outside, whereas in Connecticut, temperatures sometimes are sub zero, and lack of good heating could become live-threatening.
The Mexican style of architecture, thick walls and big overhanging eaves, protects well against strong relentless sun. In fact, homes like that often have interior rooms which remain quite cool regardless of the temperature outside.
Bob Morris @ Jun 22nd 2004 01:38 - Category: Unfiled ;
The long Connecticut psychodrama is over
Once a GOP rising star, Gov. John G. Rowland is stepping down amid swirling corruption allegations
”What we found out was that Gov. Rowland got tens of thousands of dollars in cash from at least one major state contractor,” said state Rep. Mike Lawlor, a Democrat.
I was in Connecticut when this happened. My Dad said people in his mostly Republican retirement home cheered the news, as did many many others. Rowland should have resigned months ago, and still faces a federal corruption investigation.
Bob Morris @ Jun 22nd 2004 01:29 - Category: Unfiled ;
Nader selects Camejo as his running mate
“Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader named Green Party activist Peter Camejo as his vice presidential running mate Monday, adding to his ticket a two-time contender for governor in California.
It bolstered Nader’s quest to win an endorsement from the Greens at their national convention, which begins Wednesday in Milwaukee. If Nader succeeds, he could win ballot access in 22 states — including California — and the District of Columbia.
Camejo also improves Nader’s access to an important constituency. A fluent Spanish speaker of Venezuelan descent, Camejo plans to campaign vigorously for Latino votes coveted by Democrats and Republicans.
For all those reasons, many Democrats were unsettled by the emergence of a Nader-Camejo ticket.”
That was a smart, canny move, choosing Camejo before the convention started. This forces the party to carefully consider running or endorsing the Nader/Camejo ticket. It’s either that or choose Nader hater David Cobb and his timid “safe states” strategy. The first will be a real campaign that will keep Greens as national players, the second almost sure to sink the party into a miasma of irrelevance.
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