I’ve been seeing these yellow Fargo for Mayor signs all over the neighborhood around my office. Today on my lunch I saw this cluster (and there’s even more outside the frame on the left!) and was moved to post
At present, I don’t have a dog in this race, but I have to admit that these signs bug the hell out of me. They’re ugly for one, but… “Progress!” Is that really an advisable slogan for someone aiming at a third term in office? My vote for that would be a No.
The Bee runs an editorial today that praises Kevin Johnson’s entry into the race, but not quite Johnson himself, explaining that Sacramento needs a good Mayorial fight to get us back paying attention to our own city again.
The Bee cites our neighbors West Sac, Citrus Heights, and Rancho Cordova as cities on the move while we just kinda sit here letting progress march right on past as we pass the time counting foreclosure signs in Natomas. Yeah, we could stand to, like, do stuff around here again. Can we redevelop something? Anything? K Street, Railyards? Something that’s not a condo or loft development would be good - ’cause those aren’t selling.
Anyone have input on whether Kevin Johnson as the Other Candidate is going to give us a good, content-filled race centered on the issues facing this fine town, or whether it’ll just be “hey, Beat LA, go Kings” and no substance? Having watched Arnold in town for these past few years, I’m not expecting much from celebrity candidates.
So it seems our local Senator (well, for many of us) is going to be the new President Pro Tempore of the State Senate.
That’s pretty good for us. And the State since Senator Steinberg is well-respected and well-liked (an unusual and infrequent combination around town). Go Sac!
Apparently a huge number of RT mechanics called in sick today. Could it be valid? Call me a Pollyanna, but the cold, rainy weather in Sacramento right now tanks. And in my office, the heating is not optimal, so we have people wearing parkas in their cubicles. Get cold, get sick. Cause and effect.
If I were working in a dank garage twisting stuff on a bus engine, I might catch a cold too. But then again, I just may be “sick” of my contract or “sick” of how management is running things. I might also be “sick” of not having decent health insurance.
If that’s how it works, maybe I’ll just call in sick to the presidential elections. That might help things. As if.
Yesterday I was doing a bike ride out on the roads west of Sacramento. It’s
intensely personal time: no radio, no iPod, just time for focus on
what it feels like to be working hard, engaged with my Felt 75,
keeping the cadence up above 90, feeling the road, the wind, and
engaged with my own internal dialog. It’s a hallowed time for me in
which the disparate parts of my consciousness get their say.
I couldn’t get Virginia Tech out of my mind.
It seems to me that we live in a culture on the edge of rage. A poorly
chosen word, a brief angry gesture on the freeway, a thoughtless
profanity and the next minute events can take a leap to the wild side
in a way that’s simply not sane.
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Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento has good intentions (or so I think) in proposing the baby $$ bill, but really, I don’t think it’s the way to go.
California lawmakers are considering giving $500 to every single baby born in the state. The bipartisan bill aims to give babies a financial head start with a savings account.
As a parent of a “not so newborn,” I question why newborns only, and why not any kid in CA under 18? Where do you draw the line? Sounds like propagating inequity based on the year you were born.
The bill would encourage population growth, as well as people traveling over our border just to have the baby–and I mean coming down from Oregon or motoring over from Nevada, not to mention the expectant mothers who are already braving the U.S.-Mexico border for the “gift” of U.S. citizenship. Hey, $500 is a lot of money for some folks.
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Did you watch it? You know, the State of the Union speech our president gave the other night. I watched–actually, not because I wanted to hear the speech, but because I wanted to see “Madame Speaker” up there behind the prez. It was a moment for the history books. Yes, 2007, the first time a woman has held that high an office in this country, and it’s not even the highest. Or the second highest. Yeah, it’s the land of opportunity, all right.
But I truly enjoyed watching. The contrast between the Veep and the Speaker was sharp. He was like a pale, motionless frog on a lily pad, and she was all color and movement, working her jaw in TMJ fashion during the most worrisome remarks. I wonder how much more interesting it would have been if Cheney was relegated to frosting his hair, wearing baby blue, and choosing a flattering lipstick?
But what really struck me were the comments made on a local morning radio show (no, not “The End” ) the next morning. References were made to her “doing her nails” and “writing her grocery list” during parts of the speech. That has nothing to do with her as a political figure. Or the fact that she does her job well. No one made snide comments like that about any of the other political figures. The ones made about Pelosi weren’t even funny. They didn’t say much, but they did say a lot about the way woman are viewed as public figures. And they said volumes about the real state of the Union.
I cannot believe the legislators meeting in Sacramento have nothing better to do than write bills outlawing spanking. Don’t we have child abuse laws? That should cover spanking if it is excessive and more than a “scare tactic” for a small child. Sometimes the mere threat of a spanking is enough to stop a child from misbehaving, but will that be legislated too? Where will it end? I’m not against good parenting–but I’m certainly against being told that if I choose to discipline my child with a spanking (and who would determine the levels of severity–”love tap” vs. beating) I will be guilty of a misdemeanor. That’s why we have Child Protective Services–to remove children from parents who are extreme in abuse or neglect. And they don’t always succeed. With an anti-spanking law, who would enforce this? Would you get a ticket? Would the ticket “rank” the spanking? I mean, once you sit down and think about actual implementation of a ridiculous law like this one, you find so many ludicrous examples and puzzling questions–does law enforcement have time for this? Or could I make a citizen’s arrest? HA! Since as Californians we’re devoted to keeping lawyers employed, here are just a few more ideas for ludicrous legislation. Read carefully, Sacramento:
Tonight the nation mourns the loss of President Gerald Ford. Ford ascended to the presidency after the resignation of Richard Nixon, in 1974. Despite being from Michigan, Ford’s got a Sacramento connection too. In 1975, while walking from his downtown hotel to the State Capitol, a hand with a gun emerged from the crowd. That hand and gun belonged to Lynette “Squeaky” Alice Fromme, a member of the Charles Manson Family.
Ford of course wasn’t hurt and actually even gave remarks almost immediately afterwards from the Senator Hotel. He’s seen in the photo above at McClellan Air Force Base, waiting to board Air Force One. (Notice his Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld in the photo, descending the stairs to the plane). Gerald Ford, 1913-2006.
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For those of you who haven’t gotten an invite to Governor Schwarzenegger’s inauguration on January 5, don’t wait up. Sacramento’s most famous transient is inviting the well-connected and well-funded to his first and only inauguration the first Friday in January at 11 a.m. at Memorial Auditorium. Today the Inaugural Committee announced former SF Mayor Willie Brown will emcee. If that motivates you in any way, ambition and $22,300 might just get you in the door.
On a related note, mark January 5 as bring your lunch to work day if you live anywhere near downtown.
