Thursday, September 23, 2004
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
FoxNews.com reported this morning that Yusuf Islam, on his previous visit to Washington, had met with the White House
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Bush Administration spokeswoman Claire Buchan was quoted as saying that the
meeting was "to talk about philanthropic work".
I'm guessing the meeting ending with a "don't call us...we'll call you... no, really!". Was nothing dropped into the
Bush-Cheney Victory 2004 hat when it went around the table?
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
I'm being followed by a moonshadow...
Yesterday, a United 747 enroute to Washington from London was diverted to Bangor, ME after the Homeland Security apparatus
realised that Yusuf Islam was on board. Yusuf Islam is on several lists including TSA's "no-fly" list and numerous "Top 20"
chart listings. You see, Yusuf Islam changed his name in 1977 from Cat Stevens. Despite having visited the US most recently
in May and despite having donated half the royalties from his recent box set to the September 11 Fund, a Homeland Security
spokesman said he was "denied admission to the United States on national security grounds." The plane was held on the ground
for four hours while Islam was being "interviewed" before being allowed to proceed to DC. His daughter was allowed to continue
her trip. Islam is to be deported to London today.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
I think that's what I wanted to hear you say...
President George W. Bush
Putz Field, St Cloud, Minnesota
September 16, 2004
".....This country is headed toward democracy. ...."
(Taken out of context but what was he really trying to say!)
Monday, September 13, 2004
Ten Years On
On September 13, 1994, Daph and I drove through the California border crossing at Hornbrook, Siskiyou County. We had
towed the U-Haul trailer almost 4000 miles from Boston heading west across the Great Plains to Seattle where we turned left
and followed Interstate 5 south. The Pest Exclusion inspectors asked to open our trailer door to ensure we were not carrying
forbidden fruits. The inside of the 4 x 8 trailer looked like a household run through a compactor. The inspector chose not
to explore any further but waved us on.
By the end of the day we had crossed the Bay Bridge into San Francisco where we
parked the trailer in storage and headed for the refuge of a friend's sofabed. It had been quite a run. Boston MA - Rochester
NY - Erie PA - Toledo OH - La Crosse WI - Sioux Falls SD - Bismarck ND - Billings MT - Missoula MT - Seattle WA - Grant's
Pass OR - San Francisco CA.
Now all we had to do was find jobs and a place to live.
Later I'll post an index illustrating our ten years in California.
Thursday, September 2, 2004
Yer a gas man
Most reports I see about consumer spending slowing in the US tie it back, at least in part, to the increase in the price of
gasoline. The more people spend at the pump, the less they have to spend elsewhere is the theory.
I dug up some numbers - mainly from the EPA.
Average US annual mileage per private vehicle 14,000
Average miles per US gallon for private vehicle 21.5
In other words, the average US private vehicle uses 651 US gallons per year.
The US average cost per gallon in 2003 was $1.56.
The US average cost per gallon in 2004 (to date) is $1.85.
This means that the average operator of the average vehicle would pay $188.79 more in 2004.
Or $15.73 per month.
So the lack of $15.73 in monthly discretionary spending by every car operator is dragging down the largest economy on Earth!
That seems hard to add up.
7:51 pm pdt
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
A rovin', a rovin', a rovin' I go!
An Associated Press story today by Ron Fournier, AP Political Writer,entitled "Rove Targets Kerry Anti-Vietnam Testimony"
ends with this:
'Rove compared the U.S. war on terrorism to the decades-old conflict in Northern Ireland.
"This is going to be more like the conflict in Northern Ireland, where the Brits fought terrorism, and there's no sort
of peace accord with al-Qaida saying, 'We surrender,'" Rove said.'
I thought Rove was supposed to be bright and well informed. Here's a primer on the peace process from the Irish Embassy
in DC for his reading pleasure.
