Volume 2 Issue 11

February 17, 2003

Letter from San Francisco

The Blizzard viewed from afar, Kimjongilia and other world events, and musings from the West Coast

Boy, was I lucky!

Heading out to San Francisco on a previously scheduled vacation on Friday, I missed by just hours being stuck in the worst storm of the new century this weekend, which has dumped up to 2 feet on the DC area. It's interesting to watch a natural disaster like that from afar, and it gives one an interesting insight as to why there is relative calm here on the West Coast, as opposed to the terror panic that seemed to grip Eastern cities last week.

While folks on the West Coast are usually more prepared for disasters than Easterners since they live under the threat of earthquakes, there is a further calm among Western residents mainly because they never experienced the attacks on 9/11 as happening where they were, so they can't really comprehend the idea of a large scale attack here. San Francisco of course, is just a target rich environment as DC, but people here seem to view the East Coast with a certain disconnect, much as Easterners often view the West. One newspaper article here even noted that had the nation been settled West to East instead of the other way around, things like the East Coast blizzard would make people re-evaluate whether or not people should live out there. Just as some Easterners can't comprehend living in a place that is under constant threat of earthquakes, some out here can't comprehend living in a place where 2 feet of snow could ever happen.

Of course, San Francisco is also very anti-war, and joined the protests here over the weekend. The city has always been anti-war, but this one seems to really hit across all social and economic levels. While many are philosophically opposed to the war, in reality, many also have an economic reason. Gas here is already well over $2 a gallon for regular (the cheapest I've seen so far is around $1.98 in far South San Francisco and some parts of the Napa Valley). Interestingly, the high gas price does not seem to have an effect on people driving, or on the number of SUV's out there on the roads (note: Yes, I know folks in the east are going to be all over the SUV thing now, we'll deal with this later in the week). The economy still hasn't totally recovered from the tech bust either, which was centered in nearby Silicon Valley. Given the economic uncertainty with the Iraq war, one can see why even "establishment" folks are uneasy. Overall though, I don't foresee Bush making any campaign stops here next year, that's for sure. One building I saw had banners hanging (that are apparently always there, it wasn't just for the weekend) that said "End War and War Makers". On them were photos of tanks, the World Trade Center...and George W. Bush.

A few other non-western musings. Wesley Clark was on Meet the Press Sunday, and his performance was amazing. I really have never seen anyone criticize the Bush foreign policy so well, yet not come across as a crazy leftist. Clark also hinted that he is leaning toward running for President, but if he doesn't get in soon he's going to be in trouble. Even if he doesn't run, some Democrats would be well advised to listen to him and repeat some of the things he's saying, because otherwise they're going to get killed on foreign policy.

Some random Bay Area observations...it's amazing to have an area so surrounded by water that almost never deals with flooding, even on the Pacific Coast...it's just strange looking at the Pacific Ocean, I don't know what it is...I guess it's the fact it comes right up to the city instead of the whole barrier island thing in the East...my old car would never have made it up some of these streets out here, and I've never seen cars parked at stranger inclinations...Did you know San Francisco hasn't recorded snowfall since the 19th Century? Boy is it nice...

Anyway, more tomorrow from the West, off to start the day (still morning out here), looks like sunny and 65 again. So folks in DC, just remember, soon it will be 110 and humid, and you'll look back fondly on your 2 feet of snow. Ok, maybe not fondly. Anyway...onto the insanity!

The Big Storm: Here's all the nitty gritty on the Blizzard of 2003...
Washington has basically been immobilized by the storm, which even practically shut down the subway, as well as two of the region's airports -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18420-2003Feb16.html
Forecasters say that the storm was the rare "perfect" storm, where all the factors that usually miss each other come together. -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18315-2003Feb16.html
Philadelphia is dealing with the storm as well, with all major East Coast cities expected to get up to 2 feet -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5197989.htm

The Great Panic: Tom Ridge said yesterday the terror alert may be lowered soon -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18291-2003Feb16.html
Time has the inside story on the terror alert, including on how we got the rumors that Congress was leaving town -
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030224-423465,00.html
Gregg Easterbrook says that the panic over the duct tape and plastic is dumb, since chemical and biological weapons aren't much of a threat to us. Now nuclear...that's another story all together -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/16/weekinreview/16EASTE.html
The British continue to look at us and laugh -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspon dent/2762609.stm
Washington tried to backtrack and ease the panic a bit, telling people not to wrap themselves in their rooms -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/15/politics/15TERR.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14122-2003Feb15.html
The Duct Tape makers are getting some big profits and publicity. I think I may bring some back from California to sell on the black market in DC -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/16/fashion/16TAPE.html?8hpib

The Iraqi Situation: One of the hidden stories about the aftermath of a war in Iraq is that the US would be in a position to dominate the global oil market, and destroy OPEC. No wonder the Arab governments are suspicious -
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/02/16/MN162910.DTL

That Other Country...is nuts: North Korea said yesterday that they could beat the US in a nuclear war, which would prove that the "army-first" system of government was superior. Um...boy, Kim Jong Il must have had a bit too much to drink at his birthday bash over the weekend -
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=578&amp ;u=/nm/20030217/ts_nm/korea_north_dc&printer=1
So the US response? We'll put sanctions on them. Yeah...fight Iraq who may be developing these things, but ignore North Korea, who has then and thinks it can use them...the most dangerous foreign policy in the world -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/17/international/asia/17KORE. html
And here's the story of that birthday party. This year's theme? Kimjongilia. I'm not joking. -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2767895.stm

Well, maybe it's our country that's nuts.... The US announced it's considering building smaller tactical nukes. Yes...encourage non-proliferation by proliferating. That's real smart. -
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/02/15/MN79475.DTL

Look Who's Running for President : Carol Mosley-Braun made the announcement that she was running for President over the weekend...unfortunately, in the foot of snow they got in Iowa, only one person showed up. That can't be an inspiring start -
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/20507787. html

Look Who's Running for President 2: John Edwards better be careful. He's getting into quite a public argument with the FBI over his MI5 proposal -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14985-2003Feb15.html

Look Who's Voting for President - Really Early: The front-loaded primary system may actually help the Democrats, since they'd have time to heal the bloodletting from the primaries before the main campaign season. What this article doesn't say is that the Dem candidate will also be at a disadvantage, since he will have little money to spend until he gets his government-funded money after the convention in July. This would allow President Bush to use his copious primary funds to blast the candidate, and they wouldn't be able to respond -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9079-2003Feb14.html

Singing in the air? George Will discusses Delta's new "low fare" airline, Song, which will launch on April 15 to compete with JetBlue, which has cut into much of Delta's revenue. This attempt to start an "airline within an airline" to help stop low fare carriers has failed before, with USAirways' "Metrojet" unable to stop the growth of Southwest. More proof that the airlines are in big trouble, and that our national transportation policy needs major rethinking (see the late January issues on transportation policy for a refresher) -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10607-2003Feb14.html

Paying more to drive: High gas prices aren't the only thing folks in London have to worry about now...today London started a 5 pound fee to drive into the central city during the day, in the first "congestion pricing" scheme instituted in a major city. On the first day, the new fee seemed to accomplish its goal, reducing traffic in the city center by 25%, and greatly easing congestion -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2772583.stm

Have a great day! Happy Shoveling!

Oh, by the way, sorry for any incorrect spellings in here today, we've moved to directly publishing this on the web, and it doesn't have a spell checker yet!