We need to encourage programs such as Teach for America and Troops to Teachers where people, after having served in the military, can go right to teaching and not have to take these examinations which -- or have the certification that some are required in some states.

Excuse me?

There was a lot of excitement going into the convention since we knew that seven of the eight Democratic presidential candidates would be addressing the delegates. Only Sen. Joe Biden didn't make an appearance.

I suspect that I'm not alone here in my choice for a presidential candidate — undecided. I do not like Clinton; I sorta-kinda like both Obama and Edwards, and I bounce back and forth between the two like a ping-pong ball. So I think it's safe to say that I was hoping for some sort of epiphany over the weekend.

Miller goes on to say "Americans and Iraqis alike desperately need a strategy that will resolve the conflict, bring our troops home safely and quickly, and enable the United States to concentrate on real security threats. We cannot afford to simply 'stay the course' of failure."  He quotes Gen. George Casey, who has said that the presence of American troops in Iraq "fuels the insurgency" and "extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant."

Here's Miller's exit plan:

The United States should take the following steps.

• Immediately renounce any permanent designs on Iraq's territory or resources, and plans for long-term bases there.

• Stop financing Iraqi political parties and candidates.

• Over the next 12 months, shift active duty forces in Iraq away from combat and counterinsurgency operations and toward a training and stability force.

• Shift several thousand U.S. combat troops from Iraq to Kuwait in the form of a rapid reaction force to help ensure regional stability, deter Iraq's neighbors from meddling in its affairs and to protect against any coups to destabilize Iraq's new government.

• The remaining active duty forces should be redeployed out of Iraq to bolster the fight against terrorism elsewhere or be returned home. Iraqi security forces must stand up on their own but will only do so when American forces withdraw.

• Return to the United States the approximately 46,000 Guard and Reserve forces in Iraq immediately following the December elections.

• Increase aid for democracy assistance that allows independent political growth.

• Shift development aid in Iraq away from large projects undertaken by foreign contractors, like Halliburton, and toward microdevelopment locally oriented projects run by Iraqis.

• President Bush must diplomatically engage all of Iraq's neighbors immediately, including, and most especially, Iran. Without their help on issues like border security there will be no stable future for Iraq.

Of course, there's no chance in hell that the current administration would ever follow this blueprint, but it sure seems like Miller makes some good points.

Well, here's a little additional something to stir the pot.  According to this story from Yahoo news, it's what you didn't see or hear about that should worry you.

Small amounts of a bacteria that causes "rabbit fever" were found on Washington's National Mall last weekend as thousands of protesters marched against the Iraq War, U.S. health authorities said on Saturday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said several government environmental air monitors in the Mall area detected low levels of Francisella tularensis bacteria that cause Tularemia, commonly known as rabbit fever, on September 24-25.

So you might ask, exactly what is Tularemia, and where might one reasonably expect to be exposed to it?  Well, here's what the CDC has to say:

Tularemia, also known as "rabbit fever," is a disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Tularemia is typically found in animals, especially rodents, rabbits, and hares. Tularemia is usually a rural disease and has been reported in all U.S. states except Hawaii.  [snip]

Most cases occur in the south-central and western states. Nearly all cases occur in rural areas, and are caused by the bites of ticks and biting flies or from handling infected rodents, rabbits, or hares.

Okay, now, this is important, so I'm going to repeat it.  How is tularemia spread?  Again, I'll quote the CDC:

In the United States, most persons with tularemia acquire the infection from arthropod bites, particularly tick bites, or from contact with infected mammals, particularly rabbits. Historically, most cases of tularemia occurred in summer, related to arthropod bites, and in winter, related to hunters coming into contact with infected rabbit carcasses. In recent years, a seasonal increase in incidence has occurred only in the late spring and summer months, when arthropod bites are most common. Outbreaks of tularemia in the United States have been associated with muskrat handling (3), tick bites (4,5), deerfly bites (6), and lawn mowing or cutting brush (7). Sporadic cases in the United States have been associated with contaminated drinking water (8) and various laboratory exposures (9). Outbreaks of pneumonic tularemia, particularly in low-incidence areas, should prompt consideration of bioterrorism (10).

Hold on.  Back up.  "BIOTERRORISM"?  Oh, yeah.  The CDC has something to say about that, as well, and it might go a long way towards explaining why there were environmental air monitors in the Mall to pick up the tularemia readings in the first place.

CDC defines three categories of biologic agents with potential to be used as weapons, based on ease of dissemination or transmission, potential for major public health impact (e.g., high mortality), potential for public panic and social disruption, and requirements for public health preparedness (2). Agents of highest concern are Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plague), variola major (smallpox), Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism), Francisella tularensis (tularemia), filoviruses (Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Marburg hemorrhagic fever); and arenaviruses (Lassa [Lassa fever], Junin [Argentine hemorrhagic fever], and related viruses).

