Rumble, rummage, and rant.

I, like many others in SoCal, was rudely awakened early Saturday morning by quake in Big Bear. I think earthquakes are fun, but we should really schedule them at better times. Today I was searching for news articles on quakes and noticed an article in a British publication with the headline "US RATTLED BY EARTHQUAKE". Wait, I thought, the whole US wasn't rattled by the quake. It was just in California, in fact just in part of southern California. The other 49 states didn't feel a thing. Does this author not realize that for most Americans the quake happened "somewhere else"? Then I began looking for other quake headlines and found ones like "Earthquake rocks China" and "Quake felt in France". Even worse, the first few articles about the quake in China which killed over 250 people didn't even mention where the quake happened within China. My first reaction is, whatever, what difference do the specifics make? But, if it bothers me that California gets lumped in with the rest of the US then perhaps I ought to care more about the geography of other countries. Or, maybe I shouldn't mind if people in other countries don't care about the difference between California and Louisiana.

This realy cool homeless guy comes by our street a couple times a week. He knows the trash schedule perfectly, and he's there every dumpster-day rummaging through the junk. He collects the bottles and crushes the cans, sorts them and carts it all away. He is without a doubt the most organized homeless guy I've even seen. And punctual. Nate started collecting recyclable stuff in a separate bag so we can just give it too him and save him some effort. The way I see it he's pretty much doing a service for the community that most of us are too lazy to do. I know where the nearest recycling center is, but I've never taken anything there. In contrast, this homeless dude is like a professional recycler. It's a full time job, though it's a bit short on benefits and perks. And there may not be a plaque, but he's always Employee of the Month.

Last Thursday President Bush quoted a non-existant report from the Blue-Chip economists that predicted a 3.3% growth if his tax proposal is enacted. Several major American newspapers even printed the statement as fact. The editor of Blue Chip Economic Forecast, Randell Moore, complained to the White House and said he had no idea what the President was talking about. I kind of miss the old days when politicians tried to distort and twist the facts in their favor rather than spouting obvious fabrications. The sad thing is that the media are so careless and gullible.