Wanna buy a house—cheap?

The small community of Manteca about 60 miles East of San Francisco is witnessing an economic disaster-in-the making, as the housing market is on the edge of collapse. Foreclosures have skyrocketed recently and hundreds of homes on the market have remained unsold and vacant for extended periods of time. Some homes are in a state [...]

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The Rovian Moon

SFWillie has written an excellent commentary about Barack Obama’s recent remarks on his planned approach to foreign policy.
According to Barack, he will return to the “traditional bipartisan realistic policy” of Ronald Reagan, George Bush I, and John Kennedy.
Admittedly, the policies of those three presidents, as well as every president we’ve elected since 1789, were [...]

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It’s the Money, Stupid

…who’s got the rice?…

The world-wide food shortage doesn’t surprise me. But the shortage of rice in Silicon Valley was a shocker when I first read the story. Like most unsophisticated Americans and a Californian by rearing and attitude, I assumed that the supply of rice in California was limitless.
California is the nation’s number two state [...]

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Is San Francisco the Dirtiest City in the World?

One of my favorite sources of information is city-data.com. The site has a plethora of information about almost every inhabited settlement in the U.S.
It’s a great place for casual browsing if you want to learn things about your hometown, or about any town for that matter.
Depending on my mood, I may look for real [...]

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Children’s Day

May 5th is a national holiday. In Japan. It’s called Children’s Day, and it’s a day to celebrate children, who are universally regarded as a national treasure in Japan.
At one time, there were two “Days,” Girls’ Day on March 3rd and Boys’ Day on May 5th. But after the end of World War II, [...]

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Close Only Counts in Horseshoes

…and hand grenades…
Frankly (I hate that word but it’s apropos here), Barack didn’t even come close in Pennsylvania.
Hillary walked away with a ten percent margin of victory, 55 to 45, over Barack in yesterday’s PA primary. Already, the statisticians, analysts, Talking Whatevahs, Spinmeisters, and Water Cooler Political Pros are parsing the numbers.
Barack supporters offer [...]

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Sex in the Civil War

A few nights ago I watched Sex in the Civil War on the History Channel. I was kind of surprised because I didn’t know people actually engaged in sex in the 1860s. I thought it originated with the Hippies in the 1960s. In my mind, birth was kind of like spontaneous combustion. It just happened. [...]

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