So if someone were to disseminate tularemia as a biological weapon, what might we expect to see?  Sorry to keep quoting the CDC, but this is the most likely scenario:

Francisella tularensis is highly infectious. A small number of bacteria (10-50 organisms) can cause disease. If Francisella tularensis were used as a bioweapon, the bacteria would likely be made airborne so they could be inhaled. People who inhale the bacteria can experience severe respiratory illness, including life-threatening pneumonia and systemic infection, if they are not treated.

If the bacteria are inhaled, symptoms can include abrupt onset of fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, joint pain, dry cough, and progressive weakness. People with pneumonia can develop chest pain, difficulty breathing, bloody sputum, and respiratory failure. Tularemia can be fatal if the person is not treated with appropriate antibiotics.

One more time.  Fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, joint pain, dry cough, and progressive weakness.  People with pneumonia can develop chest pain, difficulty breathing, bloody sputum, and respiratory failure. Tularemia can be fatal if the person is not treated with appropriate antibiotics.  Onset of symptoms is typically 3-5 days, but can range anywhere from 1-14 days.

But, of course, it's all okay, just a false alarm, nothing to worry about.

WASHINGTON - A week after bioterrorism sensors detected the presence of a dangerous bacterium on the national Mall, health officials said there are no reports that any of the thousands of people in the nation's capital Sept. 24 have tularemia, the illness that results from exposure to the bacteria. Federal health officials are still testing the samples that collected a small amount of the tularemia agent, which can cause flulike symptoms and is usually treated with antibiotics. The bacteria probably was not the result of nefarious activity, according to federal investigators.

There now, don't you feel better already?

Word came to me through email a few days ago - Arnold Schwarzenegger would be appearing at a private fundraiser at the Lafayette home of former Dreyers Ice Cream president Rick Cronk and his wife, Janet, and the Alliance for a Better California was organizing a protest.  Since there is no on-street parking available near the Cronks' residence, protesters were told to gather at the BART parking lot to be shuttled up the road to the house.  

As I approached the parking lot, I saw a small group of people with an American flag.  Eureka!  I'd found them.  I parked my car, joined the group, took a placard without even looking at it, and started to make small talk.  After a few minutes had gone by, I looked at my placard - "GO FOR IT, ARNOLD!"  Acckkk!  I had unwittingly joined the dozen or so counter-protesters!  I dropped the sign and said, "You know what?  I've made a terrible mistake.  I don't support you or Arnold."  They looked sort of startled, and I just scurried away as quickly as I possibly could.

Whew!  Well, I finally made it to the right gathering spot, met up with a couple of friends, and we were soon on the shuttle.  A quick ride in the van and we were there.  And what a sight it was - 400 people out on this little suburban lane, waving placards and shouting and chanting just as loudly as they possibly could.  Teachers, students, entire families, nurses and firefighters, lots and lots of firefighters.

Top photo is taken from across the street looking to the left of the Cronks' driveway.  Bottom photo is mostly looking to the right of the driveway.  The Alliance for a Better California monitors (in the orange vests) did an amazing job of crowd control, managing to keep the driveway mostly clear.  Lafayette police were stationed further inside the driveway, but the monitors kept everyone in order on the street.  And every car that arrived had to pass through this phalanx of people booing and chanting "Shame on you!"

Now, one thing you need to know about the Bay Area is that even in the upscale suburbs, people are still mostly liberal.  So the majority of the Lexuses and Mercedeses and Porsches that were passing by were madly honking their horns, and the Escalades with half a soccer team in the back were giving us the thumbs up.  The neighbors across the street had pulled lawn chairs out into their driveway and were sitting there with cocktails, watching the hullabaloo.  And the media were everywhere.

Looking down the driveway

For me, the highlight of the evening came when my friend Kathy decided to join the counter-protesters.  Her sign seemed ready made for the moment.  And what was so funny was that they had absolutely no idea how to react to her!  Can you pick Kathy out???

But the news just kept getting better.  Schwarzenegger had been scheduled to arrive at 7:00.  I was able to stay until 8:00, and he still hadn't shown up.  It was already dark, and the crowd was starting to dwindle, but those who stayed kept making plenty of noise.  Schwarzenegger didn't arrive until nearly 10:00.  Each and every local newscast covered the protest, and at least two of them still had reporters broadcasting live at both 10:00 and 11:00.  And the coverage was reasonably extensive and came early in the newscast.  All of them!

Insidebayarea.com had this to say:

LAFAYETTE -- The sheer size of a protest outside a private fund-raiser for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger surprised law enforcement and even organizers Wednesday.

Organizers expected maybe 50 protesters to show up outside the Lafayette home of retired Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. executive William Cronk, where the governor was expected to appear by evening.

Instead, as many as 400 nurses, firefighters, teachers, students and others lined the narrow, suburban Contra Costa County street to protest the governor's reforms.

