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Yard Sale
Unlike last year's jumble
sale, I actually arrived on time this year... Well sort
of. I had a crowd of about 5 early birds chomping at the bit
to get at my old crap. As soon as I exited the cab, they pounced.
Prodding me with questions and following me into Ron's basement
to dig through boxes of books or records before I even had
a chance to bring them up to the sidewalk.
 Family
Dinner
My twin sister and her husband came to SF this week. Seems
the brother-in-law had a convention to attend. We got together
on Sunday for a little dinner action and even coerced our
father to join us. After much squirming and protestations
we all decided on a restaurant and in the end, we had a nice
time. After dinner, I suggested a dessert trip to Mitchel's
for ice cream. They've got a production facility and store
in the outer mission district of SF where they've been making
ice cream for over 50 years. I knew my sister would enjoy
it immensely, as she's always had a sweet tooth. I didn't
get anything even though they had vegan sorbet available.
It's just such an "Only in San Francisco" type of
place that it seemed the perfect place to take out of town
visitors. The three of us only get together once every six
or seven years so it was quite a nice diversion from my usual
Sunday night routine. My brother-in-law as nice enough to
snap a little family portrait (see left). Before you think
they're quite tall, you should know they're on a step so we
could fit in the same photo.
Smoke-Free Extreme
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch "coffee shops" famous
for selling cannabis are about to see business go up in smoke.
Officials have just put the finishing touches to a measure
banning smoking in cannabis-selling cafes. Due to get government
approval soon, the law aims to protect employees of all companies
from passive smoking. "Any coffee shop that has employees
will be affected too," said Trudy Prins, director of
Dutch anti-smoking group Stivoro. Although cannabis is formally
illegal in the Netherlands, its use and sale are tolerated
under strict government conditions. Coffee shops, where customers
can buy a small amount of cannabis without fear of arrest,
are a major tourist draw. Coffee shop owners were aghast.
"The whole point of going to a coffee shop is to smoke,"
said Arjan Roskam, chairman of the Union for Cannabis Retailers.
The Netherlands boasts around 800 cannabis cafes. Smoking
a joint in an Amsterdam coffee shop vies with canal boat tours
and trips to the flower market for a place on tourists' itineraries.
WMDs Found!
The remnants of WMD were found in a field this week, though
not in Iraq. They were found at Fort Detrick. The cache of
biologicals included hundreds of vials with live bacteria
including Anthrax. If the US government is really serious
about making the world safer from the threats these materials
pose, they should clean up their own backyard first!
U.S. weapons experts are struggling to deal with the remnants
of a decades-old biological weapons program.
They are trying to find potentially dangerous materials —
once shrouded in secrecy — with only poorly kept records
and fading memories to go on.
Thousands of tons of hazardous substances like anthrax are
at stake.
Only the hunt is not in Iraq. It's
in Maryland.
FREDERICK,
Md. (AP) - Two years of digging at Fort Detrick have unearthed
more than 2,000 tons of hazardous waste, including vials of
live bacteria and nonvirulent anthrax the military didn't
know were there, Army officials say.
The discovery of pathogens apparently dumped by the offensive
biological weapons program that operated at the post until
1969 has turned what was expected to be an industrial waste
removal into the biggest cleanup in Army history.
So far, cleanup crews have found more than 100 glass vials
containing live bacteria.
When digging began in April 2001, the Army expected to find
mostly lab chemicals, debris and incinerator ash.
The Army did not expect to find tiny vials of live bacteria
like Brucella melitensis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus
anthracis - anthrax - the potent form of which was brewed
by the gallon at Fort Detrick until President Nixon banned
offensive weapons research.
"The documentation for where this came from doesn't
exist," Lt. Col. Donald Archibald, Fort Detrick's director
of safety, environment and integrated planning, said.
 The
Age of Imperialism
Blair Busted
One day after it was revealed that British Prime Minister
Tony Blair's staff doctored reports about Iraq's WMDs to make
it appear the threat posed by Sadam Hussein was more urgent
than actually is the case.
Shrub slubs international goodwill
The Shrub went to Europe this week. The proper continent this
time, not just a Euro Island to avoid protesters. Considering
the fact that he's well past middle age, it was quite a feat
to really leave the US for his first real trip. It's a bit
sad that his first real diplomatic effort comes in the last
few months of his presidency. He's totally bollocked every
opportunity for international diplomacy, assistance and cooperation.
Now that he's officially announced his intention to run for
office again, the campaign is sure to pick up steam any day
now and divert his infantile attention away from really important
matters.
The albatross strikes again
Shock and surprise coursed through the media as the Shrub
made clear and unequivocal commitments to work for peace in
the middle east. He vowed to back the US puppet, um I mean
Palestinian President and appeared to "force" Ariel
Sharron to mention "occupied territory" for the
first time. Apparently every single Israeli leader before
him has considered the occupation justified, as did Sharron
until this week. While these are signs the Shrub is off to
a good start, his tantrums and bully behaviour in the international
arena have thus far proved that things often go pear shape
for the idealogue. The middle east has been an albatross round
the necks of many US Presidents for decades. It's curious
to wonder why he didn't take baby steps in the diplomatic
arena by dealing with other international issues first. That
way, he could approach the middle east fresh on the heels
of success instead of perpetuating the stereotype of a "wag
the dog" strategy which leaves the US domestic economic
and democratic situation floundering at best and off the rails
at worst.
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Week
Ending 01 June
Workin'
It 
School
Great
America
Fashionable
Fete 
