The dreariness of Sohum life of late as reflected in events, illness, and the weather; it’s no surprise to me that even the kids are feeling it. Take the following testimonial from my son today, who has been out of his classroom for two weeks due to sickness and the school winter break. The blues hit him at lunch time. When I picked him up, he shared the story:

“At lunch we always bus our dishes and then we’re excused to play. I finished and bussed, but nobody excused me. Then (one of the teachers) asked me if I finished and I said yes. I guess he sort of excused me. It was weird.”

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The Reggae wars continued on a very lively episode of Politically Correct Week in Review on KMUD tonight. Paul Encimer is distributing a petition for the Planning Commission, I assume to be delivered at Thursday’s meeting. I didn’t quite catch what was on the petition.

The Nohum folk at the meeting aren’t going to know what hit them. I suspect that both sides are going to attempt some parliamentary maneuvers, which I’ll discuss as we get closer to the meeting.

Meanwhile, on Bob’s blog, Andy Barnett attempts to introduce some dark humor to the craziness. Makes me even more sorry that I almost caused an accident with him a few weeks ago.

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Meanwhile, it may not be as sexy as the Reggae conflict, but 46 nations got together in Oslo to push for a ban on cluster bombs. The three major powers, Russia, China, and the United States blew the conference off. Japan, Poland, and Romania attended but refused to sign. Surprisingly, countries which had opposed such a treaty were turned around, including Canada, Germany, and Britain.

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are disturbed, often by children attracted by their small size and bright colors.

We are also on record opposing the ban of landmines, also rich in “collateral damage.” Our excuse is the defense of South Korea against the North. In this case, the US isn’t really arguing the point. Instead we’re just complaining about the forum itself.

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Earlier on this blog somebody opined that there may be more of a story to the recent Hurwitz visit, and some posters have implied that there was a visit with the Rob Arkley. Perhaps fanning those flames of speculation it turns out that Nancy Fleming, the runner-up in the 4th District Supervisor race supported by Arkley, is the new Rio Dell City Manager.

So where is the Scotia annexation proposal at these days anyway?

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Two global warming op-eds in recent Eureka Reporter editions. This one says that the earth is cooling – when you compare the climate to that of 75 million years ago. The writers suggests you look it all up on the Internet.

A second piece says that the measurements around the globe over the past 100 years indicate neither cooling nor warming. Then something about 2 party systems not being in the Constitution nor democracy. And Communists control capital in Communist countries.

I’m convinced.

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Do you know what a Soroptimist is? Someone who’s in physical pain, but with a positive outlook on life.

Yeah, I’ll keep my dayjob.

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You know Nancy Pelosi is making a difference when…. well, read it for yourself.

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With Al Gore getting all the Academy Awards attention for the documentaries, another film is slipping under the radar. I haven’t seen it yet, but another nomination is reviewed here. It essentially explains why Mr. Smith can’t get to Washington in today’s lobbyist-dominated political climate. The film, Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore?, has its own website here.

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A former Mother Jones editor finds religion and tells the Chronicle about it. It’s not clear from the article whether her wife shares her new faith.

Meanwhile, another woman’s conduit to the world from God is being plugged up by San Mateo authorities.

The man says, “Get out of here
I’ll tear you limb from limb”
I said, “You know they refused Jesus, too”
He said, “You’re not Him
Get out of here before I break your bones
I ain’t your pop”
I decided to have him arrested
And I went looking for a cop

-Dylan

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Back in my Socialist Workers Party days (also known as my junior year in high school) I met this older African American man who was briefly famous for being quoted in the national media during the early 70s as saying “No Vietnamese ever called me nigger.” Well, Kenneth Eng isn’t Vietnamese, but a recent column of his entitled “Why I hate Blacks” published in a prominent newspaper in San Francisco might undermine the whole theme. Can you feel the love?

Anybody seen Crash? I had some problems with the movie, but I’ll watch anything with Jennifer Esposito, who is easily the sexiest woman in Hollywood.

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I could use a cruise about now. Can’t swing it at the moment, but I can live it vicariously through our own Ed Denson. He’s cruising Mexico and blogging about it.

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Photo source.

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