And Alliance for a Better California had this to say:

We had huge numbers yesterday at a protest outside a fundraiser for Arnold, the article gets it right we were thrilled to see such strong numbers in Lafayette, not exactly a huge town. Arnold himself avoided showing up while the Alliance supporters were there. After the nurses have gotten such great coverage from their chasing him in their scrubs he has adapted his behavior to avoid the media shot of him slinking past protestors and instead either going through the backdoor, the playground or in this case making a bunch of rich supporters wait until late in the night for him to even show.

So we got to have a wonderful time, but did we make any sort of difference?  Gee, I'd like to think so.

The marchers, 50,000 strong, head up Market Street, SF's main drag.

The rally at the end in Jefferson Square Park -- the park was too small to accommodate the crowd, and people spilled out into the surrounding streets.

The CHP was out in force to make sure we unruly lefty types didn't try to overrun the freeway.

Here are some images from the crowd

Finally, here are your intrepid BooTribbers (l-r) Librarylil, Kamakhya and her daughter Cypress, Babaloo

While the nation's attention is focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the impending disaster of Hurricane Rita, the Republicans are attempting to pass legislation that would eviscerate the Endangered Species Act.  On September 19, Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), Chairman of the House Resources Committee, introduced his deceptively named "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005" (H.R. 3824).  Rep. Pombo's bill would gut the Endangered Species Act in favor of developers, oil companies, timber companies, mining companies, and extreme property rights groups.  Committee hearings were held yesterday, and the full committee will vote this morning.  This bill could come before the full House by early next week.

According to the Center for Biodiversity, Rep. Pombo’s bill would institute the following changes:

* completely repeal protections for endangered species critical habitat * remove protections for species listed as "threatened" under the law * allow political appointees - such as Secretary of Interior Gale Norton - instead of scientists, to determine what constitutes the best available science * exempt federal agencies from the requirement to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on actions that might impact endangered species * bankrupt the endangered species program by forcing the Fish and Wildlife Service to pay developers to comply with the law.

Please call your Member of Congress and urge them to vote against Rep. Pombo's extinction bill.  And please, please pass this information on to everyone you know.  We can't let them get away with this!

While our new house was under construction, we moved to our temporary quarters, the Atomic Motel.  The one feature that distinguished our little home from any and every other cheesy motel in the state of Nevada was its absolutely splendid sign, which I never tired of watching.  Approximately 20-30 feet tall, it was a giant neon mushroom cloud.  In the style of the day, it started lighting up from the bottom, until the entire mushroom was a vivid and pulsating red -- then went black, and then it started the whole lighting-up process over again. Totally mesmerizing.

    Hey, that's me on the cinderblocks!

But, lucky little girl that I was, I didn't have to limit myself to neon mushroom clouds, oh, no. By 1955, our house was (barely) ready for habitation, and I had the real thing right outside my front door.  You see, from January of 1951 through October of 1958, the United States tested 119 nuclear bombs above ground at the Nevada Test Site, at a rate of about one per month.  Now, the Nevada Test Site, for those of you who haven't brushed up on your godforsaken desert geography, is about 70 miles from downtown Las Vegas (and about 60 miles from the wasteland where I grew up).

The blasts were always announced ahead of time but, like NASA launches, were subject to delay depending on weather conditions (we now know that they were waiting for the prevailing winds to blow away from Las Vegas and towards St. George, Utah, but, hey, I digress).  Every day, my father had to drive past the local AEC headquarters on his way to and from work, and he quickly deciphered the code they used.  There were two lights atop the AEC building, a blue one if the blast was on schedule and a red one if it had been delayed.

So in our household, a blue light meant only one thing:  "Set the alarm - we're getting up early to watch the fireworks!"  You see, the members of my family were atomic bomb connoisseurs; we were especially partial to the early morning blasts because they were the really cool ones.

So how to describe it.  The actual blast was always in the last moments of darkness, just as dawn was breaking.  Now, you know how, in an electrical storm, the lightning flashes will momentarily light up the entire landscape with that really eerie white light?  Well, an atomic bomb also lights up the landscape, just as if it were midday, but for a considerably longer period of time and with a far different color palette.  First came a flash on the horizon, and then, for ten seconds or so as the fireball rose, the entire desert floor and surrounding hills would be bathed in a rosy-orange glow that was simply stunningly beautiful.  A short time later, you would feel the earth trembling, and then finally, almost as an afterthought, "BOOM!"

Then, once the big show was over, it was time to go back inside.  My dad would shower and shave for work, while my mom started cooking breakfast.  Since there was nothing much for me to do, I always hung around outside for my favorite part:  watching the mushroom cloud.  As time passed, the sky would get lighter and lighter, and the cloud would get taller and taller (some of them went up as high as 20 miles).  Finally, by the time it was fully light outside, you could see the different air currents start to carry the cloud away, each current at its own speed and in its own direction.  The entire mushroom would start to pull apart and drift off into pieces.  And then -- "Time for breakfast!"

   The wafting mushroom (in perspective).

More below the fold.

   The author, Wanda J. Ravernell, talks about the sick feeling she got when she was recently confronted with reproduction ethnic memorabilia.

   Ravernell goes on to say: