April 28, 2006
Politicians & the gas crisis
Today’s SF Chronicle has two photos on the front page, with this caption:
House speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., departs in a hydrogen-powered car … after a news conference on gasoline prices in Washington - and then gets out and prepares to climb into a sport utility vehicle powered by gasoline…. Hastert and President Bush have called for an investigation into oil company profits.
The article, by Marc Sandalow, is titled “DRIVE LESS? POLITICIANS WON’T ASK: Republicans and Democrats rail against oil companies for the high price of gasoline — but they don’t dare suggest we change our ways”
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April 10, 2006
When did you start/stop smoking?
There’s a “Two Cents” item on sfgate.com, asking “When did you smoke your first cigarette? Your last?”
My response is included.
Posted by gans at 12:13 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 15, 2006
Disaster on the Garden Isle
My wife and I have spent a lot of time on Kaua’i, and we love the place and the people we know there.
An earthen dam broke yesterday, causing a flood that has washed out the Kuhio Highway, destroyed several houses, and taken several lives.
Here’s a collection of photos from the newspaper The Garden Island showing the damage.
Our friend Don Mussell, who works on KKCR’s transmitter and other equipment and spends a lot of time on the island, has been keeping us abreast of events.
Bad news from the north shore today. A reservoir failed this morning at around 5:30 AM after 4 inches of rain fell in a few hours overnight. A wall of water 15 feet high and 1/2 mile wide came roaring through the Waiakalua area. 7 people are missing, 4 houses were washed away, Highway 50 is gone (washed away, asphalt, rock, roadbed, everything) for about 1/4 mile between Kilauea and Moloa’a. Power lines are down, and the coast guard has been offshore looking for survivors. The water broke through an earth dam that has been in place for over 100 years, after overtopping it sometime in the early morning.KKCR radio is on the air providing updates as they become available. One of the rescue staff is on the air this morning, after being on standby all night. The north shore of Kaua’i has received a huge amount of rain in the past week, around 25 inches from reports I have seen.
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March 9, 2006
Walter Keeler (1957-2006)
We lost Walter this morning.
Walter Keeler was one of my “imaginary friends” - not imaginary at all, really, but one of the people I met and stayed in touch with primarily online, in The WELL. We had musical tastes in common, which is always a good basis for friendly dealings, and over the years I came to appreciate Walter’s deeply humane political and social views and his sharp wit. He was shy and quiet in person, but articulate and insightful in the text-only realm where we interacted most often. In political discussions (I am one of the moderators of a media forum in the WELL), Walter often summed up my own thoughts handsomely and incisively.
Walter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall. He started a blog to keep his friends and family apprised of his treatment and his state of mind. The first entry was posted on November 18, recounting the events of November 7. As you read the journal, I think you’ll get a sense of Walter’s nature: a sensible, well-adjusted soul who faced his struggle bravely and wisely.
Having been through my wife’s battle with cancer - which had a much more positive outcome - I can only begin to imagine what Walter’s widow is feeling today. Helen Rossi is as sweet and funny and wise as her life partner was, and her account of Walter’s struggle - posted on the WELL and not readable from the web - was a model of clarity and compassion.
Theirs was one of those marriages that clearly worked. I’m sending all the love I’ve got to you, Helen. Life must go on.
Walter, We’re going to miss you.
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