Ron's Log

Not In Pahrump

The Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino "assisted" in a book give-away at Hoover Elementary in Indio yesterday. Every student received a complete set of Spanish textbooks including literature, math, history and geography. In some backwaters, education of this sort would rile some of the dinosaurs.

Hoover Elementary info here.

Disaster Looms!

Horrifying weather predictions have forced local emergency forces to pull out all the stops to prevent deaths: In response to the weather service's warning, the state warned of the health risks and potential property damage and asked people to check on those with special needs or who live alone. Yes, hold onto your sweaters, temperatures may touch the freezing mark today. To educate the public, The Desert Sun has reprinted this graphic to remind valley residents of the freezing point of water:

Tomorrow I'm sure there will be a front page story along the lines of "ICE: Not Just In Your Cocktails."

Dukakis?!

Who knew that Michael Dukakis had become a [part time] Los Angeleno? Certainly not me. He's over there leading the righteous campaign against illegal "apron" parking in a neighborhood west of the UCLA campus.

Bonfire!

Bonfires are not very popular in this part of the country, for rather obvious reasons, but on December 28 the Cathedral City fire department will host a bonfire at 6:30 PM in the vacant field east of the Mary Pickford theater. Christmas trees may be donated from December 26 through 28. I guess this bonfire is mostly for entertainment — if I'm wrong let me know. If it's an attempt to get rid of dangerously dry Christmas trees, they're doing it too soon. Who takes down their Christmas tree so soon after Christmas?

Sacramento Photos

A few more photos from around Sacramento:

Joshua Tree Photos

University Of Nebraska Fighting Global Warming

In order to dissuade potential thieves who would cut evergreen trees on campus for use as Christmas trees, the University of Nebraska has sprayed all of them with a mixture of glycerin and fox urine. They've been doing it for 12 years now, but one tree was stolen in the last 4 years.

Possible Scientific Confirmation

A survey of psychiatric outpatients in Connecticut showed that greater psychosis and less knowledge of current issues are linked with being a supporter of G.W. Bush.

San Francisco Photos

Unmilitarized?

Would you guess that there are nations without a military? Wikipedia says there are. Costa Rica? Haiti? Panama?!?! Even Iceland?